So where are we with this crazy Presidential Election coming up? Who's going where and who's doing what? The latest rundown:
Trump is out.
Huckabee is out.
Newt is in- but promptly pissed everyone off by saying this. More on that later.
Romney raised a shit-ton of money. More on that later too.
Bachmann continues her flirtation.
Ron Paul is in.
Also in the mix: Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, Buddy Roemer, Fred Karger- did I miss anyone else? Oh yes- Jon Huntsman? Whatever his name is- the guy who used to work for the President.
In other words, this is descending into a free for all. Trump wanted attention, but Huckabee bowing out opened this race wide open and there's any number of people who can emerge on top of this mess and at this point it's anyone's guess. Some of the heavyweights:
Newt: said something very interesting- the quote in question is as follows
"I don't think right-wing social engineering is any more desirable than left-wing social engineering," Gingrich said, calling the plan "too big a jump" for the country. "I don't think imposing radical change from the right or the left is a very good way for a free society to operate."
This was in reference to GOP Superstar Paul Ryan's budget plan cutting Medicare especially hard and pretty much everyone of consequence within the Republican Party has spent every waking moment jumping up and down on Newt's head for it. But I LIKE THIS QUOTE! There is nothing fundamentally wrong with this quote and it's 100% a correct thing to say. The government should not be social engineering PERIOD. I don't care who does it- and radical change isn't necessarily a good thing.
I remember Newt as a whiny, well, kind of a dick from back in the day- but I give the man mad props for this. My personal yardstick of how to measure a candidate is not how much they attack the other party, but how much they're willing to stand up to their own party. You can jump up and down on the heads of your enemies with ease- but how many are willing to stand up to their friends? That's the really hard part.
Romney and his cash: he raised 10 million dollars in one day. That's awesome, but money doesn't equal a win. It helps, but he still passed a health care plan with an individual mandate and he's still a Mormon- that latter fact is a sad reflection on parts of the Republican Party, but it matters to a lot of them. I still don't think he's going to win.
Oddly enough, right now at this very second, Tim Pawlenty looks like the guy. He's a solid conservative, governed a very blue state for 2 terms and seems to be a pretty likeable guy. Only downside I can see is that he's going to have to struggle to get noticed a bit- but Iowa is right next door to Minnesota. He can visit us whenever he likes.
There are some big, gaping holes and questions that I expect will be answered by the end of the summer though. They are as follows:
1. What is Mitch Daniels going to do?
2. What is Sarah Palin going to do?
3. What is Michelle Bachmann going to do?
Daniels would make all the policy wonks in the room weak at the knees and he seems to have impressive ideas to bring to the table- which we need. Sarah Palin is a mystery, wrapped in a riddle, surrounded by an enigma- at this point I don't know if she'll run or if she does, what impact she'll have- which brings us to the third question: Michelle Bachmann.
I don't particularly like her, but if there's one potential candidate that could go sky high now that Huckabee is out, it's Bachmann. She's got solid social conservative credentials AND Tea Party crossover appeal which could be a potentially deadly combination in the race for the GOP Nomination. She does stick her foot in her mouth occasionally, but she's flown under the media radar for quite awhile so has yet to become as toxic as Sarah Palin is. Some people might argue Santorum could benefit as well, but I think he's been out of the game too long and you should Google him. Seriously. Do it. And you'll see what other problems he has.
My presumed top 3 at this point in time:
Bachmann
Gingrich
Daniels
...and not necessarily in that order.
Miss Cleo will see y'all in August. Have a great summer!
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