Posted on 02/03/2015 5:24:42 AM PST by cotton1706
The race for the Republican nomination is not as wide open as some analysts think.
It is often said that the GOP tends to fall in line rather fall in love with its candidates for the White House. And the 2016 campaign will be no different.
Republicans like to pick the person who has paid his dues and whose turn it is perceived to be. Sometimes they pick a Senate leader but only grudgingly. Thats how Bob Dole got the nomination in 1996 and how John McCain got it in 2008.
Of course, they won the race to be the nominee but had little chance to win the actual top prize. A senator rarely makes a great presidential candidate, because hes forced to defend his voting record. He or she usually only gets the nod when the odds of victory are low.
Mitt Romney won in 2012 because he finished in second place to McCain in the 08 race, and he was the only one running who had the credibility to actually represent the party, especially when compared to Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.
Credibility is important for Republican voters.
Democrats, on the other hand, dont mind selecting the unknown. Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter and Michael Dukakis come to mind as nominees who came from nowhere to capture the hearts of their voters.
The selection of Barry Goldwater was the last time the GOP picked a flyer. They arent likely to make that mistake again in the modern era.
Conservatives complain that moderates lose the race for the White House, but it was the conservative Goldwater who got crushed by the largest margin. Ideological purity is not nearly as important to Republican voters as practical experience running the government.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
Establishment hack John Feehery is attempting to push back on the narrative that moderates are losers.
Note how he brushes aside Reagan, who was only successful because he talked to moderates. No mention of the 1980 44 state landslide, the 1984 49 state landslide, and the 1988 40 state landslide of his successor (who subsequently lost on his own, and whose son barely won twice).
We all know the reason, they'd rather lose to a democrat than win with a conservative. It's one of their guys or nobody!
I think we should support Jeb Bush who like his brother can make a deal with Nancy Pelosi and spend trillions of dollars on expanding the federal government.
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