As much as I would like to see a meaningful two party system with an opposition party keeping the governing power in check and proposing alternative policies, it looks like the Democrats might be the only serious choice for several years. They were justifiably repudiated in 2006 and 2008 and now look far more like a gang of Rush Limbaugh ditto heads than a serious political party. Their prospects for seriously contributing to public policy discussion is not helped when their leading candidate at the moment is Sarah Palin.
Polls this far before an election tend to have little predictive value and are largely measures of name recognition. Joe Lieberman led many polls well in advance of the 2004 election after being in an analogous position on the previous ticket but his campaign quickly fizzled out. Palin currently has far more support among Republicans than Lieberman ever had among Democrats, making her a strong candidate even if current polls cannot entirely be relied upon. She is trailed by others who received publicity in 2008 and a top alternative to the old candidates is Bobby Jindal.
A nomination battle including Palin and Jindal is certainly a possibility. If that is the case the nomination might be seen as a battle over who is best qualified at protection against the dark arts. I’ve previously noted Sarah Palin’s qualifications against witches and demons. There have been numerous stories this week regarding Bobby Jindal’s involvement in an exorcism.
The Republicans did far better than they deserved in the 2002 and 2004 elections by capitalizing on fear of terrorism. Will their chances for a comeback in 2012 hinge upon whether they can capitalize on their abilities against the dark arts? We report, you decide.