Time to eat crow. I'm out of the prediction business, because it's obvious that I don't know what I'm talking about. Dean got trounced in Iowa yesterday. It was a classic case of negative campaigning turning off the voters. Gephardt had been hammering Dean for weeks, and then, for whatever reason, some people in the news media decided to show the images of Dean when he testily brushed off or lectured a reporter, and that made him look pretty bad. Kerry and Edwards, who had been long written off by political pundits in the news media and bloggers alike, proved that actual human contact is still what truly matters in a political campaign. Those who predict that the internet can deliver a candidate should take note of what happened last night. Dean, to his credit, all along has said that the internet is merely a tool to help the campaign, but the story for months, told by everyone else, is that the internet IS the thing. I think now it's time for a reality check. Even though those images of Dean last night, where he lectured and pointed his index finger at reporters, and another where he angrily pushed away a boom mike someone had planted right in front of his face...were deliberately selected over all others, it does reveal something my wife pointed out last night: Dean has tact issues and that's going to hurt him. I guess the media wins. My allegiances for the election are now in "wait and see" mode. And I'm realizing that Bush is probably going to be reelected. It's a sad realization, but one that I have to accept.

Two days earlier, the two teams I had hoped would go to the Super Bowl both lost. And yesterday my car got towed. The week hasn't gotten off to a good start, but for some reason I'm not in a bad mood. Not sure why!