I believe the Republicans must coalesce early behind a conservative candidate and go full bore until the election. However, it appears more and more that it is 2008 all over again with the establishments early backing of a weak, non-conservative candidate and the conservatives splitting their votes among a number of candidates and non-candidates. This is no time to be coy. If a conservative wants to run, they must get into the battle now. Otherwise it will be Romney vs. Obama and the American voters will again be the losers.
Personally, Michele Bachmann meets all of my criteria of a conservative candidate and she is campaigning without fear. If Palin gets in soon, I will also look at possibly supporting her. If she lets the other candidates campaign while she sits it out, I will not be inclined to support her.
Time is short. Obama is in full campaign mode. We must be too.
For all practical purposes, Obama has limitless campaign funding, not to mention his constant campaigning using the public coffers for travel and expenses.
No candidate, even with all we can muster, can compete with trillions in borrowing power and the continuous free ads from the press syncophants.
He has never left campaign mode, from day one. Every speech, every presence, every appearance has been a campaign speech.
The same or similar buzzwords, phrases, and psychological triggers continue to be used, and the same people are lapping it up.
Add in the willful misstatements of the press about Obama and those of us who oppose his policies and 2012 is no shoo-in.
Rather, it is and will be an uphill battle.
The press has been trying to bury the TEA party movement since day one, and will sieze on any opportunity to attack. The only innoculation against that is at the grass roots, for people to realize we have opposed the failed and failing policy of this administration since before Obama was sworn in, and that we offer clear alternatives.
The budget deal has not helped, in that the press is trying to blame the TEA party movement for the market reactions to the deal.
We've been predicting this insomuch as opposing raising debt limits without significant cuts obviously is like increasing credit card limits without changing spending habits--and no one has any faith in the alleged cuts, only new taxes.
With the success of this regime removing an unknown number of people from the tax rolls indirectly through layoffs, pay cuts, and other depredations caused by continuing and increased overregulation and the general destruction of our economy, the number of dependents who will call for more handouts (especially those off for a year or more) will increase, not diminish.
Continuing to present the Republican Party as the party of 'rich white men' (something the country-clubbers do little to refute) and the intensification of the class warfare meme will do little to help defeat incumbent Democrats and strong challengers, up to and including the White House.
We need to strike back at the 'rich white man' meme, most of us aren't so well heeled.
We need to strike further at the developing meme of 'they're so greedy they won't hire people' as well.
Few in their right mind, unless they have an oilfield service company, are hanging out signs for help wanted, especially with the onus of Obamacare looming (something conspicuously unmentioned in the cooked books environment of tallying economic and policy effects on the workforce). After years of assault on small (and large) business, the administration is misdirecting popular anger against the potential employer, rather than bear the frustration of the same people it has helped keep out of work through policy.