“Dems and GOP establishment feverishly working to get Romney elected any way they can...this time...”
This helps explain why Cain is finally getting a fair amount of coverage and most of it is neutral or positive. They figure he wont go the distance, but can serve a good purpose for now.
HOWEVER, I think the GOP establishment and the MSM have severely underestimated our desire to nominate a TRUE conservative this time around. This is why Romney can’t get much above 25% in any of the polls.
IMHO, with the field pretty well set at this point, it will likely go one of two ways:
-Cain will continue to move up in the polls and become the conservative standard-bearer, going on to “shock the world” and win the nomination.
-Perry will rebound and re-take the frontrunner spot from Cain/Romney and go on to win the nomination.
If I had to bet my life on it, I would say the second scenario is more likely, simply because Perry has the money, organization, and recognition that Romney is not a true conservative to fight to the finish and take the nomination. I’m not convinced that Cain has any of these 3 yet.
One big caveat though-Perry has got to turn around his debate performances, pronto. This is the big wild card. I’m not sure that he can. He can practice and come up with answers to the issues that trouble conservatives, but can he give answers that show true depth and understanding of various issues? So far, I haven’t seen that he can. I hope he can get this part of his game turned around.
As for the idea (by the WaPost and others) that Cain will play the spoiler and keep Perry from beating Romney, I just don’t think that’s gonna happen this year. There is such motivation to make sure Romney is not the nominee that I think as the primaries progress, conservatives will rally around whoever looks to be the one candidate that can beat Romney-whichever one that happens to be.
Oh-and the “who is more electable against Obama” argument is becoming less relevant every day. With O’s approvals in the upper 30s to lower 40s, it seems clear that almost any of the candidates in the field can beat him, and I definitely think Perry or Cain can beat Obama-likely in a landslide.
Agree with your assessment in number 8. I am currently for Cain but I will not bash Perry. I will switch to whatever candidate looks to have the best chance to beat Romney.
Romney is the clear and present danger right now, let’s eliminate him first. As you stated about Obama, “it seems clear that almost any of the candidates in the field can beat him”
“the race is on” among Romney, Perry and Cain. It ill behooves us to be bashing either Cain or Perry at this point.