We Are Going To Miss You Rick
Gilbert N. Kahn is a professor of Political Science at Kean University.
First it was Cain, then Bachman, Huntsman and now Governor Rick Perry. The Republican primary is losing it panache. The balloon has been burst and the primary voters may be on the verge of getting bored. The remaining four candidates may be around for a while, although it may not be as much fun anymore.
Representative Ron Paul is already too serious and Senator Santorum was always predictable. Newt Gingrich continues only to grow meaner and the frontrunner Governor Romney is trying to stay focused while getting picked on from all sides.
All this could turn from predictable if Gingrich wins South Carolina and Romney loses or barely wins Florida. Suddenly the Republicans may have a donnybrook with an open or deadlocked convention still a possibility.
If this were an ordinary year President Obama himself would be watching the GOP in total disbelief. The problem is that the country is so fed up with him that even the absurdity of the Republican performance to date does not make his re-election significantly more plausible or acceptable.
The Democratic convention this year begins on Labor Day September 3 through September 6 and Election Day is November 6. It will be the state of the economy and the unemployment numbers at the time of the Democratic convention in September—not in November—that will decide if the President is re-elected. He needs those numbers and his post-convention bounce to bring him a win; assuming his debate performance is not a disaster. If the economy is not continuing in the right direction in September, it will be too late for the President to fix things.
Ugly politics and major mis-speaks do not auger well for American leadership. An administrative nightmare may well be facing to be named later.
Stay tuned.
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