Opinion Forum

Will Republicans Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory?

February 15th, 2012

Roger Simon has an article at Pajamas Media that I wish every Republican would take a couple of minutes to read. In Simon’s words, “What seemed even weeks ago as potentially a banner year for Republicans now appears a potential debacle. Not only is the continued loss of the presidency … and the Senate an increasing likelihood, the loss of the House looms as a possibility.”

President Obama is a failed president. He should not — must not — be re-elected. The best thing for the country would be to replace him with a political moderate of either party who has the proven ability to successfully lead large, complex organizations in an environment where diverse stakeholders have the power to influence policy and decision making.

Mitt Romney is the only available candidate who has proven that he can do the job. The proof? In government, successful leadership as the Republican governor of a heavily Democratic state; in business, starting and managing companies on a large scale; in the public sector, managing the Olympics mess in Salt Lake City that was as contentious as any partisan battle in Washington (despite recent revisionist history in the media).

But no. Republicans, many of them blinded by extremist right-wing ideology, are so busy tearing Romney down that it appears they’ve completely lost sight of what’s best for the country. The other three of their available candidates have no chance of defeating Obama. To think otherwise reveals breathtaking political naivete.

Some are now talking about a brokered Republican convention, which might happen if the candidates who have been running in the primaries come into the convention so bloodied and wounded by their fellow Republicans that none can gain the nomination. Then the decision would be made by backroom politicos, and the nominee, regardless of his/her theoretical electability, would have to take on the formidable, well-funded Obama campaign from a standing start — no campaign organization, no money in the bank, no previously refined policy positions oriented toward a presidential campaign.

Despite all logic, there are those who seem to think that a brokered convention might be a good thing. That’s wrong, as will become clear in the wake of failure by the candidate chosen by a brokered convention. That lesson will come at great cost to the country.

Might the Republicans really snatch defeat from the jaws of victory? You betcha, as one Republican heavyweight standing above the fray might say.

From Simon’s article:

The candidates, bunched closely together in the polls and looking to separate themselves, are too busy denigrating each other to pay much more than temporary lip service … to the main enemy in the White House who expands his lead over them even while his own approval rating is a dismal -11. …

The Republicans have only themselves to blame. Sure they have to contend with a dishonest and biased media, not to mention a meretricious administration honed on Chicago and Alinksy — but this is a surprise? In reality, what the Republicans mostly have to contend with is themselves in an endless roundelay of “Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who’s the most conservative of all?” – a game more befitting a theocracy than a democracy. …

So we are left with tarnished candidates poised to compete with a president (himself a total failure) who has barely had to break a sweat as the polls tilt in his favor. If this continues, he will waltz back into office. What an abysmal prospect for us and for our children.

Articles written by Tom Carter
Tags: candidate, convention, defeat, election, Obama, Republican, victory
Categories: Politics | Comments (4) | Home

4 Responses to “Will Republicans Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory?”

abpavelski | February 17th, 2012 at 1:38 pm

There is no such thing as the Republican Party or should I say that the GOP has ceased to differentiate themselves from the Democratic Party. Voting for Rommney is a vote for Obama Part two. He has shown zero backbone and an endless ability to morph into the candidate he needs to in order to to win. He has no leaderships skills , being place in a job with little experience then tearing down and repackaging companies is not leadership it is corporate piracy. Standing for nothing except the FED, Goldman Sachs, over seas elite consortium’s is not my idea of a winner nor a victory for the American people. He has lost in every venue he couldn’t buy victory and all the voter fraud allegations revolve around him. He can’t win without the help of the banks and the elites which is his to his chagrin for the elites want their investment back…Mitt made allot of money now be must pay back his debt to the people that allowed it to happen.

Tom Carter | February 17th, 2012 at 3:36 pm

Your criticisms of Romney are similar to those of both his Republican primary opponents and those found in some media reports. However, you’ve taken it to the level of unsupportable absurdity.

You’re wrong when you say that there’s no difference between Republicans and Democrats. There are huge differences, particularly at the extremes. It’s true that there are similarities in the views of moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans, but the underlying party differences still exist even among moderates.

Let me suggest a little more reading and thought and a little less fulmination.

GH | March 1st, 2012 at 4:10 am

“President Obama is a failed president.” Would this be because he’s a Democrat or because he’s biracial?

Tom Carter | March 1st, 2012 at 6:08 pm

Your point, as I understand it, is that the only way one could see President Obama as a failed president would be if one were a Republican and/or a racist. Is that about it?

You need to inform yourself and try to do some critical thinking, absent the prism of partisan ideology and your own racism.