New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ended the idea this week that he would seek the GOP presidential nomination, which essentially solidifies the field of candidates for the Republican Party.
Lately, the field experienced a bit of a shake-up, the biggest part dealing with Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s sudden demise, which puts former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as the frontrunner.
After entering the picture with a big smile and an ‘American’ style campaign video, Perry has run into some troubles.
His collapse can be attributed to several factors. Perhaps the most damaging was his comment on illegal immigration. He said that people who do not want to give the children of illegal immigrants in-state college tuition “have no heart.”
This caused uproar among Tea Partiers and conservative Republicans. These people, who make up the base of the GOP, traditionally take a hard line on illegal immigration, even going as far as being anti-immigrant.
Then there was a revelation in The Washington Post that Perry once referred to a property he owned as “N-----head.” Aside from being extremely offensive, this little bit has caused a backlash among black voters. Former Godfather’s Pizza and GOP candidate Herman Cain called it “very insensitive” on Sunday.
Just because Perry is yesterday’s flavor of the week does not mean the GOP base is enthralled with Romney. Quite the contrary, they find Romney very distrustful. He has a reputation for flip-flopping and signed a health care bill into law in Massachusetts that is almost identical to the one President Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats passed.
But even though the conservatives are not smitten with Romney, they can take solace in a new poll put out by Washington Post-ABC News. Pollsters found that 55 percent of Americans expect Republicans to take back the White House next year.
This is not good news for Team Obama. With health care reform, the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and the special mission that killed Osama bin-Laden, he has built parts of an impressive track record.
However, any incumbent president, no matter how popular, would have a hard time getting re-elected when the country’s credit was downgraded on their watch and unemployment is still hovering around 9 percent.
The GOP narrative — taxes are bad and government is evil — is a lot easier to pound home than the Democrats’ message of “big government.” That, combined with the poor economy, gives Republicans a perfect chance to take back the White House, even though Bush supposedly squandered the Republican name and Obama was supposedly the second coming of FDR.
The landscape can quickly change. This time, history’s pendulum is swinging towards a Republican-dominated Washington, but the momentum for the GOP nomination will certainly remain fluid.
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