Get Ready for the Mud

After what can be called a rather vanilla Iowa caucus, at least on the Democrats' side, we now hear that the proverbial gloves are coming off. Most may chalk this up to politics as usual, but for those who know how the Iowa caucus worked, and how the New Hampshire primaries will differ can see why the mud-slinging should begin in earnest for the Democrats.

In the Democratic primaries in Iowa, a candidate must meet a "viability" threshold of 15% in order to be counted as a viable candidate. For those who do not meet this threshold, for example Dennis Kucinich, the voters for such a candidate may choose a second candidate. This is why we saw that Kucinich himself said that if he did not reach the viability threshold that he would endorse Barack Obama as a second choice. This is why even though Joseph Biden harshly criticized Hillary Clinton, the Clinton campaign still spoke positively of the Biden campaign. This viability threshold kept the mud out of Democratic candidate's hands, and ensured a fairly friendly campaign in Iowa for all the top candidates.

In the New Hampshire Primary, there is no such viability threshold, and no second chances for voters. What this means is that negative campaigns can begin on the Democratic side. On the Republicans' side in Iowa there is no viability threshold in their caucus, and that perhaps may be why Mitt Romney attacked Mike Huckabee so relentlessly. We should see this same behavior from here on out. Those who dislike negative campaigning and mud-slinging would be wise to filter their media for the next 11 months, because the presidency has not been this up for grabs in most people's lifetimes. It's going to be a hell of a fight, be it Democrat or Republican, the dirt is going to fly.