A View On The Republican Presidential Candidates

Via Joe Klein:

This is my 10th presidential campaign, Lord help me. I have never before seen such a bunch of vile, desperate-to-please, shameless, embarrassing losers coagulated under a single party’s banner. They are the most compelling argument I’ve seen against American exceptionalism. Even Tim Pawlenty, a decent governor, can’t let a day go by without some bilious nonsense escaping his lizard brain. And, as Greg Sargent makes clear, Mitt Romney has wandered a long way from courage. There are those who say, cynically, if this is the dim-witted freak show the Republicans want to present in 2012, so be it. I disagree. One of them could get elected. You never know. Mick Huckabee, the front-runner if you can believe it, might have to negotiate a trade agreement, or a defense treaty, with the Indonesian President some day. Newt might have to discuss very delicate matters of national security with the President of Pakistan. And so I plead, as an unflinching American patriot–please Mitch Daniels, please Jeb Bush, please run. I may not agree with you on most things, but I respect you. And you seem to respect yourselves enough not to behave like public clowns.

Oh me, oh my!  That was priceless… and accurate.

Granted, I’m not a fan of Mitch Daniels or Jeb Bush, but I’m having trouble seeing them entering the primary and not having to pander to the crazy base.  Kevin Drum agrees, and points out the reality Daniels would face:

But the usual question remains: how does he get through the primaries? When he hops over to Iowa, they’ll expect him to denounce sharia law, make jokes about Obama’s Kenyan birth, throw himself wholeheartedly into the culture wars, pretend that global warming is a liberal conspiracy, and make dire remarks about the specter of socialism taking over America. In other words, he’ll have to act like a public clown, and if he doesn’t do it, he’ll lose.

So it’s pretty much a no-win scenario for him. If he’s smart, he’ll wait for 2016 and hope that the Republican Party has come to its senses by then.

Can they come to their senses?  If anyone sees a way this happens… let me know, because I’m not seeing it.  The real problem is the GOP is dealing with a base determined to burn down the house, sees compromise (on any issue) as a betrayal, and, frankly, likes nothing more than wallowing in their outrage.  Basically, their base is all about pointing out who isn’t pure enough, and then taking them out.  That is their driving force.

So… the only way the GOP comes to its senses is to:

1.  Convince their base that their approach isn’t working, or

2. Jettison the base and…

Yeah, I just cracked myself up.

On a more somber note:  This really isn’t funny.  One of these “bunch of vile, desperate-to-please, shameless, embarrassing losers” could very well end up as the Republican nominee for President.

This is John McCain’s fault.  He validated this group through his pathetic desperation.