Thursday Gov. Rick Perry of Texas announced his withdrawal from the train wreck that is the Republican Nomination process for President of The United States of America. I remember before Perry got into the race, when Bachmann was the surging anti-Romney, and many people we thinking that there was a Perry shaped hole in the field. Evidently Perry thought so as well. He leapt into the race, shot to the top like a rocket, and turned out to be a firework and not a single-stage to orbit craft. A quick flame out, and a few attempts to reignite his engine failed, Perry has now crashed, leaving a crater where his ambitions once stood.
As I have said before on this blog, Perry was a candidate I would happily have voted against. His naked ignorance and bigotry were anathemas to me. (If you’re a college graduate and you think evolution is on the same par as creationism you ignorant, and that ad on gays was naked bigotry.) So, I am not sad to see him admit defeat and throw down his cards. (The man was losing his home state to Romney, that’s how bad he was doing.)
What effect this will have on the race? I have no idea. There are those would argue that have fewer non-Romneys in the race will allow those faction to unite and possibly stop the Mitt, but there’s counter evidence to this as well. I don’t think anyone can really tell us how this will play out. Ron Paul has the organization and money to continue to play spoiler all the way to the convention, but the Republican establishment will go after him hammer and tongs, beating him like Occupy Wall Street drum circle on crack. Gingrich is a walking explosion waiting to happen. Volatile like alcohol in the desert sun, an ego to size of a galaxy, and a skin as thin rice paper he’d be a chancy candidate to carry the conservative eggs to market. Santorum is pushing hard to make sure we’re all moral and up standing people even if it kills us. He’s the conservative version of the big state nannies who want to limit, tax, and regulate our lives for our own good.
You know, if Obama gets re-elected, the right is going to freak out so badly it’ll make Clinton’s second term look like a unity government.
Well, with Mitt Romney the question is which one? He has changed his positions so radically to fit in with the Republican base that you really can’t be sure who the real Mitt is. Santorum is very much about the social conservative issues, in fact while in power he was a pretty big spender so his small government fred is pretty much nonexistent. Ron Paul? He strikes me as less a libertarian than a culturally conservative Article of Confederation kind of guy. It seems like he really really want to ignore the 14th amendment. He’s very pro-life and vile racist things were published in his name back in the 90s. (He had a newsletter the essays in questions were unsigned and we to this day do not know who wrote them, but in my book if you published under your name you are responsible for the content. That’s my name at the top of this blog, the posts are my responsibility.)
Okay, I haven’t been following this because as a registered Democrat, my party’s candidate is picked already. My husband, however, is able to vote inthe Republican party. He has stated that he has no idea who to vote for. Explain, please – why are we against Mitt Romney? I have always had issues with Gingrich and so had Arthur, so I know he won’t vote for him. A. can’t stand social conservatives (He’s a fiscal conservative, small government guy but thinks that bedroom activities are no one’s business and he had no objections to abortion or gay marriage.), so it sounds like Santorum is dead out. This leaves Ron Paul or Mitt Romney. What is there to worry about with Ron Paul? (I did see a cute vandalism of his poster, ripping out the “on” in his first name and substituting a “u” – but that’s just silliness.)
Should A. just write in for Gandalf the Gray?