Hillary Wins New Hampshire!

Prognostications of the chattering classes aside, Hillary Clinton has won the New Hampshire primary.

And for the record, Bill "the Bloody" Kristol, tears had nothing to do with it, and she didn't cry anyway.

Of course, there are those in the (lefty!) blogosphere who are insisting that she won because she got the sympathy vote after "breaking down" but they are wrong. She might have gotten a lot of support from women, but it wasn't because anyone felt bad, or guilty or obligated. She got a lot of support from a lot of women who are pissed off at the entrenched misogyny that led to the politics of the pile-on.

That's what did it for me.

Sympathy didn't flip me. 27 years of being an adult woman and dealing with the soft misogyny of the workplace did it.

And Edwards? Screw him. I love his wife to death, but that devotion doesn't go so far that I'll support the prick now. Not after he said he wasn't going to comment, then did anyway.

It isn't over, but I have to admit that it feels really good to go to bed tonight with a win for the home team. I have been a registered voter for 27 years. That is a long time to wait for a female candidate.

Record Turnout

Last week in Iowa, the caucus turnout was tremendous. In fact, to say that it was record breaking would be an understatement worthy of the understatement hall of fame. Not only was the turnout greater, but Democrats outnumbered Republicans by a staggering factor.

Come we now to New Hampshire, where turnout today is, as it was in Iowa, record breaking. Also in New Hampshire, fully forty percent of the voting public are independents. Those independents voted in the Democratic primary by a 3:2 ratio.

Let me repeat, one more time, that this thing just got started, and is far from over. Two small, largely rural states have held their nominating contests, and less than a million people out of a country of 300 million have voted or caucused. Neither of the states that have weighed in really looks all that much like America.

But there are some interesting trends to take note of. For one thing, Democrats are fired up and turning out. Republicans are showing up, with dirge-music playing in the background. Independents are going with the Democrats in significant numbers. In both states, literally thousands more people have caucused or voted for Democrats while Republican numbers are, well, anemic.

What I am comfortable speculating about is the sell-by date on the Republican brand. It expired in late August of 2005.