The 2012 Republican candidates during the Politico debate.
It’s October and the Iowa Caucuses are going to be coming right around the corner pretty soon. State by state, the Republican Party will hold primaries, caucuses, and conventions to determine the next Republican Presidential Nominee. There’s just one problem: All of our candidates suck.
In alphabetical order:
Representative Michele Bachmann
Ask her any question and her answer is that she’s adopted nearly two dozen at risk children and she’s going to repeal Obamacare. When asked for specifics, she reminds you that she’s adopted nearly two dozen at risk children and she’s going to repeal Obamacare. The woman makes Sarah Palin look half-way intelligent. Her response to Cain’s 999 plan last night was to turn it upside down and find out that it’s a 666 plan. Brilliant (sarcasm).
Let’s put aside the fact that he believes all Muslims should have to take a special loyalty oath before working in government. Herman Cain simply lacks the understanding of Washington. For some, that’s a plus. Practically speaking, however, it means he lacks a fundamental understanding of the underlying problems in Washington. His prize 999 plan is a perfect example of this. If implemented, would it work to bolster the economy? Almost certainly. If implemented, though, it would likely face the fate Rick Santorum described for it in the Washington Post | Bloomberg online debate: the three taxes wouldn’t stay at 9% for very long. Cain argues that he would veto any tax hikes, but as one of the candidates pointed out, he won’t be President forever. If Cain had even a basic knowledge about the workings of Washington, he would know his plan is a bad idea.
To his credit, he’s outperformed the other lower tier candidates during the debates by being forceful at just the right times, making sure he gets his point across. The Cain train-wreck during the debate last night would have been a lot worse had he been as docile as the other bottom tier candidates.
Let’s put aside the fact that he foolishly backed Cain’s idea to require Muslims to take special loyalty oaths. Newt is easily the most intelligent and capable candidate in the Republican field. Every time he speaks during a debate, he runs circles around the other candidates. Some people say his lack of success is due to his being perceived as a Washington insider. Perhaps that’s true to some extent, but he’s been fighting the good fight before a lot of the candidates even considered themselves Republicans. The perception of being a Washington insider is really easy to overcome. The reason why he hasn’t overcome it is because he’s not trying. Seriously, he shows up for these debates and he’s virtually invisible until the next one comes around. Newt has next to no ground organization and, just as bad in this day and age, he has no online organization. (He doesn’t even have a .com web address)
A few friends and I all tried to reach out to Newt Gingrich’s campaign to offer our support when he first got in the race. We received no response. Since then, in addition to the attempts of other bloggers, I’ve tried reaching out to the Gingrich campaign on at least five different occasions, the last of which being a month ago. Still, no responses.
Newt is not taking this race seriously, so why should anybody interested in supporting him?
Former Governor and Ambassador Jon Huntsman
I’ve seen video of Huntsman inside and outside of the debate setting. To be perfectly honest, it just seems like he has a passive personality. Granted, that perception is probably wrong because you don’t get to be the Ambassador to China and the Governor of Utah by being a passive person. Still, perceptions are important; and when the economy is this bad, I have to believe the people want a President who is going to be a forceful leader. That’s not the impression one gets from Huntsman (or Santorum, for that matter). Obviously, Huntsman’s candidacy also raises the same concerns in me as Mitt Romney, relating to the dangers electing a henotheist as President while we are at war with radical Islam. I’ll detail that concern more in depth with Mitt Romney since most of you don’t care enough about Jon Huntsman to actually read this paragraph.
Vietnam Veteran Jimmy McMillan
Most of you probably didn’t know that Jimmy “RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH!” McMillan was running for President on the Republican ticket. That’s probably because he hasn’t been allowed at any of the debates. I’m assuming that’s also because he failed to make it on any of the ballots. In other words, it is statistically impossible for him to win. But that doesn’t change the fact that the RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH!
Ron Paul isn’t a Republican. He’s a French Anarchist who twisted his rhetoric to represent what he wants you to believe was the intention of the founding fathers. Of course, this representation is horrifically false and the vast majority of intelligent Americans recognize that. Ron Paul is a crack pot and a fraud.
I had really hoped Rick Perry was going to be the saving grace of the Republican Party this year. Instead, Rick Perry has turned out to be the Fred Thompson of this election cycle. No, Perry didn’t star on a hit crime drama on NBC. However, the job figures coming from Texas made him just as popular prior to entering the race. Like Thompson four years ago, we have seen how Perry can be a great speaker. Yet, we have also seen how horrible he is at thinking on his feet during debates… like Fred “um” Thompson.
Okay, maybe Perry isn’t THAT bad. Still, I doubt he could win a debate against President Obama and a lot of voters base their votes on the candidates performances during those debates.
Strangely, Rick Perry doesn’t own RickPerry.com – like Newt, he lacks a .com web address.
