But in a week in which markets collapsed, Solyndra exploded, our Middle East policy was in meltdown, the Iranian nuclear threat became more urgent, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff fingered our “ally” Pakistan as a sponsor of terror against American forces in Afghanistan—none of the candidates really seemed up to the moment, either politically or substantively. In the midst of a crisis, we’re getting politics as usual—and a somewhat subpar version of politics as usual at that.
We suppose it’s often that way. The 1932 contest for the Democratic nomination was nothing special, and in 1980 Reagan had all kinds of problems convincing the electorate he was the man for the moment. Perhaps Mitt Romney will show the intellectual boldness and political leadership as president that the situation demands.
But, we do ask (again!), with a month left before filing deadlines: Is that all there is?
Watching this week as Mitch Daniels intelligently promoted his book and Paul Ryan cogently explained why crony capitalism is inconsistent with the rule of law, we of course lamented that neither of them had stepped up to the challenge.