There are few comparisons to the events that have occurred in the race for the Republican nomination for presidency over the past few months. A TV game show is probably the most apt description of the Republican primary.
The nomination process has essentially become a political version of survivor played out across the early primary and caucus states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Mitt Romney is the young, presidential looking candidate that everyone else hates and wants to beat. Rick Santorum is the flavor of the month that has a serious Google problem. What’s the third candidates name again? Oh, it’s Rick Perry who has had a difficult time remembering the three government agencies he wanted to abolish.
Newt Gingrich has secured the role of the cranky old man who just wants to stick it to Romney. Herman Cain had more sexual harassment problems than Senator Larry Craig in an airport bathroom. Ron Paul’s sole mission in life seems to be to anger the party establishment for actually being genuine.
Congresswoman Michelle Bachman can finally go back to making Minnesota look bad for electing her. Finally, there is Governor Jon Huntsman who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese, served as ambassador to China and has the most extensive resume of the pack, yet was forced to drop out after dismal polling.
Flavor of the month “Anti-Romney” is the only way to describe the Republicans who continuously take the spotlight every month only to fall back to earth. Michelle Bachman was the first candidate to experience this surge after winning the Ames, Iowa straw poll. Her spotlight quickly faded as the popular governor of Texas, Rick Perry, entered the race. He was quickly routed as America witnessed his self-destruction on TV during the debates.
The obscure Herman Cain then stole the show in November, only to end his campaign amid multiple sexual harassment allegations and a multi-year sexual affair. December was Newt Gingrich’s time to shine, a man who left his wife for his mistress, twice. He spearheaded the impeachment of Bill Clinton while conducting an affair. Rick Santorum rode the last flavor of the month surge to a virtual tie with Romney in Iowa, but lost by a wide margin in New Hampshire.
Mitt Romney has now become a juggernaut after simultaneously winning Iowa and New Hampshire, a feat that has never been accomplished before in the Republican primary. There is no single candidate left that can stop what seems to be Romney’s inevitable nomination. This is much to the chagrin of the party base that extremely dislikes the moderate Romney but cannot find a viable conservative alternative.
It’s easy to see how a moderate Republican governor of liberal state can be despised by his party’s base. In 1994 Romney openly campaigned against Ted Kennedy by being pro-choice and a supporter of gay rights. There’s also that health care problem.
Mitt Romney’s health care reform in Massachusetts served as the role model for the National Health Care Reform passed by President Obama in 2010. Why this is considered an albatross around his neck among conservative voters is a sad statement on Republican politics.
Over 98 percent of Massachusetts residents have health insurance, which is the highest rate in the country. Massachusetts now leads the country in health care coverage and access. Apparently, making sure the sick and poor are taken care of is a deadly sin by the Tea Party.
Despite calling themselves the pro-life party, attendants at the debates yelled “YES” to a question about whether the uninsured should be left to die. The attendants at the subsequent debate cheered with applause when Rick Perry mentioned how many inmates he had executed as governor.
Seeing those reactions, it’s no wonder the party is more split than in any time in recent history. There is the sane establishment side of the Republican Party and the completely insane Tea Party Base.
It’s hard to unite those two and Mitt Romney will have a tough time doing so in the months to come.
One of the things that I feel seems lost is that these are candidates for president. An office held by great men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. The Republican primary has become a joke, and a disgrace to the office of the presidency.
The process to nominate a presidential candidate should not be akin to a reality TV Show, where every moment is documented in detail and the more outlandish something is said the more attention the candidate gets. The presidency is a very serious job and these are just not serious candidates.
Alex Caraballo can be reached at acaraballo21@gmail.com