The following editorial first appeared in the Chicago Tribune:
Casey Stengel, who managed the New York Mets in their inaugural 1962 season, when they set a record for losses, once said ruefully, “I’ve been in this game a hundred years, but I see new ways to lose I never knew existed before.” He could have been a voter, circa 2011, watching the Republican presidential field in action.
With the economy in an extended stall and President Barack Obama’s approval rating down, you might think 2012 would be an easy year for Republicans to recapture the White House. But handed a golden opportunity, they have been trying their best to hand it back.
What a change this crop of candidates is from those who sought the nomination in past out years. In 1996, the race attracted heavyweights like Sens. Bob Dole, Phil Gramm and Richard Lugar, as well as former Education Secretary Lamar Alexander.
In 2000, the contest featured such serious figures as Gov. George W. Bush, Sen. John McCain and former Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole. But this year’s campaign often resembles a remake of “The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight.”
In Wednesday’s debate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry couldn’t remember the third of three federal departments he wants to abolish — a gaffe that National Journal called “the worst stumble in the 51-year history of televised presidential debates.”
But in the contest to look inept, Perry has plenty of competition — such as former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, who leads the field in the latest CBS News poll in spite of himself.
He doesn’t seem to understand his own tax plan, and he has spent a couple of weeks defending himself against allegations of unwanted advances by four different women. In case anyone failed to suspect that Cain has retrograde ideas about women, he referred to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “Princess Nancy.”
Michele Bachmann? She won the Iowa straw poll, then went on national TV to claim that the HPV vaccine can cause mental retardation — a claim rejected by scientists.
Newt Gingrich might fill the resulting vacuum, if Republicans can forget his history of adultery and the ethics violation that made him the first speaker ever to be reprimanded by the House of Representatives. His irritable self-infatuation probably won’t wear well.
Rick Santorum has what is delicately called a “Google problem” stemming from his fierce opposition to gay rights — not to mention that an aide to John McCain once said, “In my 20 years in the Senate, I never met a dumber member.”
The most intriguing prospect appears to be a square peg in the GOP circle. Jon Huntsman shows promise. He’s a knowledgeable former diplomat who handles himself well before the public. He had a conservative record as governor of Utah, but because of his moderation on climate change and civil unions, many in the Republican Party regard him as a John Kerry impersonator.
Ron Paul’s support for legalizing drugs and slashing the defense budget make him a strong possibility for the nomination — of the Libertarian Party.
Mitt Romney has done well as a businessman and a governor, but he has done nothing to shake his reputation as a shameless flip-flopper. He went to Ohio before a statewide vote on a measure curbing the collective-bargaining rights of public employee and, when asked, declined to take a position. Then he endorsed it.
This stage of the campaign may be akin to when a new musical opens somewhere out of town, where its flaws can be identified and fixed before it goes to Broadway. There is still time to get things right.
Six months from now, one of these candidates may morph into someone who appears able not only to win the GOP nomination but make a plausible replacement for the incumbent president. But anyone who hopes to beat Obama had better show the American people something a lot better than what they’ve seen so far.
Comments (28)
Add commentAny of the Republicans would
Any of the Republicans would be a great improvement over the current regime,
We have not seen this level of economic incompetence, & hatred of America since Jimmy Carter.
Well conservatives...
...get ready for 4 more years of Obama.
But don't despair. He's turned out to be a better republican than even Bill Clinton was!
This'll be a fun election.
This'll be a fun election. I'm hoping they really just can't bear to go with Mitt and put someone crazy and stupid on the ballot like Michelle Bachmann or Newt Gingrich. But then they'll see the error of their ways and lose some of the insanity. If they go with Mitt, the natural conclusion these halfwits will come to when he loses to Obama is that they didn't nominate a crazy enough candidate, ensuring 2016 will be a spectacle for the ages.
Election
This will be the first election were the Republicans are laughed out of office more the they were with Palin running for VP!
Barring a split conservative ticket...
Obama is sunk. After 3 years of this clown, even the left can see that his exotic charisma and snappy sound bites no longer mask the incompetency of his hopeless change. He has managed to overturn congressional majority (with the help of his left leaning congress) by steamrolling the American public with a hurried and sloppy health care edict along with other rights killing legislation and adopted a war to call his own while signing our country on to more foreign conflict. He has systematically hugged our antagonists and insulted our allies. The only thing Obama can hope for is a divided right. And even the left could sink him given the right centrist candidate.
