A random and interesting thought keeps running through my brain. With the selection of Paul Ryan as Mittens' running mate, everyone seems happy that 'this election will be about something' and 'big issues' and 'strong contrasts' and 'two distinct visions for the country.' But here's my thought: what if the country sees the two visions on offer and wants neither of them?
It's pretty obvious to everyone by now that our political system is run by extremes. The extreme right versus the extreme left and moderates get primaried or just quit, frustrated at the hyper-partisanism and lack of common sense that seems to be par for the course these days in Washington. Father Cigar, being Republican seems to be convinced that a preference cascade is building and Mittens is destined to become President Mittens in an election landslide similar to 1980. He might be right.
But I also think Paul Ryan's frankly extreme plans for entitlements might go too far for a lot of the country and that could come into play as well. Conservatives have to be willing to share the pain, so far they don't seem to be all that willing picking on entitlements and PBS as their budget cutting targets. (Seriously, how much is cutting PBS going to save us? Like nothing. Let's end Pentagon waste and cut their bureaucracy in half. That will save us money.)
I'm going to be bold, because you can be bold in August and make a prediction. I reserve the right to revise this prediction on November 1st. Here it is:
President Obama gets re-elected (very, very narrowly) while the Republicans retain the House and take the Senate.
(I myself have yet to discover a compelling reason to vote for either Mittens or the President. Gary Johnson all the way!)
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