On Tuesday, in a development that shocked no one, Governor Romney won the GOP primary in the Prairie State of Illinois.
Mere hours later, Jeb Bush endorsed Romney.
It appears Governor Romney has at last been anointed as the Republican nominee for president.
Let us, however, stop and pray for another outcome.
As I have mentioned in the past, I feel quite betrayed by the GOP of today, which has skewed so far from the Progressivism of my day that is nigh unrecognizable to me. Romney and Rick Santorum—and, I suppose, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul!—are my rivals now that I am running as an independent candidate. I see each of them the same way I see President Obama: as obstacles to be overcome on my path to regaining the White House.
That having been said, America has a primary and caucus process for a reason: It allows candidates to be forged, honed, and tested before taking the stage in the general election.
Despite the necessity of this process—one that I have firsthand of experience of, albeit one hundred years ago!—the pundits, the public, and the press seem in a hurry to declare an uncontested frontrunner. The fear is that the contest will drag on all the to the Republican Convention in Tampa this August.
This is not August, however. It is only March, and Illinois has spoken. Romney may have won, but there is life left in his fellow contenders. And he is also still cracking gaffes, such as his latest, this Etch-A-Sketch kerfuffle (which, by the by, sent me to Wikipedia in order to learn what an Etch-A-Sketch is!).
My point being: With a candidate as mercurial as Romney, his rivals still have a prayer. Myself, I might add, included. Do not rush to write us off yet. Democracy must be allowed to take its course. And no one can predict what has yet to happen in this long campaign season.
My reappearance and entry into the race, after all, should be more than enough proof of that.
