With Michelle Bachmann leaving Iowa as the winner and now among the top-tier candidates, I have to begin to wonder if the actual winner wasn’t Barack Obama? What is the purpose of the primary process, is it to pick the candidate who best represents the vocal, activist wing of the party, in this case the Tea Party and social conservatives (no, they are not the same thing) or is it to produce the best candidate to win in the general election? I’m clearly in the latter camp, and I don’t see Michelle Bachmann having any shot winning in a general election. How can Republicans go from two years of complaining about Obama’s lack of experience and then advocate FOR Michelle Bachmann for president? Rick Perry is certainly a welcome addition to the race. I only know Perry at a headline level today, I look forward to learning a lot more about him in the coming days.
The whole point is to defeat Barack Obama. It has to happen. To do that, in my opinion, Republicans need a candidate who can appeal to independents, conservative Democrats and the buyers remorse wing of America, which is growing by the day. I don’t see a Bachmann or Palin for that matter, having broad appeal that can defeat Obama in a general election. I’ve said for months, despite his complete ineptitude and failure, Obama STILL has a 75% chance of being re-elected. I once thought Pawlenty could be a very formidable general election candidate, but we’ll never know. It just isn’t the time for a thoughtful, plain vanilla candidate. I worry that the GOP will pick a candidate that fires up the base at the expense of the moderates and independents. If they do that, we can look forward to another half-decade of economic malaise.
The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio.
What is Pundit Review Radio?
On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.