The Primaries, The Debates, and Why I'm Sometimes a Lousy Teacher

Quite a few students have asked me if I've been keeping up with the Republican debates and the Primary Season.  One of my shortcomings as a debate teacher (I have many, don't worry) is my lack of patience for Presidential debates and Primary elections.  I'm not inspired by any of the guys still in the race, but I can sum up the primaries and debates (past and future) for you like this:

Ever since Obama came into office, Republicans and his critics have worked on comparing him to Jimmy Carter and to make that analogy true, Obama has to lose his re-election bid to a Republican who embodies Ronald Reagan, who Republicans revere as demigod.  There's only one problem: Gingrich, Santorum, Paul, and Romney are not Ronald Reagan.  This isn't like a sports team who instead of netting one big superstar decides to acquire the aggregate of that star in several players.  You can only pick one person to run against Obama, and as bruised as Obama is over the economy, there has yet to be a Republican candidate who has unified the base, the moderates and the independent voters in the way that Reagan did in 1980.

Newt Gingrich is perceived as a hypocrite; a man who runs as a conservative yet has a history of cheating on his wife, especially as he was one of the main critics of Bill Clinton when he was President (Gingrich was Speaker of the House during Clinton's presidency).  Rick Santorum is popular with Evangelicals, basically picking up the voters that Rick Perry left behind, but doesn't appeal to the average voter because of his staunchly conservative views on issues like gay marriage and contraception and other things most people wish politicians left alone.  Mitt Romney stands as the typical Republican businessman.  Except that he's also Mormon.  The conservatives who like Santorum see Romney as too liberal, but Romney is probably the most moderate and most appealing to moderates because he's proven he can compromise on issues (as governor of Massachusetts he instituted universal health-care.)  And then there's Ron Paul, the man who hasn't won a single primary yet is still hanging around because of a loyal group of supporters who like him because he supports fewer restrictions on marijuana use.

So forgive me if I seem cynical, but if Republicans want to keep comparing Obama to Carter in the hopes that he will be a one term president, they need a dynamic candidate to take him down.  Plus Obama has more charisma than Carter and the support of Hollywood so unless he commits some horrendous act like shooting an endangered rhino in the face, and Republicans can find a Reagan-esque candidate, all of these primaries and debates will be a nice distraction until President Obama is reelected this November.  This will be good news for some and disappointing news for others.  But for some out there it was meant to be, as Obama's reelection will be the beginning of the end as the world ends 12/12/12.