You Read It Here First: President Romney

Before “Humor Me” there was “Alan’s Alley”, my 2006 attempt at a blog.

My idea was to write funny things and make political comments in a funny way. I ran into two problems. One, I didn’t realize that I could write and edit before I post. So I would write a blog, post it, go and read it and it looked like a chimp wrote the article. Secondly, this caused me to use up a lot of time which I didn’t have because of other commitments.

But, I wrote this in September of 2006 in which I listed the six people I thought had a chance at being elected President in 2008. Here it is: http://alansalley.blogspot.com/2006/09/six.html

Looking back, I thought I did pretty well. I predicted the Obama mania. Sort of. I predicted the media love feast with Obama when I said he would have a “force field around him because the Mainstream Media is not going to tear down the first really serious African American Presidential candidate that doesn't speak in aliteration.” But, I thought Obama would not beat Hillary, but rather she would bow out for some Bill related reason.

Now I am ready to make my prediction about the 2012 election. Only two people have a chance at being elected President in 2012. One is already President: Barack Obama. The other one is Mitt Romney.

There is a slight possibility that the far left will challenge the President in the primaries. There is a possiblity I will be drafted in the NBA draft. Like it or not, the Democrats are stuck with Barack Obama,for there is no one out there, save Hillary Clinton, that could take him on in the party. If there is one thing the book Gamechange made clear, is that there are a lot of Democrats that simply can’t take The Hill and Bill Show.

Why Romney? One thing Bill Clinton has said that I agree with is this: Democrats fall in love, Republicans fall in line. That is the only way you can explain a Jimmy Carter over a Scoop Jackson or a President Ford over a Ronald Reagan.

Despite dropping out early, Romney is seen as the guy who came in second. In the Republican party over the past 30 some odd years, the guy who came in second, generally became the nominee the next go around (Reagan…Bush…Dole…McCain) and there is no reason to think it will change this time.

What about the others? Please. Huckabee and Haley Barbour: too Southern. Pawlenty, Daniels, Thune: too unknown. Jindal: too young.

The only one who could possibly win the Republican nomination is Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin was probably the first Vice Presidential candidate to work a pair of jeans really good, if you know what I mean. But, she is the canidate that Obama would love to face because the media would go back into their lap dog mode to keep Palin out of The White House. She is the only Republican who can match Obama in sheer charisma, but she doesn’t match up well against him.

What Romney has going for him is his background. He has a background of coming in a taking over troubled companies, troubled events (2002 Winter Olympics) and troubled states (Massachusetts) and leaving things better than he found them.

This matches up well against Obama who, let’s give him a break, hasn’t been a complete failure, he’s just been a failure because he had no idea what he wanted to do as President except what he remembered from college dorm room bull sessions. I’ve halfway expect him to come up with a car that runs entirely on water.

Romney does have his liabilities. Conservatives and particularly Tea Party folks are suspicious of his manadory health insurance for Massachusetts. While he’s not a Walter Mondale or a Bob Dole, he’s not charismatic as Obama.

However, Romney’s skill sets are those that will look attractive in 2012, especially if unemployment is still at ten per cent.

But, as I said in 2006: I could be wrong.