Objective review of Republican candidates for President

[Karl Henning]

Michelle Bachmann sez, America, you had your chance, but you scorned perfection!

[Todd]

Michelle Bachmann sez, America, you had your chance, but you scorned perfection!

She could still get the VP slot . . . 

[Karl Henning]

Be still, O my heart!

[Todd]

Perhaps she could pray the deficit away once in such high office.

[Karl Henning]

What went wrong for Mitt Romney in Colorado?

[DavidW]

I was just looking at # delegates breakdown... we have 2100 or so left to go having allocated less than 200!  omg this is such a slow process isn't it!?  Absolutely anybody could still win at this point!

[Karl Henning]

In a sense, yes, but monies will dry up for them what lack mo mint 'em.

[DavidW]

In a sense, yes, but monies will dry up for them what lack mo mint 'em.

Leaving just Romney!

[Karl Henning]

Zackly! I'm the only one who is 'electable' and who's got the dough to stick it through; suck it up, and vote for me, Republicans!

[DavidW]

Zackly! I'm the only one who is 'electable' and who's got the dough to stick it through; suck it up, and vote for me, Republicans!

That is why Santorum had a point, he runs on having more dough than the rest... but he'll get steamrolled by Obama who is sure to have more money than God!

[Karl Henning]

If Santorum can survive Romney, though, the GOP electorate may be more energized.

Still, either way, I think it does break for the incumbent in November.

[Todd]

That is why Santorum had a point, he runs on having more dough than the rest... but he'll get steamrolled by Obama who is sure to have more money than God!

Money is critical.  It's one of the key elements to staying in and winning elections, though it's not the only thing.  (Santorum would be soundly beaten for a variety of reasons beyond just lack of funds.)  In the current Republican field, only Romney can come close to matching Obama in fund raising.  Only a couple weeks ago, Romney's Super PAC - or, rather, the Super PAC that supports Romney but is not affiliated with the campaign - was expecting to be able to raise and spend on the order of $350-400 million.  Now that Obama did the (unexpected!) flip-flop on Super PACs, he'll have a large Super PAC war chest backing him, along with his ample traditional campaign funds.  Clearly the general election will top $1 billion.  Things are so out of control that spending may even get close to what Americans spent on Halloween costumes last year ($2.2 billion).  The horror.

If employment keeps on ticking up, it will be harder to beat Obama.  But if any party can blow good, or at least improving, economic news, it's the Democrats.  Look at Al Gore.  Yes, yes, he won the popular vote, but by a small margin given the good economic times, and the electoral strategy was not what it should be.  I'm assuming Obama and his team learned those lessons well. 

[Karl Henning]

. . . But if any party can blow good, or at least improving, economic news, it's the Democrats.  Look at Al Gore.  Yes, yes, he won the popular vote, but by a small margin given the good economic times, and the electoral strategy was not what it should be.  I'm assuming Obama and his team learned those lessons well. 

Good point. And we shall see.

[DavidW]

Yup some good points there.

[Karl Henning]

Meanwhile: O Mittster — some refreshing cold water from Geo Will.

[DavidW]

Did you see that congress actually worked together to pass that bill to ban insider trading!?  Shocking!

[Karl Henning]

Did you see that congress actually worked together to pass that bill to ban insider trading!?  Shocking!

Hadn't seen that — was just reading that Congress have tweaked their peak!

. . . Congress's approval rating has actually hit a new low of 10 percent, despite some positive signs for the economy recently.

That's down from the previous record of 11 percent, set just two months ago. Meanwhile, a record-high 86 percent of Americans continue to say they disapprove of Congress's job performance.

[Todd]

Meanwhile: O Mittster — some refreshing cold water from Geo Will.

Obama's foreign policy has been very good, much better than his domestic policy, and he will be hard to attack on this front.  We're winding down wars, still killing our enemies, and adjusting our troop deployments to meet new geopolitical reality, all while slowing the growth of defense spending, if not actually cutting it.  Tough to beat that, unless actual spending cuts are thrown in.  Will's piece was very good, much better than Kagan's neocon manifesto of a week or two ago.

Did you see that congress actually worked together to pass that bill to ban insider trading!? 

Somehow, I think there are some loopholes, or at least vaguely worded passages, that any lawyer - which most member of Congress are - could take advantage of.  Want some real reform in this area (assuming it's needed), require all members of Congress and all senior executive branch employees to use blind trusts during their time in office.  It is good election year politics, I do admit.

[ibanezmonster]

Mitt Romney practices homelessness to become "more in touch with the people."

[eyeresist]

Isn't that the tax that brought down Rudd and resulted in downward changes to the proposed tax afterward?

Rudd was brought down because he backed away from pushing carbon trading legislation through parliament, one of the mandates he was elected on. The mining tax was one of the sticks the opposition beat him with as he retreated.