More Guesses?

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about a column written by Charles Madigan in the Chicago Tribune, in which Madigan speculated on whether we will see a Republican controlled legislature after the November elections.   He wasn't so sure that the GOP was any more popular than the Democrats are and that predicting the outcome this early is largely a waste of effort.

In his recent column from the Washington Post, Eugene Robinson strolls through a number of current GOP candidates for various offices and points out that several of them seem to be truly "out there."

For example, the GOP candidate for Governor of Colorado apparently is opposed to bicycle paths, because they are part of some sort of United Nations conspiracy to enslave us.  The Republican candidate for US Senate in Nevada wants to privatize Social Security and Medicare.  Robinson reaches a conclusion not unlike Madigan; that this election may end up being just plain weird:

The big political story of the year may turn out to be the consequences of the GOP's foray into extremism and wackiness. It could be that the party acculturates its not-ready-for-prime-time candidates, harnesses the energy of the Tea Party movement and sweeps to a grand old victory. There is also the distinct possibility that the acute philosophical split within the party -- basically, a clash between bedrock conservatism and utter nonsense -- will hand victories to Democrats that they didn't anticipate and frankly might not deserve. 

For those of us who don't think that the "average" American voter has the attention span of a gnat, such predictions are strangely appealing.   Perhaps the GOP and Democratic Parties will both get what they "deserve."   

Vote Green.