They are unlike anyone in Washington. People love their straight, no-nonsense talk. Unfortunately, the Tea Party is now discovering that upon second glance, they don't like their candidates' chances at defeating President Obama. Republicans are just now realizing that their candidates are severely flawed.
When I was a kid my mom had a saying that related to succumbing to peer pressure. She would ask, "If all your friends jumped over a cliff, would you follow?" Conversely, the Tea Party led Republicans to a cliff and they foolish- ly followed.
The Republican Party's love affair with in- competent candidates who pander to the Tea Party's demands is reminiscent to the story of The Emperor's New Clothes. The tale of an emperor who is promised the finest suit from invisible fabric but ends up walking in a parade naked is too close to reality for Republican voters. At the story's end, the Emperor walks through the streets naked while citizens applaud out of fear of embarrassing their Emperor.
The Tea Party craved simplistic people and straight shooters. For a few months, they had fun speed dating through fresh faces be- cause of its dissatisfaction with familiar front- runner Mitt Romney. Part of the dissatisfaction stemmed from the fact that Romney has completely changed his positions to align himself with the Tea Party. Michelle Bachmann's victory in the Iowa straw poll resulted in conservatives courting a last minute Sarah Palin presidential campaign. Instead, Palin decided to pro- mote her book on a national bus tour.
After getting shot down by Palin, the Tea Party turned their eyes to Texas Governor, Rick Perry as their new savior. Unfortunately, Perry revealed himself to be a terrible debater, who sunk dramatically in the polls. Last week, Perry
raised even more doubts about his viability after giving a bizarre speech, in which he appeared to be hung-over.
Just weeks after Perry began his candidacy, Republicans began stalking New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. After repeatedly shooting down the thought of a presidential run, Republicans finally left him alone. Soon after, they began pursuing Congressman, Paul Ryan who swiftly said no.
In the meantime, Herman Cain enjoyed a meteoric rise up the polls until past allegations of sexual harassment during his time as head of the National Restaurant Association were recently disclosed.
At every turn, Republicans have failed to find their dream candidate. The sad fact is that Republicans have completely ignored their most electable candidate, Jon Huntsman.
In the aforementioned tale of the Emperor's New Clothes, there was one onlooker who wasn't afraid to blurt out the obvious. He's the only candidate who has railed against hyper- partisanship and has been willing to act like a Republican leader instead of a Tea Party follower. After all, that is what the leader of the free world is supposed to do. Unfortunately, Hunts- man has barely registered in polls and is pinning his strategy on winning in New Hampshire.
It's too late to find a savior for Republicans, but they do have a chance to put on some clothes. Following the Tea Party into a general election would be like Seal Team 6 following the cast of "Jersey Shore" into Pakistan.
The day of Reckoning is nearing. Pretty soon, they'll begin voting for a candidate to lead their party into a general election. These are the candidates that they put their faith in and during election season, they'll have to live with their decisions. They can either send their candidate into the streets to embarrass himself or rally behind the only electable candidate they have.
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