These are the times that try men's souls

That may have been the phrase that I was looking for, not Winter of Discontent. If so, then it is my own fault. Maybe it is a senior moment, who knows?

It looks like we are going to have a hard time making any real change to the current state of affairs. That possibility is worthy of either phrase. When I see the President's chances as not being so bad, at least according to some, I have to shake my head. But that was the case when he got elected in the first place. I never understood the attraction for the guy.

It is particularly galling for the left to blame the Republicans for what is happening now when they got something that no Republican president has gotten in my lifetime and well before. No Republican president had the kind of majority Obama had in his first two years. Whatever he wanted, he could have had. So, the lack of results should be judged that way. With no real opposition worth noting for two years, he should have been able to get what he wanted done. But what does he have to show for those two years? Instead, he got trounced in 2010 and that is hardly the reason to blame the Republicans for the difficulties that he brought upon himself.

For the Republicans part, they seem hellbent on losing whatever advantage they may have had. Gingrich and Perry get knocked off the ballot in Virginia-- why? Because they did what they didn't do before- check the signatures. They needed 10,000, but nobody really checked these before. Why now? Because of a lawsuit. That tells you a couple things 1) the candidates who were eliminated didn't take that into consideration and 2) the Party didn't make additional changes to the procedures so that they wouldn't inadvertently disqualify a candidate. The whole thing is just plain dumb. Why do they insist upon shooting themselves in the foot?

The rest is pretty distressing too. People are letting themselves be twisted into pretzels by all of the polls instead of just trusting their own judgment. If someone makes a move, they all start attacking the new front runner. Then the newbie gives way to another and the process repeats. What kind of way is that to pick your candidate? Why can't the candidates stop following the polls and just enunciate their own positions instead of knocking each other down?

The Cain business was pretty bad too. Why not wait for definite evidence before allowing one of the candidates to be taken out like that?

Romney's support is suspicious. I think the media is going easy on him because the left really wants him to be the candidate. They will turn on him on a dime if he gets the nomination. Why should anybody be impressed with his poll numbers? The electability factor may be just a big ruse. Why fall for it?