The Republican presidential field: How do you spell ‘weak’?

Maybe some of you remember way back in 1987-88 when some clever
Republicans were describing the Democrats running for president as Gary
Hart and “The Seven Dwarfs.” Hate to admit it, but it got some traction.

Just for a little history lesson, here were those seven candidates:
Jesse Jackson, Joe Biden, Bruce Babbitt, Dick Gephardt, Al Gore, Paul
Simon and the eventual nominee, Michael Dukakis.  

Now, looking back at that group, I have to say that the list of
Democrats was a pretty distinguished and capable and solid collection of
leaders. The name they were given was not particularly accurate or
fair.  

Which brings me to the crop of candidates roaming around the
Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this past weekend. Holy
cow! Even my Republican friends have trouble getting their arms around
this crowd!

Let’s start with the two-time winner of the straw poll, Ron Paul. Whew! Are they serious? Mitt Romney, the favorite for Republican front-runner status, came in second. But who was third? Gary Johnson, the libertarian who favors legalizing marijuana. Far down in low single digits were Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mitch Daniels, Haley Barbour, Rudy Giuliani, Rick Santorum, Michele Bachmann, John Thune, Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty. Sorry, even I can’t include Donald Trump on the list with a straight face.

Now, lists vary, but I count 13 — shall we call them the “Lucky 13,” or maybe “The Baker’s Dozen,” or how about “The 13th Floor — No One There”? Someone should think about a nice name for this crop of folks; maybe we should have a contest.

The unfortunate result for Republicans of letting a group of 11,000 at CPAC, with the Ann Coulters of the world determining the agenda, is that Americans see this and hold their noses, cover their ears and close their eyes.  

Candidates who go before a group like this and try to appeal to the extreme right’s ideology, ratcheting up the angry rhetoric, tossing out the nasty lines, just don’t get it. This is not what voters want. They don’t want the screamers and yet, because things are slow in February, CPAC gets huge press, and these candidates do nothing but throw out as much red meat to their narrow-cast audience as they can in their allotted time.

Big mistake. Better to speak to a much larger audience and even get some boos from the Ron Paul crowd. Although I disagree with much of what he said, I admired Mitch Daniels’s speech as well-thought-out, well-constructed, covering important issues and offering up serious food for thought. Not just red meat. He was wise to speak to folks outside that room. And he spent time on crafting his speech, not just tossing out the usual lines. His conclusions, I believe, are wrong, but I can argue that in another column. But I admired the intellectual content of his arguments. As for the rest of those on the “13th Floor” — not much there.