Republican Follies

Twenty-four hours later, there's been more fallout from Iowa, with the Republican machinations much more fun to watch than those of the Democrats. The liberal media is falling all over itself to label John McCain, who finished behind Huckabee, Romney, and Thompson with 13 percent of the vote (roughly a third of Huckabee's total and half of Romney's), as the true hero of the night. Greta van Susteren said, "I can't think of anyone happier tonight than Sen. John McCain," after Obama and Huckabee apparently slipped her mind for a moment. And Mike Allen enthused:

Tonight is a fantastic night for John McCain. . . . He's one of the biggest winners of the night. He's now in a fantastic position. Except for Barack Obama, there's almost no one you'd rather be tonight than John McCain.

Almost is the key word there. I'm not sure Mike Huckabee was wasting any time thinking, "Damn, if only I'd come in fourth like McCain!" Matt Yglesias had the best comment on this wish fulfillment:

I think Kansas will beat Virginia Tech, but the real winner of the Orange Bowl will be John McCain as the merest thought of football reminds voters of his toughness.

McCain himself, meanwhile, was busy endearing himself to the anti-war vote. He suggested he'd be fine to stay in Iraq for 100 years, and when pressed, claimed he'd be fine if the occupation continued for 1,000 years. That wouldn't make it just a problem for our children and grandchildren--the 31st century gets us into Legion of Super-Heroes territory.

McCain's rivals didn't fare much better. Fred Thompson, who barely edged McCain for third, may indeed have wished to have traded places. He won enough votes to keep him in the race when he may have wished for an excuse to get out. He's doing less than he might, though, having decided to take a pass on New Hampshire and put his efforts into South Carolina. That's a variation on the Giuliani plan, let somebody else build momentum and then try to catch up. It's not the most obvious strategy for success, but I guess we'll have to see how it plays out.

Speaking of Giuliani, he sat most of Iowa out and was rewarded with a big 4 percent of the vote for his trouble, putting him in 6th place. He's not concerned, though, as he's pioneering the lose now win later strategy. Still, he took some solace in previous experience. As bad as a 6th place finish in Iowa could be, he pointed out, it wasn't as bad as 9/11. That's a point on which I think we can all agree.