Image and Substance

We have an image problem. They have a substance problem (double entendre intended).

Romney, our likely candidate when all is said and done, is weirdly perfect.
Obama, their possible candidate, is weirdly vacant.

Does anyone else feel as though we've fallen down the rabbit hole? I am reminded of Max Headroom, the computer generated "personality" on so many levels.

It's creepy.

I'm sure other generations felt this way. But I can't help feeling this is the worst field of candidates on both sides that the world has ever seen.

The Democrats are truly and honestly insane. Who in their right mind could possibly imagine that Hillary Clinton, a despised and unpleasant ex-First Lady, or Barry Obama, a vacuous racial symbol can actually lead the most powerful, most dangerous, most complex nation in the history of the world in a time of international crisis and the constant threat of war?

And when exactly did the Republican Party repudiate all things Conservative? Oh, they're head and shoulders above the experience-free Democrats. Rudy or Mit or Mac could handle the job, but each of them is conspicuously weak on at least some fundamental Conservative principles.

It's a worry.

There is no doubt that anyone with a brain must vote Republican if only to spare the country the horror of the side-show that would ensue should either of the Democrats win. But many of us will not be doing so with much enthusiasm.

I have changed my preference at least four times. I like Rudy's gumption on fighting terror and his tax cuttting. I like Fred's articulation of Conservative principles, I like Ron Paul's insistence on small government and personal liberty, I like Romney's character and business acumen.

I don't like Rudy's agressive bulldog tactics as Federal prosecutor, his unfaithfulness, his indifference to the Second Amendment, his obviously Liberal social (non) values. I don't like Fred's complete fecklessness and apparent disinterest. I don't like Ron Paul's foreign policy. I don't like Romney's robotic inability to get people fired up; we need a charismatic leader; a winner!

McCain doesn't register at all on my "Republican Radar". Like Bloomberg and Schwarzenegger, he's a RINO. Being a prisoner of war, no matter how nobly endured does not make you fit to be President of The United States. He certainly has my respect as a veteran and a war hero...but not as a candidate for POTUS.

Could we have a less inspiring herd of candidates?

Maybe one will surprise us. Maybe a Republican will turn out to be a fearless leader once he is in the Oval Office. Maybe history will tell of the Man Whom Nobody Much Liked who became the Much Beloved and Greatest Leader of the 21st century.

Hey, it could happen.

The Gunslinger