Imagine if you will that you’re a Republican. Okay, maybe you are. So just keep on living your life. For the rest of you, work with me here. You’re now a temporary Republican…Or at least a conservative.
Now take a look at the field of candidates who have been assembled to try to appeal to you. Suddenly you’re terrified that what should have been a sure win next year is about to be some horrible joke.
Huh, wha?
Your two best candidates are turning out to be Mitt Romney or Herman Cain. After all of the Tea Party protests and the excitement over Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty and Newt Gingrich, it’s still shaken out to these two. And after Rick Perry jumped into the race and grabbed all of the attention for a while, even he is discovering that he has no idea how to run a national race. And now that Sarah Palin has pretty much ruled out running…
The party that bills itself of the party of ideas is now also the party without any guts. As much as they’re trying to govern using a tough line of not accepting “Obamacare,” and not accepting increased taxes and only balancing budgets through lower spending, you’d think they would really push for a presidential candidate who would stand for the same ideals. But instead, the front-runner right now is Mitt Romney.
You remember Romney, right? From 2008? The also ran to, of all people, John McCain? The former governor or Massachusetts? The former governor of a state that’s even more liberal than Minnesota? The man who has been consistently proud of the health care plan he put into place in his home state? Romney’s the safe candidate. He’s the true moderate who really won’t appeal to the whole party because they’re swinging further right and he’s firmly in the middle. But he’s more electable that way.
If I’m a Republican right now, I’d be very pissed off. Because whether I was a Tea Partier or someone more moderate, this candidacy by Romney basically negates two years of a platform built by the entire national party and carried down to all levels of government in the supposed Republican landslide of last fall. Plus, it lets Obama back in the race and might even make it much easier for him to get reelected.
Sure, you want someone who’s more appealing to a wider range of voters. But are you willing to give up the party platform to get that appeal? Have some guts and stick to your ideals. You can criticize Obama and the Democrats all you want, but they aren’t backing down.
Okay. You can stop imagining now. Sorry if I scared you.
See you tomorrow.