Many Americans will spend more time shopping for a flat screen TV for the Super Bowl than deciding who the next president should be. It’s hard work as republicans are finding.
It is made harder by those pesky independents. Candidates from both parties are afraid to really show true colors for fear of losing that moderate, independent vote. I remember when Chris Christie was campaigning for governor of New Jersey. The rap on him was that he didn’t stand for anything, didn’t have a true platform. Obama, despite his voting history, ran as a moderate until Joe the Plumber exposed him. I doubt that even the most ardent Obama supporter would brand him a moderate today.
Romney found in South Carolina that they don’t want a moderate on the republican ticket there. McCain was past moderate to liberal and he couldn’t get the independent vote nor all of the conservatives either.
These candidates take more consumer research polls than Procter and Gamble. Everything is more carefully scripted than a 30 second commercial.
If South Carolina means anything, one can draw two conclusions. First, attacking mainstream media will get you votes. In that state, at least, voters must rate the media below the congress in approval since Newt’s attack on the media seemed to jump start his rise. Second, personal baggage may be far down on the decision tree. Shoppers this season seem to be looking for results. Who can really get the job done. Who can beat Obama, who can create jobs, who will really appeal ObamaCare, and who will cut government and spending. Republicans know who can’t do any of those things, the current president.Independents seem to sense that also.
It’s a tough call. A man who has conducted his life in an exemplary manner, who has business success on his side, who got elected governor in a Democratic state, and who is as bland a oatmeal. Or, a scumbag in his personal life, a man who got thrown out of the Speaker’s job by his own party, who is lying about being a lobbyist, but who is a true-blue conservative and could have held his own in the Lincoln-Douglas debates. A man who will take on the establishment knee deep in blood and still looking to spill more.
Hell, maybe I’ll go look for a flat screen TV. This is too hard.
