Hope For Change At The Stupid Party

One can hope for change, but as has been noted, hope is not a plan. Senior members of the RNC are tossing about ideas that they hope will bring out stronger candidates in the future.

The RNC adopted a new rules system a little more than a year ago in order to try to control the mad scramble for early primary dates that had occurred in years past, partly because of the view that John McCain locked up the nomination too quickly and that a longer process would have helped the GOP find a stronger candidate.

Without acknowledging that the media will gleefully endorse their favorite candidate in the Iowa caucuses, and continue to endorse him to the bitter end. This helps people like Romney and hurts the lesser known but likely stronger candidates. The new rules do not seem to have made any difference as the likely nominee will be the fellow who finished second to the fellow who lost to Obama the last time.

This fiddling about the edges will accomplish nothing. Here's a suggestion to address the most obvious mistake, letting the DNC moderate the Republican debates. I expect to see plenty of this sort of thin in the upcoming campaign, and by now have a clear picture of the sort of question the press will be asking of the candidate.

Mr. Romney! Do you intend to stick with that weird-o religious cult you belong to? And a follow-up, do you have any plans to add any more wives in the immediate future?

Mr Gingrich! Do you still beat your first wife? And a follow up: Do you still beat your second wife?

Mr Santorum! Which do you feel is more important; fighting Satanic influence or keeping all women barefoot and pregnant?

Of course the problem with insisting that all moderators be conservatives with an interest in the candidates positions on conservative topics is that the media may be less interested in covering the events. NRO notes that Hugh Hewett has suggested this format change:

Come the 2016 election season, the RNC should set the number, dates, and locations of debates. They should be fewer in number than the 20-odd we will see before this year is out, so that they are not so unduly agenda-setting. And the party should partner with local party officials, conservative think tanks, alternative media, tea-party groups, and grassroots organizations to determine formatting and questions.

Somehow I see Fox being the only network willing to carry debates in this format, and the MSM filling the debate time slots with ratings-week editions of their top rated shows to suppress viewers. You get the choice of the debates or CSI: Miami Beach performed with all the actors and extras topless I guess.