Posted on 12/04/2009 5:49:30 AM PST by wzevonfan
Here is a list of 2012 candidates. Generally, I am dwelling on the negatives as this is what is going to limit them in their ability to win but will mention any unique positives.
Please share your thoughts on these or any other potential candidates.
Romney - Romneycare is an albatross. He is a Mormon which impacts appeal. Is popular in Michigan due to his father. Sometimes comes across like a used car salesman. Is probably more conservative than his record and gets a bad rap due to his need to make compromises to get elected in The People's Republic. Big question is can he rally a base that will be disenchanted with his record on social issues and healthcare.
Giuliani - Personal life has historically been a mess, pro-choice, pro-gay at times limiting appeal to social conservatives. Superb defense and fiscal credentials. Comes from NY and has appeal on Long Island and in the suburbs. Like Romney, could carry a significant blue state. Can he rally a base that will not be happy with his position on social issues?
Huckabee - Willy Horton II, clemency issue is big and can be distilled down into a 15 second spot. Fair Tax is legitimate conversation in fiscal conservative circles but sounds radical to moderate voters. Is a minister and has impeccable social conservative credentials. Talks about god too much at times which can be a strong negative to "casual Christians" for lack of a better term. Big question is can he carry DC suburbs, Philly suburbs and Ohio suburbs along with western states like CO, NM, and NV due to staunch social conservative positions.
Jindal - Young, maybe too young. Has had a meteoric rise. Severe media bias against due to his potential. Resulted in horrible reviews of prime time rebuttal which has stuck with voters. Is not investigating ACORN despite scandal. Has a few out of the mainstream catholic views and has even participated in exorcisms. Big question is will media bias torpedo his candidacy before it even begins.
Brownback - Will have only been governor for two years but has a long track record in the senate. Lacks name recognition of other candidates due to lack of controversy. Has strong social conservative credentials, supports a flat tax and has been generally pro-defense. Is typically on the conservation not environmental side of most issues. Big question is can I guy with very little name recognition gain the spotlight in the primaries.
Pawlenty - Decreasing popularity in own state. Is an evangelical who was raised catholic. Has managed to win in a state that is very liberal/independent. He has liberal views on the environment and has a nuanced track record on health care which will be easy to paint negatively. Is likely more conservative than record due to need to compromise. Big question is can he rally a base that will be unhappy with positions taken on the environment and healthcare.
Gingrich - Personal life has been a mess and opens him to charges of hypocrisy. Pretty severe media bias has subsided due to him no longer being viewed as a threat. Big question is can he overcome messy personal history and gain support with social conservatives.
Palin - Media Bias, Media Bias, Media Bias!!!!! What else can you say. She has a great record but so much damage was done during the last campaign. The Couric interview always comes up and the left/press seems truly terrified of her. The uninformed and stupid tend to believe what they hear and think she is an idiot. Big question is can she make a significant enough dent in her negatives and fight the media bias to have a shot.
McDonnell - Just dominated in the Old Dominion by running a smart campaign focused on fiscal issues. Will only have 3 years of executive experience but is running a large, sophisticated state. Has that thesis paper that the press will hammer away at but which helps reinforce his social conservative credentials. Big question is can he replicate his success on the national stage.
The other question of course is if the Dems continue on the current path will it even matter who gets nominated due to Obama bungling virtually everything he touches.
Huckabee and Newt are toast.
Ditto Charlie Crist/Scott Rothstein for Senate in FL.
I will say the candidate for this time around has not emerged
I am for the most experienced person — Mitt Romney.
This country needs someone with his business background at this time.
I doubt that anybody who's not totally addicted to politics will have idea what you're referring to. Jindal's rebuttal is a complete non-factor.
I’d add Rick Santorum to your list.
Governor Rick Perry of Texas anyone?
I am with Palin. She is like my child or my mother when it comes to it. I trust my family and I trust her. Palin has immediacy, nor because she earned it but because she lived it, obliviously. It is one thing to know that you project an image but it is another to project an image out of indifference.
William Katz (Urgent Agenda) has mentioned Fred Thompson in this arena too.
http://urgentagenda.com/PERMALINKS%20IV/DEC%202009/03.THOMPSON.HTML
Palin, Romney, and Pence so far. Way too early.
I’m too busy actively opposing Obama and his cronies on Congress to think too much about 2012. The fight is 2010 and taking back Congress, then I will worry about 2012.
Let's let the MSM choose our candidate again, why don't we?
They gave us Bob Dull and John McKeating, after all.
What could be wrong with that?
(Conservatism wins every time it's tried. It only loses when you present a RINO and pretend they're conservative.)
Palin and Pawlenty.
Letting the MSM shrill direct opinion gets candidates like McCain.......losers.
Palin, from all appearances with her book tour etc is definitely speaking for the conservative base, the average voter, who make up 75% of all voters not influenced by big money and old style party politics.
Romney is another compromise. Appeals to the left wingers because of his “accomplishments” as a governor. Appeals to the big money corporate lobby that seeks to do business directly with government and bypasses the good of the people.
Huckabee could garner a sizable voting bloc due to his social conservative approach. He would be an alternative to a Pawlenty.
All the others.......crickets. Nothing there for America as a whole.
What the media did to Palin is the same thing they did to George H.W. Bush’s vice president......she’s been “Quayled”.
They kept throwing “tomato” and “Murphy Brown” at Quayle;they’ll keep bringing up Katie “Colon” Couric with Palin...
Yeah it will. Bush got a second term because the Democrats nominated an inept boob to run against him.
Hey I like Fred Thompson. He was the first politician I gave money to, and if he pulls for Palin I am right behind him. The point is that he had his day in the sun now it is Palin’s and Fed is man enough to understand that. I expect Fred Thompson to endorse Palin and if I am wrong I will be hurt. I hold Fred in a great higher light than I do Huckabee or any of the other 2008 candidates. Fred do the right thing (Sarah is a good woman)
Hey I like Fred Thompson. He was the first politician I gave money to, and if he pulls for Palin I am right behind him. The point is that he had his day in the sun now it is Palin’s and Fed is man enough to understand that. I expect Fred Thompson to endorse Palin and if I am wrong I will be hurt. I hold Fred in a great higher light than I do Huckabee or any of the other 2008 candidates. Fred do the right thing (Sarah is a good woman)
Conservatives have MANY potential leaders WITH character/unimpeachable background/appropriate associations/education/demonstrated experience-AND a love for this country and respect for its citizens... who may be considered.
What is more, “O’s” professional ineptitude and personal abrasiveness have all but paved the way for the next Conservative leader. ALL our leadership needs to do is to mimic the approach “O” had. Send a message, (in our case, WITH substance), send it unambiguously and send it consistently!!!!
If an inexperienced, personally objectionable, professionally dubious, and avowedly ANTI-AMERICAn racist and posturing demagogue can become President.... I am sure a Conservative following the Liberals' simple campaign formula can succeed.
Where do you get your information? ACORN has been under the microscope in Louisiana since before the ‘scandal’ broke.
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