Stan Geiger

Interesting Contradiction

I have, of course, watched a bunch of TV coverage focusing on Republicans over the weekend. It's all very fascinating. On the Bachmann stuff, let's get real. She has no chance at all of becoming the nominee. I don't say she has no voice; I don't say she has no redeeming value; I say she has no chance at all of being the nominee. This comes down to a choice: Perry or Romney.

Frankly, the Republican buzz, for me, is on the back burner. I've been more interested in the behavior of the president. I saw clips of Obama justifying his refusal to call Congress back to Washington by saying that's the last thing we need right now. A few days back, when he wanted his credit card limit raised, he went on TV chastising the Congress for not being in town. What changed?

The word is, Obama is off for a 3-day campaign tour, then he will be heading off for 10 days at Martha's Vineyard where he will live like a billionaire on the taxpayer dime. God forbid the nation's business get in the way of that.

I look at the modern times and think of 1980. Ronald Reagan took the White House from an incumbent president, Jimmy Carter, in a big way. It wasn't that people were so enamored with Reagan. The reason Reagan won in a landslide was that people were sure of one particular thing: they didn't want another 4 years of Carter. Misgivings about Reagan aside, they didn't want another 4 years of Carter.

So it is today. Perry or Romney as the Republican nominee, people will ultimately come to a decision relative to one simple question: Do I want another 4 years of Obama?

Given that state of things, I think the country's answer will be the same as it was in 1980.

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