With only three days left to the Iowa Caucuses get underway, a process given too much importance to by the way, here is a list of what to look for in a candidate. Before you go on please do not think this will just be about the GOP. Conservatives are not just from the GOP. However since the opposition to conservatism is liberalism and the only candidate posing a threat to the Conservative field is Obama this paper will focus on most the GOP candidates.
- Michele Bachmann, Minnesota, three terms, chair of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus. A tough conservative. See political spectrum page. But a little too tough. She is hard-core. She comes across as heartless until it comes to women's issues. But the main problem with her is that she seems unreal. She is monotoned and sounds like she is remembering her cue cards. Her ideas on paper are good. But we have seen what ideas off the paper can do in Wisconsin and Ohio. These need to be toned down but with the same premise behind them. http://www.michelebachmann.com/issues/ Assessment: Conservative values=10, Leadership ability=5. She is a good idealist but doesn't seem to be a leader.
- John Huntsman, Former governor of Utah, Ambassador to China. A good family man with seven children, two adopted. Good conservative values. He is not too hard and not too soft. The only problem with him is he doesn't act strong enough to get what he wants accomplished. Would lawmakers back him up or fight even more? http://jon2012.com/issues Assessment: Conservative values= 10, Leadership abilities= 6. A good man but lacks the strength to get things done. Sometimes a little pompousness goes a long way.
- Rick Santorum, Former Senator and Congressman from Pennsylvania. Another good family man with good values. His leadership in the Senate was moderately successful. One thing makes him unelectable though. When he talks he does not look you in the face. During the debates he would focus on the floor. This personality flaw makes him seems weak if it came to confrontational situations. http://www.ricksantorum.com/issues Assessment: Conservative values=10, Leadership abilities=7. A good man but just not the complete package of leadership.
- Ron Paul, Doctor and Congressman from Texas. On paper it seems like this is the man to be the next president. In reality, he's a nut. Everything he stands for sounds like these are the ways things should be with a few exceptions. But in reality if all he did was carried out into policy we are looking into borderline anarchy. http://www.ronpaul2012.com/the-issues/ Assessment: Conservative values: 8, Leadership abilities = 7. He's more of a Libertarian on paper but more of a Democrat than Republican in his actions.
- Rick Perry, Governor of Texas. Another man with strong conservative values, but more like Michele Bachmann than Ronald Reagan. This is odd because he walks, talks, dresses, and responds like Reagan, without the personality though. It seems like he is more about soundbites but not so quick with on the spot backtalk, which may be a positive actually. A strong advantage he has is that he is governor of a large state, which is almost president of a medium sized country. His disadvantage is those who hate the last governor of Texas to be president will not like him either. http://www.rickperry.org/issues/ Assessment: Conservative values= 10, Leadership abilities= 8. A good man, too much of a robot.
- Mitt Romney, Businessman and Former Governor Massachusetts. He is another one that on paper is conservative but a good label for him is that he is a Massachusetts conservative. That is like saying a Californian Conservative. He is more moderate. This makes him more electable but it also shows he is more likely to be indecisive. he has been on both sides of the fence on many issues. Not so much a flip-flop like John Kerrey was but a mind changer. This may be a positive thing in some cases but he needs to take a stand on more issues and stay with them. http://www.mittromney.com/issues Assessment: Conservative values=7, Leadership abilities=8. Massachusetts is not the place to raise politicians.
- Newt Gingrich, Professor and Former Speaker of the House from Georgia. Not so much the traditional family man although he believes in traditional family values. On paper he is a true conservative with enough gumption and at the same time compassion in reality. He has foreign policy experience and even though he has never been a governor has enough know-how to get things done. His age is the one main concern. He would be the oldest president elected for the first term. The one great thing about his ideas is shown on his website. He doesn't call things issues, he calls them solutions. http://www.newt.org/solutions Assessment: Conservative values=9, Leadership abilities=10.
- Randall Terry-Author and political activist Democrat from New York and DC. Yes, there is someone running against Obama ob the DEM side. And
perhapsthe better choice. But he apparently was GOP once as well, making him like Mitt Romney. He is the closest thing to the TEA Party that DEMs have, which may appeal to conservative DEMs. One major problem is that he has no experience. He is like Ross Perot minus the ears and business suave. http://www.terryforpresident.com/documents/TFPplatformPlanks.pdf. Assessment: Conservative values: 9, Leadership abilities: 2. Still, voting for him is better than the other DEM. - Barack Obama- Senator, "President" of the US, from Illinois. Short version, http://www.barackobama.com/record/economy Assessment: Conservative values=5, Leadership abilities= 6.
Add these all up and here are the rankings from worst to best:
- Obama (11)
- Terry (11)
- Paul (15)
- Bachmann (15)
- Romney (15)
- Huntsman (16)
- Santorum (17)
- Perry (18)
- Gingrich (19)
6 comments:
"...the main problem with her is that she seems unreal. She is monotoned and sounds like she is remembering her cue cards. Her ideas on paper are good" (Bachmann--Ach-tung!)
