Autumn has officially ushered its way into our lives and we know this because of the calendar. The calendar does not lie! It’s not like there’s a lot of wiggle room for truth to be mired in falsehood regarding the calendar, but at least we know where we stand whenever we look at our wall calendar. Only a fool would look at a calendar on October 1st, but insist that it’s really September 21st!
If we agree that a calendar gives us information regarded as simple truths to consider and reconcile then can we also agree that the recent GOP debates have also given us information that we can regard as truth?
As it is with every election cycle (for presidential elections), the field begins as an overly crowded meet-and-greet session similar to something you might see at your local Chamber of Commerce. It’s cordial…it’s nice…it’s a way to simply get a read on the basic character of the candidates. We could also agree that the first debate is usually a complete waste of time! Once we’ve had enough time to develop a feel for the men and women on the stage, the debates start heating up and candidates begin separating from one another. It’s during this apparent separation that we usually start becoming annoyed by the fact that some candidates don’t know when to “exit stage left”! Personally, I think it has everything to do with ego instead of intelligence. I don’t think these people are stupid or simply unable to recognize that they don’t stand a chance in the primaries, but I do think that their egos are so large it becomes impossible for them to enter a room without having a carpenter on-site to build a bigger doorway! To me, this is worse than being unable to recognize their minimal chances of victory because it indicates that they see themselves as something MORE than they really are. They view themselves as MORE important than the rest of us. They think that their voice is MORE worthy of being heard than the next person’s. All in all, they just think that they are the only person in the room and insist that the reason the poll numbers aren’t favorable is because the wrong people are being polled. This is troubling, but it’s not just a GOP problem. It’s a political problem.
The thing I appreciated the most about Mitt Romney was that he bowed out (during the GOP presidential primaries in 2008) after it became obvious he wouldn’t be able to overtake McCain. Huckabee, on the other hand, stayed in the race until the very end eventhough he was less popular than a viral infection! Talk about an ego!
There are a handful of GOP hopefuls in the current battle for the nomination who need to simply GO AWAY! Why they are still knocking on doors, shaking hands, and kissing babies in order to raise campaign funds is beyond me…but I have a pretty good idea why they don’t give it up. It’s because their ego won’t let them.
With the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries only a few months away it is high-time that the field started dwindling down. The people who need to pack it up and GO HOME are: Santorum, Johnson, Ron Paul, Michelle Bachman (yes, that’s right…she needs to go home and never come back), Huntsman, and maybe Gingrich. The only reason I’m half-and-half behind the idea of pulling the plug on Newt Gingrich is because the guy truly has a tremendous amount of intelligence along with some really good ideas, but he just doesn’t have the full faith and support of the masses that he would need in order to win. I think more and more people are beginning to lean towards Gingrich, but it may not be enough and it may not be soon enough! The rest of the people I mentioned absolutely need to step down and give it a rest. No question about it.
I know that Bachman won the Iowa straw poll, but that doesn’t mean a damn thing! Besides, it’s nearly a scientific fact that the caucus voters of Iowa have a combined I.Q. of 63. I don’t know what their problem is (Iowans), but they have started a tradition of not only embarrassing themselves, but consistently picking the WRONG person! Is it possible that there is some tomfoolery going on at the caucus locations in Iowa, which would explain their mind numbing decisions? For the sake of Iowa, I actually hope that’s the case and that they’re not really as silly as they appear to be! The point here is that no one cares who won the straw poll especially if that straw poll was conducted in Iowa. Michelle Bachman is sooooo out of her depth as a presidential candidate that it actually makes me believe that my next door neighbor could do just as well. I know she’s in congress, but that doesn’t really qualify her for anything other than a name tag. If she doesn’t quit getting botox injections then her face is going to end up looking like Nancy Pelosi’s! Stop it, Michelle! Please! I love your passion and support the work you’ve done in congress, but it’s time for you to go home.
