I have been spending a lot more time at McDonalds lately (they have a special on Big Macs right now, 2 for $3.50. too good to pass up). As regular readers know, my local McD has a nice big screen TV in it, always tuned to Fox news, so I have been paying closer attention to the Republican primaries than I ordinarily would have been (which would have been zero). It has been quite entertaining, and I would like to pass on some of my observations on the candidates. First, the defunct ones:
1. Donald Trump - Are you kidding me? What is really amazing is Fox news still actually listens to this guy.
2. Michelle Bachmann - The obligatory religious nut. Blamed the entire financial crisis on Obamacare, even though Obamacare was not in force in 2007. To prove she was a troglodyte conservative, criticized Rick Perry (see below) for innoculating girls against the human papiloma virus, saying it "took away the consequences" of young girls becoming sexually active. Yes, that's right, girls who have sex deserve to get cervical cancer. Fortunately there are enough sane Republicans left to bounce her from the campaign early.
3. Herman Cain - the pizza guy, who apparently had some problems with wandering hands (see Newt Gingrich below). A really rich guy, he devised a really nice tax plan to make the rich even richer. Unfortunately, his inability to remember anything about Libya (you know, the country we were bombing at the time?) did him in.
4. Rick Perry - It seems that the voters thought one George W. Bush was enough.
5. John Huntsman - who?
Now for the candidates still in the race:
1. Mitt Romney - Wall Street's candidate, he is the choice of the status quo. If he wins the nomination, it won't matter a lick whether he or the current President win, they both answer to the same "higher authority".
2. Rick Santorum - Taking the religious nut mantle from Michelle Bachman, and the war monger mantle from Trump, his only hope is to wait for Newt Gingrich to implode.
3. Newt Gingrich - This guy has baggage in his personal life that makes Bill Clinton look like the Pope, for which he blames the media.Has a serious problem with his temper. His answer to unemployment: "get a job". Food stamp recipients are a bunch of lazy whiners. I kind of hope he gets elected, just to see him eat those words.
4 Ron Paul - I was an enthusiastic supporter of Ron Paul in 2008, and while I support him this year, it is not with much enthusiasm. For one, he is really too old, he really does not want to be President, and he really has not addressed the root causes of the financial crisis (yes, he does blame the Fed, which is partially right), and thinks the answer is to go back on the gold standard (which begs the question, why did we have a Great Depression in the 1930's, when we were on a gold standard). He is the only candidate in either party who is not a war monger, and correctly identified why we are hated in the middle east. For that reason, there is no way in hell he will be nominated by the Republican party, even if he gets every stinking vote in every primary. If he does, be prepared for Sarah "I can see Russia from my house" Palin.
If you are looking for big change in the 2012 election, don't hold your breath. Remember the big revolution we had in 2010, that went nowhere? Or for that matter, the election in 2006 that went the other way? Nothing changed after those elections. A Libertarian acquaintance of mine once told me, "the only difference between the 2 parties is that one wants to drive us off the cliff at 100mph, but the other wants us to slow down to 99". I think he nailed it.
1. Donald Trump - Are you kidding me? What is really amazing is Fox news still actually listens to this guy.
2. Michelle Bachmann - The obligatory religious nut. Blamed the entire financial crisis on Obamacare, even though Obamacare was not in force in 2007. To prove she was a troglodyte conservative, criticized Rick Perry (see below) for innoculating girls against the human papiloma virus, saying it "took away the consequences" of young girls becoming sexually active. Yes, that's right, girls who have sex deserve to get cervical cancer. Fortunately there are enough sane Republicans left to bounce her from the campaign early.
3. Herman Cain - the pizza guy, who apparently had some problems with wandering hands (see Newt Gingrich below). A really rich guy, he devised a really nice tax plan to make the rich even richer. Unfortunately, his inability to remember anything about Libya (you know, the country we were bombing at the time?) did him in.
4. Rick Perry - It seems that the voters thought one George W. Bush was enough.
5. John Huntsman - who?
Now for the candidates still in the race:
1. Mitt Romney - Wall Street's candidate, he is the choice of the status quo. If he wins the nomination, it won't matter a lick whether he or the current President win, they both answer to the same "higher authority".
2. Rick Santorum - Taking the religious nut mantle from Michelle Bachman, and the war monger mantle from Trump, his only hope is to wait for Newt Gingrich to implode.
3. Newt Gingrich - This guy has baggage in his personal life that makes Bill Clinton look like the Pope, for which he blames the media.Has a serious problem with his temper. His answer to unemployment: "get a job". Food stamp recipients are a bunch of lazy whiners. I kind of hope he gets elected, just to see him eat those words.
4 Ron Paul - I was an enthusiastic supporter of Ron Paul in 2008, and while I support him this year, it is not with much enthusiasm. For one, he is really too old, he really does not want to be President, and he really has not addressed the root causes of the financial crisis (yes, he does blame the Fed, which is partially right), and thinks the answer is to go back on the gold standard (which begs the question, why did we have a Great Depression in the 1930's, when we were on a gold standard). He is the only candidate in either party who is not a war monger, and correctly identified why we are hated in the middle east. For that reason, there is no way in hell he will be nominated by the Republican party, even if he gets every stinking vote in every primary. If he does, be prepared for Sarah "I can see Russia from my house" Palin.
If you are looking for big change in the 2012 election, don't hold your breath. Remember the big revolution we had in 2010, that went nowhere? Or for that matter, the election in 2006 that went the other way? Nothing changed after those elections. A Libertarian acquaintance of mine once told me, "the only difference between the 2 parties is that one wants to drive us off the cliff at 100mph, but the other wants us to slow down to 99". I think he nailed it.
