With American Idol complete for another season (how long is this going to go on for goodness sake?), perhaps now Americans can start paying attend to something a little more important in the grand scheme of things.
In case in you hadn’t noticed, and judging from the amount of buzz surrounding things you haven’t, there is a presidential election next year. In fact, Georgia’s primary is less than a year away.
While we all know who will be the Democratic nominee, how many of you even know who the declared Republican candidates are at this point? I’m not talking about those who are “thinking about running” or who have “formed an exploratory committee,” but those who are officially in the race.
While all presidential races are important, this one certainly shapes up to be among the nastiest in history. The rhetoric, misleading statements and outright lies will be at an all-time high.
Republicans shouldn’t assume President Obama will automatically lose. In fact, I’d say if the election were held today the president would win re-election. Choosing the right nominee will be vital for the Republicans to have a chance.
One candidate which has received some buzz in recent weeks has been former businessman Herman Cain. Due to his ties to our state, many have decided to climb aboard the Cain bandwagon despite the fact he is still unknown nationally and, according to most who follow national politics, will not be a factor in the long term.
Cain has many negatives including his unwillingness to push for an audit of the Federal Reserve, his willingness to sacrifice liberty for security and his lack of knowledge of foreign issues. While true his non-background as a politician can be viewed as a plus, I view him more along the lines of Morry Taylor, who sought the Republican nomination in 1996 only to quickly exit the race after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire. (As a side note, Taylor produced one of the more unusual commercials during hat campaign which can still be seen on Youtube.)
Aside from Cain, there is no way in the world Newt Gingrich will get the nomination. His personal baggage is simply too much to obtain the nomination for a party in which the majority of supporters carry a holier than thou attitude. In reality, a person’s personal life should be just that, but Newt doomed himself long ago at having a chance to be president. He has no one to blame but himself.
It seems (thankfully) the star of Sarah Palin has fizzled. No one who quits a job as an elected official should even be considered for president. Mitt Romney is too liberal for most Republicans although he is doing well in polls right now because of his name recognition.
As for others: Michele Bachmann is too wacko; Rudy Giuliani’s last presidential campaign was a complete flop; Gary Johnson, while a man with good ideas, is not known nationally; Rick Santorum is too divisive for most Americans and Buddy Roemer is an unknown outside of Louisiana.
There is one candidate, however, who has already declared, is known nationally, has loyal supporters and can appeal to those on both sides of the political fence.
This candidate has been fighting for and protecting the Constitution for decades. He’s not liked by extremes of either side, which quite frankly, is a good thing.
In next week’s column, I’ll spell out why a certain Congressman from Texas is the best choice for the Republicans, their best bet to win the White House in 2012 and the best choice to help end the bitter division in our country during the upcoming years.
America stands at the crossroads in so many ways. One candidate possesses the answers.
Chris Bridges is editor of the Barrow Journal. You can reach him at cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
Paul is as crazy as some other candidates you dissed, and he ran before (how'd that work out again?), so he's not only nuts; he's stale, too.
But, keep on pimping for him.
It proves why you work at this level of media.
These are just two examples but they reek of appeasement and apologist and at the very least Isolationist. Which all exist on the outer fringes of the political spectrum. However I do like his stance as a constitutionlist and his common sense approach to down sizing the federal budget with that being said, as a Conservative I have yet to put my support behind anyone yet and feel it's way to early to determine who is fit for the GOP nomoination.