The Ancient Greeks measured a fouryear period with Olympiads, celebrated with religious festivals, artistic tributes and of course, the famous athletic competitions.
In the modern United States, four years are marked with presidential elections, a nearly year-long celebration of interminably prolonged debate and endless votes, beginning with the mysterious procession of caucuses and conventions.
As Barack Obama will be running again for the Democrats this year, this leaves only the Republicans to fuel what is essentially the presidential semi-final.
Consider the winner of Iowa’s caucuses and New Hampshire’s primary Mitt Romney, a moderate Mormon from a traditionally liberal state, a tax raiser, and the author of the precursor to Obama’s health care reform. The former Massachusetts governor should have no chance to win the nomination of the party.
That Romney has thrived is a testament to his organization, which has worked hard since last April to bankroll and promote his candidacy. It also speaks volumes about the quality of the other Republicans contesting the nomination.
Several wannabes were put forward by themselves, the media and the Tea Party as the “not Romney” candidate: clueless Texas Governor Rick Perry, crass pizza businessman Herman Cain, corrosive former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and crazy Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. All fell away when their weaknesses became too obvious to ignore.
A saner Grand Old Party would have settled on former Utah governor Jon Huntsman ages ago. A fiscal conservative with a history of balanced budgets and a focus on the economy, Huntsman is a pariah to many Republicans for serving as Obama’s ambassador to China.
His third place finish in New Hampshire keeps him treading water, but he needs to quickly earn support among registered Republicans (as opposed to unaffiliated voters who can vote in primaries) to stay afloat.
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum has captured the attention of Evangelical Republicans with his pro-life, homophobic views and unassailable social conservative record. These account for both his close second place in conservative Iowa and distant fifth in moderate New Hampshire.
However, he’s not only a George W. Bush throwback, but he worked closely with the former president while in Congress. This could make him generally unelectable.
The biggest threat to Romney however, is retiring Texas Congressman Ron Paul. The feisty Paul is a decided libertarian and a strict constitutionalist.
That he has only recently become the favoured candidate of the libertarian, constitutionalist Tea Party remains a mystery, but Paul has always had a small but zealously dedicated following in the Republican Party. So dedicated is that following that Paul, who, despite his second place in New Hampshire is too deep in left field for most Republican tastes, is being encouraged to run as an Independent in the presidential election on Nov. 6 – a split that would lead to an Obama landslide.
While the next primary, South Carolina, will take place on Saturday and others will be contested through February, most states will hold their primaries and caucuses in March. Ten states alone will sound their voices for the Republican nomination on “Super Tuesday,” March 6.
The Republicans will formally declare their candidates for president at their convention in Tampa Bay in September.
Update
On Monday, Huntsman withdrew from the Republican race, his campaign having run out of cash and unable to buy ads in South Carolina.
The former Utah governor coupled his announcement with a plea for his fellow candidates to drop “the toxic form of political discourse” that has dominated the campaign, with all candidates throwing enough mud around to fill a swamp.
The toxic discourse afflicting both of America’s major political parties contributed to the failure of Huntsman’s campaign, tainted as he was to Republicans by serving as Obama’s ambassador to China. His inability to define himself during his campaign also hamstrung his efforts.
Huntsman, somewhat reluctantly, endorsed Romney for the nomination, citing (correctly, at this point) the former Massachusetts governor as the “best equipped to defeat Barack Obama.” The moderate Republican voters which formed most of Huntsman’s base are likely to shift their support to Romney.
A win in South Carolina should show Romney has broad enough among Republicans to win the nomination, but Santorum is expected to perform well in the state, full of the older, more socially conservative Republicans the former Pennsylvania senator appeals to. Gingrich, from neighbouring Georgia, is also expecting his best result yet in the Palmetto State.
