Posted on 12/28/2010 11:18:45 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
As some like to say, the 2012 presidential campaign began the day after the 2010 midterm elections.
And with the bulk of the action on the Republican side as contenders start lining up to challenger President Obama, it's not too soon to start speculating about who's most likely going to be at the top of the GOP ticket.
Republican strategist Mike Murphy has worked on the campaigns of Sen. John McCain, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and others. He tells Morning Edition guest host Linda Wertheimer that Romney and current Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels now top his list of likely GOP nominees.
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, doesn't have broad enough support in the party to make it all the way to the nomination, Murphy thinks.
In fact, he believes Palin has "almost a bigger constituency in the media than she does ultimately ... in the entire Republican primary process."
That said, Murphy thinks the other GOP contenders want to see her run — if only to keep the news media occupied for nine months or so. "What you really want to be is the candidate who emerges toward the end of 2011," he says.
Here's some of what he had to say. More of his conversation with Linda is due on tomorrow's Morning Edition. Click here to find an NPR station that broadcasts or streams the show.
(AUDIO AT LINK)
And he worked for the McCain campaign, just goes to show what kind of pricks McCain surrounded himself with, no wonder he lost
Enough the usual old candidates being foisted on us.....I’d personally love to see someone like Mike Pence or Paul Ryan run....especially Paul Ryan because he has such a strong grasp of the fiscal situation we’re in and what to do about it.
Anyone interviewed on NPR is shilling for the Dems.
I’d love to see Palin run for a lot of reasons, and win, not least for the pleasure of watching all the RINOs’ heads explode.
Sarah has VERY good political instincts. If she does decide to run, and I hope she does, she’ll do it in a way that will have maximum impact.
That is one of my primary motivations as well.
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It’s not a question of which Republican will run against Palin in the primaries, it’s which RINO will run as a write-in or third-party candidate after she wins the Republican nomination.
NPR and the RINO wing working together.
How quaint.
Sarah Palin and the Tea Party are going to clean their Commie clocks.
They can FEEL it, even now.
You are a smart person....... Sarah indeed has natural political instincts and is very good at retail politics, while the others rely on a heavy dose of advisers and polling data just to stand on a certain position. People are greatly underestimating her and I think that she wants pundits and other handlers to underestimate her because not only will she surprise them but it will put them back on their heels and keep them guessing what is coming next......she has been underestimated her entire political career and this is just another step in that direction of success.
What needs to be done this time is conservatives need to get the hell behind one candidate early. Also the debate needs to be framed outside the sphere of the mainstream media who should have zero role in choosing the GOP nominee given their hostility to the GOP.
We need to take control of the process this go around. If we want to see Romney as our choice then we can screw around and split our conservative votes by going for has beens like Gingrinch or nuts like Paul. I personally hope Mike Huckabee stands up and does the right thing and gets behind Palin. We need to stop letting the media and the political insiders divide our cause and destroy our candidates like they did with Thompson.
If Sarah runs (and my money is that she will), these RINO asshats won’t know what hit them!
Romneycare Mitt and Vat Tax Daniels.
Huckabee is almost a lock to run at this point...he wants the nomination because he thinks he will be the best candidate...it’s too early for him to bail...magritte
I can not vote for the Huckster. I detest the guy.
There are a number out there who didn’t want to vote for Sarah Palin especially. Some believe her to be the absolute best as the anti-establishment, anti-RINO candidate, because her rhetoric matches ours. On the other hand she has been marginalized because of nervousness for a solely rhetorical candidate. She has no academic world view, no world travels, no foreign connections, nor foreign experience and hasn’t a grasp of why Korea is divided between North and South. This ignorance has served her poorly with the media where it was first discovered.
However, given the mood of the electorate who is a hair’s width from utter rage, she looks better and better, while the professional, groomed candidate is increasingly losing ground. Forget their polish and fitness for the nomination, we’re ready for a candidate who is as mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.
“I personally hope Mike Huckabee stands up and does the right thing and gets behind Palin.”
I’m not sure why he would do that. He is NOT a small government conservative although he and Palin have a lot of overlap on cultural issues.
If he doesn’t run, I think he will stay neutral until the end and then endorse whoever looks like they are going to win.
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