Republicans and Democrats are beginning to strut their stuff and proclaim to the world why they are the correct choice for the presidential candidature. On the Right, there are a whole slew of contenders – 7 in total – who will eventually be whittled down to just two. On the Left, we have incumbent Barack Obama, campaigning for re-election. These two parties have yet to face off against each other, but remarks being made on both sides indicate that, when they do eventually meet in debate, sparks will indeed fly.
The recent debates that the Republican Party has been attending have seen a fair few raised tempers. One of the most prominent incidents came with the spat between Texas Governor Rick Perry and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney over Romney’s Mormon beliefs. At the 18 October debate, however, the favourite whipping boy of the evening was Herman Cain, the pizza industrial captain, and his 9-9-9 economic plan. While Cain mostly stayed silent after the beginning of the debate, Romney came under fire many times, primarily from Governor Perry and from Rick Santorum, and seemed barely able to get a word in. By the end of the debate, however, Romney emerged fairly unscathed, while Governor Perry seemed flustered and had certainly lost some sense of composure.
The Obama campaign has, up until now, not been too high profile. This is, perhaps, not very surprising, given that the actual elections are still a good deal away and, of course, the incumbent generally has part of his work done for him already. This will likely be changed soon, however, given the eagerness with which the GOP have begun their campaign and the mudslinging already taking place, President Obama would do well to step up his campaigning significantly if he hopes to match the Republican Party in terms of publicity.