A nobody crawls out of the political sewers of Chicago and becomes president, and now every swinging tweeter and snapping social networker thinks he or she can be president, too.
The Donald, perhaps stung by the gales of conservative laughter that accompanied his announcement and then his bowing out, now threatens to reenter the race, as does The Huckster.
I'm sure Michelle Bachman was an excellent tax attorney, and Sarah Palin has some fine qualities, but prior to Obamamania, no one would even be having a serious discussion about such inexperienced candidates. I will concede up front that experienced DC Don Newt Gingrich is the flip side of the coin that damages my case against inexperience.
My fellow citizens, we've lost control. Christopher Hitchens once observed that "Politics is just show business for ugly people." Well, the beautiful people and the glitterati have moved in, turning politics into a Hollywood freakshow.
Remember back when you had to be a general, or a former vice president in order to run? Arguably, Harry Truman was the least qualified president before the utterly unqualified Barack Obama. But Truman, despite being vice president for only four months, had an impressive background: Senator for 10 years, business owner, and a WW I artillery captain in France.
... But even worse than this, is the talk on the right of a third party
A third party splits the opposition for the democrats, allowing them to go even harder left. A third party guarantees leftwing democratic domination of America. The conservative-liberal self-identification is around 40% conservative, 20% liberal. 40% identify themselves as moderates, and that's where elections are fought in this country. Not by pandering to the middle, but by winning them over to your side by making your ideas attractive to them and by not doing crazy things.
United We Stand, Divided We Fall
I agree we need to fight harder, but Boehner is already punching above his weight. The GOP does not control the white house or the senate. They’re doing what they can with what they’ve got. To reverse the progressive toxic tide, the GOP must win the senate and white house in 2012. That won’t happen if conservatives stupidly split into two competing parties.
Third-world dictators running sham democracies do this to their opposition to keep them weak. Shamed and rejected 1980's Sandinista dictator Daniel Ortega won back the Nicaraguan presidency in 2007 with 38% of the vote because the conservatives who controlled government ended up splitting and running two candidates.
Also, Palin is starting to resemble Gingrich in that she talks a great game, but talk is cheap. She denigrates the GOP efforts, but what has she done? It’s easy to talk when you’re not in the arena every day doing political battle with Harry Reid, Obama and House democrats. Instead of going on friendly talk shows and hitting softballs out of the park, she should have run for election to the house or senate to show us how it’s done.
I was going to title this blog post, "The Road to Hell," but that implies those talking up a third party have good intentions. They don't. Grownup politicians need to stop whining about the "GOP establishment" and go do something about it. Stage an insurrection, take over the RNC, whatever. Just stop crying on our shoulders. Starting a third party is running away with tears in your eyes because the bullies ran you out of the clubhouse.
Is Palin a Mama Grizzly? Is Jim DeMint the conservative alpha male? Then they should storm GOP headquarters, putting it to the torch and displaying the defeated country clubbers' heads on pike poles out in front of the ruins.
We're at the point where we have to ask, is this about winning or is it about self-aggrandizement? Politics is about using power to advance an agenda. Your agenda is dead without power. You gain power by winning elections, and you don't win elections by dividing your ideological base.
The Hill - Growing Support for Third Party
Gallup - Liberal, Conservative, Moderate
Political Potluck
