Time flies. We are only near the end of January 2011. But do you realize we'll be electing a president next year? The hopefuls must begin their campaigns soon, before 2011 is far along, to have any hope of winning in 2012.
Nobody gets elected president on "short notice."
The candidates have to decide to run, marshal as much and as broad support as they can, organize, raise millions of dollars in campaign funds -- and express their principles, policies and plans to sell prospective voters on their merit.
Of course, the Democratic nominee for president in 2012 will almost certainly be President Barack Obama. And from his position of incumbency, he's presumed to be the "front-runner" in the general election.
But there are many people who are not satisfied with Obama's performance, policies and prospects. So that's encouraging to -- well, some others.
But who are they?
There are not yet two or three well-known and undeniably "presidential" individuals who are clearly expected to seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Several Republican hopefuls are on the horizon, to be sure. Any one of them would love to get the GOP nomination with the hope of replacing Obama.
But it remains to be seen whether they can really contend. Even with our current president's negatives and with a lack of broad approval for his policies, no one can defeat him easily.
The issues should be clear. Economic problems are evident. Will the economy decline or pick up? That is always of great importance in elections. We are surely taxed too much. But we are spending far more than our too-high taxes bring in. We are running annual budget deficits of more than a trillion dollars! Do voters approve that? Do we want more debt, more taxes to pay interest, pressing down on our economy?
Today, it appears that domestic polices -- taxes, debt, expensive socialized medical care, unemployment and such -- will be the big issues in 2012. We have Iraq, Afghanistan and other foreign policy concerns, too. How can we free Americans from more battle deaths and wounds and huge financial costs throughout the world?
And what other issues will arise in the next few months?
Who do you believe would be a better next president? There's an old political truism: "You can't beat somebody with nobody."
If we don't want a second term for Obama, there surely must be some outstanding, attractive, able presidential prospect to emerge fairly soon to capture the hopes of the American majority.
Isn't it time for someone to appear -- to began introducing himself to us, informing us, and inspiring us with sound policies to give us a good option?
We won't make the final decision until 2012 -- but we had better begin planning seriously in 2011 to avoid giving Obama "four more years."