Guest From the Left: J. Marquis

Maybe Iowa is the Problem



I wanted to stretch out a bit and formulate a decent reply to Free's assertion that Ron Paul and Donald Trump have a good shot to beat President Obama in 2012.

Let's start with Trump. I'm gonna predict right here and right now his campaign will end before it begins. I can tell just by looking at him lately that this whole presidential aspirations thing just isn't his idea of fun anymore. He can't pound the
birther issue now and since Bin Laden died he can't really call Obama a wimp. On the last episode of Celebrity Apprentice he'll probably tell us he's decided not to run for president and all the reasons why that proves he's the smartest guy in the world.

Plus he seems to be really thin-skinned. He can hardly get through an interview with even a mild-mannered reporter without steam starting to come out his ears. He'd probably try to head butt another candidate in a debate.

I actually kind of like Ron Paul. He's smart, well-spoken and thoughtful. And he's a consistent libertarian...which is why he'll never be the GOP presidential candidate.

People might deny it but the Republicans in Iowa and South Carolina are not going to vote for a candidate who wants to legalize drugs or bring the troops home right away from Afghanistan and Iraq.

And I'm sure there are a lot of power brokers in the Republican Party who will put all kinds of obstacles in Paul's way. He's a bit too much of a free thinker for their tastes.

Plus you have to consider image. There are a lot of folks out there who don't pay attention to this stuff until the last minute and I'm not sure they're going to support the one candidate out there who actually looks older than John McCain.

(You can read J. Marquis daily at Major Conflict)