Like most people, I have been following the Republican Primary Process very closely. As an independent voter with a distinct leaning towards Democrats I have been sort of reassured by the inability of the GOP to put any credible candidate out there for us to look at as an alternative to the President. Don't get me wrong, I am not unhappy with President Obama. I happen to be a great fan of the AHCA (aka "Obamacare") and you can read why in my last blog (H).

What startles me the most is that the field that has been running is so bad. Aside from Romney who I firmly beleive is a moderate who just says he is a conservative because he has to in order to get those votes, there is not a credible candidate. Let's review:

Herman Cain - Exciting guy with no experience in politics (you really have to have some) who, it turns out has a whole cemetary full of skeltons in his closet. Did he really think no one would find out? BTW, I don't think that past mistakes are necessarily a disqualifier - lying about them is and not learning from them is fatal.

Michelle Bachman - For a while she was called Sarah Palin with a brain. She seems to be well educated but again her experience is really very limited and the fact that she is "the social conservative" in the race does not qualify her for the Presidency. What does "social conservative" even mean? She goes to church? Is God-fearing? Or is it code for "let's cut the budget on social programs designed to help the weakest among us?"

Rick Santorum - Another "social conservative" Rick wasn't even able to keep his seat in the Senate.

Ron Paul - So here is a guy who has some good ideas (let's quit fighting wars that don't have anything to do with us) and then some nutty ones (eliminate the Fed, cut the government by a third in year 1). Frankly, when our country had 13 states we could get by with a limited Federal government. In the 21st Century that just is not the case. We cannot have vast differences in services or standards because Alabama doesn't value education as much as New York or Mississippi can't afford the same unemployment benefits as New Jersey. Corporations have proven over time that given the opportunity they will lie, cheat and steal to make money.

John Huntsman - Probably the best qualified guy in the GOP field and a decent man. But he is not willing to "say anything" to get elected. As a result he is in the margins.

Newt Gingrich - Here is a man who, when he was Speaker, decided that he would block anything that Clinton tried to do (sound familiar?). The difference was that Clinton didn't blink and they eventually found ways to do things that they were both able to claim credit for. Then he presides over the impeachment process for the immoral actions of the President all the while doing the same thing himself. I do not get what it is that draws the Republican fringe to these guys but I hope he never adds the mainstream to his following. Oh yeah, let's fire judges we don't like.

Rick Perry - Nice looking guy who is a mile wide and an inch deep on knowledge. I have not heard anything out of his mouth that makes any sense except maybe a flat tax proposal that everyone is talking about anyway but that will never pass because it would increase unemployment by probably 5%!

Mitt Romney - He is a moderate who is trying to convince people he is conservative because they are the part of the GOP who are active in primaries. But, he will also "say anything" to get the nomination.

Based on what they say, there is not a single thing that President Obama has ever done that was good or correct. Extending the SS tax cut is not good because the Congress could only agree on 2 months. That is not his issue - it's theirs. Helping the Libyans gain their freedom because he either did too much or not enough (seriously - there are Republicans that say both of those).

In an interview, Newt Gringrich says that Obamacare is no good. His plan would have people either have insurance or have to post a bond to cover any injury or illness that sent them to an ER for treatment. So, isn't that sort of the same as everyone has insurance or there is a "tax" to cover the same costs? Either way it is an individual mandate.

On every major issue of our time, these people all say essentially the same thing: If there is a weak group out there let's get them. Send the illegal immigrants home. No education for the children of illegal immigrants. No healthcare benefits to illegal immigrants. Now the current rage is state issued voter ID cards to combat voter fraud. When was the last time that voter fraud was a big problem in the US? Incredibly, in SC, they decided that ID cards issued by the State universities are not sufficient to allow you to vote (college kids, hmmm, who do they vote for?) but a license to carry a handgun is. People who have been voting for 60 years (interestingly, mostly black and poor) can not vote anymore until they get their State ID. But wait, you need a birth certificate. Who has that? It's insanity.

I hope and pray that there will come a time again in our country when both parties (and maybe even a third one) will field credible candidates with ideas that have some possibility of working to solve our problems without doing it on the backs of our weakest citizens.