I think that if unemployment continues to hover around 9% and gas stays well over $3.00 a gallon, Democrats will have a hard time in 2012. Ronald Reagan could point at Jimmy Carter in 1984 because the economy was genuinely better. Reagan could ask, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” Also, Reagan was running against Walter Mondale, who was Carter’s VP. Bringing up George W. Bush in 2012 will ring a little more hollow. Barack Obama inherited a bad economy four years ago, but he had promised to make it better. In some ways he has delivered, and there are some things he has no control over. But unemployment and gas prices are bad, and the President promised change.
I think I have as good a chance of winning the Republican nomination in 2012 as Ron Paul, and I’m not running. His Libertarianism is a conservative mirror image of the Anarchist movement of the 1800s. “The government is bad–let’s get rid of it,” sounds good until you stop and look at all the little ways that government glues society together. America might not always run like a well-oiled machine, but at least the machine is running. It’s not just people who want a free lunch who support the government–everybody relies on government services in one way or another.
I think I’ve read an interesting spin on this Anthony Weiner situation. He’s the distinguished Member of the House of Representatives with a disturbing hobby. The married Congressman has been sending obscene pictures of himself to multiple women over the Internet. His fellow Democrats have been calling on him to resign. The President has stopped just short of that but seemed to imply it was a good idea. I’ve been impressed by this–I think the guy should resign. The interesting spin I read somewhere on the Internet was raised by multiple people. They wondered why the Dems who want Weiner to drop out didn’t express similar sentiments when Bill Clinton’s tawdry behavior was revealed. I hadn’t made the Clinton connection before, but it is an intriguing one. I think this is a good question for Dems and not just for moral reasons. As I have written before, if Clinton had dropped out in 1998, Al Gore would have taken over, and he would have been the incumbent in 2000 with a strong economy. Could Gore have won in 2000? There’s a good chance he would have. Interesting.
Shifting gears, I think Grace Fellowship Church in Snellville (outside Atlanta) is an amazing church! My wife and I visited there recently and were quite impressed. There were friendly people outside the building to direct us where to go, and friendly people inside drumming up interest for a women’s fellowship. Announcements were made on big screens in the worship center before the service started. The worship leader led the music, but he did more than that–he shared some impressive insights in between songs. There was a woman who stood up front signing what was being shared, so the hearing impaired were not left out. The preacher quoted extensively from both the Old and New Testaments to make his points. He even used a sword to help us remember what he was talking about. (It worked by the way). From what I have been told by some attendees, they have outstanding programs for young people. This church just does so many things well. If you are in the area, check them out. In fact, they have multiple campuses, so look ’em up online and see if they have a site near you.