What does it say about the GOP that every candidate they fielded is a hard sell?

[Yarn]

The GOP nomination process was one of the most thorough in history. Except for Huntsman, who emphasized bipartisanship, practical problem solving, and country before party, every single candidate who attended the debates got into the top 3 at some point or another, and except for Paul and Huntsman, every candidate was even a frontrunner at some point. They all came under intense scrutiny, all of them had some or another major problem with them.

Perry is a stupid speaker. Bachmann is both stupid and too fringe. Cain sexually harrassed his workers. Newt Gingrich wanted an "open marriage", a moon base, and came with a lot of baggage from the Clinton years. Santorum said it is snobbish to think people should go to college, argued contraception is a sin, and rambled on about "phony theology" when trying to criticise Obama's environmental policies.

And now we have Mitt Romney. He is getting the tar beat out of him over how Bain took over companies, fired their workers, sent some jobs overseas, emptied their treasuries via dividends, and then sold the companies for more than he bought them for. At best you could call this creative destruction, but it is not popular. He is, in an unprecedented move, unwilling to hand out more than a couple of years worth of tax returns. Those tax returns he has given out show he paid only about 13% of income in the form of taxes. We also know he hid his money in the Cayman islands and Switzerland meaning he was a tax dodger even when it comes the pittance % he paid more recently.

He rambles on about fixing the budget with spending cuts. He won't say what these are. He does specify bank breaking tax cuts that would raise the debt by more than 100% within 10 years. He wants to "replace" Obamacare. He won't say with what. He refuses to answer the straight forward question of whether he will, as Obama has begun to, allow children of illegal immigrants who weren't born here but whom grew up here, speak perfect english, and have no real experience with any other country.

He passed Obamacare in Massuchussets, and has gone from being in many ways basically a liberal to now being a conservative. He is boring, he lacks charisma. He routinely makes richman gaffes that make him look out of touch. If the election were held today, the latest polling data ( ElectoralVote ) says Obama would win in a landslide with 300 electoral votes in spite of presiding over one of the worst economic downturns in US history and Romney's funding being fantastic.

Clearly, as a candidate, Romney sucks ass.

He wasn't chosen because conservatives love him. He was chosen because they thought he was the most likely to win; and they took a good look at everyone. The other guys were equally or more messed up.

What does it say about the Republican party that this is the best they can do? Is the problem just luck of the draw or is it something more cultural?

[Charlatan]

The GOP nomination process was one of the most thorough in history. Except for Huntsman, who emphasized bipartisanship, practical problem solving, and country before party, every single candidate who attended the debates got into the top 3 at some point or another, and except for Paul and Huntsman, every candidate was even a frontrunner at some point. They all came under intense scrutiny, all of them had some or another major problem with them.

Perry is a stupid speaker. Bachmann is both stupid and too fringe. Cain sexually harrassed his workers. Newt Gingrich wanted an "open marriage", a moon base, and came with a lot of baggage from the Clinton years. Santorum said it is snobbish to think people should go to college, argued contraception is a sin, and rambled on about "phony theology" when trying to criticise Obama's environmental policies.

And now we have Mitt Romney. He is getting the tar beat out of him over how Bain took over companies, fired their workers, sent some jobs overseas, emptied their treasuries via dividends, and then sold the companies for more than he bought them for. At best you could call this creative destruction, but it is not popular. He is, in an unprecedented move, unwilling to hand out more than a couple of years worth of tax returns. Those tax returns he has given out show he paid only about 13% of income in the form of taxes. We also know he hid his money in the Cayman islands and Switzerland meaning he was a tax dodger even when it comes the pittance % he paid more recently.

He rambles on about fixing the budget with spending cuts. He won't say what these are. He does specify bank breaking tax cuts that would raise the debt by more than 100% within 10 years. He wants to "replace" Obamacare. He won't say with what. He refuses to answer the straight forward question of whether he will, as Obama has begun to, allow children of illegal immigrants who weren't born here but whom grew up here, speak perfect english, and have no real experience with any other country.

He passed Obamacare in Massuchussets, and has gone from being in many ways basically a liberal to now being a conservative. He is boring, he lacks charisma. He routinely makes richman gaffes that make him look out of touch. If the election were held today, the latest polling data ( ElectoralVote ) says Obama would win in a landslide with 300 electoral votes in spite of presiding over one of the worst economic downturns in US history and Romney's funding being fantastic.

Clearly, as a candidate, Romney sucks ass.

He wasn't chosen because conservatives love him. He was chosen because they thought he was the most likely to win; and they took a good look at everyone. The other guys were equally or more messed up.

What does it say about the Republican party that this is the best they can do? Is the problem just luck of the draw or is it something more cultural?

Well, yarn, he wants to appeal to the 'american americans.' He has an open book with what will replace obama care, as he has not seen what the country is doing yet. He wants to get rid of the legacy of foreign children, some of whom may make a case to live in the usa, but who lack the funding to go to college, so is giving americans an oppurtunity to work these jobs, or, accomodating the border jumpers by replacing these children with them.

I am sure one of the spending cuts will be for the army, as there are no longer any real wars to waste money on.

