With Barack Obama kicking off his billion dollar 2012 campaign (that's billion, with a big, fat B) Republicans seem to be in a state of disarray, without a viable candidate to run against the Democratic Party incumbent. With most of the press firmly on the side of the Democrats (FOXNews being the exception), it's difficult to pinpoint anyone who could break through the general chatter and float to the top as someone whom the Republican National Committee (RNC) could run against Obama.
Here is my take on several of the candidates:
Mitt Romney
Romney is well spoken and, unlike Obama, actually understands how the economy works. Clearly viable to the RNC, Romney has several chips against him from the outset, not the least of which is the Evangelicals' and the Born Again Atheists' preoccupation with Romney's religion. If Romney were elected president, I fully expect the ACLU would sue the country for not representing a separation of church and state. Apart from that, the media has successfully labeled Romney a RINO, which should make him the perfect candidate in the eyes of the RNC. He's also been smeared with his connection to Massachusetts' health care bill - a point against him with the Tea Party.
Tim Pawlenty
Pawlenty may be the best bet for the RNC since he looks, acts, and talks like a Republican. He may even be able to convince the Tea Party to throw in with him. His greatest problem is his bland appeal. He isn't the candidate to excite a new generation of Republicans, or old Republicans, or middle-aged Republicans. Let's face it, he's just not that exciting - like I said, a perfect candidate for the RNC.
Sarah Palin
Palin is exciting to Republicans, if for no other reason than she's got a pretty face. She is not, however, exciting to the RNC who will pass her by for a more "electable" candidate. The nearly constant smear campaign from the media since her nomination for vice president in 2008 and her subsequent attempts to stay in the spotlight make her the universal whipping girl of the media, leftists, and Democrats. There's just something about a conservative woman that drives them to frenzy. Most think she really said that she could see Russia from her house.
Michelle Bachmann
While a Tea Party icon and a conservative woman, Bachmann has received the same media welcome as Palin. Admittedly, she's said some pretty silly things like she's visited 57 states with one to go or that she bowled 129 like in the Special Olympics....No, wait. That was Obama. Well, whatever she says, the media is right behind her to tell us how stupid she is. The RNC, however, won't touch her with a 10 foot pole because of her affiliation with the Tea Party.
Mike Huckabee
Huckabee's been pushing really hard for the RNC nomination, even to go so far as to have all records of his time spent as governor of Arkansas destroyed so they wouldn't come back to haunt him in his bid for the presidency. While the RNC may find this endearing, conservatives in the country will take exception to such an action. Huckabee could conceivably get the Christian Right behind him to propel him into the candidacy.
Newt Gingrich
Gingrich may be completely incapable of catching the conservative vote and therefore would be the RNC's most eligible candidate to run against Obama in 2012. There's nothing like an old, has been RINO to capture the imagination of the RNC.
Ron Paul
Although a clear leader among the Tea Party members who captures the flavor of discontent in the US today, he cannot win the nomination of the RNC because he is far too radical and libertarian. If Paul runs as an independent against the Republican nomination and Obama, he will likely split the conservative vote and usher in another four years of Obama.
There are others, of course, percolating up through the system but it seems clear that the RNC has quite a task in front of it to choose a viable candidate to run against Obama. It would be nice if the RNC would realize that it needs America's conservatives strongly on its side and choose a candidate who will best represent conservative values. Alas, the RNC will pick someone who will play political ball with the aging elephant.
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