Why the GOP Should Panic
One GOP frontrunner is accused of several instances of sexual harassment; the other has managed to make his candidacy as exciting as coffin shopping. A third leading candidate spent this week trying to convince people he wasn’t drunk during a speech in New Hampshire. Not a single one of them—not Herman Cain nor Mitt Romney nor Rick Perry—bests a badly weakened Barack Obama in the latest polls. And yet our betters in the GOP establishment—the same crew who brought us Bob Dole, John McCain, and the PR strategy for the Iraq War—inform us that Republican primary voters are happier with their choices than ever.
The view may look bright at the top GOP echelon, but that does not appear to be the attitude of the rank and file. If anything, there is deep unease among activist conservatives—the sort who trudge to the polls in the bitter winters of Iowa and New Hampshire—about the state of the race. At several recent functions in Washington, attendees expressed great enthusiasm for unseating Obama, but hardly anyone was thrilled with their likely standard bearers.
Is it time for the GOP to start panicking yet?