Where are all the Southern Governors? - the winner is usually one of them.
George Allen is a former governor, tell me more about these guys:
Rick Perry
Don Sundquist
Frank Keating
other current and former Southern Governors?
Barbour?
George Allen would be a great candidate, but the problem is his lengthy (20yr+) voting record. Any of his political opponents would twist and distort such a record to badly hurt him in '08.
In any case, these are the top three candidates who can survive a primary and have a shot at the general in '08. In no particular order, and with comments provided:
- George Allen - former VA governor
pluses - charisma, looks, solid conservative
minus - long voting record
- Bill Owens - CO governor
plus - like Allen, but no voting record
minus - marital issues could hurt him badly
- Mark Sanford - SC governor
plus - ???
minus - not as telegenic as the other two
NO, please God NO!!!! Not Sundquist!!!! OK, now I feel better. Scared me for a minute. Whew!
I personally like Rudy but I don't think the South is ready for a liberal New Yorker, Republican or not. We have the same perceptions about New York (switch blade toting, gun grabbing, gay loving, etc.) that they have about us (gun toting, cousin marrying, racists, etc), deserved or not. An ultra-conservative candidate from New York might have a chance but I don't think Rudy is it.
Don Sundquist is out. He was despised in Tn. Probably victim of unfair media bias but it worked. He would never carry Tn.