He overturned a congressional
He overturned a congressional minority that was abusing the filibuster.
I recommend being informed before you speak, skirkz. It does wonders for your credibility.
(also, Obama is about as centrist as they get--the most conservative Democrat in years)
most conservative Democrat?
most conservative Democrat? That's like being the tallest midget.
PP
Credibility? How many mid term seats did democrats lose? And Obama centrist? Flip-flopping and ticking of his electorate does not make him a moderate. It makes him wishy-washy.
Many of you seem to clouded
Many of you seem to clouded in political naivete. The U.S. does not have a liberal party like most other developed nations do. Our "liberal" party, the Democratic Party, is very similar in its political positions to conservative parties elsewhere. The Democrats are very similar to Britain's Conservative Party, for instance.
Second, skirkz, try actually looking at Obama's record. He passed healthcare reform similar to what Republicans suggested during Clinton's presidency. He hasn't closed Gitmo or stopped hunting terrorists. He hasn't raised your taxes. He hasn't strengthened EPA regulations (or really any regulations). In short, he hasn't done much to offend the right at all, except be a member of the Democratic Party.
So please, unless you have substantive criticism, kindly stop publicly shaming yourself. You aren't children, and you shouldn't act as such.
Even a generic GOP nominee
Even a generic GOP nominee polls higher than Obama.
Well, p, we're all Europe, aren't we? Cut all the bs, it's just laughable and lies.
I do have to give you credit though for fawning over BO's 'centrist' politics. We call him Mr. Vote Present. He just has all his czars and minions carry out the hard work. That way he stays above the fray - but only in his mind and his sheeples' minds.
The rest of us see right through it.
Oh my, what a difference a few years makes - "serious figures as Gov. George W. Bush". And we're supposed to take anything the liberals say seriously?
I'd vote for a doorknob at this point...
Generic nominees usually poll
Generic nominees usually poll higher than actual nominees because those polled get to project their own values onto the generic nominee.
Also, please point out any lies I've made, Calypso. It seems to me you're the only one who consistently says things that have been proven wrong.
Ron Paul isnt perfect but
Ron Paul isnt perfect but he's the best of the crowd by far. It would be nice though if he were awarded the same amount of time at the debates, mention by the media, etc as the other candidates. They ignore him and he is still beating the favored ones in the polls
Great to watch the 'publicans implode, huh?
I can understand why a lot of people are disappointed with Obama. I do think we all need to be aware of a few things.
He has not been President in the best of times. He took over when after republicans abused the system to enhance corruption and reduce their tax contributions at the same time - over decades.
If things didn't work out that well with Obama, what would it been like if any of these republicans present or recent past had been in charge? I won't even think of that road not taken, WAY to scary. We would be like Greece right now. And YES, it can happen to us. Especially here in Alaska.
We should not replace Obama until we have a BETTER applicant. As it is now, none of the republicans have half the intelligence of Obama, and no integrity at all. At least with Obama, he is intelligent, and is really trying to get things going. It is just that all the wheels fell off this apple cart at the same time. You want to blame Obama? Stupid.
What is really scary to me, is the corruption in our country. I am not naming any parties, but we are going to have to clean everything up and get straight, or it won't happen. Our political system will not work if corrupt politicians will not pass reform for the good of the country, blocking the corruption that is killing our economy. We cannot have a government based on greed.
Lie #1 - "He passed
Lie #1 - "He passed healthcare reform similar to what Republicans suggested during Clinton's presidency"
Truth - "The Republicans enjoyed a double triumph, killing (Clinton's) reform and then watching jurors find the president guilty. It was the political equivalent of the perfect crime."
Obama "hasn't closed Gitmo or stopped hunting terrorists" because he can't. So Obama lied.
"He hasn't raised your taxes. He hasn't strengthened EPA regulations (or really any regulations)."
We call them taxes, you call them fees. And they're higher on lots of things - banking and tobacco are two. Too bad he had to drop his Christmas tree tax! And he's always threatening to let the Bush tax rates expire but because of public pressure, he can't find a way to do it. Then there's the death tax and capital gains tax increases and lifting the cap on payroll taxes and healthcare taxes that are hanging out there ready to happen.
