The Weakness of the Republicans — Obama’s Chance?

Barack Obama has announced his candidacy for the next presidential election. The Republican opponents are ill set up.

In 18 months, the most powerful man in the world will be elected, or depending on the task at hand, the most powerless. Half a year after the rather disappointing results of the mid-term elections in Congress, Barack Obama showed his intention to run again as a candidate. Nobody from the circle of Democratic hopefuls will contest his candidacy unless something ground-shaking happens.

Barack Obama wants to run in 2012 for the second time for the position of president.

But this time, Obama cannot proclaim “change,” the all-encompassing transformation, and “Yes we can” has shown definite limits. The opinion polls indicating the popularity of the president are coming in: 2012 could go for or against him. Only the ones who know what the unemployment rate the summer of 2012 will be can dare to make a prognosis.

Two Inherited Wars

Obama, who wanted to be the president of peace, inherited two wars. He could not refuse the third war in Libya. The Americans see this as worrisome. The deficit is causing even more worry: The trade balance shows the structural weakness of the American economy and the growing dependence on China.

The gaping hole in the federal budget will be more dramatized this week by the Republicans menacing blockage and spending freeze. But, that problem won’t be as hot as the opposition is cooking it up to be.

Weaknesses of the Opponents as a Chance

American presidents are not only elected to office on the basis of their strengths, but rather on the weakness of their opponents. For the Republicans, it does not look good. So far, a number of hopefuls are mutually excluding themselves.

Obama’s Challengers

The former governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, is exploring his chances for a candidacy in the 2012 presidential election. He is the first Republican publicly interested in challenging Obama.

Rick Perry is the governor of Texas. He is still claiming that he does not want to take on Obama for the Republicans during the 2012 presidential election.

“Don’t retreat — reload!” The candidate for vice-president in the year 2012, Sarah Palin, has her fan community.

Newt Gingrich, the one-time almighty party head of the Republicans in the House of Representatives during the early Clinton years, is not letting previous failures shy him away, as well as…

Mike Huckabee, pastor and ex-governor of Arkansas and darling of the religious right.

Now Mitt Romney has also thrown his hat in the race.

The former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, was also already in the running back in 2008.

Jeb Bush would be the third president in the same family; his father George H. Bush and his brother George W. Bush were already chiefs in the White House.

Real Estate tycoon, Donald Trump, is into everything. He flirted with candidacy once already in 2000.

The government-minded fraction of the Republicans, led by speaker John Boehner, is worried about the “tea party.” The tax-opposing and anti-Washington movement, to which the populist Sarah Palin is supplying the buzz words, is too weak to affect policy, but strong enough to hinder the Republicans from winning.