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The Republican candidates' circular firing squad now seems to be using machine guns. Whoever the eventual "last man standing" turns out to be, he may not be standing very tall or very steadily on his feet -- and he may be a pushover for Barack Obama in the general election, thanks to fellow Republicans.
Whether you are a Democrat, a Republican or an independent, this is a very serious and historically crucial time for the United States of America. What Mitt Romney did or did not do when he was with Bain Capital, or what Newt Gingrich did or did not say to his ex-wife, are things that should be left for the tabloids.
With the economy still faltering and Iran on its way to getting nuclear bombs, surely we can get serious about the issues facing this nation. Or can we?
Mitt Romney's boasts about what he did at Bain Capital are as irrelevant as Newt Gingrich's demagogic attacks on Romney's role there. Romney is not running to become head of Bain Capital.
While Gingrich backed away from his demagoguery about Bain Capital, Romney is continuing to press ahead with his charges that Gingrich was a lobbyist for Freddie Mac. As someone who has been a consultant, but never a lobbyist, I know the difference.
As a consultant, I have offered advice to people in government and in private organizations, both businesses and non-profit organizations. But I have never gone to a government official to urge that official to make a decision favorable to those who were paying me, or to those for whom I did free consulting.
It takes two to tango, and lobbying requires not only a lobbyist but also someone who is being lobbied. With more than 500 people in Congress alone who could have been lobbied, and additional officials in the bureaucracies, if Romney cannot find even a single person to say that Gingrich lobbied him or her, then it is long past time for him to either put up or shut up.
On the other hand, if Romney just wants to sling a lot of mud in Newt's direction and hope that some of it sticks, then that should tell the voters a lot about Romney's character.
So much of what has been said by various Republican candidates, as well as by the media, has been in the nature of unsubstantiated, peripheral or irrelevant talking points for or against particular candidates, rather than serious statements about serious issues confronting the nation.
So common has this approach become that even some conservative writers have come to the defense of John King, the CNN reporter who opened the South Carolina debate with a question about Newt Gingrich's former wife. These writers have declared that question "legitimate," in some undefined sense.
If all that "legitimate" means is that John King was not doing anything that many other reporters would have done in the same circumstances, that is making common practice a substitute for our own judgments about what is and is not relevant in a given context. Neither the audience in that room nor the millions watching on television were there to find out about Newt Gingrich's marital problems. If it is a common practice for the media to focus on such things, so much the worse for the media -- and for the country.
"The politics of personal destruction" -- as Bill Clinton called it, and as he himself practiced it -- is not the way to solve the nation's problems. It has already poisoned the well of political discourse this season and claimed Herman Cain as its first victim, on the basis of unsubstantiated accusations by women with checkered pasts of their own.
Whether Herman Cain was good, bad or indifferent as a candidate, and whether his chances of winning the Republican nomination were substantial or non-existent is not the issue. Nor is this the issue as regards Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney or any other candidate.
Poisoning the well of political discourse may be one of the reasons why we see such unsatisfactory sets of candidates for political office in both parties, not only this year but in previous election years as well.
Many able and decent people are understandably reluctant to subject themselves and their families to a mud-slinging contest or to media "gotcha" questions. The creeping acceptance of such practices is hardly a justification, but is itself part of the degeneration of our times.
The time is long overdue to get serious.
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Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305. His website is www.tsowell.com.
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January 26, 2012 @ 9:24 am
By all appearances the Republicans along with the Democrats don’t seem to have the capacity to be serious, hence their performance in congress. Insofar as their attitude toward the candidates are concerned, as usual, I couldn’t agree more with Mr. Sowell’s assessment.
I just read an article the other day that some are considering prompting others to get into the race “because they’re disappointed with all the candidates.” As if “they” were the only people in this country that actually mattered. The corruption and downright decay that’s corroding our country and our politically system is no joke, and if we the people are continuously prevented by these devils to do anything about it, we’re all going down with the ship — and there won’t be any life boats available.
January 26, 2012 @ 10:31 am
Let them go at each other, I think it helps. Obozo will be going after the nominee in due time, and he won’t be wearing any kid gloves. Besides it happens every 4 years. Look how the Clintons tore into Obozo until it appeared she couldn’t be elected. Then they kissed and made up and she got the office she wanted. Why not on the GOP side? We need someone to challenge Obozo all the way. Not someone like McCain who lost his pucker and quit campaigning. Watch politics in Britain once. They stand up on the floor of Parliament and call each other names. Ours is tame, compared to theirs. Like yesterday when Brewer stood up to Obozo. She was right, he wants to do nothing about the problems there. He hides behind the respect of the office, when has he had respect for what the American people want? Just the ones who side with his evil agendas.
January 26, 2012 @ 10:34 am
Good comment by Thomas Sowell. I truly wished that all candidates would talk about how they would go about fixing the problems in America instead of attacking each other. If they don’t stop this circular firing squad soon, we will have Obama for another 4 years, and that will end all freedom in our country.
January 26, 2012 @ 10:39 am
Hey, I’m glad we are having at it. Makes you know what you’re “buying”. The Gutless Old Party has majored in bland me-tooism for too long.
Now, one of the candidates HAS advanced many ideas for change……but the establishment hates him worse than they do that Kenyan dude…..and have blacked him out al maximo!
That is, of course, Ron Paul.
Who is also the one that is getting lots of votes from independents and democrats. Including a lot of BLACK democrats….
Now, to be honest, if I was black…And the choice was the Grinch or Romabama I’d yell racism as there is little, if any, difference in their actual track records from the Kenyan.
January 26, 2012 @ 11:25 am
I think Romney is getting bad advice on how to run his campaign as he resorts to mudslinging. He needs to stick to his plans to turn around our economy and the poor performance of Obama, and back off from attacking Gingrich so much. He can work on refining his message and adding more and more focused hard facts that help him win the nomination.
Gingrich should do the same thing and the voters will pick who they think has the best strategy, and who has the best chance to beat Obama, which is the top priority.
January 26, 2012 @ 12:15 pm
Romney ran his last campaign the same way. He and his hit machine specialize in lying about people and getting the lie repeated enough to where people believe it. He is the Republican’s version of Obama…
January 26, 2012 @ 11:40 am
” … if Romney cannot find even a single person to say that Gingrich lobbied him or her … “
HAH! I’ve been saying the same thing for two days, now. Specifically, I have asked, “Where is the line of people waiting for the microphone to tell about him coming to their offices?”
Romney’s claims against Gingrich, on this issue and the ‘ethics violation’, are as ephemeral as the last minute ‘scandal’ foisted by Dan Rather upon George W. Bush.
Rather’s back up documents were fake, but at least HE had ‘proof’ … unlike Romney.
January 26, 2012 @ 1:20 pm
Well, the media has something to do with this too. It’s not JUST the candidates.
January 26, 2012 @ 3:28 pm
I always appreciate Thomas Sowell’s straight to the point about issues we face in or country. This article needs to be taken seriously. Our candidates need to respect one another and talk about the issues instead of running down their opponant. I don’t respect anyone who does that just to get what they want. Sounds like Kindergarten to me.
January 26, 2012 @ 4:27 pm
All the politicians should cease attack on one another.I wish the candidates would stop villifying each other. One is just as bad as the other. Instead they should be concentrating on what they would do to bring the US back on track. Or is the money all they want?
January 26, 2012 @ 10:57 pm
The way this Farce is going, it is hard for me to imagine that any of these 4 “Contenders” will be left standing. Can anyone say “Brokered Convention?”