Republican campaigns by the numbers
THE DAILY BLADE: This time around, the Republican campaign is a numbers game. No, not the competing polls, straw ballot results, or even campaign fundraising totals. These numbers have been historically important, to be sure, but in this election cycle there’s another set of numbers voters need to pay attention to – the various enumerated policy proposals the candidates promise to implement, if elected.
Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain said his 9-9-9 tax reform plan had been inspired by the idea that, “If 10 percent is good enough for G-d, then nine percent should be just fine for the federal Government.”
Former Sen. Rick Santorum (PA) must have been inspired by the 1998 Sam Phillips compilation album, and just announced his Zero Zero Zero plan (reduce corporate income taxes on manufacturers to zero; zero taxes on funds invested overseas brought back to the US; and "zero out and repeal" every regulation passed by the Obama administration).
Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN) has her 1-11 Plan: America should remain the one superpower in the world, and has an 11-point “American Jobs, Right Now” Blueprint.
Forget the 59-point economic plan that former Gov. Mitt Romney (MA) is touting in the debates; it’s just window dressing. The plan Romney has always campaigned on is his 2-2-2 Plan: Being on both sides of every issue -- for and against abortion; for and against gun rights; for and against the individual health insurance mandate; for and against anything else you got.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (GA) is hoping his 3-3-3 Plan resonates with voters: The three branches of government are co-equal and the judicial branch does not have supremacy over the other two branches because in “The Federalist Papers” the judiciary was characterized as the weakest of the three branches; a new Contract With America that has three times as many action items than the original one; and three marriages doesn’t disqualify a conservative candidate from the White House.
Rep. Ron Paul (TX) has a core group of firmly-held principles that could be called his 8-8-8 Plan: Against the Federal Reserve, which "8" our economy; against the Patriot Act, which "8" our privacy rights; and against nation-building in Iraq and Afghanistan, which "8" billions of taxpayer dollars that could have been used here at home.
Gov. Rick Perry (TX) doesn’t have a specific number in mind to grow the economy; it’s more like an equation: E=mc2 (energy = mucho commerce squared).
And contrary to Bachmann’s suggestion, the real 6-6-6 plan is the American Jobs Act of 2011 (AKA “Son of Stimulus”) – though for her part, Anita Perry snipes that “when I hear 9-9-9, I want to call 9-1-1.” Well, thanks to her husband’s debate performances – which have ranged from somnambulant to suicidal – she should call 9-1-1 to revive the Texas governor’s swooning campaign.
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