The Republican Presidential Candidates--"Can Any Of These Clowns Win The General Election?"

The Republican Presidential Candidates--"Can Any Of These Clowns Win The General Election?" 08/23/2011

I watched the candidates debate in Ames, Ia prior to the Iowa Straw Poll. For those who do not know the Iowa Straw Poll is simply nothing more than gauging the organization and support of each presidential campaign. Michelle Bachmann beat out Ron Paul by a slim margin to win the straw poll. The remaining candidates finished a substantial distance behind Bachmann and Paul. Does this mean anything? Well, it means Michelle Bachmann has spent all of her time and money in Iowa. Neighboring as a Minnesota U.S. Representative, Bachmann used her birthplace of Waterloo, IA to hone in on Iowa voters. Ron Paul on the other hand, has a strong but small following all across the country of those fed up with federal government. Paul represents the libertarian wing of the Republican Party. This small government, lower taxes, and isolationist ideology bodes well for libertarians. Though small in numbers, Ron Paul likely has the most committed and loyal followers of all candidates. His appeal is not wide and likely will hurt his chances beyond targeted states. The rest of the field, Romney, Pawlenty, Santorum, Huntsman, Cain, Gingrich etc. watched as Texas Governor Rick Perry announced (in South Carolina) he was also running for President. My question is this--can any of these clowns win the general election? I ask this as a rhetorical question as many on the left in the media are assuming none of these candidates can beat a sitting president--no matter how poorly he has performed. That would be a mistake. It was a mistake to look at the 1992 pool of clowns (that time in the Democratic pool of candidates) and assume none could beat a sitting president no matter how poorly he performed. We ended up electing Bill Clinton--a governor from a very small southern state who most people had not heard of before the Iowa Caucus. We have had the "cast of clowns" before who wound up being president. It would be a huge mistake to discount the Republican candidates as "unelectable". There are some who think there may be a candidate or two still not in the mix in addition to those who are. One thing we should know as we get closer to Thanksgiving is who is fading and who is holding strong.What we do know is history tells us the nomination process builds up strong candidates and tears down weak or unfunded candidates. Who we think is a clown today may just end up being our 45 President of the United States.

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