- Glad to see your last sentence:
- "Unless, of course, the only choice is a progressivist Democrat."
- I am with Dennis Miller for Herman Cain. How about a Cain - Romney ticket?
Within those limits, I do think that we can do better than Romney.
Cain is an interesting choice, but very, very risky. He has no experience standing up to the palace insiders with poison for the king's ear. I like what he says, but would he stick to his principles?
For that reason, I think we need a governor, but one with principles. I just don't see that person, unless you count the Joker, the Smoker, the Midnight Toker, Gary Johnson. He's got A Single Principle: legalize, legalize, legalize, so he can't win.
Governor Jon (I-Speak-Mandarin) Huntsman believes in nothing that anyone can discern.
If you think about what has been happening, you'll see that Romney has been hanging in there, usually at 20-25%, most often at 23%, and various folks with Tea Party appeal pop up to challenge or even lead him, only to fall back. Think of Bachmann, for example, and perhaps now Perry. Once the spotlight falls on them, they shrink. Romney is up to the glare, but unappealing to conservative, non-establishment Republicans. He is saying nothing conservative that can be pinned on him later, as if laying the ground work for a later flip.
I remember that W was ineffective in his first few debates in 1999 and 2000, but he got better and better and better. Maybe Perry can do that. It remains to be seen.
I wish Newt could tame his attention deficit disorder, and stay on a conservative message. It's clear he could take the glare, but he's been plagued from the start with smartest-man-in-the-room syndrome. Somewhat puzzlingly, he, like Romney, has been to candidate school where they tell you to say nothing that the independents don't believe in their heart of hearts. Or in other words, say nothing. So he finds the smartest way to say nothing with which the independents can disagree: "No one ever washes a rental car," was one of his go-to lines once. Huh? He's so glib, and so bright, and so off base.
If only I could hear one of them say
- We can't be Greece, or Spain, or Ireland; we have no Germany to bail us out. We can't retire able-bodied workers at 50. We need their productivity. We can't give Presidential-quality health care to everyone. If we do, we'll go broke buying IPods from China, cars from Japan, and south-of-France vacations for the health care workers. We have to make stuff, even if the jobs are boring, or dirty, or somewhat risky. We can't all live in resort quality environments. And we can't stop burning oil or we'll starve. We have to stop stealing the earnings and investments of others, and giving them to our friends. We have to let individuals be free to make economic decisions and let them live with the consequences. We have to stop governing others and asking to be governed ourselves."
It's sad, but the Tea Party sentiment for smaller, more constitutional government -- and not the Depression era Supreme Court's constitution, either -- have been around for too short a time for the stand-up talent to master the sale. That's why Cain stands out. He's a believer. New on the scene. Reasonably eloquent. No experience. Probably not capable of handling the glare. But a true believer.
Who are our best salesmen? Marco Rubio, Pat Toomey, and maybe Jim DeMint. Eloquent believers all, but they're not in this race. Senators all, too, but I'd march through hell itself for any one of those guys.
I'm not sure I'm ready to take that heat for anyone in the current lineup.
