Election 2012: GOP Candidates, Really?!

Well, we're almost halfway through 2011 and the field of candidates for the 2012 presidential election is starting to shape up for the Republican party. So far, the Republican ticket is looking more like a joke than a list of serious contenders. Well, let's see how they are and I'll let you judge.

First we have our front runner Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts. He could be a serious contender, if he actually held his ground and wasn't afraid of the backlash from the extremes of his base. He is having to back away from the healthcare reform he put into place and apologize to Rep. Paul Ryan for tearing into Ryan's plan to end Medicare as we know it. The man could be a interesting candidate if only he had a backbone.


Next is Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota. He is the most moderate of the candidates, and is also the most boring. He even admitted that when he said his campaign is all about the facts rather than the show, which isn't a bad thing, but it might only hurt him than help him. We'll have to see how he does.





The we have former Speaker of the House Next Gingrich. This man has been out of politics for so long that he is way of out touch and is so far right that he won't stand a chance. His record in Congress is spotty, especially after forcing the government shut down in '94. Plus, as a self proclaimed "family values" man, his two divorces might come as an issue.




Next up is Ron Paul, congressman from Texas. The perennial candidate for the Libertarian and Tea Party strains never seems to give up, but he does it more for the message he's sending rather than actually winning. I give Ron Paul a lot of credit, he's the true Tea Party person, not like the crazies who attach themselves to the movement because they think it's cool.




Then we have our out there candidates that nobody has heard of, like Herman Cain and Fred Karger, or people that just can't be taken seriously, like Jimmy McMillan, the perennial candidate from the Rent-is-Too-Damn-High party (pictured left.)






Lastly are those that have been getting the attention, but haven't said anything yet. The biggest attention getter was Donald Trump, who kept egging us on only to say he wouldn't run. Fast forward to now and he keeps saying that he might change his mind. This guy is a joke. Same goes for Sarah Palin, the half-term governor from Alaska who resigned because she couldn't the pressure. If she can't handle being governor of a small, in terms of population, state, then how can she handle being president. Michele Bachmann has been eluding to it also, which is scary because she doesn't even understand basic history, thinking that the battles Lexington and Concord that started the American Revolution happened in New Hampshire, rather than Massachusetts.

Happy Memorial Day

From all of us here at The Young and Opinionated, we would like to honor and remember all of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice to defend this country and those who continue that fight today. Happy Memorial Day everyone.

You have got to be kidding me?! Mitt Romney

It has been a while since I have posted on here, but with school, graduation, and job searching behind me now, I'm able to get back to this. I'm going to do a special segment every Saturday called "You have got to be kidding me?!" about stupid things Republican politicans do or say. For this inaugural edition, Mitt Romney gets the award.

Earlier this week, Chrysler announced that it backed all of it's loans earlier, with interest. This is great news for the auto industry, since GM paid back their loans last year and went back on the stock market earlier this year and by year's end, Chrysler is poised to be back on the open market also. It was also anounced that Fiat is taking more ownership of Chrysler, possibly up to 57%, giving it majority control. Now all of this is great news, until a certain GOP presidential hopeful chimed. Mitt Romney is now trying to take credit for the auto bailout working, after saying back in 2009 that the Detriot Three should just go bankrupt. Granted General Motors and Chrysler did declare bankruptcy, but it was a structured form of Chapter 11, which let new companies formed by the old ones and the government take control of the assets. What Romney was pushing for was Chapter 7 liqudation, which would have opened the doors for foreign companies, especially the Chinese. Now this would have been horrible for our economy, especially considering the condition it was in at that point in time. But this seems to be a trend with people in the GOP, not just Romney. President Obama will make a controversial decision, the GOP will give him heat for it. The decision proves to work, the GOP will somehow take credit for it, even if they voted against it. And the success of the bailout more than proved the GOP wrong and vindicated the president. GM has retaken the top spot on the sales chart in the US, Ford (while not taking any government money) has benefited from GM's resurgence, and Chrysler is bouncing back greating after two horrible previous owners.

Mitt Romney has no shame. He can't run on his own success because it's controversial in the eyes of the Republican base. In case you don't know what that it is, I'm talking about Romney-care, the health care reform law Romney passed as governor of Massachusetts. The base sees this as socialism, so Romney needs to create his own success. Maybe his next fake success will make a future edition of "You have got to be kidding me?!"

The end of the world?

May 21, 2011 6:11 PM and still here...