The Cure for a "Boring" GOP Field

We have read it over and over again in magazine, newspaper articles and blogs.  We have heard political pundits proclaim it with each flick of the camera’s switch.  The GOP field is “uninspiring”.  It is “boring”.  It is “bland”.  “There is no excitement.”

 

What does this tell us about the possible outcomes of any potential current GOP candidate against President Obama?  It tells us their chances – no matter which would obtain the GOP nomination – would be slim.  Why? 

Someone who can fit into the description of uninspiring, boring and bland cannot excite a populous to work for campaigns.  They cannot energize their own people to encourage those who are undecided to join their ranks.  One does not attempt to proselytize another to a belief about which they do not feel passionately.

Believing this to be the case, what exactly is lacking in the GOP field?  What do we need to excite and energize the voters to not only get out and vote, but to get out and campaign?

We need an exciting candidate.  One who is willing to do things a little differently or perhaps a lot differently.  One who has the courage to think – and act – outside of the box.  

 Our world is constantly changing.  We communicate with each other differently than we did even five years ago, our campaign process needs to reflect those changes and growths in technology.  

Not only has technology changed, but the electorate has changed as well.  No longer is the average citizen sitting back waiting for decisions to be made behind closed doors, simply happy to be told of the outcome.  Citizens want to know what is going on, before the decisions are made.  They want to influence the decisions and will let their pleasure, and more importantly, displeasure be known at the ballot box.  Because of this, today’s candidates must take their message not to those planners in the back-rooms, but to the American people.  Decisions must be formed not in secret rooms, but on open streets where candidates can talk openly to the people who will be voting for them.  We need a candidate comfortable with the people of our nation; a candidate willing to lead and be directed by the people of this country; willing to have a country truly of, by and for the people.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife 

Who in our nation fits this description?  Don Surber at the Daily Mail called it precisely when he said, “Sarah Palin takes a little motorcycle ride in Washington and suddenly politics is fun again.”  That’s what we need, someone to make politics “fun again”.  But it can’t all be fun and games.

We also need an unwavering candidate.  The American people are too informed to follow a candidate who has changed their opinion on important issues depending upon the direction of the wind.  We need someone who will plant their flag in the ground and then stand by it.  

 We need someone who can be counted on “to do the right thing” as I heard one person say.  Sarah Palin’s record  in Alaska shows she isn’t afraid to do the right thing, even when it means going against your own party.  She fought against back-room deals and cronyism of the oil and gas regulatory agency.  She ran for governor vowing to put the pipeline back out for competitive, transparent, bidding, railing against cozy politics.  She called for stricter guidelines for pipeline bidding and passed ethics laws.  She stood for reform, not populism.  She stood for ethical, fair dealings, not shady, back-room deals.  This is what she wants to bring to Washington.  But there is more to America than business.

We need a candidate who supports and understands our military.  We need a candidate who would never once even considering withholding the paycheck of the military as a political ploy.  We need a candidate who can honor the service of our military and value their sacrifice.  

We need a patriotic candidate.  America is ready for a candidate who is not ashamed to call America great.  Our country is ready for a leader to bring America back from the economic brink of destruction upon which we have been thrust.  We are ready for a candidate we can trust and one who trusts us.

Listen for yourself.  Listen to all the candidates. . .do they inspire you to have pride in your country?  Do they make you want to wave that flag again?  

Then listen to Sarah Palin.  Her love of our country, her respect for its citizens, for the diversity of our land and its inhabitants, her belief in the greatness that is America calls us to greater love of our country.  Her own unabashed patriotism instills in us a willingness to wave our flags, to sing our anthem and not be embarrassed, not be deterred.  This is the mark of a leader, a great leader.  This is the candidate we need.