2012 Presidential Race: Might The Impossible Be Possible?

[Vogon_Glory]

Looking at 'Slick Rick's" tanking national poll numbers, I'm thinking that it might be more than likely that Rick Perry WON'T get the Republican Party's presidential nomination. While that's a happy thought in itself, it does make me wonder if the impossible might be within grasp next year.

I suspect that Mitt Romney might very well be the Republican Party presidential candidate next year. If that is the case, he might well be facing many of the same problems within his party and within the former Confederacy that he had back in 2008.

Mitt's first problem is that he is a Yankee. That might not be much of a difficulty elsewhere, but a lot of the folks who make it a point to dislike fast-talking Yankees and foaming about "Tax-achusetts" are right-wing Republicans, of which Texas and Dixie have a surfeit.

Mitt's second problem is his religion. A lot of Evangelical Protestants, the folks who fill out the ranks of the Republican Party here in Texas and elsewhere, see the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints as an un-Christian cult. We saw the power of the hateful, bigoted remarks directed at President Obama despite his very obvious mainstream Christianity (Indeed a white conservative with a Muslim family background who converted to Christianity would have been hailed as a hero by the right-wing noise machine), and those of us who were watching the GOP primaries last time saw the not-so-quiet whispering campaigns directed at Romney for his Mormonism.

If Mitt-sie gets the GOP presidential nomination, I expect that a fair number of Republicans will stay home rather than vote for someone they see as being members of a "cult."

Sans "Slick Rick," with a Mormon as the Republican presidential candidate, I wonder what our chances are of Texas going for President Obama next year?

It might be too much to ask for, but we can dream, can't we?

O8)

:dem:

[sonias]

1. Oh that is a lovely thought

I wouldn't hold my breath though. Texas republicans are an extremely insane and mean lot of people. They would vote for Hitler over Obama under their lesser of two evils way of thinking. :puke:

I suppose you mean that people that call themselves "independent" would vote for Obama over Romney in Texas. I've never held much stock in the label "independent". People like to think of themselves as being that but really 95% of them are in one party or the other. So again I feel we're back to closet Texas republican voters - would they vote for Obama for a second term? I'm thinking that's not going to happen.

:shrug:

But keep dreaming, it keeps us sane. Always dream of what could be. I hope I'm wrong and you're right.
:hug:

[Texas Lawyer]

2. If the primary gets ugly (and how can it not with 2 well funded opponents?) with Romney criticizing

Perry's beliefs (which so many nutjobs here in Texas share) and debunking "Perry's Texas miracle," I could see the primary campaign polarizing the Reptilican Party here in Texas to a degree that they don't turn out in force if the nominee is one who spent the primary trashing Texas and those crazy beliefs held by so many Texans. I've got my fingers crossed.

I'm anticipating a battle in Iowa that is not decisive resolved by the result of the caucus, a Romney win in NH which is greatly discounted because of Romney's geographical advantage, and then a very, very ugly smear campaign in South Carolina which will drive a real wedge between the Romney and Perry supporters.

I think either could win the nomination, but I expect that Mormons will NOT support Perry if he plays the "Mormonism is a cult" card (which he probably will do through various surrogates) and Texas Tea Partisans will NOT vote for Romney if he paints Texas a redneck backwater with high teen pregnancy and child poverty coupled with low graduation and health insurance coverage rates (and I expect Romney will need to do this if he's going to knock Perry off his stride).