Not So Grand Ol' Party

by
Suzann Darnall

I am very worried that Republicans are about to shoot themselves in the foot . . . again. Conservatives and Moderates need to get on the same page about what the important goal is in 2012: DEFEAT Obama! Take back the White House and as many seats in Congress as possible. If at all possible we also need to get a majority in House AND Senate.

I watch a lot of television and listen to the radio from time to time. I am tired of hearing some of the defeatist (in my opinion) rhetoric that has already begun. We need to wake up and smell reality, people! We cannot run a losing proposition. We need someone who is liked by more than just our right wing conservative base!!! Conservatives alone do not have the sheer numbers needed to out-vote Obama's supporters. We have simply got to have a ticket that appeals to the center voter block a little bit more than does Obama.

I think that if I hear Michelle Bachman say one more time that "we do not have to settle" I will scream! It would be lovely if we could actually nominate the most conservative person in the room and still manage to win the Oval Office. But, in reality I do not see that happening. We can't elect a candidate based on party seniority or whose turn it is this year or who might be the most politically correct. We have got to look at one thing: who can oust Obama? Everything else is off the table.

The other day I heard comparisons of Newt Gingrich as this year's dark horse, come from behind primary candidate, like John McCain in 2007. Ummm . . . am I the only one remembering that while McCain WON the Republican nomination, he LOST the presidential election? I am pretty sure that is sooo not a good thing to have happen again in 2012. I like Newt. I really do. I think he may be the smartest man on stage at the debates. But, facts must be faced. Not only does Newt drag a ton of political and personal baggage into the room . . . he is a white haired, white, old man and that makes it pert near impossible for him to beat Obama. The Progressives will play the race card repeatedly, and back it up by dragging in skeletons, age, and any other ammo they can fire.

Another recent assessment was Mitt Romney as the potential last man standing candidate. Sort of the compromise candidate that appeals to more of the middle of the road right voters, like both Bob Dole in 1996 and John McCain in 2012. I again ask, does everyone remember that those two men LOST the presidential elections? I think I'd be a little more enthusiastic about a candidate who was a little less comparable to a pair of, sorry to say it, losers.

I don't care about the history of winning the GOP nomination! I care about winning the 2012 presidential election! I want the candidate that can take down Obama and provide some coattails for a substantial number of Republicans to ride into office from local, state, and national elections! I want the candidate that may not be perfect, but will be electable.

Is my first choice a Constitutional Conservative? Yes! But, I will overlook a few liberal leanings if it will boot Obama's butt out of the Oval Office. Any GOP president has got to serve better than the liberal socialist incompetent mega-mouth who is currently tearing our society and nation into tattered shreds of its former greatness.

So, Conservatives, let's get our house in order, so we can take back the White House and both Houses of Congress. Let's reach across our own divisions and even outside the tent a bit. Let's welcome the Moderates, the Greens, the Libertarians, the Democrats, and all others who are as dissatisfied with Obama and the current DC fiasco as we are. Let's work together to select the candidate that we can all stand behind and push right into the Oval Office. The only perfection we need to seek at this time is a job best done, a campaign well run, and an election that's won!

© Suzann C. Darnall, NOVEMBER 2011