Obama’s first term has left many supporters disenchanted and disillusioned. According to Gallup polls his approval rating has dropped 20% since he was first sworn into office. However, the sorry state of the Republican primaries should leave die-hard liberals with smiles on their faces. There is currently no Republican candidate that stands a chance in the general election.
No one really thinks that Newt Gingrich, current front-runner in the polls, will take the nomination. Even Fox News called him a “serial philanderer, liar, hypocrite… and megalomaniac,” claiming that if he made it to the general election, he would “barely win a state.” None of the other candidates take him seriously. A top aide to Mitt Romney predicted that all of Gingrich’s personal baggage would hold him back significantly. His rise in popularity was more a response to the Republican voters’ desperate search for a Romney alternative than it was to any legitimate potential in Gingrich.
Speaking of Romney, no one seems to like him much either. Romney’s inconsistency will be his downfall. The more liberal policies of his past alienate his conservative audience, his complete condemnation of those policies alienates his liberal audience, and his incessant flip-flopping alienates just about everyone. While Romney is the only candidate with any widespread support and views moderate enough for the general election, Republicans have not rallied behind him. At every turn, they begged for an alternative—first Donald Trump, then Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, and finally Gingrich. At one point, Chris Christie, who isn’t even running, polled higher than Romney.
What kept other frontrunners from staying at the top? Themselves, mostly. Trump, clearly running for publicity, wanted to bring attention to the ridiculous “birther” issue. Bachmann shot herself in the foot when she said the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation. As soon as Perry was given more than a passing glance by the media, he became incoherent, illogical, and, oh… what was the third thing? Perry’s racially charged hunting camp didn’t help either. Cain’s campaign took a turn for the weird as soon as he rose in the polls, facing allegations of sexual misconduct and 13 year affair, completely misfiring about Libya and foreign policy, releasing a campaign ad during which his manager smokes and suggesting that we electrocute illegals sneaking across the border. Not a single candidate stood up to the scrutiny that comes with being a frontrunner.
It is unfortunate that in a time of economic and political crisis, there is no strong leader stepping up to take charge in the Republican field. For the past four years, the right has railed against Obama’s leadership; now is their chance to do something about it. The nation would benefit from a serious competition for president.
At this point, it looks like Obama will barely have to lift a finger on the campaign trail.