Oh, it’s getting good now…

One thing is for sure: change is good. Politically speaking, of course. At a debate for the Presidential candidates from both major parties hosted by ABC in New Hampshire, the Democrats could have passed for hobos. They spouted the word “change” so often I almost wanted to throw a few dimes at the TV screen. This comes on the heels of Obama’s surprise victory over Hillary in Iowa, who was basically writing her acceptance speech until recently.

After being defeated not only by Obama, but also Edwards, a candidate who was quickly slipping away, Hillary realized “I’m Bill’s wife” and “Hey, I’ll probably win”, while excellent slogans, wouldn’t convince everyone. Naturally if you are a Democrat victory in the general election is paramount right now, and with good reason. Bush has made a great attempt at messing up as many things as possible at the same time, so a change of leadership is sorely needed.

Realizing that many young Dems were in grade school when her husband was in power would do Hillary some good. We don’t remember much, besides that the Congress was very mad at him about a lady named Monica. While many older voters will have little trouble glossing over what might be the most famous hook up in years, the first-timers, still bright eyed and hopeful are naturally being taken in by the constant cries of “change” coming from Obama, even if he is inexperienced. That’s why Hillary filled the recent debate with plenty of vitriol, making sure that the vaguely happy remarks that Obama has been spouting like a preacher don’t steamroll over the fact that change isn’t worth getting that excited over if you can’t implement it.

Meanwhile, on the Republican side, the right-wingers are demonstrating how to take care of a flip-flopper: beat him up until everyone hates him. They did it to Kerry, and now Romney spent the last debate getting trashed – most memorably by Huckabee – for anything and everything. I must admit, it was nice to see some fur fly; after all, what good is democracy if everyone agrees?

With a victory in Iowa, Huckabee now has a chance at a nomination, something that seemed desperately unlikely before now. Sure, he had the Norris bump (similar to the Colbert Bump but with more roundhouse kicks) and Evangelicals love the guy, but no one thought he could carry the state against the oiled machine Romney was running. Now his big challenge is to carry New Hampshire, where his good-guy image and pastor heritage won’t do much to cover up his weak economic policies and lack of foreign policy knowledge.

Still, Huckabee, Obama, and to a lesser extent Edwards did what they had to do. They made sure they put themselves in the minds of voters by not knuckling under. People dead set on Clinton might now look at the possibility of Obama as the nominee in a more positive light. And Huckabee’s rise will get conservatives concerned with family values thinking about having a guy like him. Butter up some popcorn. It’s going to be a heck of a show.