I’m afraid. Obama should be down for the count, but here he is with the economy down, Europe approaching economic Armageddon, scandals to the left of him and scandals to the right of him, his approval rating is still in the 40 percent rage. Not great, but not devastating. The Leftist attack machine is not really warmed up yet. We saw what the Unions were able to do in Ohio. The 2012 election is going to be a bloodbath. Is there any Republican candidate who can survive the onslaught? I’m not confident. Maybe I’ll be surprised. Here’s my latest assessment of the political landscape.

Mitt Romney

I don’t like the politics of Mitt Romney. His Mormonism is a problem for millions of voters, but his policies are worse. He’s not moving up in the polls. He has a “Stepford Wife” presence. No one’s excited about him but the Republican establishment. He’s been liberal, moderate, and now a rhetorical conservative. He’s going to have a tough time beating Obama.

Ron Paul

Ron Paul is great on economics, war, foreign aid, and shutting down military bases overseas. I wish the GOPer’s in the race would take up the Paul mantle. At least he’s pushing the candidates to be more conservative. But that’s now. What will they do if elected? I believe he’s naïve when it comes to dealing with the Islamists. They have an agenda of world domination, and they are willing to do almost anything to see it happen. We shouldn’t be bombing them to kingdom come, but we need to keep our powder dry. There’s a great deal of support for him, but if he gets the nomination, his foreign policy quips will sink him. At the moment, the Middle East is a powder keg. Talking nice to Iran is not going to pass muster.

Rick Perry

Rick Perry is finished. His views on illegal immigration do not resonate with the majority of Americans.  And that includes a lot of Hispanics who went through the citizenship process the right way. No doubt our immigration policies are broken and need fixed, but I’m not sure that Perry’s approach is the right one. And if it is, he has not done a good job of explaining it. It’s too bad. Republicans have alienated a lot of Hispanics, even though they share most of our values. It’s a shame.

Mandating , through an executive order, the HPV vaccination for teenage girls was a bad move on Perry’s part. People are thinking, “If he did this as governor, what might he do as president?” He regrets doing it, but it’s too late.

Any momentum he had coming out of the gate has stalled. He did poorly in the debates. Last night’s performance was a disaster for him. The one thing I fear in a debate is “brain freeze.” The answer is there, but it’s a long way down the road through a dark tunnel. Debating is not something that can be learned. Good debaters are like good sprinters: They are born, not made. Of course, a good debater does not necessarily make a good president. President Obama is a good debater, and look what we got? Even so, when a presidential candidate talks (or doesn’t), people listen (or don’t).

Jon Huntsman

Thankfully, Jon Huntsman is going nowhere. Like all the GOP candidates, there are some things that conservatives can agree with him on, but there are too many that we can’t. The mainstream media love him. This does not help Huntsman with conservatives: “The New York Times is confirming what we’ve [in the Huntsman’ campaign have] known all along: Jon Huntsman is the best candidate to defeat President Obama next fall.” First, it’s not true, and second, it comes from the New York Times. Nearly every non-conservative article I’ve read is pushing Huntsman. Nuff said.

Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann has good conservative credentials, but she is not resonating with enough Republicans. She’s done even if she wins in Iowa. She is a great asset in Congress and on the road energizing the conservative base. We’ll need her throughout 2012 to help stop a stampede of the RINOs.

Rick Santorum

There’s a lot to like about Rick Santorum. Unfortunately, conservatives have a long memory. They remember that he supported establishment GOP RINO Arlen Specter in the 2004 Senate primary against Pat Toomey, who is now the Junior Senator from Pennsylvania. He regrets it, but it’s probably too late. There are other candidates who share his views, so he does not stand out.

Herman Cain

Herman Cain has aroused enthusiasm among conservatives, certainly more enthusiasm than Romney generates. They like his straight talk and his uncomplicated answers to questions. He tells you exactly what he thinks. He’s not afraid to tell off the media. His education, military background, and business acumen and experience are a political résumé enhancer.

Attacks by the Left mean that he is a candidate they fear. Black leadership in America does not want success for most blacks. They need blacks to keep them in power. I know this is a controversial statement, but I believe it’s true. Whites exploit whites. So why are we surprised when blacks exploit fellow blacks? Many of us are shocked that so many blacks have attacked a fellow-black. Again, whites attack whites. Blacks attack blacks. Black on black crime in America is pandemic.

Cain disturbs so-called black leaders who have made their careers (money) by milking the notion of black victimhood; that blacks need masters – black or white – to succeed in America. Tell that to Oprah ($2.7 billion), Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson ($500 million), and Tiger Woods ($600 million). The grandson of a hotel doorman, Don Peebles, is worth $350 million. He runs one of the country’s largest minority-owned real estate development companies. There are many, many more.

Allegations of sexual harassment are disappointing and disturbing. It’s hard to defend against them, unless, of course, you’re Bill Clinton. Is it possible that there’s a bit of skullduggery going on with Cain. Here’s a quip from Ann Coulter:

Bialek’s accusations were certainly specific. But they also demonstrated why anonymous accusations are worthless. Within 24 hours of Bialek’s press conference, friends and acquaintances of hers stepped forward to say that she’s a “gold-digger,” that she was constantly in financial trouble — having filed for personal bankruptcy twice — and, of course, that she had lived in Axelrod’s apartment building at 505 North Lake Shore Drive, where, she admits, she knew the man The New York Times calls Obama’s “hired muscle.”
Throw in some federal tax evasion, and she’s Obama’s next Cabinet pick. The reason all this is relevant is that both Axelrod and Daley have a history of smearing political opponents by digging up claims of sexual misconduct against them.

Coulter’s entire article is worth reading. Cain should study it, absorb it, and spit it back to the press every time they bring up the charges.

Consider how women use child sexual abuse charges against husbands in divorces in order to get custody of their children. We need to wait and see how all this unravels. Cain’s got a high hill to climb.

Newt Gingrich

I never would have thought Newt Gingrich would have a chance. He is moving up in the polls. In terms of conservative credentials compared to the other GOP candidates (except for Ron Paul), Gingrich is more than a competitor. In terms of debate ability, there is no contest. He would have Obama stuttering even if he was able to use his teleprompter. He knows the issues, the history, and the failures of every Liberal boondoggle ever proposed. He’s been described as “smarter than the rest of the slate, combined.” I agree.

The former Speaker of the House has a great deal of experience in politics. He knows how the system works. Will he work to change it? That remains to be seen given some of his past support for less than conservative votes and views.

Gingrich has changed. Have you noticed that he rarely if ever attacks his fellow GOPers. This is smart. He says when he agrees with them, but does not go on the attack when he disagrees. He’s matured. He attacks where all the Republican candidates should attack: the sitting president.

Does he have liabilities and baggage? No doubt. But so does everyone else running for president. Marital faithfulness or lack thereof will dog him. We’re all sinners. Ronald Reagan was divorced.

Gingrich seems to have turned his life around in this area.

Still, there are questions about what he believes about man-made global warming. His sit-down commercial with Nancy Pelosi on global warming was comical. What was he thinking? He wasn’t.

How many previous policy position will Newt have to disavow in order to capture the hearts of die-hard, Tea Party conservatives who have been betrayed a thousand times by conservative-talking candidates but liberal-walking congressmen and presidents?