Opinion

Waiting for the GOP

The 2012 race for the White House got a whole lot more interesting last weekend: Even as President Obama now looks more vulnerable than ever, a new GOP field has suddenly emerged.

Yet Republicans have a ways to go to prove they can beat the president — and set the nation on a brighter path.

For Obama, the news was grim: A Gallup poll put his approval rating at just 39 percent, a new low. That might explain why he was in Iowa yesterday, launching a Midwest bus tour and talking up jobs.

As for the Republicans, one contender, Ex-Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, dropped out of the race; another, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, dropped in — and a third, Rep. Michele Bachmann, snagged a place among the top contenders by placing first in the Iowa straw poll of GOP voters.

Pawlenty threw in the towel after coming in third in that nonbinding vote and facing tough fund-raising prospects.

Perry, meanwhile, has led a state that’s produced more than 40 percent of the nation’s jobs over the past three years. His message may well resonate with Americans looking for hope amid a stubbornly anemic economy and 9.1 percent unemployment.

Bachmann combined Tea Party populism and hard-line opposition to raising the debt ceiling to win over Iowa voters and render herself a serious contender.

Ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, of course, remains among the leading wannabes. Yesterday, he dubbed the president’s bus stunt “the Magical Misery Tour.”

Nice hit: The “misery” label reflects what much of the country feels about the state of the economy — and Obama’s failure to fix it. Voters are disgusted with the president’s lack of a viable economic plan and the nearly two years he wasted ramming through ObamaCare.

That massive health-care program, by the way, has now become even more problematic: A federal appeals court on Friday struck down ObamaCare’s core provision, the mandate for everyone to buy health insurance — adding even more uncertainty about its impact. How can businesses plan?

Hence the opening for the GOP.

Clearly, voters are focusing on the Republicans — even though the primaries are still nearly six months off. They want to hear some new ideas — and to see someone with enough firepower not just to win office, but then to actually do the job afterward.

Perry is just getting started, of course, and other hopefuls may yet jump in (though it’s getting late).

But the fact remains: So far, Republicans have yet to articulate a clear and compelling case for the White House — other than that they’re “not Obama.”

Like voters, we’re hoping to hear that case — sooner rather than later.