An opinion piece written by a simple humble housewife with no political background whatsoever.  Oh, wait! I was a Political Science major at Cal State Fullerton for six weeks with the plan of becoming a lawyer until I dropped out to be a dancer at Disneyland. That should do it.  

When I typed the title of this post, I accidentally wrote “Is Romney the next Jim Carrey?”  Well, no argument there: no.  Just as well, because Jim Carrey probably wouldn’t make a very good President.  The real question is, “Is he the next John Kerry?”  My answer is, “could be.”  By that, I mean Republicans may be scratching their heads in disbelief that they could not find anyone to beat Obama.  In 2004, when Bush was not enjoying great popularity, the best candidate Democrats could come up with was John Kerry.  Not even his own party was that excited about him.  He was stiff, not very likeable, and couldn’t rally the troops.  Sound familiar?  America decided to stick with Bush because they didn’t find the alternative to be a viable choice.  Fast-forward eight years.  Again we have a President not enjoying a great deal of popularity that is ripe for defeating.  And again, the opposing party has put up a candidate that is unlikeable, stiff and can’t even rally his own troops.

I would like to speak to Republicans now, and tell you in my own humble opinion where you went wrong (if in fact you did and Romney loses), or why if he wins it wasn’t by a larger margin.  There were lots of Democrats unhappy with Obama and open to listening to another candidate.  Instead of putting up someone with a moderate voice (like my favorite, John Huntsman) only the far right candidates were given any credence by your party.  The far Right (Tea Party) has called all the shots for the Republican Party, and I am not sure why you are letting them do that.  All of your reasonable voices have been silenced and marginalized.  Mitt Romney moved way far to the right in order to get the nomination, and is now trying to push a bit more toward the middle in order to be more electable.  It’s probably too little too late.  You did not offer Democrats any choice they could get behind.  The addition of Paul Ryan to the ticket sent any Democratic women or seniors who may have been open to change into a tizzy of terror.  No, we don’t think he is good looking, and you can’t buy our vote that way.  Yuck (says Cinderella.

So you are left trying to persuade a handful of independent voters instead of having any shot at luring the discontented Democrats.  And by the way, I know a lot more Democrats willing to vote for a Republican candidate than the other way around.  Just saying.  Even I, DeAnne “I Love Obama” Spicer Todd, would have listened to a Republican candidate with conservative fiscal ideas not accompanied by a platform that includes overturning Roe v. Wade in even the most horrific circumstances, and that sends gay people into hiding.  I even liked John McCain back in the day, before he got old and cranky. 

If Romney loses this election, the Republican Party is going to have to do some major changing.  You have been eating your own tail.  Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Bachman, most pundits on Fox News, Rick Santorum… really?  I cannot believe these are the people you want speaking for you.  Unless they do speak for you, and then I am just plain scared.  

The first debate is tonight, and I seriously doubt it is going to change anything.  The hype surrounding it should keep both candidates from making any mistakes or going out on a limb.  Because we have “a clear choice,” meaning extreme viewpoints, we have left the future of our country in the hands of a very few who can’t even commit to a candidate yet.  Im sorry, how can they not know yet? Those are the only people Romney has a chance to reach, and that is why it might not work out in his favor.   Maybe after the election Romney and John Kerry can get together and watch a Jim Carrey film to cheer themselves up, and start the “I Can’t Believe I Couldn’t Beat That Guy” club.  If that is the case, my suggestion to Republicans is to have your days of mourning and hair pulling and then get to work figuring out what your party really stands for.  I’m pretty sure that if you do that, you could be back in 2016.  Maybe.