This week, a black cloud settled over the 2012 campaign when a bunch of polls came back and the results showed that no one was all that happy about the state of the GOP field. There were some obvious reasons for this, such as "there really isn't a 'GOP field' yet" and "most of the voters don't even really know that much about the people who might one day be a part of that field" and "basically Donald Trump is the only person we hear about, and that can't really be happening, right?" Of course, the media kind of freaked out, because they had been covering the campaign season as if had already been agreed upon that it was awesome and shiny and exciting.
My feeling is that there will be time enough for prospective GOP voters to learn more about the candidates and get enthusiastic about them once they actually get in the race and start competing with one another. That is basically what the "winter of 2011" is for, and it is only the "spring of 2011." So, everyone should really just be patient.
Or not! Here's a guy who disagrees with me and suggests that enthusiasm may have already peaked and has nowhere to go but down. That's fair. It could happen. I mean, we could get way into the royal wedding and decide to revert to a monarchy. Or bring back the Articles of Confederation. Or the Golden Calf?
According to the Terminator franchise, this was the week that Skynet is supposed to have become self-aware, so for all we know, we'll be choosing our candidates from a slate of murderous genocide-bots, who all advocate the "individual mandate" that "all humans should die, painfully." Just imagine how poorly the field will poll then! (The terminators will all still out-poll Rick Santorum.)
At any rate, don't get sad, get even. This is your 2012 Speculatron Roundup for the week of April 22, 2011.
The 2012 Speculatron Weekly Roundup, April 22
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