Does it Matter?

It appears that Rick Santorum is having a truly big night and is on his way to probably winning in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado. Assuming he does win all three races, does it matter? Does anyone believe that Santorum is going to be the official Republican candidate for the Presidency and run against President Obama? I don’t believe it. Is Santorum just going to be the last flavor of the month before everyone settles on Mitt Romney? Is it inevitable, as many have been saying for a long time, that Romney, because of his money and organization will win in the long run? It is pretty obvious that Gingrich is finished, just as it is common knowledge that Ron Paul will never be the candidate. What does this all mean?

Being one who despises Republicans even worse than stink bugs and cockroaches I find this rather amusing. I cannot help but wonder where all this indecision is going. What seems obvious is that Republicans in large measure simply do not want Mitt Romney as their candidate. They could not have made this more obvious. Romney, being the little rich boy, just doesn’t seem to get it. He apparently just can’t take a hint. He either just doesn’t perceive how much he is not wanted or he wants to be President so badly he just ignores it and believes he will be able to buy the candidacy and perhaps (in his dreams) the Presidency. He shares this thick skin with Gingrich who also refuses to accept the fact that he, too, is just not wanted. This must boil down in both cases to the basic issue of ego, with both of them so oversized as to render them incapable of believing no one wants them.

With Gingrich basically out of contention, and Paul not considered a possibility, it looks like a two man race, Romney versus Santorum. But I think this is little more than a fantasy. It is true that Santorum might not have the baggage of Gingrich, but his positions are so extreme that baggage is irrelevant. He believes, for example, that global warming is a hoax, abortions should be illegal, along with contraception, DADT should be reinstated, Gay marriages should be reversed where they occur and no longer permitted, we should go to war against Iran, and who knows what all. It’s true he may be the most genuinely conservative candidate, and that might play well in the Midwest, but it won’t play in the general election. I don’t believe he will be allowed to represent the Republican Party in a contest against President Obama. That would seem to leave Romney (as usual) who is obviously not wanted and, more importantly, is increasingly disliked the more people get to know him. What a dilemma! I love it. Romney will be the weakest Republican candidate to run for President in history with his own party barely lukewarm and Democrats drooling to attack him. Unless, of course, there is some miraculous and completely unpredictable event in the offing. Personally, I think in order to avoid some extreme embarrassment, Republicans should simply concede the 2012 election and try to re-group for 2016. But of course this is the United States of America, where what passes for reality makes Alice in Wonderland read like a scientific tome. Strangely, I find myself missing Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Sharron Angle, and that entertaining What’s-her-face, O’Donnell woman, the four Republican “Spice Girls.”

Yes, I saw the Clint Eastwood ad during the Superbowl, but I did not hear it. I was at a party where there were 25 to 30 guests, none of whom were apparently interested in the football game. Thus the din from their various conversations was so great you could only watch. Now, having seen it replayed several times I cannot understand what all the fuss is about. Eastwood is a Republican, the ad was about success in America and hopes for the future. Karl Rove says he was offended, ha ha, imagine Karl Rove being offended by anything. I find Karl Rove’s actual “being,” offensive. I guess Republicans might have found the ad offensive because it reminded them of Obama’s success with turning the auto industry around, but maybe they were offended by the idea that things might get better before the election and their plan to deep six Obama might fail. They should follow their leader, that fat sack of crap, Rush Limbaugh, who has now said he doesn’t care what any facts and figures show, he just won’t believe them. Good on ya, Rush, that’s the way to go, just refuse to believe anything you don’t want to believe. That’s not only “fair and balanced,” it’s also convenient, efficient, and utterly pathetic.

It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle