The first event of the battle for the Republican Presidential nomination of 2012 occurred on Monday night in Des Moines, Iowa, when the Faith and Freedom Coalition gathering, hosted by Ralph Reed, a former aide to evangelist Pat Robertson, took place.
Only three of the major possible candidates showed up–Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, and Rick Santorum.
Also appearing were former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, past Godfather Pizza executive Herman Cain, and in a separate event, Texas Congressman Ron Paul. Also, a representative of Donald Trump appeared.
The fact that only three major GOP candidates appeared was a surprise, as it is obvious no one is very anxious to jump full scale into the race.
And the three major candidates who did show up all sounded like evangelical preachers at a religious revival, and the question is whether the GOP is going to focus on abortion and gay marriage at the expense of mainstream economic issues!
And for Gingrich particularly, but also Pawlenty and Santorum, to focus on morals and ethics is quite amazing, and the level of hypocrisy, particularly for Gingrich with his three wives and scandalous behavior as Speaker of the House from 1995-1999, is absolutely amazing!