[Yarn]

He has already said he wants to raise military spending. Most Americans backed Obama's move on immigration. The move was especially significant to Latin American voters, who as a voting block have crippled Romney's chances of winning.

The Republican party will sooner or later have to start appealing to minority voters or become irrelevant. It is estimated that by 2050, most Americans will not be white.

[Charlatan]

He has already said he wants to raise military spending. Most Americans backed Obama's move on immigration. The move was especially significant to Latin American voters, who as a voting block have crippled Romney's chances of winning.

The Republican party will sooner or later have to start appealing to minority voters or become irrelevant. It is estimated that by 2050, most Americans will not be white.

Well, if he raises military spending, it will get to a point where they are all stocked up and not spending money at all, as there is nothing left to spend money on as far as the military goes. As for foreigners, they are referring to border jumpers, not the refugees that litter the place.

The minority voters most of the time don't vote as getting an id is hard when you don't have an american birth cetificate.

[Senor Hoint]

The answer to the topic title question is simple: the Republican party no longer cares about policy or problem-solving, they are there to represent the interests of the rich. That has been true for several years.

[Yarn]

Well, if he raises military spending, it will get to a point where they are all stocked up and not spending money at all, as there is nothing left to spend money on as far as the military goes.

You're forgeting that we don't have a death star yet.



Being serious: You can always make the military bigger and more advanced. The effective limitation is only good sense.

The minority voters most of the time don't vote as getting an id is hard when you don't have an american birth cetificate.

Most minorities in the US are US citizens with all the proper documentation.

[Yarn]

The answer to the topic title question is simple: the Republican party no longer cares about policy or problem-solving, they are there to represent the interests of the rich. That has been true for several years.

The rich have great influence, but so do the rank and file. Immigration is a prominent example of that. Business interests love cheap labor, but the GOP is forced by the rank and file to reject illegal immigration.

[Charlatan]

You're forgeting that we don't have a death star yet.



Being serious: You can always make the military bigger and more advanced. The effective limitation is only good sense.

Most minorities in the US are US citizens with all the proper documentation.

Well, in these times of arab spring, that is understandable. Then there is syria and north korea... it is like giving everything else a raise too! People get raises each year, so the military needs a raise too.

Most minorities are black. They tried to have a black candidate to reason with them. They make up for the loss to the minorities, at the moment, by appealing to the whites who would not vote for a lot of change to the colour of the country.

[Yarn]

Well, in these times of arab spring, that is understandable. Then there is syria and north korea... it is like giving everything else a raise too! People get raises each year, so the military needs a raise too.

Besides boots on the ground, we have everything we need take on 10 North Koreas or Syrias already. Russia and China have nukes and ICBMs, and so do we, so they can't justify anything but maintaining our nuclear arsenal. The nuclear arsenal is only a very small part of military spending.

Most minorities are black. They tried to have a black candidate to reason with them. They make up for the loss to the minorities, at the moment, by appealing to the whites who would not vote for a lot of change to the colour of the country.

Blacks are nothing new. They are the largest minority, but they aren't growing fast. It is the Asians and Latinos that are making the US less and less a white country. Without immigration, the US population would stay about constant. With immigration, it is expected to rise about 100 million by 2050. That would raise the population from about 300 million to about 400 million.

Almost all blacks vote for democrats, and so are most Asians, Latinos, and those of mixed race.

[Charlatan]

Besides boots on the ground, we have everything we need take on 10 North Koreas or Syrias already. Russia and China have nukes and ICBMs, and so do we, so they can't justify anything but maintaining our nuclear arsenal. The nuclear arsenal is only a very small part of military spending.

Blacks are nothing new. They are the largest minority, but they aren't growing fast. It is the Asians and Latinos that are making the US less and less a white country. Without immigration, the US population would stay about constant. With immigration, it is expected to rise about 100 million by 2050. That would raise the population from about 300 million to about 400 million.

Well the blacks are there now, and they are a large minority. seems they have done thier math?

Boots on the ground. yes. well, that would mean that they are upgrading jets, tanks and stuff like that. increases in military spending might not be much, i am sure he is just saying that for the sake of those women that watch too much cnn.

[Yarn]

Boots on the ground. yes. well, that would mean that they are upgrading jets, tanks and stuff like that. increases in military spending might not be much, i am sure he is just saying that for the sake of those women that watch too much cnn.

By boots on the ground, I mean ground troops. In terms of ships and planes, we could defeat the entire rest of the world combined quite easily.

Modern ships and planes take a long time to build, but ground troops can be trained and mobilized relatively quickly.

Romney specifically crticises that our navy is smaller than it has been at anytime in the past 50 years, but he doesn't take into account tonnage. We have fewer ships, but they are bigger.

We have more than 10 supercarriers (giant aircraft carriers, each of which displaces 100,000 tons of water and can travel at highway speeds and carries a formidable airforce in its own right). Each of these ships is bigger than any military ship of any other country in the world. And we have tons of destroyers, cruisers, etc etc. The navy is far more powerful than it needs to be. We have 1 to 2 fleets in every ocean, and each fleet by itself could take on any other country.

[Charlatan]

so who is the us of a going to fight next?