Columnist Mark Shields Fancies Himself A Political Strategist

But then again Monday Morning Clacker, a blogger, also fancies himself a political strategist.

Welcome to the Age of the Amateur.

Yesterday, on the Jim Lehrer NewsHour, Mark Shields was asked by Judy Woodruff about the importance of the '08 early primary states. Shields responded:

Nobody has ever been elected president of the United States who did not win the New Hampshire primary or, at the very worst, finished second. Only two have done that. And in Iowa, nobody has ever been nominated who finished less than third.

I think Iowa and New Hampshire are even more important now than they've been in the past. And if I were counseling any candidate, I'd say, "You win Iowa and New Hampshire, don't worry about the others, because the victory will follow you.

We completely agree with Shields.

You can't spell "momentum", "comeback" or "inevitability" without New Hampshire. It's the one "known" in this clulsterf*ck of a nomination process.

And when we say clusterf*ck, we mean clusterf*ck.

The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza has the details (his opinion anyway) of what January 29 - February 5 looks like, which is also known as that "crazy time that comes after NH and Iowa".

Ugly.