Last Monday, in New Hampshire, the Republican Party made it painfully clear they had neither the will nor the ability to offer any serious, constructive vision for where America should go in the short or long term. The lack of talent was truly frightening. As one half of our two party system the GOP has an obligation to offer a serious alternative. It is not only horribly disrespectful to the American public to show what you think of them by offering up the not ready for prime time players, it borders on criminal negligence. Their solutions don't have to conform to my viewpoint, or any one else's for that matter, but they do have to at least be serious with at least a pretense of credibility. I would like to offer some thoughts about the individuals that make up this brain trust known as the Republican field but first some observations about the party as a whole.
At this date we can't know who will be the eventual nominee, but we actually know with certainty all we need to know. First, the nominee will not be pro-choice. Using the issue of Planned Parenthood funding this person will also be anti-contraception. This candidate will be a threat to both the health and the earning power of women and can only be seen as anti-family. Second, the nominee will never see any tax, of any sort, as ever needing to be raised, in any way whatsoever. So rest assured, Wall Street and the wealthy, who aren't paying their fair share now, never will. Third, the nominee will be for the total repeal of The Affordable Care Act. Americans know this means the reinstatement of the controlling abuses by the insurance companies plus stopping the closure of the prescription drug cost doughnut hole to name just two things. Fourth, the nominee will want to end Medicare as we know it. This is a radical and extremist attack on the social contract. I'll go out on a very sturdy limb as say that the self serving nature of the Democratic Party will save Medicare. There isn't one single litmus test but rather a series of purity challenges and the party insists the nominee choose the politically losing side each time. The poker term for this is drawing dead.
One person will ultimately be chosen to compete way out of his or her league for the White House. Mitt Romney is the default frontrunner and a man who really will say or do pretty much anything to get elected. If Romney reminds you of a guy who once laid you off it's because he may well be that guy. No single figure in American politics has personally, singlehandedly cost more Americans their jobs than Mitt Romney, he's been the "Bain" of the American worker. He's like the nerdy, reactionary love child of Clark Griswald and Larry Kudlow. If the party is looking for the alternative to Mitt this early, they will probably find it. The thing is, winning a Republican primary as a member of a small, misunderstood religious minority is all but impossible. One out of three Republicans polled said they couldn't vote for a Mormon. So, how many Republicans won't vote for a Mormon? That's right, more than one out of three.
Tim Pawlenty also wants to be president. He had a chance to step up as the anti-Romney but if he won't say "Obamneycare" in front of Romney, then I don't trust him to say "settlements" in front of the Israeli Prime Minister. He's not just gutless, though, he also has some very unsound economic ideas as well.
The GOP doesn't like Romney's minority and they're lily white so I don't know what Herman Cain is thinking. He was so vague last Monday the only specific I caught was that he specifically disliked Muslims. Perhaps Cain should be welcomed to the NFL and he could be introduced to an NLRB investigation into the hiring practices of the businesses he has worked in because he has said some sketchy things so far.
Newt, the disgraced former Speaker, is in the race to bridge the gap between the crazy and the scary. His comments attacking the Ryan plan were welcomed by Democrats but he was actually contradicting himself. He was trying to end Medicare back in the 1990s. The words "wither on the vine " should ring some bells. At one point on Monday night he seemed to yearn for the good old days of Mcarthyism.
Of all the candidates in the race Michele Bachmann is definitely one of them. The so called experts now say she is smart and she is called a co-winner of the debate, I guess because she didn't say that Moses signed the Declaration of Independence. She has earned standing in the race by appearing more substantive than Palin. I don't get standing in the NBA by appearing more athletic than Steven Hawking. I can only assume that a twenty-three time foster parent with presidential ambition has had opposition research fully explained to her.
A cursory look at this field shows the appeal of Rick Perry. The fundraising reports in mid July don't necessarily mean much and Perry need not feel rushed. This thanks to the wisdom handed down in Citizens United. The corporate cash spiggot can be turned on at any time. I don't know why anything still surprises me anymore.