Bernie squeaks out a win in N.H., while my candidate Warren shrinks badly. A beautiful commercial from Denmark on togetherness. And Adam Sandler with an awards speech for the ages

Well, at least we got results before midnight!

That’s the first thing I was happy about Tuesday night, as the results of the new Hampshire primary trickled in. Say what you want about the people of New Hampshire (and I’ve known quite a few of them, some good, some not so good), but they vote and then we find out how they voted. And hey, that’s something!

But seriously, it was a depressing night for me in some ways, with my candidate of choice, Elizabeth Warren, showing a significant drop in support, barely breaking nine percent.

I think all the obituaries starting to be written about her candidacy are way too premature; we’ve had two states vote, both incredibly white and non-representative of the party.

If Warren does terribly in South Carolina and Nevada, then talk to me about her being in real trouble.

More thoughts from primary night, the first of the 2020 cycle:

— It was a very good night for Bernie Sanders, who won the New Hampshire primary, squeaking out a win over Pete Buttigieg, 26 percent to 24 percent, at last check. Bernie did much better in N.H. in 2016, but of course there are many more candidates this time so the vote was much more split. I continue to have major reservations about Sanders this time around (his age, his temperament, his ability to win a general vs. Trump,) but as crowded and tight as the field is right now, you’d have to say he’s the frontrunner at the moment.

— Pete Buttigieg with another very strong showing, nearly winning a primary in a state Sanders could have dominated. However you feel about him politically, let’s take a step back for second:  I think it is kind of amazing that a 37=year-old gay mayor of a small Indiana town has tied, and basically tied, the first two Presidential primaries. Not sure there’s any precedent for that, ever, someone with this limited age and experience doing this well. I don’t know if he can keep this up, but it is history-making.

— Shocker of the night was Amy Klobuchar doing so well, coming in a strong third with 20 percent. She then gave a fantastic “introductory” biographical speech, realizing many people were paying attention to her for the first time and might give her a chance. Not sure she’ll be able to capitalize on this strong finish, but if she’s ever going to be a factor in this race, the upcoming Nevada/South Carolina voting is her chance. Personally, if I had to support a moderate right now, I like her better than Pete or Biden.

— Joe Biden. Joe, Joe, Joe, Joe. Wow has he taken a dramatic fall the last few months. From absolute frontrunner for a year, to now barely scraping by with 8 percent and finishing fifth in New Hampshire. I am not one of those people, and there are many, who think he’s finished, he’s going to drop out, etc. No way he’ll do that, for many reasons, especially that he does extremely well with people of color, and none of them have voted yet. His candidacy has collapsed because, as we’ve known for 30 years, he’s just a bad Presidential candidate. His hopes may be on life support, but the defibrillator paddles are ready and working.

— Finally, I’ll have much, much more to say on this at another time, but reading that Michael Bloomberg, who is NOT in any way, shape or form a Democrat, has already spent THREE HUNDRED MILLION dollars in campaign ads makes me want to vomit. That is such a nauseating, disgusting statistic, someone trying to buy the Presidency this way. And the fact that he’s gaining in the polls (gee, what a shock, you spent a quarter of a billion dollars, people start to like you) disgusts me. I am horrified that Bloomberg is rising.

**Next up today, this advertisement from a Danish TV station absolutely floored me. My friend Sherry posted it on her Facebook page recently, and I thought it was beautiful. It takes a few seconds to get going, but its message of togetherness, and what we have in common being so much greater than what we don’t, is really powerful.

I found this ad very uplifting.

Finally today, the Oscars didn’t have any amazing speeches but the Independent Spirit Awards, the Academy Awards’ weird cousin that holds its show the night before, sure did.
Adam Sandler won the “best Male Lead” category at the awards for his performance in “Uncut Gems,” and he proceeded to give a freaking hilarious victory speech. I’m not a huge Sandler guy but when he’s funny, he’s damn funny.

Here he pokes fun at himself, the other nominees (who all laughed uproariously), and his own career, while lapsing into some of his character voices.

It’s a 5-minute Sandler tour de force, and I absolutely loved it.