Last night's Iowa Caucuses: Basically a three-way split between the perfect guy, the cantankerous one, and the GOP's most visible bigot.
The perfect guy's finish was essentially the same as his finishes in all those debates last year: not too strong, not too weak, but still solidly in the top of the pack. To this extent, nothing has changed in the last ~7 months.
The cantankerous one saw one of his best showings ever, also aligning with his typical debate results: give him a chance to shine, and he'll get applauded disproportionately to the rest.
The bigot, however, was a bit of a surprise. Perhaps it is a case of the GOP saying, "OK. We'll try out THIS guy for a few weeks, and the only reason he's next is because it would seem far too rational to throw our lot in with Huntsman." It isn't too surprising to see Republicans pander to ideology, obviously... But sometimes one has to take a moment to analyze exactly what you are getting in exchange for that opportunity cost.
It amazes me that with a world full of problems, issues, concerns, potential threats, dangerous political ideologies, etc., one of the two biggest parties spends such an inordinate amount of time on one region: the pelvic one. Think about how much effort and posturing went into the attempted redefinition of rape last year, let alone the attempted defunding of Planned Parenthood. Think about how much time so many GOP candidates (and their spouses in many cases) spend fretfully wringing their hands worrying that, somewhere, someone is misusing an anus.
To be fair, it wouldn't be the first time that a candidate touted only one or two main issues. Indeed, it seems that successful presidencies tend to have a rather narrow focus in terms of where they spend the majority of their political capital. Santorum the Bigot has chosen the family as his anchor issue, but he can't do it rationally AND court the evangelicals.
This is the guy who wants to enhance the tax code's fiscal policy/social policy by significantly increasing tax deductions for children, for example. He wants one married man having missionary-style vaginal intercourse with his one female wife, he wants every single fertilized egg (NB: they prefer to be called "little people") to be carried to term, thenceforward to learn about creationism, mini ice ages, abstinence, Jesus, our fundamentalist Christian Founding Fathers, and of course the evils of socialism.
Bear in mind--this is important--absolutely NONE of this is compatible with a world in which two legal, consenting adults are entitled to the same treatment under the tax code as two OTHER legal, consenting adults who are "married.". It could NEVER happen, says the Bigot. The idea of allowing one group of people, substantially in the minority, the same privileges and financial advantages as another would absolutely DESTROY the majority's ability to live their lives the way they wish. It would undermine the very essence of the family. Plus, buttsex is icky.
In short, what the hell are we supposed to think of the GOP now? What was Jon Huntsmans's crime against the Party? What is so amazingly bad about him that prevents him from getting higher than a margin of error in polls?
More on this later...
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