Tuesday, August 23, 2011

The Republican Cafeteria

No there’s not a highly priced food cafeteria joke here. Watching the Sunday Morning political shows it sounds like the Republicans still don’t have a candidate they are elated about. Rick Perry is the hot name of the moment, but now Sarah Palin has this announcement planned for September 3rd, is she in the race? Michelle Bachman won the Ames Straw Poll and what momentum went with that. Of the main declared candidates, Perry, Bachmann, Romney, Republican voters have their choice of base picks. But I’m baffled as to what the Republican plan for the general election is.

In a national presidential election, both Barack Obama and the TBD Republican candidate will need to appeal to the middle ground independent voters. If the Republican candidate only manages to appeal to the base, than they will lose. Barack Obama has the same dilemma, if he only energizes the democratic base, he loses. Who are “independent voters”? You obviously can’t stereotype any voter, but my guess is that their fairly moderate with some combination of liberal social values and conservative fiscal policies and vice versa. If you move too far in either direction you lose that voter, but yet if your seen as betraying the base you’re a dead duck in the general election. Ah, its’ hell being a presidential candidate.

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