Ron Paul is an interesting man. The ideas and commentary he has regarding the current course of our country is absolutely perfect! His straight-forward approach towards the constitution and the role of government is beautiful! Everything this man says about domestic policy is nearly flawless and it’s a SHAME that every single political leader in our country doesn’t see things the same way as him. You might be wondering why I’m advocating for Ron Paul to step down and go home after I just lauded his genius understanding of government! Well…if being president meant that you only have to worry about domestic issues then Ron Paul would be a godsend. Unfortunately, there’s a lot more to the job than just domestic governance and this is where Ron Paul falls short…way short! His international policy understanding and ideas are awful and irresponsible. In fact, I would go as far to say that he is completely unbecoming an American presidential hopeful simply because of his horrid mindset regarding everything international. It’s almost painful to hear him speak on anything except for the consistution (partly because he’s so far off base and partly because his voice is excruciating and piercing). Could you really imagine Ron Paul as the American president? Can you imagine listening to his State of the Union as he whines about things he’s unable to get through congress? His high-pitched whinning is enough to disqualify him as a serious contender because there isn’t a government leader in the world who would be able to take him seriously. The best role for Ron Paul is as a presidential advisor…no doubt about it. I would personally feel incredibly comfortable knowing that he’s in the ear of the president giving him advice and steering him in the right direction. In fact, I would personally beg the next president to hire Ron Paul as an advisor if I only had the chance. I love what Ron Paul stands for and appreciate what he’s done over his lifetime, but it is time for him to pack it in and go home.
Rick Santorum seems like a principled man and I find it hard to to not like him. He comes across as an individual who would rather die on the hill of integrity than live in the valley of compromise. He has a presidential stature, but that’s about it. He simply has not been able to differentiate himself from the rest of the field and has not really proven that he’s the one person who could beat Obama. It doesn’t do him any favors that his only real leadership experience comes from being a congressman, either (which is the same problem Bachman and Paul have; no real leadership/executive experience, which is essential in my opinion). He may be a swell guy, but it’s time for him to say “bye-bye”.
Gary Johnson…well, enough said. The guy has a better chance at becoming the starting quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts than becoming president. He seems like he’s constantly lost; can’t take him seriously; has absolutely no support from any measureable demographic. It’s time (and it’s been time for a while now) for Gary Johnson to go back to wherever he came from.
Gov. Huntsman has never had a chance and I think he knows it. In my opinion, Huntsman is running for 2016 (in case Obama wins re-election) or 2020. I think he’s just trying to get his name out there so it will be a little bit easier to raise money and develop a following for the next time. It seems like he’s done a fine job as governor of Utah, but I personally think it would be pretty hard NOT to do a fine job as governor of Utah. The state legislature in Utah is solid and principled so I can’t really say that his job performance is all that impressive. How would he have done as governor of New York? New Jersey? Massachussetts? Better luck next time, governor…your time as a presidential candidate has ended. Go home!
There are three people who have not entered the race that warrant mentioning: Chris Christie, Donald Trump, and Sarah Palin. All three of these individuals are impressive and worthy of respect, but none of them deserve to be in the race. That’s right…I said it…NONE of them should enter the race! I think it’s obvious why “the Donald” should stay put in his Manhattan megapartment, but it would have been interesting hearing him in one or two of these debates. He’s just not someone we can take seriously and some of his ideas are flat out stupid (like taxing Chinese imports with a 50% tarrif…that’s just ignorant and dangerous). Chris Christie is an extremely interesting individual, but he does NOT have the body of work necessary for someone wanting to lead the free world. He’s only been governor for a couple of years and hasn’t really been able to show us what kind of political leader he would be. Sure, he’s taken on some pretty powerful labor unions in New Jersey and seems to be a guy who could care less what others think/say about him, but who is he…really? From what little I do know about him I haven’t been very impressed. I’m not convinced that he’s a conservative and I absolutely refuse to support a man who can’t convince me he’s a conservative. However, I do LOVE how he went head-on against some very crooked and powerful labor unions in order to help get his state’s finances in order. His battles with the teacher’s union are epic! Governor Christie needs to develop a track record and prove that he’s a conservative. If we leave him alone and give him time to govern New Jersey then there’s probably a good chance that in 2020 he’ll be primed and ready to take the reigns. If we step in and pressure him or insist that he runs now then the odds are heavily weighted against him that he’ll turn out like “someone else” who stepped into national politics after only a short period of state/local leadership experience. I don’t want to ruin Chris Christie because I think he has a TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF UPSIDE and could potentially be an exceptional American president. He is wise for sitting this one out and I hope that he doesn’t cave to pressure by suddenly jumping into the race.