"Another good family man with good values. His leadership in the Senate was moderately successful. One thing makes him unelectable though. When he talks he does not look you in the face" (Santorum)
"Everything he stands for sounds like these are the ways things should be with a few exceptions. But in reality if all he did was carried out into policy we are looking into borderline anarchy"
(Paul)
"Not so much the traditional family man although he believes in traditional family values. On paper he is a true conservative with enough gumption and at the same time compassion in reality" (Gingrich)
....you scare me...
Snip-its. Quote the whole text not just bits and pieces. Bachmann I said needs toned down. Santorum shows weakness. Paul is a nut.
And...again, the classic textbook liberal method, pose the problem but leave with no solution.
That is not meant to be harsh, words alone make it that way, but it is a suggestion that if you find something questionable then give the answers, don't cause more questions.
By the way I think you are now my only reader. Even The Equalizer hasn't been around for awhile.
Sorry. Didn't mean to hit and run. I had planned on following up a little sooner, but I've had vehicle issues AND a boatload of overtime.
Bachmann--thank God, she's gone! What scared me was the blip "the main problem with her is that she seems unreal". Holy Not-the-Problem, Batman! But, she's out, so now I don't care and I'm not going to waste any more time on THAT train wreck of a human.
Santorum. Well. Maybe he's good to HIS family. My family, not so much. Just recently, he's stated children are better off with parents in PRISON than with gay parents. Hm. That's not a "value" I would define as "good". Maybe it's just me. Or maybe the 14 year old living in my house should go say "hi" to her father in the NY prison he's currently residing in.
Paul. Currently being endorsed by a "church" who believes homosexuals should get the death penalty. Guess they see something in him I don't.
Gingrich. Wow. So much to list! Every time he opens his mouth....bigotry falls out. Certainly, NOT compassion! A true "let them eat cake" kinda queen.
I don't see a good GOP runner. Certainly don't see one capable of dethroning Obama. And that stinks. I was actually hoping someone, somewhere would stand up and say, "You know what? Let's cut all the crap. Let's return the Republican Party back into the real GOP. LESS Government. FEWER taxes. And peeps, by LESS government, I mean...what you do in your OWN home is YOUR business. Let's DEFEND the Constitution, NOT amend it. Let's bring our jobs BACK home by offering tax breaks to corporations willing to do so and tax the hell out of those who refuse. Let's put ALL Americans BACK to work and the tax problem as well as the deficit will take care of itself."
But they're not doing that. They're talking about their values and their religion and calling each other names. No one is talking about the deficit or real, viable solutions to the lack of jobs. Oh sure. Gingrich wants African Americans to reach for paychecks instead of food stamps, but how is he going to solve that age old problem? THERE ARE NO JOBS! Oh sure. Over 200,000 jobs were added last year. I guess minimum wage is better than nothing. And convicts are better than homosexuals, who should actually be stoned to death.
What?
Where is the GOP? Where is the GRAND OLD PARTY?
And, for the record, I've talked about solutions before. It's so simple, it's mind boggling. But the people that OWN our government (don't fool yourself) would never allow the things I've talked about happen. They would not profit from the solutions I've discussed.
The GOP needs to get off the pulpit, roll up their sleeves and listen to the AMERICAN PEOPLE...just like in the GRAND OLD DAYS. They've ALL lost touch with reality. Republican AND Democrat. And you KNOW it.
They need a history lesson on the last fool who declared "let them eat cake".
I'm sorry if I scared him off.
EQUALIZER, COME BACK! I APOLOGIZE THAT YOU COULDN'T DEAL WITH MY SUPERIOR INTELLECT! LOL~
:)
I know the frustration but I see it from a little different angle. In no particular order since I am scrolling up and down to remember what you said.
1. ALL governments needs to get off the pulpit but BACK in the "pews". And not sleep when they get there. Real values. Real spirituality, not Madonna or Tom Cruise's idea of it. Stop all hypocracy. They play politics instead of practice politics, hence all the name games and no solutions.
2. They talk about issues because that is all the media asks them during debates and interviews.
3. We have to amend and defend the constitution. But only because the last twenty or thirty years some have tried to reinterpret it and open it up to bad judgements, let alone judges over stepping their boundaries and not listening to any constitution.
4. I don't care for any of the GOP except for Newt. The compassion you want is in the form of tolerance. They are not the same thing. That is something we will just disagree on. However if these people are saying ludicrous things the prison thing or detah penalty then they are wrong. I have not heard these things. But I will give both sides the benefit of the doubt. I will see what they said. I will not trust them until I do.
5. Government does not create jobs. If jobs are created by them they are government jobs which mean taxes pay for them, causing a squeeze on middle incomers. I am sure Newt wants all people to get paychecks not just African Americans. There are no jobs because of certain regulations, tax loop holes, union rules, and greed by those in charge.
6. The GOP did listen to the people this last time around. The TEA Party elected them and now the GOP is getting hammered. This is not an endorsement of the TEA Party. Just stating the facts.
7. And the thing we agree with, Obama needs to go. Newt is the only one though who knows what to do and how to handle things.
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