WINNER TAKES WHAT?

TOO MUCH or TOO LITTLE?

GOP voters face odd choices. Does Romney have too much money or pay too little tax? Does Newt have too little morality or too many wives? One would think the debate would be about the economy, the threat from Iran, or how to power our country, but those issues are being flushed down the debate toilet. Call Roto-Rooter!

All the wannbes are yelling that Obama is the problem, but he has only one wife and he's paid the IRS what he owes. If the contest between their candidate and Obama ever turns to issues that actually matter, Obama will have a very easy ride back to sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue. If you doubt that, read once-conservative Andrew Sullivan's article in Newsweek. Following Allan Lichtman's list of the thirteen keys to the White House, (Red his book!) he ticks off President Obama's truly amazing first term successes As Wordsworth put it, “:The world is too much with us, looking back.” What Americans want to know is what's 2012, 2013, 2015 going to be like?

Now that the Newt has beaten the Mitt in South Carolina the old guard of the GOP is looking forward to Tampa as if they already knew another Katrina was going to hit it. There are even whispers, in closed rooms of course, of a brokered convention. That is to say, one where primary and caucus votes are ignored and the masters of the party pick a candidate. Jeb Bush? No, not another Bush. Chris Christie? No, he's too fat. Tim Pawlenty? No, he's got pawlenty of nothin'. Meanwhile Obama's team is sitting around giggling.

I've covered four national conventions and until now I haven't been sorry to miss the more recent ones, but I sure would like to go to Tampa to watch the GOP tamp down Mitt and Newt as they search for somebody who isn't too rich, hadn't paid too little tax, who wasn't a multi-wived philander who took millions from the mortgage giant, and, just maybe, could beat Obama. The smoke in those smoked filled room will have to be weed ti they're going to hallucinate a win in 2012.