I’m no fan of Mitt Romney, but Mittens was right when he looked at the GOP field and was not impressed. The field is certainly wide. But deep? Not so much.
First of all, aside from entertainment value, you can safely ignore Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, and Ben Carson. None of these guys is going to be the 2016 Republican nominee. Okay, maybe if Hillary finds a magic lamp in some Upper East Side antique store… But let’s assume Alladin isn’t Ready for Hillary.
Ted Cruz probably falls in that group too. Just because you breathe fire, doesn’t mean you’re going to catch fire. “Clueless” and “obnoxious” aren’t high on the list of what voters look for in a candidate.
As for his fellow Texan, Rick Perry, he’ll do better than 2012, being off the pain meds and all. So he’ll be able to remember a list of three. Hell, maybe he’ll do four or five. But he still comes across as dumber and goofier than George W. Bush. He’ll have a less bizarre and humiliating, but still unsuccessful, go this time around.
As for Scott Walker and Marco Rubio, the eyes have it. Watch a clip of Scott Walker with the sound off and just look into his eyes. Not a helluva lot going on there, he’s the poster boy for “dumb look.” Rubio? Watch the water grab in the SOTU response and look at the absolute terror in his eyes. If he panics over a sip of water, how is he going to fare in a room with Putin? Vlad, by the way, wouldn’t give a damn if he needed a sip of water — or vodka — during a speech. Anyone going to snicker at Mr. KGB? I think not. I don’t entirely write either off the way I do the others — Walker could unite the Establishment and the Tea Party and Rubio has some foreign/defense policy chops (especially compared to Walker) in an election where the Mideast Morass will feature prominently. But really, neither one has what it takes.
Chris Christie? Mittens knows more about him than we do from his Veep vet in 2012, and Mittens didn’t like what he learned. Skeletons aside, Christie won’t wear well, we’ll be sick to death of him long before the NH primary. Mitt has been gone just a few days, and Christie is already spouting nonsense about vaccines. When his mouth isn’t full of food, it’s full of bluster and BS.
We come to Jebbie. Mitt looked at him and saw a much less successful version of himself as a businessman. But as a politician, Jeb is far less awkward and off-putting than Mitt. He doesn’t make you cringe. He’ll be the grown-up on the debate stage. He’ll have all the money he needs.
So there you have it, America. A “wide and deep” field — of one.
Embattled Farmers 