I know I said Santorum would be gone after Florida, and at this juncture I wish it had happened.  I was hoping Gingrich would have seen the light of reason and walked away months ago, but he persists, largely, on the donations of a single individual empowered by the, to date, worst politically loaded decision made by the Supreme Court in the last several decades.  I stand here now (after conversations with friends who ask me, “how on earth is this happening?”) and shake my head in disbelief, just as confused and, in some senses, hurt by what I’ve seen.  I go to bat for the Republican party.  I argue that there is a difference between the party philosophy and what is seen on the streets.  I attempt to enlighten, and encourage others to see the party for, not what it is, but what it was intended to be and, most importantly, what it can be.  Then we have state legislatures in South Dakota, Arizona, Virgina, etc. proposing legislation like requiring an additional $200-400 ultrasound that was deemed invasive (later bumped down to a standard ultrasound that, at the early stages of the pregnancy are practically useless).

We rode in on the pony of job creation and economic reform, and we see sweeping efforts on both sides to control the reproductive rights of Americans.  I didn’t vote for the republican candidate because he was pro-life.  I voted for him because he said he would do his damnedest to create new jobs, and work on getting the economy together so that all Americans can see a turn around in the national fiscal policy as well as getting either a few more dollars in my pocket or the opportunity for a new job.  This hideous two-faced nonsense is, unfortunately a long-time running issue with our party, and has spilled over into the public arena in a, some would say spectacular, fashion during our Primaries.

I have argued before that the primary system is broken, giving disproportionate power to the early states and running a process that could be completed in a fiscal quarter into a labored process taking up the better part of a year.

I have stood by and watched as the best chance the Republican Party has to beat President Obama is torn to shreds over and over again because the Primary constituents are either uncomfortable with any human being from the North East of the United States, bigoted fools who won’t look past a minor religious difference, or disgustingly concerned over the notion that Romney does not seem “angry enough” to warrant their support.  The would prefer a Mad Max style candidate, screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs and firing off lovely sound bites like Rush Limbaugh so recently demonstrated.  In short, the majority of primary voters are looking for the solution that will lead our party out of the morass and back into political power, the other voters, and I will agree wholeheartedly that it is their right, choosing the other candidates are all barking mad.

This is what we have to look forward to.  A party paralyzed by itself, and tearing at its own.  We’re measuring our credentials not on who is right, or who has the best plan, but who can go farther to the extreme.  It is some Mountain Dew soaked nightmare that corrupted politics and turned it into an extreme sport where the goal is not success but an attempt to entertain and isolate your support the least number of people and still remain viable.

I would, one day, like to sit down with one of these candidates, most likely after a few drinks, and ask them, on record, what they really think.  I cannot fathom that they believe half the nonsense that comes out of their mouths.  If they do, I will respect their right to believe it, but I will, nonetheless, remain horrified that this is the best we could offer.  This is our time to shine, to win, to take back 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the House, and the Senate and day by day we are bleeding out that opportunity like vampires.  We are losing ground not just at the national level, but locally, and most importantly, on the human level.

We’re burning bridges before they’re even built.  We’ve salted the earth for thousands, if not millions, of young adults who are fed a constant stream of digital information.  They know more than you presume, and they are horrified by what they have seen.  They read the bills if their posted and wonder why an Arizona Legislature found it necessary to created a bill that would require you to submit a doctor’s note to your insurance company indicating that you have an ailment in which birth control could be a boon in treating.  We, as a political party, scream bloody murder at the imposition of a bureaucrat between us and the doctor, but what about our other relationships.  What about our capacity to deal with our employers?  We suddenly need their input there.  We suddenly need an extra hurdle to clear, but dare not call it bureaucracy because the Republicans are doing it.

We’re proving to an entire generation, and possibly more, that we are vicious, closed-minded, angry humans who sole drive is to free the markets but control the people.  That we are willing to go for the hot button issues because they are not intellectually rigorous, but emotionally loaded.  We’d rather read a propaganda piece on Planned Parenthood than call a session to speak to world recognized economists (see not business or industry leaders) to hammer out a solution for long-term, sustainable economic growth rather than a quickie bandage for the economic equivalent of a sucking chest wound.

They are watching, they are listening.  We have been weighed and measured,  and we have been found wanting.  Without them, those future voters of America, there will be no party.  Without them, the other side wins.  After that thought sinks in then, and maybe then, we will pick up the report on the economic development of urban areas and put down the latest propaganda pamphlet.