Crystal Ball for 2012
May 20th, 2011
I was off a bit on my predictions for the 2008 election. Oh, I described how unqualified Obama was for the Presidency, I just had no idea that he would be so overwhelmingly bad. If Bush (either one) had done the things that Obama has, there would be rioting in the streets, possibly guaranteeing Democrats victory for the foreseeable future. Even the hard-core liberals are shocked and appalled. Ted Rall, as ardent as they come, (http://weaselzippers.us/2011/05/19/vile-lefty-ted-rall-cartoonist-pisses-and-moans-about-being-blacklisted-by-obamabots/) complains:
“I didn’t realize how besotted progressives were by Mr. Hopey Changey.
Obama lost me before Inauguration Day, when he announced cabinet appointments that didn’t include a single liberal.
It got worse after that: Obama extended and expanded Bush’s TARP giveaway to the banks; continued Bush’s spying on our phone calls; ignored the foreclosure crisis; refused to investigate, much less prosecute, Bush’s torturers; his healthcare plan was a sellout to Big Pharma; he kept Gitmo open; expanded the war against Afghanistan; dispatched more drone bombers; used weasel words to redefine the troops in Iraq as “non-combat”; extended the Bush tax cuts for the rich; claiming the right to assassinate U.S. citizens; most recently, there was the forced nudity torture of PFC Bradley Manning and expanding oil drilling offshore and on national lands.”
This doesn’t include Libya (which the President is required to get Congressional approval by today…but he’ll pass on that. He’s above the legal process), or Boeing, or the multiple times he has signed laws and then stated that he has no intention of honoring them, or why he is off to some party when a crisis has erupted. This is why people go crazy discussing politics with Liberals. It’s not that Ted Rall sees the light, but that so many others refuse to (see http://www.akdart.com/lib72.html) for some examples.
Yet for all this, the Republicans seem to want to careen into the same old pattern. Let’s drag out the old politicians, and let them run (again). They don’t seem to realize that people want someone who will lead them. They can’t figure out why voters respond to a strong vision, someone who says what they believe. So, what will happen in 2012?
Well, if the Republicans run Sarah Palin, Obama is in. I was appalled at how Democrats demonized her in 2008, showing complete hypocrisy regarding women. By any standard, she was more qualified than Obama to be President, and she wasn’t running for that position. Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, however, makes her look like a genius, and that’s very sad. But, if Palin has any sense of her surroundings, she will continue to be a lightening rod and not run, which will take away the Democrat’s emotional ties.
The same goes for Newt Gingrich and Michelle Bachman. They are both more likely to bring out the borderline independent voters for Democrats. Far too risky by any standard, as the independents swung the race to Obama in 2008. Mitt Romney’s albatross is the Mass. Health Care program. You can’t be for and against something. Remember what I said about being a leader? If Romney had come out and said “I made a huge mistake”, that would have been a leader. Politicians seem to think that they can never make a mistake, or change their mind about something. That’s how we get such mealy-mouthed excuses like “I mispoke” or some such.
Who then, could swing it for the Republicans? New Jersey’s Chris Christie is one. Barring some horrific mistakes, or something awful hiding in his past, the man has presence and seems deeply in tune with the American public. Unions, I’m sure, are digging frantically to find anything to stop him. But he has shown courage, as in the decision to stop the underground tunnel from New Jersey to New York. Democrats screamed about the lost jobs. He understood that continuing the tunnel would put New Jersey residents on the hook for $3 billion. Anyone who has looked at any government building projects knows how those costs balloon, and he made the courageous call. (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbmwrTc4bJg for his response the Sen. Schumer’s criticizing him for stopping the wasteful program)
Ron Paul is possibly the most ethical Representative in Congress. Ever. But the media demonizes him. All a voter really has to do is look at his writings and speeches to see past the media bias (http://www.ronpaul.com/). They are, to say the least, impressive. Herman Cain seems impressive, but it’s far too early. However, 2012 could be the year that Libertarians could do well, taking from both parties. Unfortunately, they draw more from Republicans than Democrats, and that could well mean an Obama win.
Who else? No one yet. Obama is bankrolling one billion dollars to keep his job ruining running the country. The media seems to spin stories about the Tea Party and how terrible they are, so much so that it’s now “common knowledge” that they are racist, uneducated rednecks. However, how many people have actually looked at what the guiding principles of the Tea Party are? For a peek, go to http://www.teapartypatriots.org/mission.aspx. Find something that you disagree with there, as opposed to being spoon-fed by the media.
We, as a country, have a momentous election coming up next year. I believe that it will determine how much further America will decline, or whether we have the courage to stop the “Change”.
