A harmless dodo?
The next year should be fun to watch. The establishment in this country is living in denial. Obama supporters are seemingly unaware that unless there’s some kind economic miracle he’s headed for electoral disaster. It doesn’t matter who the GOP nominates. The election will be about the hapless President Obama. Check out this Politico piece by Roger Simon…
Cain is a genial, harmless dodo who thinks running a country is just like running a business. But it isn’t.
In business, your competitors rarely strive to develop nuclear weapons like Iran (a subject Cain knows almost nothing about). In business, rarely do your competitors have the capacity to clash in ways that could involve the armed forces of the United States, such as China with Taiwan or Israel with its neighbors (two areas of the world that Cain has demonstrated remarkable ignorance about). And in business, you don’t have to feed the hungry, house the homeless or heal the sick.
True, Cain is a man with a domestic plan. Unfortunately for him, it is an utterly hopeless one. Whatever the economic merits of his 9-9-9 plan, it is doomed to political failure because, among other things, it would have Americans give up something they like — their home mortgage interest deduction — for something they won’t like: a 9 percent national sales tax that would be levied on top of state and local taxes.
The only thing “remarkably ignorant” is Simon’s claim that Cain “a genial, harmless dodo.” Writers like Simon live in a delusion bubble. It’s a crowd of similar thinking cocktail drinkers who have spent the better part of the last six years telling us how great Obama is despite the fact he wasn’t qualified to be governor of any state or even manage a t-ball team, let alone the President of the United States. Polls have shown over the last month that GOP voters are satisfied with the current field. The only people who aren’t satisfied are people in the establishment.
Herman Cain’s biggest asset at this point is that he’s not a politician. It’s not like Cain fell off a turnip truck. He’s been a very successful businessman. In fact, Cain’s list of accomplishments is impressive. If he’s a dodo what is Roger Simon? It’s also odd that Simon attacks Cain’s economic plan as “utterly hopeless” when at least he has a plan. I guess I shouldn’t expect much from someone who thinks Obama “the greatest orator of modern times.” In 2007, the liberal press refused to do anything except carry Obama’s water. Barack Obama never said or did anything of any consequence. He simply existed.
Obama still exists, but now we are stuck with the train-wreck that is his administration. The chattering class may turn a blind eye on Solyndra and the ATF “fast and furious” debacle, but the American people are watching. If the choice comes down to Obama versus Cain it’s not even close. Obama speaks and says nothing and Cain speaks and says a lot. There’s no risk in electing a non-politician when the current head of state is inept. People like Simon are going to be shell-shocked come November 2012.
Bad hair? Yes. Racist? Not so sure. Future president? No way.
I haven’t really written about Trumpmania. It all seems so pointless. The press loves it because the press loves embarrassing GOP candidates for president. Since there really isn’t a race for the nomination yet Trump gets all the air time. Donald Trump the Republican is kind of like Charlie Crist the Republican except Crist was a more devout GOPer until last year. That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement of Trump’s conservative credentials.
Anyway, it’s far too early for me to be ripping Donald Trump. Trump is a publicity hound. He’s always been a shameless promoter of the Trump brand. “Running for president” is a sure fire way to get noticed. I have a feeling, though, that if Trump had pulled this stunt in 2004 and ran against Bush he’d be greeted a lot differently. Take TechCrunch contributer Paul Carr, for example. He just dedicated an entire post to Donald Trump on a technology website. Here’s how Carr opens:
Let me start of by reiterating how much I hate Donald Trump.
Hate is, of course, a strong word. But then again so are “liar”, “crypto-racist” and “criminally-irresponsible publicity whore”. And there can be fewer more hateful blots on the current landscape of American politics than that of Trump – looking for all the world like a pugnacious Oompa-Loompa with a comb-over – dog whistling to the racist “birther” movement in order to promote his crappy reality TV show.
Wow! This might be the first full blown case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Carr’s logic is weak and irrational: Trump is a racist because he’s a birther? What about the people who questioned McCain’s citizenship? Are they racists too? Or, even worse, agists? One of the most annoying aspects of the Obama years is that any criticism of the President, either real or imagined, is simply dismissed as racist by the white guilt suffering left.
Being a “birther” is many things. It’s not smart. There’s no evidence. It’s a lot like all those liberals who are still convinced to this day that Gore won Florida despite numerous recounts. Or what about all those crazy “truthers” who believe Bush had something to do with 9/11? Or what about the liberals who are convinced that Iraq was a war over oil, but are apathetic over the oil conflict in Libya. These people aren’t racists, agists or Texanists… they’re just not very smart. There are plenty of ignorant people on both the left and right.
There’s nothing new about Donald Trump. It’s a big promotional push, but what about Paul Carr? Why is Carr writing on a technology site about hating Trump? Carr should stick to writing about subjects on which he’s an expert and leave the political stuff to people who can form logical, reality based points.
Many of the players in 2012 are already household names. Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin are embedded in the American consciousness (or is it consciousless?); however, Americans might be longing for an outsider, a fresh face or both of the above. One such person is Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels. There have been a few whispers of a 2012 run for Daniels, but outside the beltway most Americans have no idea who he is.
Daniels fits the presidential mold. He went to school at Princeton and got a law degree from Georgetown. During the Bush administration Daniels served at the Office of Management and Budget and was a member of the Homeland Security Council and National Security Council. He might run as an outsider, but it’s not like he hasn’t had experience in Washington.
As Governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels has shined. In 2008, he was named one of the top eight best public servants. To get an idea of how popular Daniels is in Indiana he won his bid for reelection in 2008 by 18 points. That’s an impressive margin of victory in a Democratic year.
As we all know, a major part of the presidency is communication. Here’s an impromptu speech by Daniels on ObamaCare from last year.
Awesome sweater. Sounds like he fits the part to me. He communicates much better than Tim Pawlenty. Daniels has all the tools to be a successful chief executive, but Republican Party politics are tricky to maneuver. However, there’s really no clear consensus on who the front-runner is for the 2012 nomination. Romney would be a shoe-in but his biggest achievement as governor of Massachusetts is an ObamaCare like bill that he passed. Sarah Palin just doesn’t have enough experience to be president. There is an opening there if someone wants to take it. How seriously does Daniels want the job? We’ll find out in 12 months.
I don’t really know enough about Daniels at this point to get excited. On the other hand, there’s nothing about the current crop of hopefuls that’s very exciting either. After the mid-terms, expect the presidential speculation to start heating up.
Recent Comments