GOP White House Hopes Hinge On Romney
Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty might fight for the GOP nomination. Images byGage Skidmore and others and used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
By John Guzzon
Modern Times Magazine .com
May 24, 2011 — After months of waiting to see who was going to officially seek the republican nomination for president, Herman Cain and Tim Pawlenty have thrown their hats in the ring while front runner Mitt Romney remains on the fence.
Unfortunately for Republicans, no one seems to have a stitch of hope in unseating President Barack Obama. The vitriol from the right is mainly to blame and is a clear indictment of the conservative burn and pillage political ideology.
Here they are, the fairly firm slate of candidates and probable the republican brethren will have to choose from throughout 2012.
1. Newt Gingrich
The former Speaker of the House is being dogged by accusations that he is not radical and conservative enough. Anyone who remembers the Newt from 1994 is baffled by this. But the truth is, the party has tacked right and Gingrich has stayed right where he was. When he came out last week to call Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan to end Medicare “conservative social engineering” he was blasted. No conservative except the neo-cons of the new millennium would ever attempt to override Medicare. Gingrich also openly acknowledges that global warming is real: another no-no for the “fact defying” conservative base.
2. Tim Pawlenty
The former Minnesota governor is everything Gingrich isn’t: new, fresh and willing to swing with the political winds and polls. The problem is, he is a Minnesota governor without much energy. The republican establishment would love to see Pawlenty as the nominee — just as they wanted him to be John McCain’s running mate in 2008 — but he just isn’t inspiring anyone right now.
3. Ron Paul
The guy is dynamic and energetic and has devoted followers but sometimes the guy just loses some in the republican base when he rails against foreign wars and the patriot act. He makes it hard for many to take the final leap to vote for him in a primary. Big business is also scared of him so he needs grass roots support and that hasn’t won a U.S. presidential election in, oh, never.
4. Herman Cain
The energetic, vibrant former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza is the darling of the Tea Party Crowd, but then again, the Tea Party is merely loud and obnoxious, not a valid, dependable voting block. Does anyone really think republican primary voters will nominate a black man? Cain thinks his color is not an impediment to his nomination. He told the Wall Street Journal, “Even if I were white I’m not going to take fire within the Republican Party until they start to take note of my accomplishments … It has nothing to do with my color … I just happen to be outside of the establishment.”
5. Mitt Romney
Although the former Massachusetts governor is the front runner he has yet to declare his candidacy. Maybe he realizes that as a former supporter of mandatory health insurance, believer in climate change and his Mormon background will make him roadkill for the Obama re-election machine which has set $1 billion as its fundraising goal.
No matter who comes out on top, it is hard to see anyone upsetting Obama. Like 1996, the next republican president will probably come from one of the people who declined this year — Jeb Bush, Michelle Bachmann or Donald Trump.
Maybe 2016 is what Romney is waiting for as well. He just might get a better bang for his bucks four years from now.
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