Quarter billionaire and chronic flip-flopper Willard Mitt Romney is the conservative voter’s best bet in this year’s presidential race.
Romney, a man whose failed Senate bid, a mere four years as governor of Massachusetts and stint as a “vulture capitalist” at Bain Capital is small potatoes compared to how strong of a record all-American man John McCain had in 2008. In retrospect, McCain was a decent candidate, minus his decision-making skill where Sarah Palin was concerned.
Even those potential candidates McCain vanquished on his way to the nomination had better qualifications than the likes of this year’s Bachmann, Cain and Perry. Former Sen. Fred Thompson, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Gov. Mike Huckabee might not have been perfect, but they weren’t charged with embarrassing their party in the 2008 race.
A candidate like Huckabee didn’t have the qualifications, if you can call them that, of Newt Gingrich. A candidate like Huckabee did, however, have a clean and humble past. He had likability. You could respect him. A real Washington outsider, and former preacher, Huckabee was runner-up in 2008, which makes perfect sense in the Republican primaries.
Compare that to 2012, where the runner-up looks like it will be former ethics-violating speaker of the house, divorce-ridden lobbyist and known egoist Newt Gingrich. A real Washington insider and serial adulterer, Gingrich’s past is littered with missteps.
Why is the 2012 Republican field so weak?
Could it have been that Romney had such a head start and strong rapport that he scared off comparable candidates early on? Probably not, though he has been running since the minute he gave up his bid in the 2008 nomination.
There are actually a few reasons why the field was and is this embarrassing for conservatives.
First, and probably most important, is timing. The normal time to announce a run, early 2011, came during a rough period for Republicans. Obama had just given the order that put bin Laden at the bottom of the sea. The stimulus had started to kick in a bit and unemployment dipped. Obama, using his strong skills as an orator, gave an eloquent State of the Union, as always, and saw a big approval increase in the polls.
A potential candidate has to weigh his or her chances of winning against the public scrutiny (see: Herman Cain), time, vast amounts of money and overall stress of running for president. During early 2011 it looked like a very difficult task to remove Obama from his current seat. Romney was already fully committed to a run and had no plans of backing out no matter what Obama accomplished, but the rest of the field looking in from the outside got a bit flustered. By the time Obama slipped in the polls it was too late for those potential candidates to raise the necessary millions and orchestrate a national campaign strong enough to remove the incumbent.
Timing is also crucial in regard to the tasks at hand, mainly the economy. To get the nomination they have to preach to the now jobless, conservative base. Illegal immigration and abortion will only get them so far (Michelle Bachmann). After that, they have to confront the economy, which Republicans are finding it harder and harder to justify their failed rhetoric.
Not to mention they have been unable to run on their, now cliche, slogan, “Democrats are weak on terrorism.”
Secondly, why would any self-respecting politician join the ranks of a group that included Rick “Oil Slick” Perry, Crazy Eyes Michelle Bachmann, The Pizza Man, Santorum and a disgraced Speaker of the House?
The saying goes, “Don’t argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with the experience.” Mitt Romney learned that the hard way. Just look at the past 19 debates, and at South Carolina where Gingrich clobbered Romney with his “experience.”
The potential candidates not running this election, like Chris Christie, will always have another shot come 2016. The economy will have improved, as it always does after a recession, and they won’t have the task of unseating an incumbent with a $750 million re-election campaign.
For 2012, as one GOP strategist quoted by Capital Hill Blue, who refused to be named, put it, “You’ve heard of holding your nose and voting? Well, there’s no amount of air freshener that anyone can take to remove the stink of this field. There’s not an electable candidate or leader in the lot.”
