Forget the two Republican women, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, who could be the Republican nominee next year. I don't believe either has any chance against Obama. It's not because of their ideological position(s). Their conservative ratings are impecable and I love them both for that. The problem is is that a candidate for president must meet two requirements: 1) he or she must have what I will call "presidential persona", and 2) he or she must have adequate HEIGHT. Yes, you heard it here for the first time. HEIGHT is a characteristic that no-one else has considered. When comparing any two candidates for any position, the one who is taller has an automatic edge. Barack Obama is 6'- 3". John McCain was much shorter. Both had (have) "presidential persona", but I bet that Barack's height was even more of a subliminal factor in the voter's minds during the debates than was McCain's age as the conventional wisdom suggests.
Sarah Palin has the adequate height, but I believe that she lacks presidential persona. She has too many goofy facial expressions and mannerisms and a general overall persona of a kindergarten teacher talking playfully with her kids. She could overcome all this with some professional coaching, though. And there are some moments when she seems to have great control. But, for now, we will have to wait and see.
Michele Bachmann has presidential persona, but she has one major shortcoming: SHE's SHORT. She is 5'-1" tall. Barack is a full 14" taller than her! She almost borders on "midget" for a woman. Can you just see the debates next October 2012? Viewers won't hear a word either candidate says because their minds won't be able to get over the shocking difference in height between Barack and Michele. And no-one will want to vote for a president who will be so physically embarrasing to the world. She can serve best by staying in the House of Representatives.
Of the remaining men, only two who are now in and two who are not yet in have any chance of beating Barack. Rick Perry and Donald Trump probably have a slightly better than even chance to beat Barack if one of them is the Republican candidate. If Trump runs as an independent, though, we will probably have four more years of Barack. The other two men who could win are Mitt Romney and (surprise!) Tim Pawlenty. We all know the usual pundit coverage of Romney as the presumed front runer, while Pawlenty is dismissed as a dull, boring dud. But hold on about that. Pawlenty might be the emergent surprise candidate of the year. After the first Republican debate in May, most pundits agreed that two and only two debaters had "presidential personna". They were Herman Cain and, yes, wait for it. . . Tim Pawlenty. The second debate on June 13th, caused me to realize the major themes of this article. As we gazed along the line of the heads at their respective podiums, two candidates' physical characteristics were glaringly obvious: Michele Bachmann was by far the SHORTEST while the tallest was . . . Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty is, I would guess, 5'- 2" and may be 5'- 3" which would make him equal in height to Obama. And, actually, his height may go a long way to explaining why he has done so well winning elections as a Republican in one of the most liberal states in the country. Romney appears to be about one inch shorter than Pawlenty. We had better not assume that this election will ride solely on ideology. People vote for sometimes the most FICKLE of reasons. They may have a SUBLIMINAL attraction to Barack because of his height and we'd better take that into account! All the other candidates are also too short to beat Obama in that October 2012 "swimsuit contest".
As it turned out, I was right when I pointed out Duncan Hunter last February 2008 as the only man who could have beaten Hillary (or Barack -- same thing).
Why don't we try WISE this time instead of naiivete?
--RPC, Houston, TX Saturday July 30, 2011