This past Monday night in Iowa was the first actual assessment of the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates, and the results were pretty much as to be expected. Someone crazy won the Republican primary, someone crazy came in second and someone a little less crazy, but still nowhere near moderate, finished third. Although it is true that Marco Rubio seems less extreme and alarming than Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, he is nonetheless not a viable candidate to any extent. Many of his proposed policies are foolish and undeniably will leave most Americans without insurance and with higher taxes. Not to mention he (as essentially all the Republican candidates) also seems pretty in tune with destroying the environment and seeks to funnel unprecedented amounts of money into military spending.
So yes, Rubio is undoubtedly the preferred choice over the other two, but not by much. Jeb Bush is the perfect ironic example of someone who is qualified enough to hold the leading Republican bid, yet he doesn't know how to run a campaign that proves his credibility and resilience. Bush is a stronger politician than Rubio and unfortunately most likely won't get as close to the White House.
Ohio Governor John Kasich also serves as another Republican candidate who actually has the necessary qualifications and experience. The New York Times even recently deemed him, along with Hillary Clinton, the two most qualified for the position. However, similar to Bush, Kasich is matched up in a pool with contenders so large and so far to the right that their actual political experience and policies are overshadowed in the terrifying muck.
After poor showings in Iowa, Rand Paul, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee each suspended their campaigns, with Santorum officially endorsing Rubio. The New Hampshire primary takes place on Feb 9, which is similar to Iowa, and has always played a pivotal role in elections. It is hard to make predictions for what the outcome will be at the remaining caucuses, but for now I remain skeptical on who the Republican primary candidate ends up being after everything is said and done.
On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton secured the win, but barely. Bernie Sanders finished less than a percentage behind the perceived front-runner. Although on paper Clinton won the Democratic primary, and the overall caucus, this honestly isn't a real win for her. Back in 2008, Clinton actually got more votes than Obama, but ended up losing the delegate count.
If there is one takeaway from Monday and most likely the other scheduled primaries, it's the severe extent to which the Democratic party is internally split. The Iowa results present a Democratic party that holds drastically different demographic ideologies in terms of class, age and race. This was the similar circumstance in 2008 when Clinton and Obama were the top contenders.
A series of Democratic debates are scheduled to take place, which will provide Sanders and Clinton with the opportunity to prove themselves, along with the other upcoming primaries. Perhaps the most interesting part of this election race so far is the anticipation of who clinches the Democratic primary bid in the end.
