What Do The Candidates Want For Christmas?
Christmas may bring a short break for the candidates, but it doesn't mean they won't be thinking, worrying or strategizing about the campaign. With the holiday coming up, CBS News senior political correspondent Jeff Greenfield has a list of the gifts the candidates should be wishing for under the tree. He shared the list on The Early Show this morning.
Mike Huckabee: WEIGHT — Not the weight he lost, the 110 pounds… political weight, gravitas. People know him as an agreeable charismatic guy, but he has to convince people he's actually the right guy in the Oval Office.
Rudy Giuliani: LONG DIVISION — Which means he needs the Republican field to stay divided for as long as possible. It looks less and less likely he can win an early contest. But if the early contests are split, then his strategy of waiting til Florida and February 5 has more resonance than if one guy emerges.
Mitt Romney: A CASE OF BUYER'S REMORSE — He needs the social conservatives in Iowa to take a look at the guy they flocked to, Mike Huckabee, and say you know what, 'I don't think so, he's got too many problems.' A second gift for Mitt Romney is somebody to muss his hair. It's too perfect. A lot of people have noticed the startling resemblance between Mitt Romney and that of the Muppet game show host Guy Smiley. He's got to have a mussed-up hairdo soon.
Fred Thompson: A TIME MACHINE — He needs to go back to July when he was supposed to enter the presidential race amid calls he was the next Reagan. He really kicked away about three or four months. He's got his groove on now, but it may be too late.
John McCain: NEW HAMPSHIRE — For the second time in eight years. One poll has him almost tied. I've never seen a campaign where eight years apart a candidate's fate relies on exactly the same state as before.
John Edwards: A JANUARY 3RD BLIZZARD IN IOWA — Because his caucus goers are more likely to show up. Obama's and Clinton's are less likely. He wants really lousy weather.
Barack Obama: A SURGE — Of optimism. His people know they're taking a gamble on a guy that's inexperienced. They have to feel good about turning to an unconventional candidate.
Hillary Clinton: SELECTIVE MEMORY — She needs Democrats to remember the good things they liked about Clinton in the '90s, to forget the bad things apart from the obvious one — the investigations and the turmoil. If they think of her as that kind of '90s, it will be bad for her.
See below to watch the segment.
