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The Race for the Top Job
The year 2012 has finally come, and the Presidential election is heating up. The Republicans have had their troubles early on during the primaries to determine which candidate would go up against the incumbent President Barack Obama. The front-runner, as of today, is Mitt Romney (the former Governor of Massachusetts). He has been able to pull off wins in the earliest states here in Iowa and a large victory in New Hampshire; but another possible candidate for the GOP is Newt Gingrich, who took South Carolina’s primary over the weekend. Over the course of the last month, there have been three lead changes between Newt, Mitt, and the congressman from Texas, Ron Paul. Along with the lead changes, several candidates have stepped down and halted their campaigns because the numbers showed they had no chance at the Presidential nomination. Rick Perry, the Governor of Texas, stepped down before the South Carolina primary and supported Newt Gingrich’s campaign. The last female fighting for the nomination, Michelle Bachman (Senator from Minnesota) also dropped out, but after the Iowa caucuses showed her support had died off. And we can’t forget to mention Herman Cain, who was the leader of the pack until his sex scandal came to light. But one thing can be said about the whole GOP primary scenario: “Will they be able to come together and pick a strong enough candidate to beat Obama?” Simple answer to that question is, not yet. There is a large gap between the Republicans and what they stand for. Ron Paul is the Libertarian of the group and has even been called the grandfather of the Tea Party. He appeals to that sector of the Republican Party and to younger voters because of his stance on illegal substances (He thinks the states should choose what’s legal and illegal). Mitt Romney is a candidate who really appeals to Republicans that base their ideals in a more traditional Republican candidate. And Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the house, appeals to crowds who believe in smaller government and more fiscal responsibility across the government. Now, every candidate left obviously wants to win, but because there is no clear-cut nominee yet, it only opens a new can of worms for the GOP. The candidates are taking shots at each other and spending so much time on the defensive that the Democrats are just standing by until the nominee is picked. Whether it be Newt, Mitt or Ron Paul, they are quietly compiling long lists of attacks on each candidate. They have dirt on Newt from his Speaker of the House days and his big payoff from Freddie Mac. Mitt has not been straightforward and has flip-flopped on some issues that really matter in this election. And Ron Paul has been saying the same things for 30 years so they can’t point out his changing views, but what they will do is make him look crazy, especially on his stance to deal with Iran. No matter who the GOP nomination goes to, I don’t know if they will have enough to beat the already-weakened Obama Administration. Either way in the next few months, the American people should begin to pay attention because this election could really change how America moves forward. Mitch is a sophomore studying political science. You may contact him at mitch-grant@uiowa.edu.
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