You've got to be kidding about the EPA and other regs - right? Just yesterday he increased CAFE standards for cars that may add $2000 to the price of the car.
"Since Obama took office, 75 new major regulations have been enacted, costing $38 billion annually, according to a study by the Heritage Foundation. "No other president has imposed as high a number or cost in a comparable time period," wrote James Gattuso, the study’s author."
So play around with words but it's costing more to live in America since he showed up.
Give me a break. When is
Give me a break. When is this "don't pick on BO" excuse going to end? Don't blame him, he inherited the problem. Things were a mess when he got here. It wasn't his war. The economy would have crashed anyway.....blah blah blah. The man stepped up and said vote for me and i'll fix this. I love how the minions won't let him take any responsibility for how things are going because he's only been on the job for 3 years. When he got elected, he was given a 4 year contract to get the job done. If we're not better off after his first term, why would anybody vote for a 2nd term?
Calypso, you didn't disprove
Calypso, you didn't disprove my "lie" in #1--you mentioned something completely unrelated, which is in of itself something of a lie.
And yes, he could close Gitmo with an executive order.
As for the rest of your statements, they're all unsubstantiated, fear-mongering predictions of doom. Sorry bro, but you are way off the mark. (and I did intentionally ignore your Heritage quotation--let's use sources that don't have an agenda to discredit the president, mmmkay?)
Once again, you prove yourself to be about as trustworthy as a snake oil salesman.
Gary Johnson
Sigh. They didn't even mention Gary Johnson. He's a two term Republican ex-governor of a traditionally Democratic state. He manages to be, IMHO, a perfect cross between Ron Paul, with respect to his fiscal policies, and Bill Clinton, with respect to his social policies.
www.garyjohnson2012.com
So, PP, why don't you just
So, PP, why don't you just let us know who you trust for your information. I'm sure whoever it is, it's entirely credible.
Man, I said all that without laughing!
@akbrdguru
I don't always agree with PP, but sources of Infomation are usually more reliable the Fox News or Brother Rush
waterboarding
Did everyone catch three GOP idiots proudly endorsing waterboarding?
Bachmann and Cain say it isn't torture and they would use it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzF8DOKkB0M
Rick "Oops" Perry defended it passionately too, but I can't find the video.
Just when you think these idiot candidates can't get any further to the right wing, they tell the world in essence, "If we suspect you are a terrorist, we WILL torture you!"
No wonder the world hates us. This is not what America stands for.
And I love it when they refer to torture as "enhanced interrogation techniques," something they learned from Dick Satan Cheney.
You republipukes must be very proud.
That sound you hear is the GOP imploding from their lunatics.
There is one other thing of serious concern...
..In addition to my previous post. I think Obama is the best and brightest available today, and also at the time of our previous election when Obama was elected. Presidents cannot simply 'fix' everything, no matter how much they want to. I am really exhausted of hearing simple people use the President as a scape goat to attach random criticism. They are like little children, who think daddy driving the car can never make a mistake, or get in a crash. There is always an 'ah ha' moment when the child realizes that daddy is just human after all, and that he is only dealing with the task of driving. Time to grow up folks. Things can go wrong, and any car can get in a crash, no matter who is driving. Remember who is on your side acting on your behalf.
LOL! - Lattitude58
You crack me up big-time, and I couldn't agree more! Makes ya wonder why the R's hate Obama so much, him being such a hawk AND a centrist...but ya know, they hated Clinton almost as much. Kind of a paradox... And all along I thought the stick-in-the-muds were just jealous that Clinton was gettin a little extra in the Whitehouse!
kpawsuh - When you look at Ron Paul
take a good long look at his wing-nut son, and perhaps like me, you'll surmise that Ron Paul isn't all that he's cracked up to be. The nut doesn't fall too far from the tree.
Obama just said...
he would "do everything he could, outside of the congress", in order to push his "budget". (there has been no budget for over 900 days under this man). does he even respect the constitution, (i know, a dirty word for a-moral liberals) ? does he know the three branches of government? he started as a constitutional lawyer before the unions snatched him up as an agitator. he can't be that stupid.
@Knapsack
It is the Republicans that are stalling the talks! They refuse to STOP the tax breaks for their rich buddies