It’s anybody’s guess what will happen in the coming weeks or even months; even the pundits are stumped.

Boy, what a year for politics it has been, and it’s only January!

We’ve seen upsets, surprises, as well as expectations fulfilled. Early in January, Barack Obama defeated long-time front-runner Hillary Clinton in the Iowa caucuses.

For the next five days, it was Obama-fever within the nation – until Hillary took New Hampshire’s primary out from under Obama’s (and the pollsters’) nose. John Edwards continued to hang in there, getting second place in Iowa and third place in New Hampshire.

On the Republican side, a relatively unknown former governor from Arkansas named Mike Huckabee stole the Iowa caucuses for the GOP. Huckabee relied upon the Evangelical base that he had generated only weeks prior – Huckabee himself was once a Southern Baptist minister.

Once New Hampshire rolled around, however, Sen. John McCain of Arizona came out on top (winning the New Hampshire primary for a second time in his political career). And last week, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney took Michigan, his home state, in a heated battle between himself and McCain.

This is very unusual. Usually, by this time the primaries have weeded out the top contenders to the point that we already know who the eventual nominee will be. That is not the case right now.

On the Democratic side, the race is still fair game, especially going into South Carolina later this week, a stronghold for former Sen. John Edwards. Yet with half of the Democratic electorate being African-American, the race may be Obama’s to lose, which he could…to Clinton, if she can take the women’s vote from him.

The Republican side is even more complicated: the race remains heated between at least four candidates: McCain, Romney, Huckabee and former Tennessee senator and “Law and Order” TV star Fred Thompson, who may take South Carolina due to his Southern roots.

And we can’t count out Rudy Giuliani quite yet: His strategy has long been to wait until Super Tuesday (Feb. 5), when 24 states will vote, with over half the delegates being up for grabs. If Giuliani can win most of those delegates, he will have a firm grasp of taking the GOP nomination.

It’s anybody’s guess what will happen in the coming weeks or even months; even the pundits are stumped. But we want to hear from you.

Tell us your thoughts about the presidential race this year – are you happy with the results? Did the candidate you support make it this far? How has the media portrayed the race (positively/negatively/neutrally) in your opinion? Most importantly, will Wisconsin have a voice in deciding either party’s eventual nominee?

Please send emails to letters@uwmpost.com. We look forward to reading your responses.

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