Cain just announced he's suspending his bid for the Presidency. Ron Paul has lost lots of support for defending the Occupation movement. Perry can't remember what he was supposed to say on live television. Romney...
The list goes on and on. I've always insisted that the Republicans were too hasty in launching their campaigns. They're making fools of themselves at every turn, and worst of all, splitting the vote.
You want to take down Obama in 2012? Select two candidates to run for the White House and then pick their VP running mates. Decide on a plan of action for the only issues on everyone's mind: the economy and relations with the Middle East. Stop attacking Obama for what he's done and starting advertising these plans. Don't talk about anything else, even if a completely unrelated question is asked. Forget what the rest of the party is doing and start naming who you would appoint to the various departments, and keep waving their credentials around because it shows you are bent on cleaning house.
You can't take Rome by defeating Caesar. You have to contend with Mark Antony, Octavian, and their Legions who will remain loyal to Caesar's name and ideals. As the Kennedys and Clintons have demonstrated, you don't have to be in office to hold tremendous power.
While the GOP embarrasses itself in the final weeks of 2011, Obama's propaganda machine is taking notes, gearing up for an endless barrage. When the time is right, he'll remind us of these past few months and by doing so, paint himself the stronger, and thus the only logical, candidate.
The people will think: "Sure, his actions are questionable at best and unconstitutional at worst, but at least his administration isn't fighting against itself."
The Fast and Furious scandal won't be enough (and what good is it to force Holder out if the system itself made it possible for him to act with such impunity?). Ideally, politics is not about simply beating the other man by exposing his misdeeds, it's about proving to an anxious and fearful nation how you can better their world.
Obama refuses to acknowledge the Occupation by ignoring it (at least publicly). This takes attention away from the issues of reckless financial policies at home. Events abroad are plastered in the headlines to distract us and make us believe that all threats can only come from "over there."
In the meantime, he still commands a loyal support base. Don't forget Philadelphia 2008. Expect them to be even more brazen if a second term is possible. And right now, that possibility is borderline certainty because his opponents are doing the work for him.
Nobody cares about the TSA or the National Defense Act, not when they've got two mortgages on their house and no job security. Nobody cares about declining towards fascism or the tree of liberty when they're working two minimum wage jobs because a bank stole their life savings, and then lost it on illegal bets.
Nobody cares that we're on the fast track to another civil war because we never openly discuss and solve our problems. If they can't make a living, what else matters? Nothing, especially politics.
So what kind of candidate do we need? I have no idea, but we've got less than one year to find him.
