COMMENTARY | The twists and turns in the run-up to the GOP nomination for the 2012 presidential election have been substantial enough to leave a person dizzy. Each new day brings about another development even more incredible than the last. This snowball effect of bad press arguably has only one clear beneficiary -- President Barack Obama.
No sitting president has ever been re-elected with unemployment at 9.0 percent. How then is President Obama's approval rating actually improving?
Perhaps the answer to this question lies somewhere within the roster of GOP candidates.
Texas Rep. Ron Paul is the poster child of the libertarian movement. If the tea party had a grandfather, it would be Paul. Yet, despite winning multiple straw polls, Paul cannot break into the top-tier of candidates. His strict interpretation of Constitutionality would put every social program in America at risk. So far, Americans have been reluctant to embrace Paul's "every man for himself" vision.
Rick Perry, a popular three-term Texas governor, blasted to the top of the polls after hosting a prayer summit. A seemingly endless series of debate fumbles has since dropped his stock considerably. Most recently, at a speech in New Hampshire, Perry appeared so incoherent that reporters were left wondering if he was drunk at the time. With funds and the organization to be competitive nationally, only time will tell if Perry can repair his image enough to remain relevant.
Charismatic businessman Herman Cain is the latest candidate to rise in popularity within the GOP. Cain immediately drew criticism when in an October interview with the Wall Street Journal, he stated: "If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself!" Since then, Cain has been dogged by repeated accusations of sexual harassment dating to the 1990s. What initially were two anonymous accusers has now swollen into five women who claim Cain acted inappropriately. Cain denies the allegations.
This leaves GOP voters with Mitt Romney. The former Massachusetts governor, and presumed front-runner, has struggled to gain support within his own party. He is the proverbial oak that has withstood the rising and falling fortunes of his fellow nominees. Romney though is plagued with criticisms that his own health care plan was the model for the Affordable Care Act and that he has reversed his opinion on numerous issues. Even so, Romney's success may lie in simply outlasting everyone else and winning nomination by default.
"Winning by default" seems to be the unifying theme of the 2012 elections. With Congress endlessly gridlocked and enjoying a 9 percent approval rating, the president has begun governing with executive orders. At the moment, President Obama is the only person in Washington doing anything productive and this bodes favorably for the incumbent.
In the 2012 Republican primary, GOP voters will be asked to make an impossible choice. They will be asked to choose the lesser of several evils and it should not be so.
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