* Regardless of those embarrassingly slow Iowa caucus results and the punditocracy’s take on what the silo vote might actually mean, the bottom line is–as it always is: Demographically-challenged, peer-pressuring-caucus Iowa should not be first among unequals when it comes to presidential primaries. It’s as relevant as the Electoral College.
* How ironic that in the unfettered, back-in-the-day, white nationalist era of Trump, there is a viable gay candidate for president. There is actually more focus on Pete Buttigieg’s age (38), inexperience and seeming disconnection with African-American voters than his sexual orientation. Maybe we are progressing. Maybe.
* “TURN THE PAGE.” That’s what’s spelled out in large blue letters behind Pete Buttigieg during his campaign stops. It moves on a lot of levels, as Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders well know.
* “Not Left. Not Right. Forward.” That’s a prominent Andrew Yang campaign sign. Speaking of, Yang’s candidacy continues on–via impressive fund-raising and a major podcast presence. A lot of his followers were smitten in an early debate when he sounded so unlike a political debater. “We’re up here with make-up on our faces and our rehearsed attack lines, playing roles in this reality TV show,” he pointed out. Such refreshing candor worked for a candidate most voters had never heard of.
* Joe Biden could have helped out a lot more on impeachment. He personally could have put Burisma and his son’s understandably controversial, ill-advised, over-compensated board position into proper, however awkward, context.
* Who would have thought that the female-electability question would still be posed less than four years removed from a female candidate getting the most votes in a presidential election?
* Gun violence–and implicit control–might not have been the best Michael Bloomberg ($11 million) ad message to resonate with Super Bowl viewers. Preaching, to no small degree, to the un-convertible, even while still sober. Perhaps climate change–sans the cute penguins and a teenage activist–that focuses on economic upheaval and population relocations (massive immigrations) as the costs of doing nothing could resonate.