A short introduction

This blog concerns mostly global, economic and political issues. Feel free to comment.

Friday, January 13, 2012

The Huntsman show

Mr. Huntsman isn't fooling anyone. Not even me. He never meant to seriously contend in these elections. He's banking on Romney losing to Obama. If not, he'll wait another 4 years. But he rather wouldn't. Huntsman is preparing his 2016 bid.

He -correctly- realizes that his name doesn't carry enough weight yet. He needs to promote his brand, and he's doing just that. In the most effective, grass-roots way possible. If he's not a marketing genius (or hired one), then he's on a lucky streak. The image he's been emanating is working wonders, especially with independents:

He's going at it alone. Who needs his billionaire father? In America, you have to make your own way, instead of buying it. Why on earth spend money that won't buy you anything (yet), when not spending it garners you sympathy? In these times of political gridlock, he is waiting for it to wear people out enough, to yearn for a straight-talking moderate, focusing on issues. Someone who sticks out. Someone who may not always hold their opinion, but at least you know he's not going to flip-flop on you. Someone like Jon Huntsman.

And you know what? It's kind of for me. I just hope you're actually 'that kind of guy', instead of cooking this up as a clever plan, raised by pundits and your father's marketeers.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Republican Rat Race

It is looking more and more like mr. Romney will become the candidate to face the incumbent. Every other candidate had their surge, but Romney has remained well ahead of the pack, globally. Iowa may not fall to him, but as mr. Pawlenty stated it is where they pick corn such as Huckabee, instead of presidents.

It appears all Romney has to do, is beat down on his closest antagonist (Gingrich for now), and he will be able to claim the prize. This seems strange, as a majority of republican voters would prefer not to see Romney on their ballot. The problem is that among the more rightist and religious wing of the party, the field is too divided. Paul, Perry, Santorum and Bachmann will have to share these votes until they start giving up. Most likely Bachmann will throw in the towel first. But the others may last longer, leaving the real fight between Gingrich and Romney very much biased towards the latter. Pawlenty, for now, is not even in this race, unless his New Hampshire miracle produces.

And while Romney accumulates more votes than the others proportionally, he can only hope for this standoff to last as long as possible, leaving him with a considerable advantage over the ones that remain in the race. Momentum will shift his way, as his advantage becomes clearer. Thus, many Republicans my find themselves voting for the lesser of two evils, next presidential elections.