The Republican Presidential Primary: Dumb and Dumber

Primary Season is a time when presidential hopefuls must win over the support and confidence of their parties' voter base in order to secure their place one general election ticket. A process that was once designed to get politicians in touch with the issues relative to individual states has long since become reminiscent of a particularly trashy reality TV show. In deciding the next leader of the fee world, voters must endure months of watching 5-8 ideological blowhards with hyper inflated egos trample over delicate issue, regurgitating partisan talking points in order to draw attention away from their narrow depth of worldly understanding.

However, what these candidates lack in substance they make up for in unapologetic brashness. Whether it be Rick Perry coming out against President Obama's alleged "War on Christmas", Rick Santorum's telling a homosexual marine that he doesn't belong in the military, or Newt Gingrich the self-described "idea man" proposing that the government repeal child labor laws and set up programs that encourage poor children to intern as janitors, the national dialogue is certainly not short on political drama. Even more vicious are the smear campaigns the candidates run against each other. One of the more ridiculous smears is Newt Gingrich's continuing assertion that Mitt Romney's fluency in French makes him a European elitist snob.

Although the contest is still in its early stages, most political experts can already tell you that the 2012 Republican presidential primary is already one the most bizarre in our nation's recent history. Over the course of six months the race has seen no less than five different national front runners. Actually, if you think about it, describing this contest gives it far too much legitimacy. The word "race" infers a certain degree of fair play and merit based achievement, two things you will not find in this frenzy. Instead you get what can be described as a particularly ruthless game of king of the mountain, with each candidate taking a turn to bask at the top, only to be dragged down by negative attack ads, personal scandals, and devoured by the merciless shark tank that is political media.

Take for instance, Herman Cain, a charismatic African American Pizza Conglomerate whose fiery rhetoric and catchy tax proposal carried saw him ascend to the top of national polls in the fall. However, in what would soon become a trend for future front runners Cain's moment in the spotlight lasted no more than a few weeks. Accusations of sexual harassment started to become visible on the national scene, creating wave of negative publicity that dropped him into single before he could even deny them.

Now at this point, American voters are used to seeing the occasional live-tv slip up during political campaigns. These candidates are under enormous pressure and mistakes will inevitably be made. However, the consistency of factual errors and misconceptions in this primary race really brings the intelligence of its candidates into question. So far, the most infamous campaign gaffe belongs to Texas governor Rick Perry, a former front runner who nailed the final coffin in his ailing campaign when while on a nationally televised debate, he proposed a plan to cut three major federal departments. When asked to specify the names of these departments he could only name two, spending the better part of five minutes trying to remember his own policy. Never has it been made clearer to the American public that today's politicians are mere cardboard cutouts whose ideologies and initiatives are determined behind the scenes by political consultants.