Sarah Palin is something that I’m glad I haven’t had to talk about very often lately. Honestly, I like Palin. I really do. I think she’s a bright, solid, and stalwart leader of conservative principles…BUT she carries a tremendous amount of baggage with her. No one in history has endured more media scrutiny (unfair media scrutiny) than Sarah Palin and I admire her for dealing with it as well as she has. I find it to be extremely disgusting to see how mean people are to her. For some reason, public figures think it’s okay and acceptable to be ridiculously vicious towards her (and her family) and I don’t know why that is!? Why does Joy Behar think it’s acceptable to call Sarah Palin vulgar and disgusting names that you’d likely only ever hear in a junior high locker room or a Spike Lee movie? It’s completely unbecoming of a human being and completely uncalled for, but it is what it is. Palin has been able to make a TON of money from her recent celebrity status, however. It’s not like she’s just a victim because she’s been able to steer all of the vitriol towards her into a marketing campaign that has helped earn her millions of dollars. I don’t feel sorry for her. Not one bit. She could step out of the lime light and fade away into obscurity if she wanted to, but instead she chooses to jump head first into the fray. She also stirs things up, but not enough to warrant the type of treatment she’s recieved. Not even close.
While I said that I respect and appreciate Sarah Palin, I have to say that I will NEVER support her should she decide to run for president. The simple fact that she QUIT after serving only half of one term as Alaska’s governor tells me that she’s not even close to being ready, nor should she be given a serious consideration. I don’t care what her reasonings behind the decision were, either. The point is moot that she was being sued for silly stuff! The fact still remains that SHE QUIT after the people of Alaska hired her to lead them! I think that Sarah Palin started to feel too big for her britches and has allowed her ego to dictate some pretty big decisions in her life. Besides, I could never vote for a person who had their own reality TV show (sorry, Donald Trump). Sarah Palin is a better fit for “The Real Housewives of Anchorage” than she ever will be for Pennsylvania Avenue. If Palin decides to jump into the race this year then I will have lost ALL respect for her. Period. She should know that she is way too polarizing to ever be elected in a general election and that the media coverage of her would be so biased that her chances would evaporate like a rain drop in the Mohave! She could potentially win the nomination, but she could never win the general. She has to know this! How could she not? If she were to win the general election and become the next president then how do we know she won’t quit after two years once things get tough? Nope. Can’t do it! I like her, but I’ll never vote for her UNLESS she were to run for Senator of Alaska, serve at least one FULL term (but I’d feel better if she served at least two terms), created a solid track record of conservatism, and quit being such a prom queen when it comes to media attention (no more reality television shows, no more books, no more exclusive Fox News contributions, etc…)! If she were able to do all of that and still be able to retain her unique identity then (and only then) I would give her my full faith and support to run for POTUS. I highly doubt she’d be able to accomplish those things. I personally feel that she’s in love with attention and enjoys making a lot of money, which I’m more than fine with. In fact, I hope she continues to make a lot of money doing what she’s been doing because she is doing an excellent job being a voice of reason for conservative ideals. She’s doing a great job vocalizing her dissent over King Obama’s insane leadership decisions! She has a bull horn bigger than anyone else’s and I hope she keeps using it. She could be a very loud and unavoidable voice for the conservative movement in the decades ahead. Please, Sarah, stay where you are and leave national politics to someone else!
The remaining names on the GOP list are: Herman Cain, Rick Perry, and Mitt Romney. Unless I’ve forgotten about someone then one of these three men will be the nominee of the Republican Party come 2012. It’s the responsibility of these three men to convince us why we should vote for them and send one of them to hopefully send King Obama to the unemployment line! Our country needs to get rid of King Obama more than anything else in recent history and we can NOT afford another four years of rudderless leadership from a quasi-socialist progressive! I honestly, truthfully believe that America will cumble (not literally, obviously) into ruins if Obama is elected to another term. His tax policies alone will be enough to send us over the edge not to mention his irresponsible desires of social engineering! We will no longer be the hope of the earth if King Obama isn’t dethroned during the election of 2012 and I’m glad I’m writing this so it will be on record. We are being steered towards social and economic destruction under the leadership of King Obama, Hairy Reid, and Nasty Pelosi…all because of their inverted top-down approach of social justice. These people are infatuated with nonsensical and radical ideas of forcing everyone to be “equal” that they are willing to destroy the fabric of America. Instead, they want us to become like Europe (as if Europe is some sort of blue print for social, economic, or political success) and the policies they have implemented and/or still want to implement are PROOF of such! I believe that Herman Cain, Rick Perry, or Mitt Romney can beat King Obama in the general election next year and I believe that either one of those men would be a TREMENDOUS UPGRADE in leadership and responsibility. King Obama is so far out of his element (he’s out of his league) as president…and, personally, I think he knows it. In fact, I think he’s known it all along! He was so underprepared to be our country’s leader…so disqualified to be the Commander in Chief…so inexperienced to lead the free world…but he ran because he saw an opening and the opportunity. It was perfect timing for him. Nothing more; nothing less. The American people were STUPID enough to buy the bullcrap he was peddling because they were simply exhausted with things in general.
