Global Economic Crisis

Over that past century, only four elected U.S. presidents have failed to win a second term in office. America’s 27th president, William Taft, succumbed to an insurgent challenge from his White House predecessor, Theodore Roosevelt, whose third party candidacy  doomed Taft to defeat at the hands of Woodrow Wilson. The three other single term elected presidents of the past 100 years were victims of economic crises; Herbert Hoover, Jimmy Carter and George H. Bush. Gerald Ford, the unelected successor to Richard Nixon, is an anomaly in U.S.. political history, being in effect Nixon’s surrogate and taking the heat for the Watergate scandal.

Will Barack Obama be fated to join the ranks of the one-timers? Though there remain nearly two years until the next presidential election, the prognosis on Obama is becoming increasingly guarded. Absent a severe economic or political crisis, an incumbent president seeking a second term normally enjoys an unassailable advantage over his opponent. Even amid the unpopularity of the Iraq war, George W. Bush was still able to convincingly defeat his Democratic Party challenger in the 2004 presidential contest, Senator John Kerry. However, unless a miraculous economic turnaround occurs, President Obama is likely to enter the 2012 presidential campaign  with baggage which may leave him highly vulnerable to a strong challenger from the GOP.

Almost all serious economic forecasts project that America will still be experiencing historically high levels of unemployment in 2012. The Republican Party’s midterm election triumph, in particular regaining control of the House of Representatives, points to the acute vulnerability Obama’s reelection campaign will face. In addition, the themes that generated excitement  in 2008 for Obama’s candidacy, such as “change you can believe in,” will not be credible factors in 2012, leaving him as the incumbent forced to defend a questionable record in managing the economy, and any defensive posture is unlikely to elicit a memorable theme that will excite the Democratic Party’s base and attract independent voters, the latter category crucial for any presidential candidate. In contrast, we are already seeing convincing evidence that the GOP will have an effective grass-roots movement that is excited and motivated by the prospect of ending  the Obama presidency in 2012, as evidenced by the phenomenon of the Tea Party.

As dismal a factor as the economy is likely to be in calculating the odds of Barack Obama winning a second term, there are other elements that weaken the prospects of his winning a second term. The unending war in Afghanistan  is rapidly being transformed into Obama’s version of the Iraq debacle, with a growing proportion of the electorate losing faith in this costly overseas commitment that has become the center of gravity for Obama’s war on terror. The continuing war and perception that President Obama has compromised too easily with his Republican congressional opponents has estranged  some of his supporters within the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. It is not inconceivable that Obama will face a Democratic challenger when he seeks re-nomination  as the Party’s presidential candidate in 2012.  Should that happen, the odds still favor Obama being the Democratic presidential nominee in 2012, however a divisive primary battle would further weaken the 44th president’s odds of winning a second term in the White House.

Increasingly, there is talk within Democratic Party circles regarding the steep challenge and mounting obstacles Barack Obama will face in campaigning in 2012 for a second term as president. Among these doomsayers there remains one hope; that the Republican Party will nominate Sarah Palin as its presidential candidate in 2012.  Looking at Palin’s current level of high negative poll numbers, they see her as a potential gift from Saint Jude, the patron saint of desperate causes. However, as former Labor Secretary  Robert Reich pointed out in a recent blog in the Huffington Post ( “Sarah Palin’s Presidential Strategy, and the Economy She Depends On”  ), Palin may be a far more formidable challenger to Barack Obama than Democratic strategists  recognize, especially if America’s economic woes persist.

Though undoubtedly campaigning in 2008 with the noblest of intentions, it is looking increasingly likely that Barack Obama will enter the history books as not only a one-term president, but also a valiant but deeply flawed failure.

Rush Limbaugh, the unofficial, corpulent and titular leader of what passes as the contemporary Republican Party, has made his decision early about the GOP standard bearer for 2012. Making full use of his electronic platform, Limbaugh has anointed Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his preferred presidential nominee of the Republican Party.

