Decision Time?

After taking the summer off from all of the hard work of blog writing, I decided it was time to put my brain back in gear and restart this blog.  There certainly is no shortage of things about which I have a strong opinion.

I saw this article on-line this morning on "Politico" called Decision Time for GOP Elite.   http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/62633.html

To summarize quickly, the point of the article was that big-time Republican donors needed to decide which horse to back in the race.  The authors further stated it had become a two-horse race between Rick Perry and Mitt Romney.

Decision time?  Maybe but I think of it more as "wake up time."

It's time for Republicans to wake up and realize that any nominee they select from the hard-core, right wing conservative ranks of the Party will ensure an Obama re-election.  As was the case in 2008, the 2012 election will be decided by the middle of the electorate.  It is these swing voters from the ranks of independents, moderate Republicans and conservative (Blue Dog) Democrats that must be won in order to win the general election.

About one-third of voters will vote for President Obama, irrespective of whom the Republicans run against him.  These voters represent the extreme left of the political spectrum in America.  They have a sitting president representing the left and they will support him actively.

Another third of voters will vote for anyone the Republicans nominate and the farther to the right the candidate, the more energized these voters will be.  These voters also are the ones who will select the next Republican candidate for president.

In 2008, Obama carried the remaining one-third in the middle.  Result?  Place a win in the column on the left.

If Republicans are serious about winning the White House in 2012, they must nominate a candidate who can take the middle away from President Obama.  Nominating a hard-core, right wing candidate who is more ideologue that rational won't do it.  Candidates such as Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul cannot capture the swing voters.  If Sarah Palin enters the primary race and wins the nomination, she'd face that same fate as the others:  Energize the right for her; energize the left against her; lose the middle to President Obama.

Result?  Another four years of an Obama Administration in the White House.

Like it or not, and too many Republicans don't get it, the only Republican candidates who can capture the middle and win the general election in 2012 are Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney.  Will Republicans nominate either of them?  Probably not.

Republican voters today are too wrapped up in Tea Party ideology to look beyond it to reality.  To these voters, I say, leave the tea in the cupboard.  It's time to wake up and smell the coffee.