Race To The Finish

The current Republican primaries are a race to the finish, the next Presidential election.  After the Florida Republican primary it looks like Mitt Romney has the nomination sewn up.  Quite why the rest of the group (primarily Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum) are still hanging in there, wasting vast sums of money, trying to defeat Mitt Romney is beyond me.

It looks like the remaining Republican primaries are men running for the glory...or should I say running to jockey for the position of Vice President or Secretary of State? (Or whichever cabinet position each one wants.)

You'd think they would have learned that it doesn't pay to take a cabinet position.  Look at poor Hillary Clinton, sucked into being Secretary of State when Obama took office, and she hasn't had time to breathe since. Why anyone wants that job in the world today I don't know.

Anyone who takes the job as VP might as well spend a lot of time writing essays called "How I Wasted Eight Years of My Life". Yes, there's the possibility of a presidential run after Romney, but there's no guarantee.  Being VP doesn't even get you a great book deal. And face it, the VP doesn't get any respect! Yes, he's discussed on television, but usually as the butt of jokes by Jay Leno, Dave Letterman and Saturday Night Live. Some make it to the presidency but more don't.

Gingrich may have torpedoed any hopes he had of the VP position by the barbs he threw at Mitt during the primaries, especially in Florida. The VP is supposed to have your back, not stab you in it. Floridians sent Gingrich a clear message in the primary: you're OK as a support system but REALLY, we don't want you as president. Romney would be looking over his shoulder the whole time he was in office if he put Newt on the ticket.

Secretary of State for Newt? It's a  possibility. Newt has some experience in foreign affairs and it would get him out of Romney's hair (at least if the amount of traveling Hillary's been doing during Obama's presidency is any indication.)

What's Santorum looking for? Given his relatively young age I'd say he's looking for a run eight or twelve years down the road. Possibly a cabinet post, but more likely a future presidential bid all his own. Personally, I doubt he has a chance, but then there were people who said Kennedy would never get elected, that Obama couldn't make the cut, so you just never know what will happen in the future to catapult a long shot into the White House.

Romney's biggest problem is can he beat Obama in the Presidential bid? Is he too rich? Too conceited? Too Mormon? Too full of himself? Can his wife be as charismatic as Michelle Obama? I guess we'll all just wait and see.

Just remember, if you don't vote whoever gets elected or doesn't get elected is on you. Don't complain down the road if you can't be bothered to take a few minutes out of your day to vote.