The Loser

On the one hand, the GOP is telling us Obama is leading us down the road to "socialism," that he’s "appeasing" our enemies and stiffing our friends, and that he’s basically destroying the country. On the other hand, they haven’t put forth a candidate who has a chance in heck of beating him. The leading candidate for the party’s nomination is a caricature of everything voters are sick and tired of: he’s a phony, a spoiled rich guy, an automaton whose words and actions convey, above all, an almost comical impression of inauthenticity.

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[T]here isn’t a dime’s worth of difference between [Romney and Obama] when it comes to the vitally important issue of America’s role in the world.

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Romney isn’t so much a serious candidate for the presidency as he is a national joke: his record as a "flip-flopper," his inability to project anything remotely resembling sincerity, and his Richie Rich persona have all combined to turn him into a human piñata for both liberals and conservatives to pick apart. Which leads us [to the question]: is the GOP deliberately throwing this election?

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The economy is in a mess, and – in spite of the Obama administration’s pathetic attempts to conjure a "recovery" out of thin air — looks like it is tanking. The European banks are on the verge of a meltdown, and the jobless rate in this country is much higher than anyone in officialdom is willing to acknowledge (although ordinary people know the truth). What’s more, America’s position abroad is none too good: after being driven out of Iraq, which is falling into the Iranian orbit, we’re well on our way to losing the war in Afghanistan, and the whole region is in turmoil. Israel is threatening to start World War III with an attack on Tehran, an act that would drive the world economy over a cliff. Would you want to be President when the price of oil is over $200 a barrel?

  Justin Raimondo

The answer to the question of  whether the GOP is deliberately throwing the election is clearly, “No.” Democrats were facing a similarly wretched situation in the Middle East and a tanking world economy in 2008 (and don't pretend they didn't know it until September).  Both parties always desperately want the White House, and particularly now that both parties have managed to wrestle unprecedented (and probably unconstitutional) power into that office. The GOP is just batshit crazy, and Mitt Romney is their idea of someone who can appeal to the voters who abandon Obama this time around. They don't fear losing their “base” of batshit crazy, liberal-hating supporters. Whether they put up a reasonable candidate or a blue baboon, those people are going to vote Republican. And there are an awful lot of those people. And if those votes are combined with enough loss of votes for Obama from people who voted for him in 2008 but are now rightfully disgusted with or disappointed in him, it's not really that far-fetched to imagine that Romney could win the election. Not at all. There are also a lot of people whose eyes have been opened by Obama's term in the White House to the fact that both parties are one in foreign policy and in domestic policy as well where it pertains to corporate power over the individual. And those people, along with the disgusted and disappointed, may decide to stay home in November and save the cost of gas to the polls.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.