In the midst of this utterly incompetent field, Mitt Romney looks pretty damn good. Granted, that has as much to do with his excessive use of hair products as it does his silver tongue. Many of us involved in the 2008 campaign remember all too well how big of an ass Romney is. The liberal kind of ass. Sure, he’s been talking like a conservative since deciding to run for President about five years ago; but his record isn’t a conservative record. Also, there are foreign policy considerations that arise from his faith, as well. In my opinion, Mormons are no different from protestants. That point of view, however, isn’t shared by most in the Islamic world. That’s because Mormonism is a henotheistic faith tradition; which is a pretty big deal from the Islamic point of view. Despite the rhetoric you read from those bigots see on Facebook, Muslims are directed to protect Christians by the Holy Qur’an. Henotheism (the belief in the existence of more than one god), however, does not sit well within the Qur’an. The fear I have is that electing a henotheistic President could potentially serve as an unnecessary tool of propaganda to enlist Muslims, who were otherwise inclined to live in peace, into various terrorist organizations.
As I wrote above, I have as much respect for Mormonism as I do any other protestant denomination. And I really have no problem being represented by a henotheist or polytheist; whether that person is a Mormon, Hindu, or a worshiper of the Greek god Ares (Greek god worship might actually make politics more entertaining). However, given the fact that we’re trying to secure a lasting peace between ourselves and the Muslim world, I don’t think it would be prudent to elect a henotheist at this time in our history.
Plus, I really don’t like Mitt Romney, his record, or his excessive use of hair product.
I really think Rick Santorum should have run in 2008. With the pain of the 2006 elections still fresh in the minds of conservatives, the image of a man willing to fight and die by his conservative values would have been really attractive in the face of John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and Mitt Romney. Four years later, however, the people have all but forgotten how badly the Democrats slaughtered the Republicans in 2006. Now, Rick Santorum is operating on the false assumption that we remember how conservative he really was and how much he really did for the conservative cause while in the US Senate. Rick Santorum’s strength is in a narrative the majority of conservative voters have long since forgotten… a narrative he doesn’t have time to recreate because he’s too busy running for President. Rick Santorum is what a lot of Republicans are looking for, but they just don’t know it. Unfortunately for Santorum, he’s been unable to find a way to tell them.
Santorum is also a little bit too homophobic for my personal taste, but he’s done a pretty good job of keeping that rhetoric to a minimum throughout the course of this campaign.
DUDE! I totally forgot about that video! Its just as painful to watch now as it was back then! I seriously think you single handedly sunk his campaign with this video after it aired on FoxNews!
Classic KTracy! I love this post. It’s been a long time since I laughed out loud so many times reading one of your posts. Keep it up, boy!
Огромное вам пасибо! а еще посты на эту тему будут в будущем?
Да. Я люблю писать сообщения, подобные этим.
Bachmann almost impressed me when I heard her talking about the 999 plan. Until she started babbling about the “666″ bit, I thought she might have actually learned how to speak intelligently. Granted, the argument was mostly old talking points, but the idea that once you create a new revenue stream you’ll never get rid of it is true. Sadly, she blew it.
I more or less agree with the rest of your sentiments. The GOP is fielding a whole bunch of losers, and it’s pitiful. I’m glad to be an independent … I had assumed that I was going to vote in the Republican primary (being in NH, I’m allowed), but I don’t think it’s worth it. I don’t hate Huntsman, but it’s obvious that he’s going nowhere. I did read your paragraph, though.
I agree that Gingrich is the smartest guy out there, but I loathe him so much that, smart or not, he’d never get my vote. You’re right, though, he’s clearly phoning it in other than showing up at debates. I think he’s really on a book tour, more than anything else.
Being a Baptist, myself, I obviously disagree that henotheism is the same as Protestantism. (Of course, Baptist traditions predate the Reformation, but that’s a different story.) Romney is, though, a weasel. A weasel with really good hair, but a weasel nonetheless.
Actually, I didn’t mean to compare protestantism to henotheism. I use the term protestant to describe churches that are “Christianish” – or have originated as offshoots of the parent churches (Catholic and Orthodox), and have chosen to remove themselves from the communion of those churches. The only exception I generally make are for those schisms that took place prior to the Great Schism of 1052.
Being henotheist does make Mormonism unique as one of these offshoots, but they aren’t the first offshoot to come up with a new understanding of the nature of the divine.
Your a douche. Ron Paul is crackpot and fraud? All you did in your rant was attack him with out any evidence of any of the bullshit you said. What does the vast majority American recognize? That freedom and liberty makes sense? Go suck Newts dick you imbecile.
YOU’RE an ignorant ball of puss thrown away by society. Thanks for the comment, jackass.
Sheesh, you are right; what a pack of losers. What the eff happened to the GOP? Taken over by radical whiners who will never beat Obama. Sad, sad, what’s happened to the party of Lincoln. Well, at least the country will be safe for at least 4 more years from GOP control; we’ll never recover from Bush II’s disastrous reign, but at least the country isn’t stupid enough to put one of these dolts in charge.
I think Gingrich or Cain could possibly win if they ran strong campaigns against Obama. Santorum could possibly win too, he’s smarter than he lets on. Romney probably has the best chance of winning, though… as much as I hate to admit it.