It Doesn't Matter Who Wins Iowa, They Have Already Lost

[babylonsister]

http://www.newdogdemocrat.com/2012/01/it-doesnt-matter-who-wins-iowa-they.html

It Doesn't Matter Who Wins Iowa, They Have Already Lost



The media is in its typical frenzy. The Iowa caucuses are today and it seems like nothing more important is taking place in the world. Now don't get me wrong, I love the Iowa caucuses. I enjoy how they represent the first step in an intense vetting process of American Presidents and how this first step is in the American heartland filled with blue collar workers and working class folks. However, the real story of this year's caucus is much different than those past. The 2012 Republican field is different because they have all voluntarily jumped off the radical tea party cliff just as the fringe demanded. We keep debating about which GOP candidate will be most effective against Barack Obama as polling is showing that none of them win, and all but Mitt Romney are blown out of the water.

This is why all the hoopla about the potential winner in Iowa is irrelevant. Sure I'll be watching and it will be another exciting chapter in American democracy, but this year's contest just doesn't hold the same competitive excitement when you ponder how any of these far right candidates will even come close in November. All the candidates deny global warming, encourage Obama's failure, and are incredibly out of touch with our economic reality. In fact, none of them have show the slightest amount of knowledge in economic policy at all. Some find gay marriage more threatening than terrorism and all of them believe poor people are just lazy greedy cheaters who are using the system to pay for their cigarettes. And the ever more conservative Santorum wants to bomb Iran immediately after inauguration!

These used to be radical positions of the fringe elements in the Republican Party, but things have changed. The election of the first black president and his forceful push for liberal health reform, stimulus, and middle class values have so enraged the extremist right that they have convinced the Republican party to allow them to take hold of the reins in the form of the tea party. Power is in their hands now and they are set on picking any radical who isn't Romney. Which is ironic considering his positions have flung far right just like they have demanded and he's still most electable.

So the circus will continue and the media will flash its cameras, avoiding the real debate. Difficult issues aren't being discussed, the Republican election is fraught with non-serious right wingers, and our economic situation is must worse than most admit, as many economists point out. But all of us will be thinking of November for our nation's future has little room for error.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. my view all along is that it's hard to have a winner amongst a group of total losers...

it's all relative, but that GOP field is only an embarrassment of riches in Bizarro world (simply an embarrassment in ours!)