The
GOP's presidential field features some weary right-wing retreads.
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| DonkeyHotey/Flickr |
Ready or not, the race is on — for president, I mean.
Yes, Election Day is still nearly two years away, but the
candidates are already on the loose. And they’re as goosey as ever.
So far, the goosiest has been Mitt Romney.
The GOP’s 2012 loser was asked last year if he would try again,
and he said — in these exact
words — “Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.”
That’s 11 not-uhs, which would seem pretty final.
That was going to be fun to watch, but only two weeks later,
Mitt quit. He said he wanted to give some of the new faces a chance. What a
guy.
So Romney’s out. Unless he gets back in.
Meanwhile, some of those “new faces” have an old and weary look,
such as extremist right-wing retread Mike Huckabee. He recently informed us
that being gay is a “lifestyle”
choice, like choosing to drink alcohol.
Really? How does he know?
And don’t forget Rick “Oops” Perry. He’s back,
this time wearing horn-rimmed glasses that are supposed to make him look
smarter. You be the judge.
Rick’s latest handicap, however, isn’t his stupidity. It’s
trying to look presidential whileunder felony
indictment for abusing his gubernatorial power — plus having
his office under scrutiny for
awarding handouts of public dollars to campaign donors and political cronies.
You know you’ve got image issues when your press conferences
keep featuring photo-ops of you flanked by your covey of high-dollar
criminal defense lawyers.
Still, the goofiest thing about the 2016 race is that it’s
expected to come down to Bush vs. Clinton. Haven’t we seen that movie before?
OtherWords columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator,
writer, and public speaker. He’s also editor of the populist newsletter, The Hightower Lowdown. OtherWords.org.