Posted on 08/16/2011 3:16:39 PM PDT by Quicksilver
The lesson of 2008 was that when we are divided we lose. Any of the 2008 GOP candidates were vastly preferable to Obamanation, especially given that Pelosi and Reid controlled Congress. When liberals have unchecked power an epic amount of damage can be (and was) done. It was (and still is) imperative that Obama be defeated. You never win by losing.
My most preferred 2008 candidate was Fred Thompson. Sadly, for whatever reasons, Fred never got traction. It was clear to me that it would come down to either Romney or McCain; I felt that Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee had very little chance, though Huckabee did better than I thought he would. McCain was the Washington GOP establishment candidate and I knew that he had little chance of defeating Obama. Far, far from ideal, but nonetheless the better of the two that could challenge Obama, I supported Romney for the GOP nomination. With help from the media and Mike Huckabee, McCain won the nomination.
I then supported McCain for president. After he picked Sarah Palin for his running mate I had hope that it would be enough to defeat Obama. Alas, John McCain found a way to lose despite Sarah's best effort to unite conservatives.
I'm really excited about 2012. We have a wonderful field of declared conservative candidates (and more declarations to come, I hope). Ironically, Romney is the establishment candidate this time. I don't think he will be the nominee. I believe that the nomination is up for grabs; however, for now, I think Rick Perry is most likely the one that will win it (if others get in, especially Sarah, that will certainly change the dynamics).
There is a long ways to go before it becomes clear who it will be, and we most definitely should thoroughly vet them all, not just the ones we personally dislike; if we don't, they will.
The bottom line for me is Defeat Obama. If we unite behind our nominee, whoever she or he may be, we will win. Again, you never win by losing. If we don't beat Obama there's a good chance that we will lose ground in the House and Senate. We cannot afford unchecked liberal power.
What a sight it will be to see a stage full of viable conservatives debating each other!
Let the campaign begin!
Excellent post. Thank you for common sense.
I disagree with some of what you say.
1. Romney *and* Perry are the establishment candidates.
2. The Tea Party does not equal the Republican Party. The party should support only candidates who we think will take risks and fight for our causes.
3. The Tea Party will not go along with politics as usual and business as usual. It should not support an establishment candidate. It would be better to run our own third party candidate, where we would have a really excellent chance of winning.
.
Close. I will not support Romney because he won't repeal ObamaCare or the rest of Obama's legacy. I don't see it as a "win" to elect someone who wears our t-shirt but plays for the other team. With the exception of those few in that category, RINOs who would cement Obama's recession in place permanently, I'll agree with your post. I favored Fred last time, but found him mostly dull in his speeches. I support Palin, DeMint, Bachmann, and Cain this year, with minor fluctuations in that order based on their competitiveness. There are others I would support, but there are also some who will not get my vote. If necessary, I will write in Palin/Bachmann or Palin/DeMint, but I will vote (mainly to get a conservative Congress) . . . just not necessarily for the GOP nominee.
“Close. I will not support Romney because he won’t repeal ObamaCare or the rest of Obama’s legacy. I don’t see it as a “win” to elect someone who wears our t-shirt but plays for the other team.”
I felt the same way a while back. Maybe even more so.
All the reason to work harder in the primaries. I will support Palin when she announces after Labor Day (or on the 3rd) but I could never sit home and watch the Kenyan Marxist get re-elected.
This isn’t a sport. It’s our lives. I understand your “team” analogy, but if this guy Perry gets the nod, he might not throw as hard as he can at all times, but he won’t be tossing them all up grapefruits on every pitch, like Zero the Hero, either.
I would consider staying at home or wasting a vote as treason to the US. And no, I’m not over-dramatizing it.
If Perry wins the nomination, it will be more of the same, but I will not set fire to my home to make a point. There are a shitload of House and Congressional votes to turn these aholes out and that’s where it should begin. Some of them didn’t get the memo in ‘10, but they will if there’s a continued flushing of the Grand Old Potty.
There are a lot of attempts by the squishy middle to grab some tea party credibility.
It starts with advocacy groups like Americans for prosperity which is an arguably conservative group but they bring other baggage like Dick Morris. Plus, their advocacy doesn’t look at things on a case by case basis.
Personally, I refuse to belong to any organized tea party group. Instead I tend to meet informally with tea party minded people over coffee a few times a month.
What?
For Fred to get traction, he would have needed a pulse. Anyway, he was just running interference for his buddy McCain.
Agreed, both with your post and the sentiments of others. I will not support Romney. Romney will take the Republic in the same direction as Obama, just a few steps slower. The Republicans need to understand that a lot of folks are fed up with choosing the lesser of two evils.
My slogan this year is, “Run a RINO? Stay home.”
1. Romney *and* Perry are the establishment candidates.We shall see. From what I have read and heard, the establishment isn't happy about Perry. They thought he would stay away and Romney would have a clear path to the nomination.
The reasons we lost in 08:
#1 The liberal media did not expose hussein for who he really was-—and is.
#2 We had a rino candidate.
All these Republican candidates hammering on Obama day after day is GREAT.
If Romney wants to be the nominee he will have to commit to repealing ObamaCare. He will have a very tough time convincing anyone that he means it. Still, I don’t see him winning enough delegates to secure the nomination.
All these Republican candidates hammering on Obama day after day is GREAT.Indeed it is! I didn't think that I would live long enough to see the day when we had so many viable conservatives running. :)
“It would be better to run our own third party candidate, where we would have a really excellent chance of winning.”
Respect your opinion but disagree. A third party candidate of the right or left has literally zero chance of winning a presidential election in this country, and will ensure 4 more years for the communist. I would work to nominate the most conservative candidate possible for the GOP nomination. That is the place to fight this out, and not the general election.
So... the reason why you poke at me is because I’m militantly anti-Slick Willard, the guy who made McCain look like Reagan ? ‘08 was lost because all the major candidates were RINO jokes (after Fred at least), the media portrayed Zero as Jesus and, the party put up a divisive loser who didn’t even want to win and Dubya’s misguided bailouts. All a perfect storm of fail.
Baraq has a rock solid 40% no matter what. Maybe 42. I don't see how anybody could argue with that number.
So you really think a third party which currently isn't on the ballot in any state (to my knowledge) is going to get 42-44% of the vote? And Republicans will get 18%.
I'm not buying it, no way.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.