Halfway!

Living on a prayer! Hah, okay, anyways. At the halfway point I suppose all I can really say is that I still feel like I'm 14 sometimes and even though college apps are all in I don't know if it's really going to hit me until I get those letters back in April. Senior year's harder than anyone warned me about, but I'm excited to be done with US Government and looking at things on a more global scale as second semester rolls in.

"The GOP drags its feet"



The GOP drags its feet

This cartoon by Daryl Cagle depicts Mitt Romney in a "number 1" uniform dragging the GOP along by a chain as the elephant tries desperately to hold him back. Neither are looking incredibly happy, and Romney continues to look stoical (as usual). The cartoon caricatures the predicament of the GOP nomination race in physical form - as the primaries continue with Romney coming out with a solid lead in New Hampshire, the party continues to squabble over the rest of the candidates and avoiding the concept of Romney as the frontrunner. It illustrates the idea that the race continues to make the Republican party look splintered in the face of the 2012 presidential campaigns and significantly hinders the runner that will (most likely) win the nomination in the end. It is interesting that the leash is chain-like, which implies the idea that the party would still prefer to have a different candidate at the reins. The cartoonist's point of view is then that these discrepancies continue to harm both the candidates and the party, as well as deepening the irony of Romney's frontrunner position.

cartoon from: http://theweek.com/section/cartoon/0/223338/all-cartoons

The GOP nomination race

I firmly believe that Mitt Romney, the paradoxical frontrunner, will (and was always going to) win the nomination. I say paradoxical because while he is the "frontrunner" he is not really seen in that light, neither by leaders of the Republican party nor voters themselves. Yet he has never had a truly lasting opponent within the Republican party for the 2012 nomination. Though Santorum had a strong showing in the Iowa caucus, he is not likely to make much of an appearance in the New Hampshire primary where Romney is expected to do very well. In addition, opponents like Gingrich and Kerry are either too extreme in their ideals or have failed to make a significant impact on the campaign, traits that will not allow them to pick up the moderates in the Republican party (meaning the majority of votes). In that case, then, Romney will continue to be the unwanted favorite of the Republican party.

"The GOP's fuzzy resolution" (Cartoon of the week)

"The GOP's fuzzy resolution"

This cartoon by Walt Handelsman depicts a reporter interviewing what continues to be a "fuzzy" shape that represents the GOP's presidential nomination for 2012. He holds a paper that lists Santorum, Romney, Ron Paul, Newt, and Perry - apparently the cartoonist's impression of the standings of all the potential nominees. Handelsman primarily uses irony in saying that "It's all coming into focus" when the frontrunner of the campaign is still far from clear. This serves to highlight the fact that there really should be more clarity within the party right now, after all the drama that has surrounded the candidates, and the fact that there isn't does not create a unified front in opposition to Obama's campaign for the 2012 election. Mainly the cartoon deals with results from the recent Iowa caucus and expectations for the upcoming New Hampshire primary. Overall, then, the cartoonist's point of view is that the race for the GOP nomination has not only confused and troubled voters, but that it makes the nominees and the party look splintered and "fuzzy".