An artist's depiction of an Extended Unit Death
... Really? Did you click on those links? I'm guessing you didn't.
There's no reason Rick Perry can't make a comeback. He might not, but there isn't really a reason that he fell in the polls aside from the fact that he bombed the debates.
Actually, I agree here, although I'd like much to believe he's beyond recovery. Other than being an awful speaker (and seemingly political ignorance), he has everything the Republican party likes; he reminds me a little of Bush. My friend still thinks Perry will get the nomination because of this.
Your statement on Santorum is kind of dumb. Santorum tied Romney in terms of real votes, those things that they're trying to get.
Yes, it's very nice that he's been highlighted as soon as the primaries started, isn't it? And remember when Herman Cain was polling at 40% of Republican supporters? I'm sure Gingrich would have had similar treatment as Santorum's if his turn in the spotlight happened a bit later. It's more the fact that people have actually
seen the candidates they didn't vote for, and once they
see Santorum, I have a feeling the same thing will happen to him. I guess we won't know until later, though, eh? Let's see how he does on Tuesday.
Ron Paul's libertarianism isn't what makes him unelectable. It's his isolationist foreign policy that doesn't fit in with the Republican Party. His extreme libertarianism is precisely what makes him so popular.
You mean his non-interventionist foreign policy, right? And yes, there is a difference. I agree that this is one of the key reasons, but allow me to elaborate:
Believe it or not, there
are Republicans that don't think going to war with more countries during an economic crisis is a good idea. The other candidates also seem to have a very poor grasp on foreign policy (or perhaps they're just pandering). Whenever I hear a harsh criticism on Ron Paul, it's not usually for his foreign policy; it's for his desire to eliminate the departments of Energy, Education, Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Labor (though some of those the Republican party also would like to eliminate). It's for his want to legalize marijuana, heroine, cocaine and prostitution. It's because he wants to abolish the Federal Reserve. If we're going to go into the specifics of what they dislike about his foreign policy, it's that he is more conservative and won't put Israel before the United States.
Keep in mind the Republican Party has a history of being the party to
end wars.
But yeah, if you want to debate how much of a chance any of the Republicans have against President Obama, this would be the place to do it.
Really, I don't think they have a candidate that can match Obama. The one who has the most support of the moderates and democrats in the primaries is Ron Paul, but he doesn't have the backing of the Republican Party, and who knows how much of his support is decisively going to vote Obama anyway. Perry couldn't debate Obama by any means. Romney and Huntsman would lose the Bible Belt because they're Mormon (I had a chat with a friend who grew up in Tennessee who, after thinking about it, stated that the people he knew back home would pick a black Christian over a white Mormon, almost regardless of policies and all based on religion). Santorum and Gingrich both have a history of saying really awful things and taking stances that would definitely not win over the moderates.