Shame On Us!

- A somewhat unserious candidate who used a pizza sales slogan as his tax plan slogan.
- A man who was resigned from office in shame.
- A senator whose last election set a record among Republicans for the worst incumbent defeat ever.
- A Texas governor who was best at beating himself in debates.
- A House member who couldn’t even get support from her state’s republican governor.
- A Republican governor who couldn’t get the support from his state’s most popular congressional member.

- A governor best known for accepting a job in the Obama administration.
- A governor who defined his political career with a social health care bill.
- A man who fits into today’s political arena about as well as he fits into his suits.

That’s what you’ve got, in a nutshell.  Take your pick.  This is what you’ve been given to choose from.  This is what sucks about politics – the best candidates don’t always run and the only people who will win are people who run.

There are a lot of people who are more popular than Newt Gingrich, for instance, that decided not to run for office. There are plenty of successful businessmen who are more conservative than Mitt Romney.  There is a certain ex-governor who can draw crowds larger than all of the current candidates combined.  All of those people decided not to run and now…

Originally I was going to write this post on the possibility of a brokered convention, talk about the last time we had such a convention, and then discuss the possibilities within the conservative movement – but then Newt sucked it up in Florida and now Mitt seems more inevitable than ever.  The next 11 states are as follows.

- Nevada (won by Mitt in 2008)
- Maine (won by Mitt in 2008)
- Colorado, Minnesota (won by Mitt in 2008), and Missouri (he didn’t win!)
- Arizona (which naturally went to McCain) and Michigan (Mitt’s daddy’s state and won he won)

If Florida is a bump, then the next few states are the set for Mitt’s spike. Mitt is leading by almost 20 points in the Florida polls on.  So how many of you are willing to jump behind a Romney candidacy?

The GOP hasn’t only failed in producing a quality candidate; they’ve failed in making the case against Obama in spite of his amazing list of economic failures and one of the largest grass roots movements in history allying with the GOP in the fight against him.  Of course, it is hard to convince a nation of ignorant people.  Look at these disturbing polls.

The President’s approval rating is SOMEHOW even at 46% to a 46% disapproval. Only 26% of the people feel that the country is moving in the right direction though…which begs the question “WHAT?!” The President had 2 years to pass almost anything he wanted with a super majority in both houses, told the nation that he would spend trillions to fix our economy, promised to keep our unemployment low with heavy dose of Keynesian economics and yet the President gets a pass by 20% of these people.

Still, 46% isn’t great and even Romney would be an improvement but Obama is polling around 5% higher than Romney in the latest polls.  This means that people know that we’re failing as a nation, but think that the President is shooting par for the course.  They also think that the republicans don’t have anyone who can do any better (which may be true).

Perhaps we should double down.  Perhaps we should give this nation what it wants.  We, the conservatives, certainly aren’t getting what we want or what the country needs.  In 1978, the Republicans watched Reagan lose to Ford and then saw the repercussions of that loss in Carter’s four years.  Thing is, Reagan didn’t want to run for President – but did.  Know why?  Because the people demanded it.

In 1978, the American Conservative Union pushed Reagan to run against the establishment supported and Presidential incumbent Gerald Ford.   The establishment supported the wrong guy (the moderate), told us that a conservative like Reagan could never win in the general election, and went on to fail in the race against Carter anyway.  The establishment strikes again in 2012 but…No Reagans.

Shame on the conservatives who sat on the sidelines instead of running.  Shame on the citizens for not demanding better.

Original Post:  The Sentry Journal