Posted on 01/23/2006 11:19:54 AM PST by pookie18
Right Wing News emailed more than 230 right-of-center bloggers and asked them to send us a ranked list 1-5 of the candidates that they would most like to take the Republican nomination for President in 2008 and the 1-5 candidates they'd least like to see as the Republican nominee in 2008. Representatives from the following 58 blogs responded...
Aaron's CC, Absinthe & Cookies, The American Mind, The Anchoress, AtlanticBlog, Atlas Shrugs, Backcountry Conservative, La Shawn Barber, The Baseball Crank, Betsy's Page, BlameBush!, Boi From Troy, Byrd Droppings, Commonwealth Conservative, DANEgerus Weblog, Dodgeblogium, Dr. Sanity, Eckernet, Euphoric Reality, Gateway Pundit, GayPatriot, Generation Why?, GOP Vixen, Guardian Watchblog, Hog Haven, The House of Wheels, Hud's Blog-O-Rama, Inside Larry's Head, Iowa Voice, The Jawa Report, ~Jewels~of~the~Jungle~, Jihad Watch, JunkYardBlog, The Key Monk, Knowledge Is Power, Multiple Mentality, My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Newmark's Door, A North American Patriot, The Nose On Your Face, The Patriette, The Patriot Blog!, Peaktalk, Damian Penny, The Pink Flamingo Bar & Grill, QandO, Red-State, Right Side Redux, Right Wing News, Isaac Schrödinger, Sister Toldjah, Slobokan's Site Of Schtuff, Solomonia, Stop The ACLU, Suitably Flip, Toys in the Attic, WILLisms, Wuzzadem
All participating bloggers were provided with the following list of potential candidates although they were also allowed to select nominees who were not listed...
George Allen: (Senator, Virginia) Haley Barbour (Governor of Mississippi) Sam Brownback: (Senator, Kansas) Jeb Bush: (Governor of Florida) Dick Cheney: (VP, Wyoming) Bob Ehrlich: (Governor of Maryland) Ernie Fletcher: (Governor of Kentucky) Bill Frist: (Senate Majority Leader, Tennessee) Newt Gingrich: (Former Speaker of the House, Georgia) Rudy Giuliani: (Former NYC mayor) Chuck Hagel: (Senator, Nebraska) Mike Huckabee (Governor of Arkansas) John McCain: (Senator, Arizona) Bill Owens: (Governor of Colorado) George Pataki: (Governor of New York) Tim Pawlenty: (Governor, Minnesota) Condoleeza Rice: (Secretary of State, California) Tom Ridge: (Former Homeland Security Advisor, Former Pennsylvania Governor) Mitt Romney: (Massachusetts Governor) Mark Sanford: (South Carolina Governor) Tom Tancredo: (Congressman, Colorado)
As I mentioned earlier, the bloggers were allowed to make 1-5 ranked selections. Those selections were weighted as follows...
1) Worth 2 points 2 or 3) Worth 1.5 points 4 or 5) Worth 1 point
So, for example, a candidate who received two first place votes (4 points), a third place vote (1.5 points), & and three fifth place votes (3 points), would receive a grand total of 8.5 points.
Also, keep in mind that the scoring cut-off to be included in the lists below was 5 points. If a candidate received less than that, his/her score was not listed.
Here are the selections that were made with the total number of points each candidate tallied following his/her name in parentheses...
Most Desired Nominee For 2008
15) George Pataki (5.5) 15) Mike Huckabee (5.5) 15) Sam Brownback (5.5) 14) Bill Frist (6.0) 13) Bob Ehrlich (7.5) 11) Tim Pawlenty (10.5) 11) Haley Barbour (10.5) 10) John McCain (13.0) 9) Mark Sanford (13.5) 8) Jeb Bush (19.0) 7) Tom Tancredo (19.5) 6) Mitt Romney (24.5) 5) Dick Cheney (26.0) 4) Newt Gingrich (32.0) 3) George Allen (42.0) 2) Rudy Giuliani (58.0) 1) Condoleeza Rice (65.5)
Least Desired Nominee For 2008
14) Rick Santorum (6.5) 12) Tom Tancredo (7.5) 12) Tom DeLay (7.5) 11) Condoleeza Rice (8.5) 10) Tom Ridge (15.0) 9) Newt Gingrich (15.5) 8) Mitt Romney (16.5) 7) Rudy Giuliani (17.0) 6) Dick Cheney (20.5) 5) Jeb Bush (22.0) 4) George Pataki (33.0) 3) Bill Frist (43.5) 2) Chuck Hagel (55.5) 1) John McCain (74.5)
The continued attacks by Secular Supremacists on Christianity----and the foundations of Christianity and our Christian-based government----emanating from our legislatures, our schools, our courts, and in the public square, sets the stage for the task ahead.
The Founders, whose high-minded, decent, Biblical, absolute moral principles.... around which our Constitution was fashioned as the raison d'etre for a government built upon the rock of freedom......had escaped the bonds of religious persecution, and were motivated by religious freedom when framing the structure of the nascent country.....so much so that the right to freely practice religion as we please is the First of Ten Amendments which guarantees all Americans their inalienable Bill of Rights.
