The Republican party Romney is likely to lead into battle has, however, revealed itself in a diminished state—dominated by its activist extreme, focused on irrelevancy, and deaf to reason about the country’s fiscal choices. To survive a Republican debate you are required to hold the incoherent view that the budget should be balanced immediately, taxes cut dramatically, and the major categories of spending (the military, Social Security, Medicare) left largely intact. There is no way to make these numbers add up, and the candidates do not try, relying instead on focus-group tested denunciations of Obama and abstract hostility to the ways of Washington.
I realize that the chances of a Santorum candidacy are slim and none, and I've been saying that Romney is going to be the nominee for over two years, but I think the storyline is worth paying attention to as it reveals the zeitgeist of the Republican party. I am not necessarily following the primary process because I think that Santorum is going to lead this insurgency all the way to being the nominee, though that would be a lot more entertaining. It is more useful to follow it to appreciate how far Republican voters will go for Romney. This is clearly not an ordinary year.
No comments:
Post a Comment