While traveling up to Minnesota...

...and back these last few days, I arrived at three separate, tentative conclusions which I hope to elaborate on later. (And don't worry; unlike the guy above, I had both hands on the steering wheel at all times.)

The first thought I had, while driving for six and a half hours on Saturday (mostly through Wisconsin), was that the Republicans and Democrats in the Dairy State are essentially fighting over a dead body. The economy in Wisconsin, if it ever was anything special, has long been lost to history. The emergence in the Badger State of such tea partiers as Scott Walker, Ron Johnson and Paul Ryan only confirm to me that Wisconsin may have already evolved into a red state. What does that mean? Like other red states, such as Indiana, Tennessee and Mississippi, Wisconsin is gradually becoming a ward of the federal government. In other words, like most red states, it will receive more from the federal government than it sends to Washington in taxes. Stuck between prosperous Minneapolis and Chicago, Wisconsin is resembling -- more and more -- Indiana.

My next thought is that Mitt Romney, whom we all suspect to be devoid of political ideology, is only interested in becoming the head of state, not the head of government. Like Ronald Reagan, the former governor of Massachusetts would be content to be "king." But unlike the Gipper, Romney would take very little interest in the actual workings of government, content to outsource that function to the Republican "prime ministers," most notably Paul Ryan. (Mitt would most likely function simply as the Bill-Signer-in-Chief.) Like George H. W. Bush before him, Mitt Romney sees the oval office as an end in itself, not as a means to advancing any agenda. The vision, for Romney, is to be president. And that would be a nice final chapter in a long life of achievement. (But God help us!)

Lastly, what if the economy continues to drift and Romney is elected president and the Republicans take over both houses of Congress? Including the Supreme Court, the GOP would then control all three branches of the federal government. So what would that mean? Well, for starters, the Republicans would have an unchecked opportunity to carry out their agenda (which I assume would mean austerity). Would it work? Who knows? But my question is, what if it doesn't? Then what? Would the Democrats retake Congress in two years? Probably. But if austerity weakens the economy like it has in Europe, might the country turn from the extreme right to the extreme left? I doubt it; there just isn't any leftist tradition in this country. So what else could happen? A more authoritarian, right-wing government? Sounds crazy, doesn't it? (At least I hope so.)