Raised up from the obscurity of Alaska politics, Ms. Palin was vaulted onto the national stage by 2008 GOP presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, as his Vice Presidential pick. Despite the obvious deficiencies in her resume for national office, she has not let go of that delivered prominence. There is no doubt about her intentions to run in the primaries for the GOP’s 2012 presidential nomination and credibility as a serious contender.

However, the doubts that surfaced about her intellectual acumen and global comprehension in 2008 do remain, and will prove a potentially insurmountable barrier if she is destined to engage in gladiatorial combat with President Barack Obama directly, instead of sparring with Joe Biden as she did in 2008. Writing off her critics as incorrigible “liberals” will not suffice to close the electoral gap, even if the economy remains in recession. Her chances of defeating Obama in 2012 appear meager at best, unless Sarah Palin were to confound not only her critics but also the entire political establishment by doing something bold and dramatic. And I have just the suggestion.

Governor Sarah Palin should seriously consider posing nude for me. “Surely you jest,” I can hear echoing among my skeptical readers. However, I offer this suggestion to Palin in all seriousness, and here is why. Let us assume that Palin’s decision to run for President in 2012 is predicated on her firm belief that the governor has the exceptional intellect and leadership skills required to make the case that she would be a superior commander in chief in comparison with President Obama. Factor in the conviction that conservative Republicans have that there is a built-in liberal bias by mainstream media that inhibits her ability to communicate that innate and sparkling brilliance to a large segment of the voting American public. Does Sarah Palin really believe that round two with the likes of Katie Couric on foreign policy will prove more successful in showing her up as a superior geopolitical thinker to Obama? I say to Palin, skip the intellectual media duel with Barack Obama, and beat him on aesthetics.

What I propose for the 2012 GOP presidential frontrunner is a full-course nude art study. This is distinct from a Playboy photo spread, which would simply portray her as another naked female celebrity. A fine art nude exploration of the physicality of Sarah Palin would bring out the complexity and spiritual essence, as well as external beauty of Sarah Palin, in a manner that is both intriguing yet substantive. More substantive than another appearance on Saturday Night Live, and not nearly as tortured as one-on-one media interviews. She would not have to speak a line, play “name that foreign leader” or otherwise expose herself to ridicule about her knowledge deficit. Yet, by posing for a nude art study, she would actually be saying much about herself that even those deemed by her supporters as iconoclast liberals would admire. Sarah Palin as a subject for my photography would be demonstrating courage, boldness, and an appreciation for the value of art in American culture that would shatter most of the stereotypes that exist about her. By allowing herself to be the subject of a nude art study, Sarah Palin would also be making a statement to the American electorate that would be unprecedented; here is a politician who is comfortable in her own skin, and willing to reveal everything about herself. Symbolically, Sarah Palin as a nude Venus would be an aesthetic affirmation of her intention never to conceal anything from the American people.

Sarah Palin as nude art would not only establish her dominance and feminine power in the tough world of male-dominated American politics; it would give her an advantage over President Obama that would be unassailable. Despite all his other political gifts, there is no possibility that Barack Obama would pose nude, nor would there be equal interest in his doing do.

So here I offer Sarah Palin most excellent advice for creating momentum for her 2012 presidential run. Best of all, this advice is offered free, unlike the torturous reinvention of her persona being fabricated by highly priced political consultants. As the Alaska governor considers this unique political opportunity, she may be curious of what posing nude for me is actually like. Her staff can do the research by checking the testimonials of several women who have posed for me, posted on my website, FemmeNudes.com, http://www.femmenudes.com.

Is the Alaska Governor, who believes she is destined by history to defy political trends by defeating a popular incumbent president and becoming America’s first woman president, bold and courageous enough to do something so unconventional and unanticipated? Only if she is the truly exceptional and gifted politician she claims to be. Do I think she will actually take up my creative offer? Well, I’ll put it this way. Unlike Janis Joplin, I won’t be sitting around waiting each day until 3.00 PM. However, in the unpredictable world of America’s media-based politics, you never know.