Rick Perry

I do not have any confidence that Rick Perry will be the reigning Republican candidate when primaries come around. He has flubbed on national television-Perry actually forgot his own opinion during a debate and paused, looking very confused. A candidate that appears to be stupid, if only for a moment, is typically not very popular or respected by the populace. However, George Bush managed to not only be elected to the presidency once, but twice, and also came off as the one of the most ignorant and unintelligent men in the twenty-first century. Perhaps if Perry is able to play off any future flubs as mistakes of the "common man" and work the everyman angle that Bush did, he will be successful and more widely liked.  Coupled with the "regular person" appeal, his loyalty to staunch conservative values could be very attractive to Republican voters, for Perry seems like one of the more sane of the group of current candidates.
Nevertheless, Perry was involved in a scandal which included a rock at his family's vacation home that was inscribed with a racial slur, and minorities and those who have no tolerance for racism will almost certainly be very much put off by this discovery. Overall, I do not see him being successful.

Political Cartoon #1

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/tom-toles-cartoons-for-november-2011/2011/10/17/gIQA1iutZM_gallery.html#photo=5

Tom Toles drew this cartoon which depicts a newscaster invading a nervous-looking "Republican" elephant's personal space and asking him who will be his candidate. The caption says "Brain Freeze," suggesting that the Republican party has no idea who they will choose, and the hopefuls are watching through either a screen or window outside. The artist uses caricature and ridicule to both represent the collective presence of the Republican party and make fun of its total lack of consensus about the 2012 presidential campaign. The cartoonist is most likely fairly moderate or left leaning in his views but is definitely critical of the Republican party at this point in time.

A lot worse than detention...

The Supreme Court is now deciding on the constitutionality of putting teenagers who have killed in prison for life, without a chance for parole. In 2005, they decided that no minors may receive the death sentence for their crimes, and in 2010 that it was unconstitutional for any crime committed besides homicide.

They have chosen to take on two cases to help the court determine if teenagers really are incapable of making the same quality of decisions that fully developed adults can make.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-to-consider-whether-juveniles-who-kill-must-receive-possibility-of-parole/2011/11/07/gIQAeBeYwM_story.html

Who's taking the GOP?

I think Mitt Romney is most likely to win the GOP primary this election. He is one of the least extreme of the candidates (i.e. not Rick Perry) and also appears fairly educated when on camera (i.e. not Michele Bachman), and follows Cain in the polls very closely. Now that more and more women are appearing as victims of sexual harassment as part of Cain's newly uncovered scandal, it is incredibly unlikely that Cain will have a major role in the primary from now on. Although Romney is Mormon, at least in our (Northern Virginia) community, Mormons are widely accepted and his faith should not be a serious issue in losing him votes. I have actually seen Mormon commercials recently that I assume are nationally broadcasted, in an effort to dispel any ideas that Mormons are highly unusual people, which they are not. Romney seems to be the GOP's strongest candidate at the moment.