Writing about the Republican primaries is like trying to pin wet spaghetti to a wall. Practically every time you blink, a new candidate surges to the fore. At this point, we’ve been through a dizzying succession of alarming flavors of the month – Bachmann, Perry, Cain, Gingrich, Paul, and Santorum have all at various points been at the top of polls, competing for the title of Not Romney.
Jon Huntsman, the most moderate (if such a word is appropriate when discussing this year’s crop of candidates) of the candidates, has mercifully dropped out. As of today, so has Rick Perry. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney chugs robotically along, attempting to remain above the fray but showing every day with gaffes and misstatements how truly out of touch he is.
Allow me to provide you with a little analysis and then I’ll do some editorializing. The Republican Party is splintered this year. There are four main groups of Republican voters: the evangelical, fundamentalist, social issues voters; the lunatic Tea Partiers who’d like to drag us back to the eighteenth century; the libertarians; and, finally, the moderates, who have become marginalized within the Republican Party. The gory, merciless clashes between this year’s field of candidates illustrate the Republican Party’s underlying tensions and are expressions of candidates’ attempts to win different blocs of voters.
Bachmann, Perry, Gingrich, Santorum, and Cain have vied for the Religious Right and Tea Party wings, while Paul has consistently controlled the libertarian element and, surprisingly, has attracted some moderate support. Romney, the corporate drone and presumptive nominee according to the media (and seemingly no one else within the Republican Party), has walked a tightrope, trying not to say things that will alienate centrists and independents during the general election while seeking to solidify intra-party support.
The Supreme Court’s idiotic decision to strike down campaign finance laws has led to an unprecedented influx of money. Shady Super PACs (political action groups) funded by a few wealthy billionaires have spent millions of dollars in advertisements. With their sources of revenue unlikely to dry up in the near future, minor candidates who would’ve dropped out months ago in years past will continue to wage a drawn-out campaign, weakening whoever eventually emerges as the nominee.
That’s a good thing. The Republican Party has veered so far to the right that the consequences of a Republican in the White House would be inconceivable, particularly with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, Supreme Court, and Senate (possibly). Remember the Bush era? Multiply it several times over if a Republican gets in and the Republicans control all branches of the federal government: Romney believes corporations are people. Santorum’s social policies make the 1950s look liberated. Gingrich is psychologically unstable. Perry can’t string two words together. Paul wants to eliminate the social safety net and dismantle the federal government entirely.
Although it’s tiring to hear talking heads yammer on about the Republican primary race, let’s hope it’s a protracted struggle. Obama deserves a second term, regardless of his opponent, and he needs all the help he can get.