Herman Cain has more intelligence and real-world experience in his left leg than King Obama has in total accumulation! On paper, Cain looks extremely attractive as a presidential candidate (nearly as attractive a candidate as Romney) and has accomplished a great many of things. His “9/9/9” tax plan is GENIUS and I’m positive that he’d be able to get it through congress should he get elected. In fact, it’s because of his “9/9/9” plan that propelled him to the top of my list! I personally think that his tax idea will be the single most effective plan ever presented by a president and will turn our current recession into a vibrant boom within one quarter! I’m dead serious, too. Politicians have no idea how seriously the current tax oppression affects our economy and citizenry. The funny thing about Cain is that liberals hate him because he’s black! They feel so offended that he’s a conservative republican instead of a clock-punching drone (i.e., liberal progressive democrat)! They think that all black people should be democrats because it’s the democrats who give them stuff. I find it ironic that the left hates Cain.
Rick Perry is somewhat of an enigma being that he’s so new to the race and doesn’t really have a public history. I’m personally uneasy with Perry for being so public with the way he worships God. In the past, I’ve always had a motto of staying far, far away from politicians who wear their brand of Christianity on their sleeve. Mike Huckabee did it and it made me sick to my stomach. There is no way I would be able to trust a man who literally used his faith in God to convince a person to vote for him. I don’t like it and it doesn’t sit well with me, but I’ll continue to give him a chance in hopes that he’ll quit using God as a political prop and instead focus on his platform and ideas. He has a lot of work to do after admitting that he thinks it’s a good idea to give state money to the children of illegal immigrants in order to attend college! If he’s serious about that then there’s no way I can support him. That’s completely assinine! He also faces the kind of challenge John Huntsman would have if he were a more competitive candidate: he’s the governor of an already solid and well-managed state…Texas. The Texas legislature is, like Utah, solid and principled. It would be kind of hard to screw things up in Texas so for him to run on the platform of being a governor of a successful state is pretty disinginuous. The only thing Perry really has (or the only thing Perry can legitimately do from here on out) is to clearly outline his ideas that would turn things around in our country and save us from the disaster that is Obama! If he’s unable to do that then he’ll end up going back to Texas to serve the remainder of his term.
Mitt Romney has the most to lose in the GOP field of nominees. He’s been the clear front-runner since King Obama took the throne in 2009 and I can only imagine the pressure he’s felt since that fateful day in January. He ran a great campaign in 2007-2008 where he pretty much came out of obscurity and burst onto the scene! His credentials are second to none, which is where his strengths are. It would seem that Mitt Romney is the closest comparison to Midas, whose touch turned things into gold. Everywhere Romney has gone and everything he has done ended up as a tremendous success, which has to put a smile on your face since he COULD be our next president! The man is ridiculously poised, well put together, extremely disciplined, and pefectly experienced to be an American president…he’s almost the ideal candidate if you think about it! The only blemish on his overall spotless and stalwart record is the Massachussetts health care law, which he passed as governor. According to King Obama, it was his (Romney’s) bill that they used as a blueprint for the great American crap sandwich that is “Obamacare”, but according to Romney they NEVER contacted him about the bill, nor did they ask him about the process it took to get it passed; according to Romney, the infamous crap burger that is “Obamacare” has significant differences, should NOT be compared to the bill he passed, and is unconstitutional to try and implement on a national level; according to Romney, the first thing he will do as president is repeal the crap stain that is “Obamacare” and not rest until it is done! That’s good enough for me! The thing people have to understand about Romney’s universal health care bill that he passed in Massachussetts is that THE PEOPLE OF MASSACHUSSETTS WANTED IT! The state legislature was hell bent on creating a state-wide health care law and nothing was going to stop them from doing it. If Romney threatened to veto then they would have simply waited until his term was over and then implemented it the day after he was out of office! So, what he ended up doing was sensible and well-reasoned…not to mention practical and judicious. He decided to go ahead and help the legislature create the most competitive and market-based health care plan possible (well, as good as one could hope to create given the circumstance and given