Is there anything more astounding in this election cycle than the spiraling, out-of-control Republican party?

Remember that in 2010, they had a MANDATE. They were given direction by the American people, to lower taxes, shrink government and grow jobs. The Tea Partiers didn’t discuss moral issues, or government meddling in individual rights. No, they wanted what they saw as a bloated governmental system, from the federal level on down to the states, to be pruned back, like an out of control tree, so that it would be easier to maintain, cheaper to run, and less of a burden on the people is serves.

So fast-forward to late 2011 and early 2012, and across the country, the Republican party, on so many levels, has found itself sinking in a morass of its own making, seemingly forgetting the talking points that got them the power they had. Suddenly, they’re having to argue and defend moral issues: gay marriage and contraceptive coverage in health plans.

And it doesn’t help that their conservative punditry “allies” are playing into the controversy and talking about the talking points that the conservative candidates shouldn’t be talking about in the first place.

Just a year ago, I was fairly certain that Obama was destined to be a one-term president–the economy has marginally improved, we’re still fighting one war, and the president’s national health care plan has unfortunately only deeply divided the country.

But now, I really feel that it’s the Democrats’ race to lose. They’ve practically been handed a few slogans on a silver platter: the Republicans are out of touch with most of America, they hate women, and for the last two years, they’ve been nothing but divisive. We can only hope that they don’t screw things up and stay on topic.

And while I think Romney is the most electable candidate, it’s still astonishing how hard and nasty the fight has been between all of the candidates through all of this, though the only one who’s managed to stay largely above the fray has been Ron Paul. But the end result is that no matter what, the endorsing convention is going to be contentious as well, and those difficult conventions are hard for a party to come out of and head into just three months of campaigning.

So here we are heading into Super Tuesday, with the Republican party in shambles, and mainly blaming the media for the disaster that they may not have created, but certainly have blown up by continuing to simply open their mouths. And too much is out now to simply forget and put it all away…We’ll have to see how well they can refocus the electorate on their issues.

See you tomorrow.