If you’re a Democrat, you’re probably thinking that there are so many Republicans running for President that it will be hard to decide who to attack. If you’re a Republican, you’re probably groaning every time a new candidate is announced because it means more confusion on the ticket and more debates to watch. Nobody should be groaning. This is a very good thing. This is America.
Conservatives may not remember, but the “large” field in 2012 wasn’t really that large. I remember vividly as I watched Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and finally Mitt Romney all have frontrunner momentum at various times during the campaign. The field was considered to be a big one, but I didn’t think so. In fact, I thought it was too small and as it turned out we never really had a candidate that the country could sink its teeth into.
Many blamed the nomination of Mitt Romney and the eventual failure of the party to take back the White House from a weakened incumbent on the lack of a real candidate. They were all extremely flawed and nobody showed more than an occasional spark of excellence. With no strong candidates available, we ended up with a moderate, flawed candidate who didn’t seem to have the heart to win. He did well during his first debate with the President and then faltered badly. Some even thought that it was a strategic loss by the President in the first debate to set up a slight underdog feeling to galvanize the base. Whether it was intentional or not, it worked and he won.
Now, we are looking at nearly 20 announced or potential valid candidates. Some are strong like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio. Some are weak like Rick Santorum and Jeb Bush. Most are still too unknown to really pass judgment. That’s a good thing. With the field so large and growing, it is quickly becoming a massive potential meeting of the minds to determine what messages will resonate and which portions of the platform will work.
In America, diversity is both our strength and our weakness. Having too many choices can be a bad thing and that’s why nearly every journalist on both sides of the aisle are already complaining about a bloated list of GOP candidates. For the Democrats, there are only three valid candidates currently: Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Martin O’Malley. Between the three of them, they will be fighting for a nomination that many are already prematurely giving to the former First Lady. She has a bigger fight than most are seeing at this point.
The GOP has a big advantage with so many candidates. What many are calling confusion will actually put more feet on the ground to promote a conservative message. Not all of the messages will be the right one, of course, but it’s better to get more people talking to more people than spreading them thin. The fear for Republicans is that in the confusion there will be too many choices and the wrong candidate will rise to the top. Call me a purist or an idealist but I believe that having so many options will force the eventual candidate to be stronger, wiser, and more prepared for the general election.
The biggest threat to the Republicans will come in the form of fundraising. So many hands will be put out there to ask for support and that means they will be spread thin. Some believe that this will hurt them in the general election as funds will be depleted more quickly fighting on so many fronts, but again this is an erroneous concept. Primary money is not the same as general election money. Once a candidate is able to rise to the top and win the nomination, the fundraising machine will go into high gear again. Money will not be a problem for either side and until there’s campaign finance reform it will likely never be a problem in a Presidential election again. That’s another story altogether.
The 2016 election is going to be a wild ride. Don’t be deflated or confused by so many candidates. In America, we’re given the type of resources as a society to stay on top of what all of the candidates are saying. My big fear is that the media will, as usual, try to shift momentum to the wrong candidate. That’s where you come in.
You’re already spending time on YouTube and on news websites. Put down the Taylor Swift videos and Alex Rodriguez articles for a couple of weeks and learn what the candidates are actually saying. Study their history. Look at their platforms and stances. Make an educated decision and you’ll help America pick the right President for once. It’s been a long time since that has happened.
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