Posted on 11/11/2005 1:40:09 PM PST by CarlEOlsoniii
Sen. George Allen is standing on the sideline of an empty Giants Stadium about an hour-and-a-half before the 1 p.m. start of a New York Jets vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game. His brother Bruce is general manager of the Bucs, so Allen is here to root on the family team.
A guy with a vest reading FIELD PHOTO comes up to him: "You're going to be a tall president," he says, smiling. Allen laughs and they banter about the senator's height. He is commonly called 6' 4", but he is quick to note he is more like 6' 31/2" or 3 ", explaining that you never want to be inaccurate or to be seen as exaggerating. It is an unremarkable interaction, but the photographer has hit on something important: Standing there, basically unnoticed, soaking in the pre-game vibe, is quite possibly the next president of the United States.
It is not hard to do a calculation that says at this early stage in the '08 race George Allen has perhaps a better chance of winning the nomination than any other Republican. He combines the people skills of a Bill Clinton, with the convictions of a Ronald Reagan, with the non-threatening persona of a George W. Bush circa 2000, prior to his becoming a hate-figure for the Left. With a personal history that has forged a rare and particular political talent, blending amiability with a streak of competitive ruthlessness in a way that makes him, at age 53, one of the nation's top politicians.
He is about to embark on a challenging journey: running for reelection in Virginia next year, then -- assuming he doesn't founder on unseen shoals -- for the Republican nomination in 2008.
You are exactly right! Mcvain IS creepy looking and he sounds as if he is whining when he speaks. Not a good trait to have. He's also:
Going to be 72 years old in 08...I think too old to be prez. We were ok with Reagan but Reagan was a healthy older man. Plus Reagan was a bold conservative.
Mcvain has had malignant melanoma twice. It ALWAYS returns some day, in people. He's a poor risk healthwise.
And you are right...with his flagrant RINOism, he's doomed. I will not vote for him, and from what I read here, most other FReepers won't vote for him either. I don't think he can win the primary.
Good point. I've also noted lately when I surfed thru the commie news net (UGH!) that they seem to be pushing and pushing HARD for McVain. I know it's because they view him as easily beatable, same with Rudy. They won't even talk about Allen, they fear him!
Allen in 2008!
I think the opposite. THEY DON'T fear Allen - they saw how easily they won in Virgina even though Allen tried his best, they think they can win if Allen runs because he's just another conservative and the American people are sick of the same old thing and that they will want a change - which means people don't care about Allen. But McCain is a biggie with the media and with alot of moderates who love him. THEY FEAR McCain. We here on Free Republic don't like him and we tend to live in our own little conservative world where we hate moderates but to be honest the country is split 50/50 when it comes to Dems and Repubs - the moderates are the ones that cast the deciding votes and the moderates seem to like McCain. We need someone who can take the Moderates away from McCain and I don't think Allen can.
You are right. I agree. McCain has the moderates right now - we need someone who can take them and run away with them. Its not going to be easy. Just nominating any old conservative will not do it because the country is tired - tired of plain old conservatives and Democrats bickering back and forth. Why nominate another one so they can get 4 more years of bickering. They want someone who can appeal to them as different.
Senator Allen doesn't want to be seen as exaggerating his height, but hee hee, I bet he wears cowboy boots. I don't have a problem with that, or with his carefully cultivated, down home cowboy image. I like what Allen says, and how he says it. He looks like a great candidate right now, but I look for a mudbath if he and McCain go up against each other in the primaries, not to mention how Allen will fare once Hillary goes on the attack.
You know Allen has enemies in Virginia, and they will come out of the woodwork if he runs for president.
McCain used the leak to get his anti-torture legislation through.
I agree it's a little early to be sizing people up. But .. to have Rush Limbaugh comment about Allen .. it surprised me because I had also been impressed with the things he's said.
And .. we have to remember how desperate the dems are. They want McCain to run because they believe the base of the repubs will not vote for him and it assures Hillary of a victory (or whoever the dem candidate is).
Therefore, if an unknown with better qualifications comes on the scene .. what's the first thing the dems are going to do ..?? They're going to try to keep him out of the news, and present polls which give him a very poor rating.
What made me start looking at Allen was a statement he made, "This is no time to back down". I can't even remember what the issue was that he was commenting on, but his statement was 180 degrees from the other comments .. but it was what I believed: this was no time to back down.
He was the only one saying that. Of course it didn't get any press .. because it was the RIGHT ANSWER. And .. being the only one willing to say that publically .. I thought he was very courageous.
Looking at his voting record in the Senate .. he's about in line with what I believe. For those 2 reasons, I still think he would be a great candidate.
But .. I agree his 2006 run for the Senate will give him an opportunity to get his name and his face out there.
The first time, before the last election, I had ever heard of Allen running for president, was reading a DU thread on why they were scared of him.
They do live in la la land, but reading that thread got me interested in him.
After I realized that he wasn't the former football coach, I started to follow him.
Bare in mind that the Dummies think Hillary is more popular with republicans then with democrats, so I do have my own doubts about what they think.
They change alot. Now they are worried about McCain. Allen they think is an silly republican who doesn't know his a$$ from his elbow (that's their phrase not mine). McCain they are worried about because he is going to bring over some Dems who like him and that will be their loss. And if he teams up with someone good he will win because moderates will vote for him.
McCain has gotten tv and press attention for a long time, so people know who he is but perhaps haven't paid much attention to the positions he takes. Allen's just becoming known around the country. I'd think the polls are more about name recognition.
Allen has got my support.
Now you're talking. My vote? ANYONE BUT CONDI.
People can be real shallow...
Exactly, and a man will have a ten point advantage over a woman because of shallow sexism. That's why we need ANYONE BUT CONDI.
President Pence? Hate to say it, but his name is actually a drawback.
PLUS she's never been a governor, PLUS she's a woman.
If Allen is any good at all, he's a winner over Hillary!
Watch out for disinformation on this topic!! The other side will be trying hard to get us to choose someone they can beat. They will be pushing Condi and McCain on us non-stop after next year, turning them into big media stars.
I like what I see in Allen. At the moment, he's my number 1 (and number two on McCain).
"right now he's being trounced by McCain in the polls 37% McCain to 5% Allen"
The only polls that count are the GOP primary voters and
among that group McCain would do good to get 5%.
Allen is the man!!!!
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