I am not much enamoured by any of the Republican candidates to date. At this rate, we may see Obama rewarded with a second term not by merit but simply by default. Frontrunner Romney strikes me as cheesy at least. But they all seem to have some questionable deals in their past. Huntsman seems to be the cleanest. Sadly, and perhaps because he has had less questionable deals, he is also broke compared to the other candidates. Broke don’t win American elections–the classic conundrum.
Gingrich seems to be the most intelligent–at least he comes across as the most pragmatic thinker in the debates to date. I think this interview makes some good points about the distinction between capitalism where the entrepreneurs take personal risk to build value that leaves companies, customers and workers better off through their efforts, and the repugnant gouging-out-of-value-for-a-few who venture little and take all, leaving bankruptcy and loss in their wake. Make no mistake, valuable franchises and strong economies are built by the former not the latter. The government bailouts over the past few years have wasted a ton of tax payer debt by back stopping weak, gouge-out leaders. Hence the economy flounders while a few take even more and give nothing. We have to wise up. Not all ‘rich’ people are created equal.
Watch the clip here: Newt Gingrich on Romney
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From what I have seen. Ron Paul is the only one who does not change his views for the audience or the media. He votes and speaks on principles. As for intelligence, he is also the only one who seems to understand and reasonably articulate economics as well as their Constitution.
Danielle,
You raise a very good point. We need to learn to differentiate between the productive form of Capitalism and the extraction form as practiced most aggressively by the financial services industry.
I agree that all of the Republican candidates are weak. Perhaps one of the key reasons for this is that the party has yet to come to terms with the reality that free and unfettered capitalism breeds more of the predatory type of capitalism and often times thwarts productive capitalism through anti-competitive practices. Of course, the other issue is money which no one gets unless they suck up to the larger corporate class who have no interest in seeing change.
Ron Paul is an interesting figure. I agree with the other poster that he is honest. Clearly his ideas about ending wars make sense. In fact, Matt Stoller and Glenn Greenwald have been doing some good articles on Paul that are worth reading. However the reality is that most of his views are unrealistic in the modern age. Only the State can stand up to corporate interests and deal with global issues.
Thanks for your good work Danielle! When can we get you on FlipBoard?
Danielle,
You just lost a lot of my respect. You mention nothing about Ron Paul. Ever heard of him? Now you sound like just another person who’s rooting for a continuation of the status-quo.
Samir