Has there ever been a weaker field leading up to the presidential primaries before? None of the GOP horses even seem to be able to get out of the gate and Obamas performance has not impressed much of the nation.
This feels like the least memorable crop of politicians to ever gun for the seat and, right now anyway, it feels like Obama will easily get a second term based on the ineptitude of the Republican players.
Sorry, but Obama will be very memorable. The others will be forgotten, at least in terms of their presidential candidacy. And in recent times, presidents often win because of weak opposition, not because of great popular support.
I’d like to feel confident that Cain will be only dimly remembered as that “Ubeki-beki-beki-stan-stan” idiot, and Perry as the schmuck that crowed "“Every barrel of oil that comes out of those sands in Canada is a barrel of oil that we don’t have to buy from a foreign source,” but then I remember how unlikely a candidate GWB seemed in the 2000 primaries, on the strength of the profound depth and breadth of his ignorance - and they squeezed two terms out of that lemon.
Hell, the crowd Perry was addressing cheered his oil sands comment, apparently deaf to its thunderously tragic stupidity on account of the unfortunate circumstance that they are themselves approximately as smart as a sack of mallets. A politically-organized sack of mallets.
He might win, and if he does, the world will remember him just as long as GWB, no matter how much we invest in crisis counselling and bourbon.
The endless rise & fall of various candidates reflects a anyone but Romney feeling amongst the Ultra-Right-Wing base.
Anyone but the only possible person who could win the Middle is more like it.
I am sure many thought the Obama/Hillary story showed the Democrats were desperate. Democrats were happy, but the Republicans thought it was a win/win - after all, who’d have thunk either a black guy or woman could possibly win and become President?!
True, the list for the Republicans right now seems really weak - but the press will figure out a way to make this a tight race right up to the November election, no matter who gets the Republican nod.
Obama will have to work to win this, but my current guess (and hope) is that he will win re-election without any real great drama.
The unspoken secret of the Republican party is they know Obama is very likely to be re-elected. Incumbents are hard to beat unless they’re complete disasters. And that’s why you’re seeing the second string looking for the nomination. The top Republicans are waiting for 2016.
It could be an upset. Most of the top Democrats thought Bush was unbeatable in 1992 and a second stringer like Clinton was able to get nominated and win.
Fundamentally right now the 3 serious contenders are a guy who has never had a chance, an divisive cantankerous figure from the 90s who was driven out by his own party, and a guy who is so unlikable he’s only ever managed to win once. The best chance they’ve got is the guy who didn’t even manage to come in 2nd in the last nomination process. The time they nominated another guy nobody particularly liked.
To Cubsfan’s point, there’s literally nobody new. Paul has been pretending he has a chance for a long time. Romney came in 3rd in 08. Gingrich should have been relegated to a chapter in a History of the '90s book a dozen years ago.
The fact that they’re bringing nobody new to the table could’ve been overcome if one of these guys managed to capture the interest of the people. But so far they haven’t. If they were the same old boring candidates who managed to captivate and invigorate the nation it’d be a whole different story. But they’re the same boring candidates and nobody likes them now either.
I didn’t hear anybody of note say that. Obama and Hillary led a hard fought campaign that many if not most Democrats were passionate about. You’re never going to have MOST Americans captivated by an election for months. But as far as it goes, people were quite invested in that primary.
Moreover, I don’t think anyone with any expertise on the subject thought the GOP had an easy election. Several of McCain’s own top people admitted they knew they had no chance by October. A handful of unusually open Republican strategists admitted they felt the GOP had very little chance of winning around the time when McCain had won the nomination and Obama and Hillary were still all over the news.
Don’t forget the “Seven Dwarfs” that were the Democratic contenders in 1998. (Bruce Babbit, Joe Biden, Michael Dukakis, Dick Gebhart, Al Gore, Jesse Jackson, Gary Hart)
They were not as uninformed or misinformed as the current Republican group is, but there wasn’t anyone in that group who could stir up enough energy to beat someone as weak as George HW Bush.
I’m thinking the second time that Stevenson got the nomination to be beaten by Ike had to be a weak year for the Dems.
With the exception of Huntsman. But that said as far as I can tell this is the least inspiring presidential lineup I’ve seen or heard of in American history.
I am an Independent and will not be voting for any of the Republicans running.
I really wish Obama had a serious contender, either Democrat or Republican.
I continually feel like there is no one in charge in DC. I wish to hell someone new could come along and leave behind all those retarded talking points (abortion, gun laws, anything tied to the bible) and just lead. Instead we have a field of chumps on the right and a President who seems too eager to blend into the wall behind him.
I wonder if it’s too late to start a campaign to get all running incumbents to lose?
Eh, both Romney and Obama are decent candidates. Obviously I strongly disagree with one of them on the issues, but they both have successful political careers on their resumes, both are obviously intelligent, they have their shit together, are effective campaigners and seem to treat the Presidency as an actual important responsibility instead of a reality TV show spot. They’re both “real candidates” in a way Herman Cain, Ron Paul, Newt, etc. aren’t. I think they’re a better pair of choices then Kerry/Bush were in 2004.
The non-Romney field of GOP cadidates has been weirdly weak though. I’m not really sure I understand why there haven’t been more real challengers to Romney, while I think he is a good candidate, he has a vulnerability a mile wide on his right wing. The people that seem like they could be a real challenge have either been bizarrely ineffective on the campaign trail (Perry, Pawlenty), declined to run (Cristy), or just can’t get noticed (Huntsman). Leaving the second place spot to a bizarre series of what should be footnotes, many of whom don’t really seem to be that interested in actually being Prez.
I think it will be a very long time before the American people accept another president from Texass or named Bush.