Signs That The GOP Is In Trouble

Mitt Romney Wins GOP Presidential Straw Poll

NEW ORLEANS -- Mitt Romney won the straw poll at the Southern Republican Leadership conference here Saturday in a victory that will be taken as a sign of the former Massachusetts governor's strength as a 2012 presidential candidate.

That's because the 2008 GOP presidential hopeful elected to skip the conference to continue his book tour.

Romney triumphed by a single vote over Ron Paul, who took second place 439 votes to 438. Both men won 24 percent of the vote. Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich essentially tied for third with 18 percent of the vote each.

Many will remember the campaign of 2008 and the ubiquitous polls showing Ron Paul winning the debates time and time again. It reached a point toward the end of the debates, when many pundits and political analysts, openly challenged the results of the internet polls and what was driving them. I in particular remember Sean Hannity remarking on several occasions during the debates that something was amiss with the polling.

What was amiss was the reality of poll slamming by Ron Paul's people.

So here we are two years down the road and two years into the regime of Barack Obama and apparently not a lot has changed when it comes to slamming or buying polls.

(author's note....I have noticed that referring to the Obama administration as a regime, seems to really piss off the progressives. Never mind their use of the word regime to address the Bush administration for eight years. Credit to Rush Limbaugh)

The republicans were in New Orleans this week for the Southern Republican Leadership conference and the opportunity to potentially identify their lead candidates for the 2012 presidential campaign. And what happens? Surprise of surprises, Mitt Romney wins the straw poll, but only by one vote over the 'ever ready bunny' of GOP politics Ron Paul. Romney and Paul literally tied at 24% of the vote, with Romney eaking out a one vote win over Paul. Curiously, the current darling of the GOP Sarah Palin finished well behind Romney and Paul and tied with Newt Gingrich at only 18% of the straw poll vote.

But apparently there was method to the madness.....

Supporters of both Romney and Paul spent money in an effort to win the straw poll, with a group called "Evangelicals for Mitt" paying for 200 tickets for supporters and Paul's Campaign for Liberty offering more than 600 discounted tickets for Paul backers, according to Washington Post's David Weigel.

So what did the grand old party achieve by hosting their conference in New Orleans this week. I'd say that aside from providing the leftist media and entertainment industry more fodder for their continued attacks, not much.

I personally don't see anyone presently in the republican party capable of leading the party to victory in 2012. And there will have to be a lot more pain and misery inflicted by the Obama regime between now and the election, before the American people will vote in majority against this administration, simply to achieve another change. And what will we get if that becomes the case and the people simply vote for anyone other than Obama and the democrats? Personally, I believe that we need to be careful who we put forth as our champion should that happen.

In 1980, most Americans were so angry with the Carter administration, that they would have voted for Mickey Mouse for president just to get rid of the peanut farmer. Thankfully, America had not only an alternative choice, but we had a man who would come to be recognized as the greatest president of the twentieth century.

Sadly, I don't see any Ronald Reagan's on our horizon right now. What I do see is a crowd of disjointed and disorganized pretenders to the Regan legacy. With the exception of New Gingrich, I don't see anyone capable of leading this nation out of the dangers and political malaise that America is currently mired in. And Newt Gingrich has a lot of political baggage that will immediately be seized upon by the democrats and leftist media, should he choose to announce his candidacy for 2012.

So what will change the presently bleak political landscape in favor of the republicans come 2012? There are certainly those inside the party and inside mainstream media who would like for us to believe that the coming regime change in 2012 is a sure thing. I say not so fast.

For one, Sarah Palin is not the crusader to take on Barack Obama and win in 2012. She may be the favorite of the Tea Party and many of those that recognize that the American people were had by the candidacy of John McCain in 2008, but Sarah Palin is not the one capable of winning the White House back in two years if you ask me. At best, she is the 'scrappy dog' that can get in there and whip up the party faithful to get behind a viable candidate, but she is not that candidate.

Secondly, the GOP needs to abandon political formula and the entitlement perspectives of old, if they have any hope of winning the next election. Some might remember the 1996 election when the GOP fielded Bob Dole against Bill Clinton's second term. Many in the party reminded us that it was "Bob Dole's 'turn." The same thing happened in 2008 when the media helped the GOP nominate John McCain. And the same thing is shaping up for this election as it concerns Mitt Romney. Many party insiders are already putting forth the party line that it is "Mitt's turn."

I say no. Not unlike the senate seat recently won by Brown in Massachusetts, the democrats learned that it wasn't the Kennedy seat, but rather the people's seat. I happen to believe the same is true of our nominee for 2012. The choice should be determined by the people and not party hacks and insiders and the choice should certainly not be decided by personal wealth and ability to buy either party votes or influence as we witnessed this week in New Orleans.

This election is not a foregone conclusion for the republicans and anyone who thinks that it is, needs to stop drinking the media Kool Aid and take off the rose colored glasses provided by the likes of Hollywood spin.

This election will still be a battle of political and philosophical ideologies and the primary obstacles to victory remain, that mass media remains firmly in the socialist camp and in support of a socialist president. Conservative Americans and republicans need not lose sight of that.

Now is the time for the party to seriously consider these realities and begin acting accordingly, if they have either any hopes or plans of turning out the Obama regime in 2012.

There are many obstacles to overcome between now and then, not the least of which being the beast of media that will rise like a mythological Medusa to war against anyone who hopes to change the present course of socialism in America.

Short of that, there are a couple of other ways that the present course of politics can be dramatically altered and changed in the next election. Obama can succeed in completely and utterly wrecking the nation's economy and send us into a depression that will rival and surpass the last one. Or by his appeasements and apologist manner of dealing with Islamic terrorism and extremism globally, he can lead this nation to the slaughter of another terrorist attack on this country. Something that will literally make the attacks of 9/11 pale by comparison.

Either of those will certainly force the majority of Americans to use their votes to obtain a regime change, but at what cost will we have bartered our futures by that point?

These are the issues that bother me. Everyone seems to think and act as if there is unlimited time and ability to change direction and stop America before it passes the point of no return and crashes to it's demise in the great abyss of once great nations and cultures.

I don't share those beliefs. I happen to believe that America is in it's final spiral into collapse and that if we as Americans don't pull the brakes and stop the runaway direction of this nation, then we won't last beyond the next election.

In either event, we had better take off the glasses and begin looking at the realities soon and we had better find a true champion and statesman to take up the banner before December when the campaign for 2012 begins in earnest.

In the mean time, I like Sarah Palin. She is a nice lady and someone capable of rousing the party faithful. I like Mitt Romney. He is someone capable of using his money and party influence nationally to support a victory in 2012. And I like Newt Gingrich. He is more than capable of being president of the United States and leading this nation back to prosperity as Ronald Reagan once did, but only if the media blitz that will be mounted against him can be overcome.

As for the rest? IMO, they are no more than so much background noise and clutter on the radar screens of America. Surely, there are those out there who would make great candidates and who could become national party leaders, but no one is pushing them in those directions right now. Liz Cheney immediately comes to my mind. I would truly like to see that lady on a national ticket. Her daddy definitely raised her right and taught her what she needs to know to survive in the world of politics.

But as the GOP continues and is presently is headed? With more and more of the daily influences of mainstream media and the paper tiger and straw man arguments that the media both loves to create and foist upon us? I don't see anything changing in two years and I certainly don't see the republicans regaining the White house.