Clash of the...Losers

Yes, I made the mistake of watching the results of the Arizona and Michigan primaries. I don’t know why I did that as I really don’t care who won or why, both Romney and Santorum are almost surely losers when it comes to the Presidential election. I mean, really, virtually no one wants either one of them to be the Republican candidate. It is obvious Republicans have been searching for the non-Romney for months, stooping so low as to actually consider people like Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and now Rick Santorum, losers all.

Romney, all but written off a few days ago, did come through and win Arizona by a large margin. And he also won in Michigan, but not by much, even though he should have won handily as it is the state in which he was raised and of which his father was Governor. It looks now that if he can do credibly in the South on Super Tuesday he will probably manage to become the candidate as has been predicted all along. Of course Gingrich is still (amazingly) in the race, hoping to do well in the South, especially his home state of Georgia. Frankly, I can’t image Gingrich going anywhere even if he does win in Georgia. There has to be some other reason for his continuing in the race, perhaps just a whim of his billionaire casino backer who drops millions like the rest of us do pennies. And of course Ron Paul continues even though by now hardly anyone seems to be paying attention. He may, however, manage to acquire enough votes to strike some kind of bargain at the convention with Romney.

I confess to actually have listened to both Santorum and Romney’s speeches. The MSNBC panel, consisting of people I respect, seemed to think Santorum gave a very good speech, at least a passionate one. Yes, I think his speech was passionate, it was also the most incredible mish-mash of words, claims, lies, and predictions I have ever heard. I think no one paid any attention to what he actually said, if they did they should be as horrified as I was. They thought Romney’s speech lacked passion, which it did, and basically just went over the same tired old Republican nonsense about taxes, small government, and so on. Both speeches were the usual kind of crap you have come to expect from Republicans, these were more like crap in the oven than pie in the sky. I found the experience of watching and listening rather frightening.

What was frightening is the simple fact that either one of these losers received any votes at all. I have no idea who might have actually voted for either one of them. Romney, who tried to destroy the auto industry in Michigan got a surprising win, I thought. Santorum, who has managed to alienate most women still received a sizeable vote. For me, as a non Republican, I find it incredible that Santorum gets any votes at all, because as near as I can make out, he is little more than a babbling idiot. Romney, on the other hand, is coming from a culture that has no connection to mainstream American culture. He might as well be from another planet, he is far more than an “other” than President Obama, and seems to have no way of connecting to ordinary Americans.

I suspect that Romney will be the candidate. But the program he outlined in his speech is so unrealistic, so not what we need, so geared towards the 1% that I cannot imagine he can sell it to the American public. As he represents the epitome of the 1%, makes $57,000 a day, and wants further tax breaks for himself and the already obscenely wealthy, I believe he cannot possibly win against Obama, barring, that is, some truly monumental and unexpected development. I can only imagine him as being a current Goldwater and losing in a landslide, but I am often wrong, and he and Santorum somehow do manage to get people to vote for them much to my amazement. Pundits are still predicting a close race in spite of the obvious shortcomings of either Romney or Santorum. I must be dense indeed but I find this impossible to believe as I put the voting population of absolute morons at no more than 20%. But, then, we are dealing with Republicans.

You don't have to be a genius when you're surrounded by morons.
Josh Lieb