(Pic courtesy of Donkehotey ,via Flikr)
Bamf! I think that is all for Herman Cain. This week has been a real eye opener for the Pizza CEO and his rag-tag bunch of campaign staff. It seems this politics thing is harder than running a pizza chain or a bunch of Burger Kings, who knew?
If the sexual harassment complaints (which now might number three) and potentially illegal funding for his campaign by the Smoking Man were not enough, last night on PBS Mr. Cain showed his intellectual chops by playing the fear card with China. He warned that they had nuclear ambitions, which is true if we are back in the late 1950’s.
Yeah, that noise is his campaign imploding.
And then, of course, there is Rick Perry and his bizarre appearance in the Granite State. He was in the deep woods anyway for being so bad at debates, but that little….err… performance has just sealed the tomb on his presidential aspirations as well.
Looking all this it seems to me that all those who would be the Tea Party darlings are suffering from the curse of Sarah Palin. Remember Sarah Palin? The half-term governor of Alaska who could not just say which periodicals she read when asked a complete softball question by Katie Couric?
Ever since she was burned by that horrible “lame stream media” (which has to be one of the lamest put downs since I am rubber and you’re glue) she decided that she would only go on friendly shows, avoiding all press that she didn’t like.
This was a strategy that was tried in the 2010 elections, most notably by Sharron Angle of Nevada. She was actually tapped running from the press when she called a press conference then refused to answer questions.
It seems that even though Sister Sarah is not running she has put her mark on the GOP primary campaign. This concept that candidates not only can but should avoid public appearance where they have to answer off the cuff has gained a lot of traction.
The Perry campaign floated the idea that their man would not participate in any more debates after this next one. They have since realized that this won’t fly (or maybe that it doesn’t matter in the face of appearances like the one in New Hampshire and committed to the next five debates).
Herman Cain’s campaign has been taking this to a new level, as he has hardly been campaigning in the early states, merely hitting the debates and a few interview shows. Before this recent melt down of Fukishima proportions they were even talking about less exposure for the erstwhile front runner. After all he has barely been in Iowa for weeks and all the while his polling there is going up.
This is not just a strategy for the Tea Party favorites though. The Romney campaign has been doing everything they can to keep their guy from getting in from of the cameras as well, it is just they have not been talking about it.
Just by way of example, the former Governor of Massachusetts is the only Republican candidate to not have appeared on Chris Wallace’s Fox “News” show. sHe has not been on any Sunday morning show in months, and I am pretty sure it is not because he has not had invitations.
It seems that the only way that a candidate can be a front runner in the GOP primary process is if the people are not allowed to know him or her very well. All of which mirrors what happened with Sara Palin.
Back when she was just an Alaska governor with an ethics problem she seemed like the ideal person for the McCain campaign to partner with. She was younger, she was a Christian Conservative and she was an up and comer in the Party of Lincoln.
Of course as soon as she was trotted out she was revealed as a dim-wit who while reasonably attractive couldn’t come close to keeping up with the events of the day. Worse, from an general election stand point, she was willing to make things up and just say them without regards for the consequence.
Her success, in terms of adulation from the party base, in this regard seems to have tainted the whole party.
It is not really that surprising though. This is a party that has gone out of its way to make intelligence and education negative factors to their base. The whole “who would you like to have a beer with?” question has been taken to its logical yet absurd extreme.
The article of faith that you don’t have to be prepared to be a successful politician at the national level has left the Republicans with a goat rodeo for a nomination process. Even Romney, who has been running for nearly 6 years now is only barely prepared to be a candidate.
I think also comes form the Republican denigration of government in general. If it is something that is almost always wrong, then working to be good at it seems to be a paradox. They don’t want to be good at politics and governance, they want to burn the system down with a flame thrower, but to do that they have to be in office.
This is all good news for the re-election hopes of the Obama Administration. For all his disappointments to those of us to the Left of him on the political spectrum he is a better choice than anyone from the Goat Rodeo. Better yet with the candidate they are going to wind up with, Mitt Romney, there is every chance that this re-election will produce coat tails that will allow the Democrats to take back the House.
What is most amusing (in that sad, laughing out of pain not joy sort of way) is that even if the GOP crashes and burns this cycle they will not be able to escape the Curse of Palin. You see it is all based on being a believer who does not re-evaluate based on new evidence.
For those who suffer from the Curse there is only one path available, do the same thing only harder and more so. This will quickly lead the Republicans to the place where they really will be looking for a modern day Jethro Bodine to be their standard barer. Gods greater and lesser save the United States when we get to that point.
The floor is yours.