Election strategy

With the midterm elections closing quickly, there's ample room for optimism among conservatives and Republicans. Unless something drastic happens soon, the likelihood of a strong GOP showing is growing stronger each day.

But the reality is that a change in power in the House or more remotely in the House and Senate can only slow the administration's push toward a growing central government.

Let's face it: The real battle looms in 2012. Forget the polls. Forget the pundits. At this point, the Republican Party lacks someone who can challenge the Obama administration and win the 2012 election.

And this pessimistic assessment comes from someone who is willing to accept virtually anyone other than Obama come 2012.

Where do you want to start? Palin, Huckabee, Romney, Gingrich, Pawlenty? Where is the star power? Where is the vision?

What I fear is a severely fractured Republican primary with the tea party activists flexing their muscle and a rhetoric heated like none in the past. But when the smoke clears, at this point I don't see a compromise candidate who can balance conservative values and fundraising and matching the rhetorical skills of President Obama.

A bloody primary battle among the GOP will do nothing short of assuring Obama a second term. And if you're less than enthused about this first term thus far, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Under the leadership of GOP party chairman Michael Steele, there is no hope that this picture will change. Steele apparently made sense when he took the top spot, but the guy is a loose cannon and should gracefully turn himself out to pasture sooner than later. If Steele claims any credit for the expected GOP win this November, he's fooling himself and his cronies within the party.

For conservatives, it's highly hypocritical to bemoan the lack of leadership in the White House when we can't offer a viable alternative. Conservatives have allowed the Democrat's "party of no" label to stick for good reason.

I want nothing more than the defeat of the current administration in the 2012 elections. And I am far from alone.

But to achieve that goal, the GOP needs some major soul-searching. That process needs to start immediately.

Two years prior to the 2008 elections, few had heard of Barack Obama. Same can be said for Bill Clinton prior to the 1992 election. Or Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Maybe out there somewhere is that GOP candidate who can ignite this nation with a program that promises a reversal of the redistribution mentality currently the vogue in Washington. Maybe out there is that conservative who can unite and not divide. Who can face the challenges of prior mistakes and who will no longer apologize for the values of this country.

To win the 2012 election will take that special blend that appeals to this great nation. With all of my heart and soul and energy, I'm waiting.