Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The South Carolina Game

In South Carolina, the clock is running in the fourth quarter and Newtered, once trailing the Romney juggernaut by three scores, now needs only a touchdown and a 2-point conversion to tie and send the game into overtime. Can he pull this one out with an efficient two-minute drill, or is he just another turnover waiting to happen ?

Gingrich is a master of hyperbole, and has been predicting the death of conservatism if Romney wins the South Carolina primary. He's also a dangerous egomaniac, predicting that if he wins, it will change history -- he'll triumph in November and immediately begin the process of reshaping America to suit his own grand fantasies.

Republicans are most dangerous when they're marching in lockstep, sweeping across the landscape and crushing everything under their boots. The longer they remain fragmented, the better for the country. I haven't been especially impressed with Obama, and I'm not sure he deserves a second term -- but he still looks like a safer bet than any Republican in the race. Huntsman had promise, but when he left, he took all the good silverware with him. Now, the best of a bad bunch is Romney. Assuming Willard has the balls to slam the door on the evangelunicals after his election, he might be tolerable as president. I can't say the same for Gingrich or Sanitorium, either of whom would be a disaster combined with GOP congressional majorities.

The best scenario at this point is for Romney to win the nomination after a long, brutal struggle. Newter, S-Rick, and Pappy need to win enough primary support to encourage them to hang around and keep things in chaos... but not enough to take the nomination. P-Rick needs to finish out his term as governor, then look for work as a TV evangelist. In November, Obama faces off against a wounded Romney, who has at best the enthusiastic support of maybe 40 percent of GOP voters. Flip a coin and call it, heads or tails.   

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KEY FACT

Dedicated to Jim Ferguson. If you don't know who Jim Ferguson is, you (a) haven't seen The Missouri Breaks, or (b) have an inadequate ability to fully assimilate movie trivia.