the fact that such an idea isn’t really market-based). He was able to use his business analytical skills to devise a strategy that enabled individuals and businesses to purchase health insurance at reasonable rates. Because of Romney’s plan the state of Massachussetts is the most insured state in the country (99% of MA residents have health insurance) and during the time Romney was in charge the plan operated under budget. Since Romney has left and Duvall Patrick took over as governor, the plan has become a bloated entitlement and has become extremely expensive. Had they kept the failsafes in place and operated it responsibly then it would have ended up being a plan/idea that MA residents could be proud of. Instead, it has become a burden. It just goes to show you how poorly the management skills are with idealistic liberals. Personally, I don’t have a problem AT ALL with “Romneycare”. I really don’t! I say that for two big reasons: first, it was something that the people of Massachussetts wanted; second, it was confined inside the borders of a single state and had nothing to do with the country. It was a state solution to a state issue and Romney will be the first to say that the plan would NEVER work for the entire country! In fact, he doesn’t want anything from his former plan to ever have anything to do with the country! So, what’s the problem? Where’s the controversy? Why do so many conservatives have a problem with this? It’s not like he thought it would be a good idea to force residents of MA to purchase health insurance and also wants to do the same thing for all of Americans! It’s the exact opposite, in fact!
So, if this healthcare issue is the only thing that could be construed as negative for Romney then I think the odds are in favor of him being the man who will run against King Obama. To put things into perspective, I think the GOP could do much, much, much worse, but probably couldn’t do any better. Who’s a better all-around candidate than Mitt Romney? Who? Is Rick Perry really a more accomplished candidate (even if he sincerely believes that “you don’t have a heart” if you disagree with his plan of giving state money to illigal immigrants in order to attend college)? It was Rick Perry who took money from a pharmaceutical company and then signed an executive order forcing 12 year old girls to get vaccinated for HPV (while giving the contract of those vaccinations to the same company he took money from). Who has the highest chance of creating a controversy or scandal when in office? Romney or Perry? If my main issue is voting for someone I can trust not to get involved with a scandal and/or voting for a man who has principles evidenced by the way he has lived his life then my only (legitimate) options are Herman Cain or Mitt Romney…and I’d be happy with either of those two gentlemen! To be honest, I’d be happy with ANYONE other than King Obama and I will vote this time for WHOMEVER is running against Obama even if it’s a marble statue of Homer Simpson! I didn’t vote for president in 2008 because I refused to vote for the “lesser of two evils”. I didn’t feel comfortable voting for a horrible candidate (McCain) just because I didn’t want to vote for an even more horrible candidate (Obama). In 2008, I felt like I had to choose between a shot to the head or a shot to the chest. I try to be a principled voter because at the end of the day I have to be able to sleep at night and reconcile my decision (which I take seriously). This time around I vow to support whomever is running against Obama because I love my country and I desperately want my children to be able to enjoy their lives as they get older. If we don’t get King Obama out of office then things will spiral so far out of control that our children and grandchildren will NEVER know America the way we knew her.
The ideal situation (in my mind) would be for Mitt Romney or Herman Cain to be at the top of the ticket and Gingrich, Rubio. Christie, Paul Ryan, Mike Pence, or Santorum at the bottom of the ticket. Hell, I even think Jeb (Bush) would be a great pick as a running mate, but there still might be too much emotion connected to his last name. I like Jeb.
I sincerely believe that Herman Cain OR Mitt Romney are more than capable of turning things around in America. I believe that they’ll provide stalwart leadership (something we haven’t seen in several years), a clear path to recovery, a realistic (and drastically necessary) tax reform policy, strong military objectives, and hope. Yes, that’s right…I said it. Hope. I absolutely believe that Romney or Cain will institute hope into the hearts and minds of most Americans, which is something that is lacking amongst us all right now. It would be fair to say that we are indeed hopeless at the moment…and for good reason! Things are tough right now and people are suffering. If ever we needed hope in the last seventy-five years or so then it’s now! I look forward to President Romney’s swearing-in ceremony as the start of a new day in America.
Don’t tread on me…and God bless America!
Modern Laudations and Remonstrance 