As the disintegration of Western civilization continues, it becomes clearer that straying from our birthright, and the Founders' principles, endangers our freedoms, and our government, and is forcing us to relive the savagery of the past, away from the distinctly American values the Founders envisioned. Christians must act precipitously.
The restoration of American culture is in the hands of Christians. Christians have to try harder to protect not only our religious freedoms, but our political freedoms, and our government, as well. And Christians have the numbers, the force, and the motivation with which to do so.
Pro-abortion, pro-gay political positions are a deal-breaker for conservatives and indicate a politician is aligned with the forces of Christian-hating.
Politicans must be reminded they will not get the votes of Christians unless they actively get into the fray, and vociferously oppose Christian-hating, anywhere and everywhere Christian-hating surfaces.
A pro-abortion, pro-gay politican labels him/herself as a Christian-hater, and cannot be seriously considered for public office at any level.
Politicians desiring conservative endorsement must immediately take a stand against the ACLU----and any other group---which terrorizes Christians, whether through the legal system, or elsewhere, wherever Christian-hating surfaces. Politicians will get the message that Christians mean business.
That will never happen.
Instead, McCain is being set up to run as a third party independent.
The Clintons and the MSM remember all too well what it was that put them in office -- Ross Perot's candidacy. They have targeted McEgo for the same role in '08 -- to split the GOP votes and make Hillary a plurality President.
As noted above, Republicans don't want McCain. But the Democrats and the MSM desperately want him to run...as an independent.
When the Republican voters reject him in the primaries, McEgo will do the Democrats' bidding and launch a third party candidacy.
Ooookay.
So these "Right of Center Bloggers" have made their selections.
And this is meaningful in exactly what way?
A guy or gal starts a blog, and his/her "selection" carries more weight than .....
Somebody without a blog?
Somebody you meet on the street?
Your Mother/Father/Brother/Aunt/Uncle?
The Postman?
The Garbage Man?
Anybody one can name?
I sure hope bloggers, and those who track bloggers' output, don't begin to take themselves so seriously that they actually believe that their "selections" for President have any real meaning.
I enjoy reading many blogs. However, if one's Presidential vote is going to be cast by relying on a blogger's selection, that is, IMHO, a sad situation.
(Not aimed at you pookie18)
I think the fact that most bloggers tend to not be 'lighter' in their conservatism is the reason rudy does so well among some parts of the blogosphere.
Posted it because I thought it would be of interest & generate some comments. I already know who I'm voting for in 11/08...the Republican candidate...
I believe michigan changed its primary from open to closed some months back...
LOL, mccain is -61.5...
He's #1 in being full of #2. :P
Most bloggers tend to be more libertarian and less social conservative so they like rudy and dont care as much about his social liberalism/xxx personal life.
As I stated, my comments weren't aimed at you.
Rudy's not even a libertarian, though. He's fiercely anti-gun, and that actually bothers me more than his abortion stance, since it's looking more and more likely that the SCOTUS will be such that the abortion issue will be less important by 2008, especially if Ginsburg or Stevens keels over.
I know hes not but my point was that alot of these bloggers tend to be more libertarianish and most libertarians i know love rudy and dont care much for his social issues /xxx personal life. They take offense when those of us who are socially conservative take issue with his social liberalism or his affairs. I'm not convinced that Rudy will run, he doesnt have quite the organization most other people have and i think he knows all his scandals will come out if he does. Not to mention that but all his social liberalism will too and his negatives will go up and up. Best to stay a hero to america and the gop than loosing the primary and getting tarred and feathered.
Hes a fool if he thinks his opponents wont go after his affairs and wacky stances.
yes, i've thought that he might run as an independent, but I doubt it. McCain knows he can't win as an independent and the guy wants to win. He will , if not given the nomination by the GOP, continue to do his triangulation on the news networks and one day leave office as a "man of great intellect and wisdom". (cough cough)
The GOP and conservatives faces som,e challenges:
1. No one, elected or otherwise, is articulating conservatism the way it was articulated, 20-30 years ago. Conservatism is exhausted. Go read NRO's the corner, NR is where modern day conservatism was born, but today there are few if any ideas discussed. No one but Boortz talks about the Fair Tax, no one is seriously pushing SS Reform, etc etc etc
2. Conservatives keep waiting around for the next Reagan
3. An increasing number of voters due to age or immigration status DO NOT remember either Jimmy Carter's Presidency or Ronal Reagan's presidency. Thus they are not swayed when a conservative or GOP accuses a DEM of being a liberal
There have been three periods of progressive eras in the last 100 years:
1910-1920
1932-1945
1958-1966
We are probably headed for a fourth which will include:
Universal Health Care
Higher permanent taxes
Isolationism on the WOT
Fairness Doctrine
Income Guarantees
Fact Duncan Hunter is doing so well on FR and so poorly in GOP Primary polling, speaks volumes about FR and how unrepresentative it is even amongst conservatives
I don't look at it that way. I think that most here are much more well-informed about Hunter (& most other things) than the polled general public. OTOH, personally, I'm voting for the Republican nominee whoever that turns out to be...
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