The American Spectator

Campaign Crawlers

(Page 2 of 2)

People in the Midwest are nice, and they expect others to be nice. Remember in 2002, when the national Democratic Party turned Paul Wellstone's funeral into a pep rally for Walter Mondale, Wellstone's substitute in the Minnesota Senate race? That backfired, and the Republicans won. The same tactic would have worked in New York or Washington, D.C., but nastiness doesn't play in the heartland.

Beltway Democrats and big city liberals might appreciate Hillary's ankle-biting tactics and see them as a virtue, but people who consider "casserole" a delicacy and say "you betcha" are put off by dirty politics, even if they share Hillary's views on most issues.

Hillary is a strong second place in Iowa polls today, but don't be surprised if she finishes third. Iowa Democrats see just a bit too much of Karl Rove in Hillary Clinton, and that's enough for them to go elsewhere.

p> Timothy P. Carney, senior reporter for the Evans-Novak Political Report, is a columnist for the Washington Examiner and author of The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money. br> /p>

topics:
John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Business