The four Republican candidates chip away at each other, but no “winning” Republican theme emerges from any candidate. Are we supposed to vote for Romney because he worked for Bain Capital? Newt’s time was long, long ago, if it ever was. Ron Paul espouses some good ideas, but then veers off into distant left field on some issues. Governor Perry was an embarrassment for the great state of Texas. Santorum sounds good at times, but his basic theme comes across as somewhat restricted. Besides, there is real doubt he would be a strong enough candidate to tackle Obama, even while wearing his sweater vest.
Then, in Congress we have John Boehner and Mitch McConnell promoting the Republican point of view. Both are seriously mild, even boring, in their approach and are terribly ineffective as speakers to Republican truth. The Tea Party made a splash a few months ago, but it now seems to have a diminished voice. Sarah Palin showed promise as a spokesperson, but lately her message sounds tired. Rubio, Mitch Daniels, and Chris Christie all come across better than the candidates we now have, but they refuse to go national. Who else can you name that speaks for the GOP? To show the extreme poverty of Republican noise, Donald Trump even gets media attention when he speaks on their behalf.
Barack has a disastrous record in every phase of Presidential behavior. In response, the primary Republican strategy has been to blame Obama for the poor economy. In so doing, they take the risk that this may improve on its own. Meanwhile, Obama gets away with despising the traditional America that has served us so well for so long. He apologizes to the world for past American behavior. He fails to endorse American values in situations like the Arab Spring. He plunges headlong down the dangerous path toward European style socialism. Shamelessly chasing voters, he promotes massive deficit spending on entitlements. Barack punishes the successful and rewards non-contributors. Obama’s overall approach is a total diversion from American exceptionalism. To my dismay, there is no discernable Republican response to this scary Obama program.
Meanwhile, Obama uses Air Force One and his teleprompter to tell us every day how great he is, and the media does its best to endorse his message. At best, the Republican reply is muddled and ineffective.
In summary, the Republicans give the impression they are not ready for prime time. They do not come across as a solid political force. If this is not corrected, their candidate will only attract the “loyalty voters” who won’t vote for Obama no matter what, of which I am one.
