whoever comes out of the process is very likely to kick the crap out of Obama in the election.

It’s hard to accurately gauge how much defense the mainstream media is playing on Obama’s behalf right now. There are several major stories that would have made headlines for a month in a Republican administration, and their “Destroy All Republicans” mission is getting pretty obvious. The good news is that the mainstream media is becoming less relevant every year. I’ve noticed some attacks that would have been deadly ten years ago falling flat.

And it’s not like Democratic primaries are any better. I think that the Republicans should discard media-run debates altogether and just run them themselves. Let the candidates bounce off each other, not a “moderator” whose prime mission is to see them all fail.

Kinda predictable, but I know how it annoys you when I write your side of the conversation in the interests of efficiency.

Facts are facts. I didn’t get mine from anybody’s talking points memo, despite your predictable insinuation. I’ve long known of how Gingrich makes his money, and merely had to revisit his own Web site to verify my recollections.

Gingrich isn’t the only Republican running for President under false pretenses. I’d go so far as to say that, except for Ron Paul being doggedly and lovably genuine, all but Mitt and Rick in are in it to polish their reputations and future earning potential. (I think Cain originally was in that cynical camp, and is probably as surprised as anybody that he’s been taken seriously.)

Notice any similarities between the Republican primary process and the beauty pageants/talent/reality shows so popular on TV these days? “Dancing with the Stars”, “The Voice”, and “GOP 2012″…all work the same way and all have about the same degree of authenticity.

The whole thing’s a farce.

God knows the media’s not paying much attention to the people and organizations getting rich right now off of Obama’s policies. Including a lot of the hated “Wall Street,” which has pumped a hell of a lot more than $200,000 into Obama’s campaign coffers. When you’re pulling the actual levers, you don’t need to be a lobbyist, do you?

Gingrich would wipe the floor with Obama. Obama is nowhere close to as smart as his fans paint him.

Gingrich isn’t really running for President, he’s using his “candidacy” to whore for the various corporations that pay him to lobby for them. Barking their message at the President live on national TV would be the coup of a lifetime for a corporate lobbyist like Gingrich.

Takes brass balls to demand that two of these debates be on health care, considering that Gingrich’s Center for Health Transformation lobbies on behalf of the health care industry, with a couple of dozen staffers and a secret membership roster of corporations that reportedly pay $200K a year for Gingrich’s lobbying services.

Wonder how big a bonus Newt’ll make if he suckers Obama into arguing about ethanol?

The President of the United States should lower himself to argue with a sleazy lobbyist? I think not. “Lincoln-Douglas” style? Oh, I really think not.

Bush-Abramoff is more like it.

I’ve seen Obama running without a prepared speech and pre-chewed responses. He’s not very good at it.

A successful debater (or lecturer, or teacher) is one who has internalized a consistent set of ideas and facts, and can explain and discuss them without difficulty. Usually they have no trouble rewording the ideas to approach them from a different direction. They are comfortable with their ideas. Gingrich, and some others, fall into this category.

The fundamental problem with Democratic leaders is that their internal set of ideas – complete statism – is something that has to be avoided in public. Something they need to constantly route the discussion around.

If you watch, most of Democratic politics is trying to convince voters that they’re something they aren’t.

Obama firmly believes that the Federal government should have total control of the healthcare system. So do a lot of leftists in this country. But a hell of a lot more Americans don’t. Obama knows this, and has to pretend that he thinks otherwise.

This gap between his real socialist beliefs and what he has to sell would handicap even a skilled debater.

Obama knows the issue of healthcare far better than anyone in the GOP field.

Gingrich made a ridiculous proposition, knew it was, and here’s someone who takes it seriously.

Imagine. Einstein is alleged to say that the difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has bounds.