Where are the Serious GOP Presidential Challengers?

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll has found that President Obama holds a commanding lead over his Republican rivals. But before progressives get too excited, let’s take a look at the Republican field.

There are those who have quit the race. Trump and Huckabee. Both tried to use the race to pump up the ratings of their television shows. Huckabee waited until the last segment of his Fox News show to announce that while he would win his parties presidential nomination, his heart wasn’t in it. Trump, dropped out of the race because NBC offered him a cool 60 million and told him to end his campaign now. Trump may be the most disingenuous son-of-a-bitch on face of the planet.

There are those who have not entered the race but love the spotlight, so they pretend they are viable candidates even though they have no chance of winning. There’s Michelle Bachmann who believes the founding fathers ended slavery and Sarah Palin who thinks Paul Revere was on a midnight ride to warn the British and protect the second amendment which hadn’t been written yet.

There are those who have entered the race.

Herman Cain. This is a man who is widely popular in certain conservative circles, but has a tendency to spew his xenophobic rhetoric when given the chance. For instance, he would not put a Muslim in his cabinet. He later said he was misquoted, because it turns out that a religious test for office is unconstitutional. He also states that the federal government has no authority in bankruptcy matters. It is up to the states. Except that Article I of the U.S. constitution explicitly states that the federal government has jurisdiction over bankruptcies.

Then there’s Newt Gingrich. A man so serious about being president he went on a two week cruise with his third wife. The majority of his campaign staff resigned in protest.

A new entry is Tom Pawlenty. He announced his plan for the budget which has hidden taxes for the middle class and benefits for corporations and the rich. Even some republicans are saying this is not a serious budget policy.

Rick Santorum has also entered the field. He made a big splash in June of 2006 stating WMD’s had been found in Iraq. However, these were degraded pre-1991 munitions and had already been acknowledged by the Bush administration.

Then there’s racist Ron. Ron Paul. A man so racist he can’t even be considered a closet racist. Here are some quotes.

“If you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be.” – Ron Paul, 1992

“Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the `criminal justice system,’ I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.” – Ron Paul, 1992

“We don’t think a child of 13 should be held responsible as a man of 23. That’s true for most people, but black males age 13 who have been raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult and should be treated as such.” – Ron Paul, 1992

He has since disavowed those quotes and said they were the work of a ghostwriter. I’m guessing the ghostwriter was wearing a hood.

Finally, let’s talk about Mitt Romney. His drawbacks for the GOP faithful seem to be that he is a Mormon and he created a “socialist” health care program while Governor of Massachusetts. As a progressive, that makes him the most attractable GOP candidate. Let’s see what the conservatives think.

There are others who may enter the fray such as Rick Perry and others. More still have entered the race but do not seem to have a chance of winning.

While Obama has a comfortable lead today, don’t think it will last. The GOP message has been forged by the crazies above. As the serious candidates step up and the others float away, the race will become tighter. This is no time for progressives to rest. The contest has just begun.

• 

Tags: 2012, GOP, Obama, Presidential Race, Rivals