ALPERN AT LARGE - In addressing the California Republican presidential primary race, I originally planned to entitle this piece "To The Remaining Last Three Republicans in California"... but then I realized that might be unfair to the other five or six fellow Republicans left in the state. So I considered the title "The Race That Isn't"... but then I realized that there IS a race in the making: Romney vs. Obama. (The California GOP Primary is just a few days away, by the way, June 5.)
Certainly both major contenders can and will do all they can to drum up their campaign fundraising efforts in the Golden State, a state that is enduring both a failed Facebook IPO and a never-ending Silicon Valley meltdown that is much of the reason for the state's fiscal nightmare.
Of course, neither candidate is daring to speak the unspoken truth that many have known about Facebook--which is that Facebook is never going to be a strong bulwark of the economy and never going to be easily priced. It's cute. It's nice. It's also a gimmick.
Ditto for the overvalued California housing industry, which might be held on life support for the benefit of those who want to stay in their homes--and who might have rent their homes from their bank to avoid losing them altogether. California housing was and is a gimmick, and was built on a shared desire of many to make a quick buck, and like Facebook is no substitute for a sustainable, long-term manufacturing base.
Which raises all sorts of questions and comments, ranging from the necessary but evil role of banks, the necessary but evil role of government, and the necessary (but often evil, in its current state) role of industry in sustaining an economy and quality of life for us all.
And which brings us back to the question of this state's GOP presidential primary race.
Excluding the libertarian wing of the Republican Party (which is a substantial but distinct minority within the GOP, and which has come out vigorously for Ron Paul), the theme of the GOP primary season has been the "Romney Versus the Not-Romney" candidate.
Some were better than others, some tripped over their past records or statements that ran afoul of Republican voters, but when the endless debates were over and the actual primaries began there were only three: Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich.
And while it's certainly easy to understand the concerns about Mitt Romney, it's much harder to understand why those most opposed to Romney would come out in favor of Santorum or Gingrich.
In each closely-fought state (with the exception of the Southern states, who weren't going to vote-- no way, no how--for a Northeastern Yankee, and a Mormon at that), the more GOP voters heard Romney the more they liked him.
So did it really make sense that Rick Santorum, who is a good man but who kept putting his foot in his mouth while conflating conservative thinking with his own personal Christian theology, could be the GOP lead presidential contender?
And did it really make sense that Newt Gingrich, who once played a major role in reshaping Congress in the 1990's and who can be quite eloquent at times, but who has a long a history of political scandals as he does personal scandals, could be the next GOP presidential candidate?
And did it really make sense that major conservative talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh or Mark Levin would (and continue to) endlessly lambast Mitt Romney while not coming out for either Santorum or Gingrich? It's certainly their right to foam at the mouth about the "GOP Establishment" that favored Romney, but did it ever make any sense?
With the current disarray of the Republican Party, couldn't it be argued that major conservative spokesmen like Limbaugh and Levin are the TRUE current "Establishment" within the GOP?
And during an era where incumbents within the GOP are becoming a dying breed, are the true Tea Party rebel-types those who back Romney, or who just follow the "old school" Limbaugh/Levin arguments and bash Romney? In other words, is backing Romney an outdated mode of thinking, or is backing Limbaugh and Levin (who never came up with a better alternative) outmoded?
It bears repeating--it makes sense for conservative voters to have concerns about Romney...but were Gingrich or Santorum ever viable alternatives to merit the primary season soap opera?
But it's done, for the most part. Santorum and Gingrich are effectively out, and Ron Paul doesn't have the money (but does have his followers) to continue the race as once he did. It's clearly a Romney vs. Obama 2012 contest.
Romney and Obama will have to address the obvious: we still have a need for REAL jobs to restore an economy upon which to promise a better future for ourselves and future generations--and not just a Facebook or housing bubble, or even the promise of a "green economy" that is unsustainably taxpayer-financed.
We still have a real need to restore the confidence of shaky investors who really ARE correct in questioning positive US data in an ever-shaky world economy.
We still have a need for reforming corporation laws to allow stock options and profit-sharing during an era of sorely-lacking corporate leadership that is all-too-often based on enriching a few while ignoring the needs of those many others who aren't "connected" but who do work 50-60+ hours a week to bring profit to American companies.
We still have a need to address the Medicare and Medicaid budgetary crisis that is, despite all those who either believe and/or are trying to divert attention towards spending on Social Security, Defense and other spending priorities, the truly looming threat to the current and future economy of the United States.
And we still have a need to determine which person can be the best person to lead us out of our never-ending economic downturn: Mitt Romney or Barack Obama.
(Ken Alpern is a former Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Vice Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected]. He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.)
-cw
Tags: Ken Alpern, Transportation, Politics, California Republicans, California Primary, GOP
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 43
Pub: May 29, 2012
