Who is the Scariest Republican Presidential Candidate?
That’s the question The Carpetbagger Report is asking its (mostly Democratic) readers. Romney, the man who will believe anything? Rudy, the authoritarian megalomaniac? McCain, the angry bulldog? Thompson, the lazy opportunist? CBR gives some brief cases for each one, and then opens it up to the readers. Be sure to read the comments.
I try not to be overly spiteful in politics. Generally, I believe that people running for office think they’re working in the best interests of the nation and want to do good for their country, though often enough they’re wrong on the first part and beyond counter-productive on the latter. But it’s hard not be pretty jaded and angry at the current slate of Republican candidates. It really does seem, at times, to be an Ugly Contest, with each candidate representing in different ways different facets of the Republican party’s giant flaws and failures over the last several years.
Opportunism, corruption, fear-based politics, authoritarian bents, personal hollowness, you name it. Despite the, at this point, almost sickening constant allusions to Ronald Reagan, who to be sure had his own faults, there’s not a positive vision for the country in the bunch, at least in the first tier of candidates. Everything that’s wrong with the modern Republican movement, everything that’s given up whatever legacy and positive ideological vision it once had, is flagrantly on display now. From the “pro-torture” lightning round at the end of the second Republican debate, to BOTH sides of the immigration debate (corporate largess vs cultural dehumanization), to the falling-all-over-themselves to present the least concrete vision for the way forward in Iraq, to the cynical “commitments” to expand government into every sphere of public private life if it adds another special interest to the coalition, and to the constant, never-ending fear peddling. It’s beyond depressing, at this point. The skeletons are no longer in the closest for the GOP. They’re out in the room, rearranging furniture and measuring drapes.
My own personal choice for “scariest” is Rudy Giuliani. There is not another candidate running, in either party, that I would least like to see as President. As much as I’ve spent the last few years laying into President Bush, I don’t say “worse than Bush” lightly, but Rudy’s earned it. His entire campaign is predicated on the idea that we need a stern Daddy State, that freedoms and liberties are quaint and passe at best, or downright vile and disgraceful at worst, and that we should just write our government a blank check to do whatever it deems necessary to keep us cozy and safe. I don’t think I’ve seen in my lifetime a major candidate as actively hostile to the entire foundation of the American system as Rudy. But, that’s me.
What about you? Who makes you hide under your covers late at night?