And Then There Was One

I see little point in spending a lot of time reviewing the year just past.  Enough others are doing it.  I'm more interested in what the future will bring.

Every reasonable Republican candidate for President has had his/her moment of glory in Iowa except one.  Jon Huntsman.  Just who is this man?  If you don't know, you should. If you don't it is evidence of the flaws in our campaign finance laws - where a serious contender is left on the fringes because of money.  Or lack thereof.

There are other reasons, too, concerning Huntsman.  First of all, he is the most moderate of the candidates.  You know, the type likely to win in the general.  He doesn't believe in ethanol subsidies so why even try to play in Iowa?  He's not an evangelical, he's one of those dreaded Mormons.  His daughters are better known for their You Tube ditties than Dad is as a candidate.

So the question is, will he score high enough in New Hampshire to carry him on?  He has picked up some heavy duty endorsements in South Carolina but you'd have to scour the pages of the press to find them.

In reality he's the last man standing between Mitt and the nomination.  Strange, isn't it, they are both Mormons.  Remember when Catholics were as reviled?  The country didn't fall apart when we elected the first Catholic President.  In today's race both Santorum and Gingrich are Catholic.  So forget what religion a person chooses to follow.  It should be a personal issue anyway.

I could go on for some time on a number of topics, but instead I'll sum up what I expect to see in the near future.  Paul and Santorum will fade quickly. While Paul's ideas on isolationism sound nice, they aren't realistic.  People don't play as nice as he seems to think.  Santorum is too far right to appeal to the moderates and independents.

Perry and Bachmann should pack it in and pay off their debts.  Nice try but you can't fan a flame without at least a spark.

Gingrich may last through Florida but I'll be surprised.  Weeping over the memory of his Mother won't be the reason.  It will be his expedient hypocrisy.

Without a ground swell at the last minute, Huntsman  has too much ground to make up no matter how much  I'd love to see him do it.  I don't think he and Romney particularly like one another so I don't even see him in a strong cabinet position like Secretary of State.  I'd like to though.

My guess is rather than anyone but Mitt it's going to be Mitt rather than any one else!  We'll see if I'm right.

All I can say for sure going into 2012 is that I'll be as passionately opposed to Obama this cycle as I was for him the last time.

On that note, enjoy your New Years celebration. 2012 looms!

Getting To Know Them, Getting To Know All About Them - Ugh!

I read one explanation as to why the voters in Iowa seem to still be in a state of flux even though caucus day looms.  The reason is there hasn't been enough retail politics this cycle.  Candidates have much smaller on site staffs than in previous elections and have spent much less time on the ground themselves.  For the most part.  Forget those like Rick Santorum this time and Chris Dodd last time who practically lived there.  We know how Dodd ended up.  Thank goodness.

Do you suppose one reason is the crunch of everyone striving to keep their place in the primary cycle no matter how ridiculous a January 3rd caucus date is.  Much has been made of the weather being a potential factor.  Yep.  I went to college in Iowa.  Winters aren't the most pleasant time in which to venture forth - especially at night if it's snowing and blowing.  Both distinct possibilities.

I read where one woman has decided to support the one candidate she had an opportunity to meet and actually travel around with for a time.  She was a party chair from somewhere in the state and her choice is Romney.  Her experience with him was from the last set of primaries in 2007!

I have a lot of reasons for not liking the emphasis put on the results from Iowa, but there is one thing I think they've gotten right.  Get to know the clowns before you put them into the big top.

Think about it.  People are luke warm about Romney because they do know him fairly well this time around and are uncomfortable with his religion and his purported flip flops though I think too much is being made of both.  Then there' s the likes of Herman Cain.  Likable, funny, but then oops.  A little short of substance when it comes to world wide issues.  I'll be nice and not add in his alleged infidelities since Newt is getting a pass.

Then there's Newt.  The more I see of him the less I like him.  The smile he's been wearing of late has all the warmth of this wife's hair do.  I cannot imagine what a children's book written by those two must be like.  Sorry.  I'm being catty.  Deliberately so.  Sometimes my patience runs thin.

Let's take the arrogance factor instead.  Newt has been whining ever since he failed to get the 10,000 legitimate signatures to qualify for the Virginia primary.  Anyone who can't get 10,000 plus a cushion to allow for illegitimate ones is obviously lacking organization - and appeal.  I mean, come on, Virginia is a pretty good sized state!

His tactic has been to criticize the state for having a failed system.  Hmmm, how about a failed campaign organization?  Then he claims the setback as being similar to the attack on Pearl Harbor.  I'm still trying to get my head around that one.  Being the history professor, I'm sure Newt can explain it to me.

Strange that none of the other candidates qualified either, except Romney and Paul.  I haven't heard a peep out of any of them.  That in itself seems strange, but I'd expect them to take themselves to task for sloppy preparation rather than being the victim of a sneak attack!

