The U.S. election process is becoming more and more like Christmas and hockey. It seems to start earlier every time and lasts longer that it really should.
Right now, the Republicans are frantically trying to find the right candidate to do battle with the Obama machine. Isn’t it lucky that eight years of Bush helped cripple the economy so badly that the Democrats were left with nothing but hard choices and painful cutbacks in order to rebuild the country?
But so far, the Republicans appear to be slowly running out of options. Texas Governor Rick Perry forgot the name of the government department that he wanted to cut.
The 50-odd second clip of his mental lapse, punctuated by the word “Oops” has been played, and replayed, on every news forum in the U.S.
And it will likely be used for decades by P.R. companies and political strategists as an example of what not to do.
But haven’t we all been caught arguing a point, only to momentarily forget a word or name? Call it what you want: “senior’s moment” or the equally offensive “blond moment,” “mental hiccup” or my personal favourite “brain fart.” It’s pretty common.
And yet, within hours of his gaffe, one of Perry’s top fundraisers sent an email to the Washington Post: “Perry campaign is over. … His policies are a solid roadmap for the economy. But clearly he can’t articulate them in a coherent way.”
So they’re willing to throw away “a solid roadmap for the economy” because its author tends to blank on TV?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a Perry fan. Truth be told, I’ve never met a politician that I totally trusted.
They’ve got too many balls in the air to give any one its undivided attention. And I don’t like jugglers.
The only politician I’ve ever respected is Jimmy Carter – who I still believe was too good a man to be president.
Because of his serious nature and flexible negotiating style, his tenure was considered to be a failure and he lost his 1980 re-election to a slick, confident Ronald Reagan.
Yet, thousands of Habitat for Humanity homes built, millions of lives saved worldwide through the Carter Centre … oh, and a Nobel Peace Prize were accomplished after he left the White House.
Meanwhile, Regan was busy with the Iran-Contra affair.
Apparently, more than 30 years later, Americans haven’t learned a thing. Republicans seem more horrified by Perry’s struggle for a word than the accusations of sexual harassment against candidate Herman Cain – who that night referred to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as “Princess Nancy.”
No wonder I have little faith in politics. It’s not about the best idea or best policy, but who shines the brightest.
And until they find a better way to find the measure of the man … or woman … voters will be like squirrels and go after the brightest nut.
