That's because the candidates and the media settled on the straw poll as the earliest possible test of strength. But we wonder: What if they picked some other, more colorful contests to winnow the field?
Here is our proposed schedule for the early-tests schedule, as well as our handicap based on this year's Republican presidential field.
February: Candidates gather for the Minnesota Eelpout Angling contest in Walker, Minn., to show outdoors abilities. Favored: Tim Pawlenty, based on past fishing-opener success.
March: Those who survived Walker compete in the Rattlesnake Roundup in Sweetwater, Texas, a chance to demonstrate grace under pressure. Favored: Newt Gingrich, who learned about handling snakes while wrangling members of Congress.
May: Calaveras County Frog Jumping Contest in California, an opportunity to show abilities in recruiting star jumper and getting it to perform. Favorite: Michele Bachmann, whose frog will jump out of sheer excitement.
June: Scripps National Spelling Bee, National Harbor, Md., testing intellect and ability to memorize. Favored: Mitt Romney, who just
Since Minnesotans have been forced to watch a barrage of commercials for the Wisconsin recall elections, I would like to send some information back to the Badger State.
As long as Scott Walker is governor, I plan to avoid spending any money in Wisconsin. I see the actions he took to eliminate collective bargaining rights as a major slash at the middle class and a threat to union workers in every state.
Politicians are talking jobs, but we don't hear much about what a job really should offer. Does it provide a decent wage to buy adequate health and life insurance?
Does it provide enough income to set aside money for a car, a house, a child's advanced schooling or a vacation away from home? A method to fight an unfair treatment by an employer? Does it provide a plan for a comfortable retirement?
My experience with public-employee unions shows that members are our neighbors. They participate in honest union elections and set goals through councils and representative assemblies.
Education unions help students by providing consistency in the workplace through a working agreement that's negotiated and addresses the needs of all parties in a system.
Public-sector unions have helped millions of middle-class workers achieve goals that have made this country great. Removing collective bargaining by public employees ignores the rights and contributions of dedicated workers.
Low consumer income, which has not kept up with the rising cost of living, is the disease. The pathogen that causes that disease is corporate and personal greed.
Let's end the real "entitlement" programs in this country: obscene salaries and benefits for those who think their titles -- CEO, CFO, etc. -- entitle them to hundreds of times what the real wealth creators (i.e., labor) makes.
Put money back in the hands of those who will spend it and stimulate the economy -- those who have earned the wealth but who have not received it.
Decades of tax cuts for business and industry haven't created jobs. Why do we think that further cuts will someday produce a different result?
Demand for products and services is what creates jobs, not tax cuts for businesses. Close the massive corporate tax loopholes. Stop providing incentives for companies to move jobs out of the United States.
We need not just jobs in this country, but jobs that pay well. That's what will build consumer confidence and stimulate the economy.
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