If anything positive comes out of this primary season perhaps it will be a crackdown by the national party organizations on setting the dates for primaries.  Another item for my wishful thinking list I'm sure.  In lieu of that, at least Iowa and New Hampshire do get a look at an actual body and can read the body language and see if any of them will look you directly in the eye or answer a tough question without dancing around it.  Most of us don't have that opportunity.

So Iowa and New Hampshire, until things change I've got to put my trust in your ability to sniff out substance, character and ability.  Brother.  Is this but another item for my wish list?

Have a Very Merry Christmas Everyone!

Wishful Thinking - All Is Calm, All Is Bright

What a year.  At my age I do not tend to wish time away, but I will wish for better as time marches on.  Unfortunately, the prospects aren't as bright as I'd like.

The sands of Iraq have barely settled since our departure and already we're watching the gains we've imagined they made fading into chaos.  I believe what we're seeing was preordained by our trying to create a democracy where the concept is as foreign to them as we are.  No brightness in their future.

North Korea has lost one dictator for the tandem of son and brother.  No brightness there.

Iran continues it's march toward the realization of a nuclear weapon.  Brightness there will be a huge blast probably in Israel.

Congress has finally cleared the halls for the holidays by kicking the proverbial ball down the road one more time.  I foresee a year of governance in two to three month segments and no budget.  That doesn't bode bright.

The whack a mole Republican campaign continues on.  It has taken the cheer out of the holiday because the best and the brightest are no where to be seen.  Let's see, six down, two to go.  This assumes Gingrich has had his 15 minutes in the lights and Paul's flame will also flicker and die.  That leaves Santorum and Huntsman.  Santorum's flint never produced a spark and probably won't at this point.  Not enough time before Iowa where he has spent a lot of capital.  Huntsman?  About all I know about him is he can play Jerry Lee Lewis style piano with the best of them as seen on David Letterman.  And he's had the good graces to not kiss Donald Trump's ring.

Then there's Trump trumpeting he's no longer Republican but unaffiliated.  If he and Paul actually do go third party we might as well move up Obama's inauguration.  Why not?  Everything else is being moved up.

I've actually had to force myself to stay away from posting these last several weeks.  Just enough to keep my hand in. There has been so much to comment on but oh so dismal.  My enthusiasm is dimmed every time I switch on the news and I don't want to feel that way about my country, either party, the candidates, the world and maybe most of all, the season.

On the other hand, musing about what's going on around me is what I'm all about on this blog.  For the rest of 2011 I'll  hope your days are merry and bright and to remember that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment, that was known as Camelot.

Wishing that it was here and now and something other than wishful thinking.

The Winter Of Political Discontent

I've often written about how restless the people are.  The more  government intrudes in our lives the worse those lives become.  This isn't anything new.  It has been an escalating menace for years.

People have been clamoring for third party solutions.  Countless efforts are being made.  Consider the Americans Elect movement, The Modern Whigs, No Labels among others.  All have been founded to try and solve the problem of Washington and the way it governs.  Unfortunately, as with any new idea, it takes time.  First to make people aware such efforts are being made, secondly to convince them it's worth getting involved and then to finally take hold with enough strength to see changes made.

Every once in awhile the press gives them some notice.  I've learned about all of them from reading papers like the Wall Street Journal but today our local paper,The Coeur d'Alene Press,  had an editorial suggesting people check out No Labels   which is more of an on line think tank than a third party effort.  Never-the-less, it is made up with those like myself who are hopelessly fed up with Congress and how it does business.

The editorial takes from the organization that it's not so much the people who make up Congress that's the problem, but rather the antiquated procedures that make forward movement difficult at best.  That it's the broken system where 'good and talented people get dragged down'.

I don't agree.  It is the people whether they are good and talented or not.  There are certainly some of each.  But there is nothing to keep them from fixing what's broken other than the will to do it.  They don't have it.  There is too much self interest.  It has been discussed ad nauseam, how Congress is more interested in ideology and re-election than what's good for the country. That's the people in Congress, not the system itself.  There is no barrier keeping them from reaching across the aisle to reach solutions.  No side is ever entirely right while the other is entirely wrong but you'd never know it from listening to any of them.

I don't disagree that the systems mechanics could use some modernization.  It's like using a dial phone in the age of smart phones.  But it's still people using them.

Until the people who run for office are more interested in returning the country to the greatness it once enjoyed, and until the electorate insists in that trait in their candidates, nothing will change.  We will still be mired down in the quest for selfish ends.  Ends that leave the rest of us out.  Like insider trading by members of Congress while we would go to jail.

Like a candidate who would defy Supreme Court rulings with which he  disagrees.  He's running for President, not dictator.  Or is he?

Nope, it's not just the system that needs fixed.  It's the attitude of the people.