Did you watch the Florida Republican debates? well too bad if you didn’t because this was one of the best comedy shows I have seen in a long time.
There are only four men left in the running, and by the way they are all white, not that it’s crucially important to you but considering that the country has become so diverse I would have thought that the Republican Party would field a better non-white candidate than Herman Caine, but that’s just my opinion , you may have a different view.
CANDIDATES
(1) Ron Paul:
This lively older gentleman seem like a lovable grandfather who speaks in circles, he is witty, funny and really has a great platform that resonates with well with younger more idealistic voters, his challenge is, is the support he has enough to convince the Republican establishment to adopt parts of his platform into the republican general election platform? Dr. Paul a medical Doctor and congressman from Texas really is a libertarian, he favors small government and argues stridently for individual rights, republicans for the record favors states rights not individual rights. The largest handicap to Paul’s breaking through the glass ceiling in his party, is his belief that America’s military should not be used in foreign interventions, he wants all wars ended and all of Americas service members abroad brought home. This does not resonate well with The neo-cons in the republican party.
(2) Rick Santorum:
Rick Santorum two-time United States Senator from Pennsylvania is an ultra conservative who believes strongly in the protection of the state of Israel,he argues for a super powerful military and stated unabashedly that he would not cut a penny from the pentagon’s budget, even has he argues vociferously for cuts in sectors that impacts the lives of the most vulnerable amongst us. Santorum a devout Catholic is bullish on Immigration , he seem to talk himself into rages of anger as he addresses the causes he believe in, one wonders if Santorum’s totalitarian all or nothing views, are not his greatest impediment to being taken seriously, and by the way even though he claims he is a devout christian Santorum is a liar, he categorically claimed he did not say black people while addressing the topic of food stamps in Iowa, when there is ample video evidence that he did just what he says he did not do, I can understand a thief, I can always protect my valuables from a thief , I absolutely cannot stand a liar.
(3)Newt Gingrich:
Newt Gingrich former Republican congressman from Georgia and speaker of the House of Representatives for four years of the Clinton Presidency, a man widely believed to be a gringe, and a sour-puss. Republican establishment operatives believe Gingrich if nominated by the Republican Party would be a train wreck for Republicans come November. Many believe if Gingrich is nominated , not only will President Obama be returned to the White House, but it would be a disaster for down ticket candidates on the ballot all the way down to municipalities. Gingrich throughout his political carrear has been bedeviled with accusations of infidelity and has even been accused to have served his wife with divorce papers whilst she was in a hospital recuperating from an illness. Gingrich has vehemently denied these accusations, Gingrich has been married three times. In fairness to Newt it is not out of the ordinary for someone to be married multiple times, the disconnect is not with the amount of times he was married but with the reasons for the three Marriages. There are other baggage in Gingrich’s background including his threats to lock down the Federal Government over budget talks with the Clinton White House, many argue that it was a egomaniacal temperamental outburst from Gingrich because he was not invited by then President Clinton to the front of Air Force One neither on the way to, or back from Israel where they attended the funeral of slain Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Gingrich had all but agreed that he was peeved at the President and as such decided to punish the whole country because he was slighted. Gingrish was harshly criticized bu many even in his own party for being childish and petty.
Gingrich is also accused of hypocrisy for persecuting President Clinton for a sexual dalliance with White House Intern Monica Lewinsky while he was also cheating on his wife. According to Marianne Gingrich Newt’s second wife when she brought up Gingrich’s hypocrisy to him, he reportedly told her,” people should do as I says not as I do”. That air of superiority has been a part of Gingrich’s persona to the point Santorum accused him of always being grandiose. In the end Gingrich was literally ran out of the House of Representative by his own caucus over ethics violations. His arch nemesis Mitt Romney likes to remind everyone of the latter on the campaign trail.
(4)Willard Mitt Romney
Then there is former venture capitalist and ex Massachuset Governor Mitt Romney. Mister Romney did very well for himself in the business world, as a result he has pegged his presidential campaign on his experience and successes in business, he brags that as a venture capitalist he has created over a hundred Thousand Jobs. The problem with Mitt’s strategy is that experts are coming out of the wood-work explaining that what Romney did at Bain Capital, as a venture capitalist had everything to do with gutting businesses, taking all Bain could get then forcing the company into bankruptcy,and nothing to do with job creation.Texas Governor and former republican candidate characterized what Romney did as quote ” vulture capitalism“end quote. interestingly enough Romney does not talk about his record as governor of Massachuset one of the nation’s most liberal states.One wonders whether Governor Romney feels the nation will simply ignore that he is running as a conservative after being the Governor of one of America’s most liberal states. President Obama has repeatedly said his Federally mandated health-care plan was crafted from Governor Romney’s health plan in Massachuset. Romney has vehemently argued that he would not have imposed his plan on the entire country, whether this will gain traction in a general election I don’t know, what I do know is that it makes it increasingly difficult for Romney to draw a sharp enough contrast between himself and president Obama in an election year when the country is deeply polarized and the republican party has been pushed far to the right by the tea party. Romney’s republican rivals for the nomination are not making it any easier for him, Santorum in particular , has made it the cornerstone of his attack on Romney. Santorum feels that sooner or later Newt Gingrich will implode and he will be seen as the conservative alternative to Gingrich, hence he continues to plug away at the connection between president Obama’s health planned dubbed Obama-care and Mitt Romney’s plan in Massachuset dubbed Romney-care.
CONCLUSION
While the president was crisscrossing the country talking to workers about income inequality, and highlighting the inherrent injustice in the tax code which has Warren Buffett paying a lower tax rate than his secretary, republican mega millionaire Mitt Romney Newt Gingrich and the rest of the republicans were arguing about who had millions invested in Fannie May and Freddie Mac, or who would have a colony of Americans living on the moon by 2020 ‚never mind we are broke and borrowing money from the Chinese to pay our bills.
President Obama has positioned himself as a champion and a fighter for the 99%, whether his freshly populist message will resonate with a public weary from a sluggish economy, lay-offs, and forclousures is yet to be decided,there are many events which may beat Obama in the fall of 2012 , Europe melting down, Israel attacking Iran, a terror attack on the homeland, a major blunder on Obama’s part and a plethora of other events. If none of the aforementioned happen, President Obama will be guaranteed another term in the white house if this is the best the republican party can do.