Day: February 28, 2009

President Obama, after false starts on the cabinet posts of Commerce and Health and Human Services, has finally filled those positions with two competent Democrats.

Former Washington Governor Gary Locke, the first Chinese American governor, will be Secretary of Commerce after the withdrawal of Bill Richardson and Judd Gregg.  Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, one of the earliest and most vocal supporters of Obama’s presidential candidacy, will become the Health and Human Services Secretary, replacing Tom Daschle.

Both candidates should sail through the nomination process, and both will add a lot to the Obama cabinet.  Now the cabinet can move full steam ahead and deal with the problems of the American people!

CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) has chosen former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts as its favorite for the 2012 Presidential nomination in a straw poll conducted during the meeting.  In second place is Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, followed by a tie for third place between Texas Congressman Ron Paul and Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

The conference, which included speeches by Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh, has therefore at this early date settled on the idea that Romney will be their best bet to challenge President Barack Obama in 2012.  This despite the fact of his basically liberal record as one term Governor of Massachusetts and the issue that many Christian evangelicals do not accept him as being Christian because of his Mormon religious beliefs.

What can be said in favor of Romney is his extremely telegenic looks and his outstanding speaking ability.  These are definite assets in a race against a person as charismatic and well spoken as President Obama.  Were this scenario to work out for 2012, it certainly would be a very interesting and fascinating race, but it behooves former Governor Romney to come up with a detailed explanation of how he would revive the American economy in an alternative way that will work for the masses of Americans and small businesses that face hard times.  So far, he has proved better in criticism than in clearcut, defined programs or ideas.  Now the burden is on him as the so called "front runner" in  the race to show us why we should put him and his party, which greatly helped to cause this economic mess and undermined our world image, into power in January 2013.

CNN has come out with its first poll on the 2012 GOP Presidential race, and it is not encouraging for the near term future of the Republican Party.

Coinciding with the Conservative Political Action Conference gathering, the poll indicates Alaska Governor Sarah Palin runs ahead with 29 percent, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is second with 26 percent,  former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is third with 21 percent, and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is a distant fourth with 9 percent.

So the list includes two governors who have been embarrassing in their public performances (Palin and Jindal),  and two former Governors who have already been also rans (Huckabee and Romney),  who show no evidence of being able to unify conservatives as both have a record of being "spendthrifts" when they were governors.  Their statements calling President Obama "socialist" only make them look more ridiculous and lacking any real alternative ideas. 

The fact that the CPAC gathering sees its "star" guest as Rush Limbaugh, the talk show host, and that other talk radio spokesmen are prominent at the convention truly shows just how bankrupt the conservative movement and the Republican party are as the next round for the Presidency begins.  IF the Republican party refuses to reform its message and start to appeal to groups and geographical areas it has lost because of its ideological base and narrow mindedness and stubbornness, it will remain in the political wilderness for a long time to come.  Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower are turning over in their graves as their once proud, reputable party spins out of control and disgraces itself!