by Debate after debate, advertisement after advertisement, confession after sordid confession, I have to really ask myself right now — does the Republican Party have any actual interest in winning the Presidential election next year? The answer seems to be no, and I submit the following reasons in the form of candidates past and present, whether actual candidates or just perceived by people (and the media) to be likely candidates.
Sarah Palin — whether it was her resigning from her post as Governor of Alaska half way through her term (she would be a great President to be woken up at three in the morning with a world crisis… unless she had just resigned) or making a joke of herself on a so-called reality television show that was an embarrassment to the state of Alaska and TLC, I have to wonder why she was considered to have any chance of winning the presidential election. I understand that she was basically McCain’s answer to Hillary Clinton in 2008 but even then it was more of a farce than a real campaign.
Michele Bachmann — effectively thinks of massive destruction and loss of life as a joke, has creepy eyes and clearly would rather see the country go down in flames under the current administration than try to actually do anything to help it.
Rick Perry — wrote a book about how Medicare, minimum wage, and other things on which people rely just to get by are completely unconstitutional. Goes on a book tour to promote this book. The moment he starts campaigning for President, all references to this book are hushed and it’s as though the book were not written at all. Doesn’t remember simple facts, like that the voting age in the United States is 18, not 21. He must have had alcohol on the brain at the time. Let us not forget that he also made a spiteful bigoted video in the name of religion.
Herman Cain — Nine nine nine plan? Nien, nien, nien! The plan is unworkable. Moreover, if the role of President of the United States requires a strong moral upholding, it helps to not have a woman come out of the woodwork every few days with accusations of sexual harassment or, even worse, a multi year relationship that allegedly had no real significance. He also pulls references from, of all places, Pokemon. As much as I do love Pokemon (gotta catch ’em all) this is hardly the place to draw presidential inspiration.
Mitt Romney — a multimillionaire that is hardly in touch with the people. The last thing we need is another McCain figure who, when asked how many houses he owns, says that he has to think about it. The people of the United States are struggling to get by — the 99%, that is. The kind of presidential candidate that makes ten thousand dollar bets with other candidates and, whether or not he lost the actual bet, lost by casually betting more money than the average family makes over the course of a few months. This is the kind of person that would not be a good leader for the United States.
Newt Gingrich — the first Speaker of the House to ever be fined by the House Ethics Committee — to the tune of over three hundred thousand dollars. Abandoned wives. He then went on to sign the Defense of Marriage act. He loves to make inflamatory remarks. He also used to get paid about fifty thousand dollars to speak for about an hour.
All this leaves me wondering — where are the real candidates — or are these all of them? Does the Republican Party have any interest in winning the election next year?
I think the GOP knows Obama is unbeatable. How many people will vote against history? I also believe the GOP sees 2012 as the “put up or shut up” moment for the radical evangelical wing of the party. The old guard has given the GOP over to the baggers — so when they fail, they can take back the party with a moderate vengeance. They’ll finally be able to say, “See? This hateful, religious speech doesn’t work. We’re going back to the roots of Abraham Lincoln.”
Then the GOP will hope to start fresh in 2016 — and between now and then — they’ll do everything they can to destroy Obama and the economy as a failing “told ya so!”
That’s quite a long time to wait. What if… gasp… president Obama actually mends the economy despite the opposition?
If that happens, then we’ll have 8 years of a Hillary presidency!
I read somewhere that Obama needs to drop Biden in 2012 and bring on Hillary as his Vice — and that would make him “bulletproof” for re-election and set her up to continue the democrat mandate.
That would be quite interesting. Morrissey sang that as long as America hadn’t ever elected a black, female, or gay president that it couldn’t boast about equality — that would make two out of three fulfilled!
Considering that under the Obama administration the national debt has increased more than all of the former presidential administrations combined, I would say the probability that he “mends the economy” will be rather small.
Politifact calls this only mostly true — depending on whether you consider the 2009 economy to belong to Obama or Bush, who set it up in 2008.
Nevertheless, this does not address the fact that the opposing party has not come up with a sufficiently good candidate.