Early Campaign Trail Troubles for 2012 Competitors

With America's future at stake, the upcoming presidential election could make or break our chances of maintaining our freedom and prosperity. If Obama stays in office, we are looking at more wars, more spending, more lost freedoms and more government. The same could be said if a few of the current contenders make it into office as well. There are only a few competitors that could truly change our country around.

Yet regardless of who could change our nation for the better, all candidates are facing tough challenges early on in the campaign trail. So let's take a look at who's having the hardest time and who seems to be having an easier time.

Mitt Romney has so far been portrayed by the media's as the most popular candidate, though many wonder how truthful they are being. Romney has recently felt a hit against his campaign with the ObamneyCare talk coming out. Mitt had put in for a nearly exact copy of Obamacare, though he now opposed Obama care, which doesn't help his case.

Romney also felt a blow as articles released debates between him and Ron Paul, where Romney feels that we should continue the overseas wars until the General's feel we should come back, where Paul feels we have no reason to be at war overseas and that we should pull out now.

Another hit to the Romney campaign, was when he said that he wouldn't be a part of the NH debate because it was there to make the underdogs look good and the front runners to look bad. Yet he chose last minute to jump in the debate? Talk about flip-flop.

The former CEO of Godfathers pizza has been enjoying ever rising popularity. He has shown a bit more trust in the constitution then some of the other candidates, but he experienced a bump in the road of his campaign recently from admitting that he wouldn't be comfortable with having a muslim in his administration. Though he answered honestly, there is no way to turn back from here, as he has painted himself a racist in the eyes of many potential voters.

The biggest thing that caught up to him, was that he suggested he would hire on a muslim to his cabinet, with loyatly tests to prove they weren't militant muslims, but doesn't think the same should be done for christian admins looking to fill the same positions.

Strangely, Johnson was doing well until the media and the NH debate turned him down for entry. This is a big hurdle in the hills for his campaign as he was counting on the NH debate and future debates to give him a boost in the polls. Though for some reason, this year he's getting the "Ron Paul" treatment, and being excluded from news and debates.

Though he has made it clear that he won't quit just because the rest of his staff quit, doesn't mean that Gingrich hasn't experienced a fairly large loss early on in his campaign. The best and brightest of Gingrich's staff quit early last week, citing "campaign tactic differences" that couldn't be reconciled. Now everyone is wondering whether or not it's still early enough for Newt to grab a hold of the campaign wagon again. And it was pretty clear how lost Gingrich was without his staff, as he spent most of his debate time talking about two subjects - Ronald Reagan and the failures of the current admin on the economy.

Gingrich also experienced a heavy hit during the recent NH debate, as he sided with Hermain Cain that we shouldn't work with Muslims while we are at war. While his logical might be reasonable, it doesn't make him look any more appealing to voters, especially legal immigrants fighting in the military to keep our country safe right now.

This bigggest burp in Pawlenty's campaign was his decision to call ObamaCare "ObamneyCare", and then to back down on that position when face to face with Romney in the NH debate. He was even called out on that decision, to which he could do nothing but make up excuses for his behavior.

Many feel this would have been his big chance to stand out during the debate and make a good name for himself. Though instead of holding his ground, he passed the buck and blamed Obama.

The biggest hurt to Ron Paul's campaign came up during the NH debate, and it was his tact. Refusing to be like the other candidates who pushed through King's "i-i-i-i" throughout their replies, Ron Paul was often pushed aside while answering his questions, and it was clear from anyone taking part online, that many questions directed to him were deflected by John King. Either way, he remained consistent and was one of the only candidates to regularly garner applause from the crowd without pandering. In fact, many would say that the debate did nothing but help quiet Ron Paul, to stand out against other candidates.