Listed on the NYSE as "POTUS" the Presidency is Bought and Sold!
Personally, I am of the view that the Republicans are one of two things: (1) inept in the nomination process, as of late, (2) purposely throwing the 2012 presidential election.
I agree that, in recent years, Reps appear to have lost their competency when selecting their presidential nominee. Romney has several things working against him and a few working in his favor. Here are just a few of the things that jump right out at me that I believe are working
against him:
1. He does not belong to a "mainstream religious" organization. This
shouldn't matter at all, but it
does to
many people simply because most believe that
their choice is the only right choice and that everybody else is wrong... and going directly to hell, "Do not pass Go, do not collect $200". (The winners there are the atheists, whose belief system is
non-belief - there is no "heaven" or "hell", dead is dead, you get stuck in the ground, and there you shall remain)
2. He comes from money. This is
not such a big deal, because
almost all successful politicians either come from old money, or have strong connections to some serious money. And, for the last 100 years or so, the office of the president has become a
commodity - one to be bought and sold in the political marketplace. The average working-class individual cannot afford to run for any office of political significance - regardless of his/her personal qualifications - simply because of the cost. The problem is that many folks who perform physical labor (and those millions who perform
NO labor but, instead, choose to
feed from the public trough) believe that the moneyed elite have no real frame of reference to life as the worker-bees must experience it... and
I won't say that belief is completely wrong.
3. It is well-known that Romney is essentially
Obama-Lite when it comes to healthcare policies. He has established a public healthcare program/system in Massachusetts that is socialist by design.
4. His position on 2A and our RKBA, is
muddy at best. When last I heard from several "Gun Rights" organizations, he didn't respond to candidate surveys requesting such information.
5. Republican politicians in-general have become less "conservative" over the last 50 years. Conservatism was,
in the past, the defining feature of the Republican party, and there are now many that fit the acronym RINO -
Republican
In
Name
Only.
What's Mitt got going
for him (as opposed to the incumbent)?
1. His religion. Although it's not "mainstream", it
isn't as radical as Islam or Black Liberation Theology. Relative to those two belief systems, LDS is quite mundane, normal and
spectacularly unremarkable.
2. Romney comes from a political family, he is an experienced, successful businessman and he has held office as the Chief Executive (Governor) of Massachusetts. (The incumbent has a somewhat checkered family history - so much so, that his
place of birth isn't quite clear, and he has never held a real
job in his life, nor has he exhibited any leadership qualities or skills. His only claim to fame is his charisma and that arrogant "I'm
smarter than all of you combined, and
I know what's
best for you"
smirk on his face.)
3. The bottom line on universal healthcare/ObamaCare seems to be that we
taxpayers are paying for it anyway, so what's the big deal if UHC is codified? The
big deal is that the government doesn't have that authority/power under our Constitution (yet), and the politically appointed "Supremes" don't seem
too inclined to rule on that absence of authority and power any time in the foreseeable future. Perhaps this is in mute support of ObamaCare with "a wink and a nod".
4. Although 2A and RKBA are
very important to us (and about 2/3 of the voting-age country), there are many who do not see 2A as the
keystone to the Bill of Rights, and do not see the right of self-protection as being necessary. Their argument? "We have police for that!" (They fail to understand that police
rarely "protect" anybody prior to - or during - the commission of a crime, but rather perform an ex post facto
investigation of the scene of a crime. The "clean-up crew", so to speak... complete with detectives, CSI personnel, ME and
[body bags!) Whether it's "Gobbler's Knob", Arkansas (pop:
108 = 1 cop per 108 pop) with
one town cop, or NYC (pop: 8,314,000± = 1 cop per 245 pop) with
34,000± cops, criminals rarely commit crimes in the presence of LEOs. Response time to 911 calls is,
almost universally, significantly longer than it should be, with metropolitan areas (i.e. - Denver, Atlanta, Ok City, Kansas City, Tucson, etc.) taking an overall average time of approximately
10 minutes(
±seconds).
5. Once upon a time,
in my Grandfather's day, the Dems were known as "The working man's party". Today they are known as the "The tax and spend socialist entitlement party", and the Republicans are only
slightly more fiscally and socially conservative.
Overall, the bottom line seems to beg the question, "Do our votes count for anything in the Presidential Election process?" I'd
like to
believe they do, but if I absolutely had to give an answer today, I would say "I'm inclined to doubt that they do." Who pulls the strings? Who is the puppet master? Almost every day that passes I expect the man/men behind the curtain -
"The Great and Powerful Oz" - to be revealed. Pax...
My answer to the OPs original question
"Which is the real Mitt Romney?"
is that
ALL politicians
pander to their immediate audience.
Trying to get them to give a straight, honest and consistent answer to any policy question is like trying to nail Jello to the wall!