COMMENTARY | With the golden boy (Rick Perry) of Texas nearly down for the count after dismal showings at each of his three debate appearances and Sarah Palin still flirting but refusing to get her groove on and yesterday's news, Michele Bachmann, serving up gaffes like a hostess who made too many crab puffs, and the rest of the field unelectable in a general election against lackluster Barack Obama, Republicans seem eager to serve up the next great hope: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
The straight-talking Christie has not given himself any wiggle room in his declarations that he will not run for president but that doesn't stop speculators from wondering whether he will use his speech today at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library to launch his campaign.
Sometimes in the heat of presidential politics, I think perhaps we engross ourselves so much in the characters and the caricatures of the people running for that office that we forget to stop and consider what sort of person we want serving us in that most challenging capacity. So when the various candidates come into play, we end up measuring them against each other more often than against a standard. The result is nothing short of a circus, and it seems all we end up with are clowns.
Christie's people say he's not running. The Republican Party needs to get used to the fact that unless it caves on some of its hard-line platform agenda such as banning same-sex marriage, getting comfortable with gays serving openly in the military and taxing the wealthy, that Democrats, no matter how disillusioned we may be by Obama, are not going to vote for a Republican.
Gary Johnson, who I think should switch parties, has warned the party it should get away from social issues and concentrate on the economy. He is the best hope Republicans against Obama, but the party isn't about to vote for a man that liberal. Johnson is right, but that ship has sailed. Democrats have already decided this next election will be about social issues.
Should Christie run? I don't care either way, though I think it would be bad for his health if he does. Until the Republican Party finds consensus on what it will be about, it doesn't matter if the next big thing is Christie, someone else on the stage or a reincarnation of conservative demigod Ronald Reagan.
The selection process is muddied because the agenda is muddied. The party must unify or split. Divided against itself as it is, it will not stand. When the party is settled on an agenda, that's when their front-runner will matter.
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