COMMENTARY | Republicans, for the second election in a row, seem determined to line up for a bite of a distasteful sandwich made of the offal and effluvium that has followed the rise and fall of the party's momentary favorites. The aftermath is sure to exsanguinate the spirit of the party, leaving them as Democrats experienced in 2004, despite rising hatred for a sitting president, rudderless and forced to select the candidate that wasn't terrible, instead of an inspiring candidate that's really great.
According to the Huffington Post, recent trouble in Herman Cain's camp and a poorer than poor series of debate flubs by once party darling Gov. Rick Perry, combined with a decline of fascination with the rhetoric of Texas Congressman Ron Paul, has left the GOP nomination as Mitt Romney's honor to lose.
Romney is ahead, but party insiders are still pushing other candidates. Newt Gingrich, for example, long disregarded as unelectable, is beginning to rise in the polls, and the news media is chomping at the bit to talk about it. Former U.S. Ambassador John Huntsman has benefited from the falls of Bachmann, Paul, Cain, and Perry as well, but in the end, he's left with the same problem as Romney-- religion. Evangelical Christians that make up the base of the Republican party are simply never going to get behind a Mormon for the presidency. Period.
I've spent most of my life wanting to be president of the United States, and right now, I wouldn't switch places with Romney for all of the tea in China. He may be ahead, but he simply doesn't have the stuff to ignite his party's soul.
So while he holds the top spot, and will likely win the nomination by default, don't look for the circus to end any time soon. Party insiders seem determined to roll out as many clown cars as they can before finally conceding that they just don't have the chops to beat the president in 2012, thereby resigning themselves to select the "also ran" mediocrity offered and rejected by voters in 2008 and now again for 2012. Sometimes that just the way it goes.
