Posted on 03/06/2010 6:59:09 PM PST by SmartInsight
The GOP lacks a standard-bearer for 2012 - but the list of contenders will be growing in the fall.
Texas governor Rick Perry's impressive primary victory over Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison is a signal. After the midterm election this November, the field of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 (or later) is going to get bigger and possibly better.
The list is long: Mitch Daniels, John Kasich, Meg Whitman, Bobby Jindal, Haley Barbour, Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, and Jim DeMint. And Perry.
You'll notice I haven't mentioned Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich. They're already national figures. Palin seems to feel no urgency about 2012. She may be planning a presidential run, but there's no evidence of it. Instead, she's giving speeches, endorsing Republican candidates, appearing on Fox News, writing a second book, and trying to develop a TV show. Gingrich, according to various reports, plans to run.
But it's Perry for whom 2010 may be the most consequential breakout year. He's running for reelection on an anti-Washington theme, and he's also antiestablishment, having beaten the darling of the Texas Republican grandees. For a Republican, that's just about perfect positioning.
(Excerpt) Read more at weeklystandard.com ...
It is so easy for anyone to play the name-dropping game but realistically or unfortunately in the 21st c nobody can parachute into the election cycle and suddenly expect to be embraced by enough people and/or receive enough funds to become competitive or viable.
If you have not taken steps by June 2010 to get your ducks in a row or get an organization assembed you pretty well can be written off. Thus starting to build a team and to get “serious” in 2011 is simply too late, unless of course neither Palin nor Romney don’t run. But that would be a one in a million if both didn’t run.
Anyone can drop at 20 names but would they ever become viable candidates? That is the bottom line.
Here are my reasons:
He is the longest serving governor in Texas history and after the epic fail of Obama, Americans are never going to vote for someone unqualified for the job on the top of the ticket again.
Texas is a huge state, both population wise and geographically, and is critical for any Republican to win to gain the presidency, a Texan on the ticket would ensure Texas stays in the Republican column. And by the way, W is about as much a Texan as Hillary is a New Yorker. Bush bought that ranch in Crawford (just down the road from me by the way) just before the 2000 election for show. He never had any intention of living there or making it his home, and promptly moved to Dallas after leaving office.
Yes, he has presided over good economic times in Texas... and he should and will get the credit for that, just as he would of gotten the blame if things here looked like they do in most other states.
Palin endorsed him out of the blue... which was a HUGE blinking light to me that she was angling for a future ticket with him, and is the point at which I started calling a future ticket with her. Palin is smart as a fox, she is cozzying up to McCain to gain favor within the RNC and is cozzying up to the tea party to get the conservative base behind her future bid, and and sucking up to people like Perry to secure a spot on a future ticket.
“Palin endorsed him out of the blue... which was a HUGE blinking light to me that she was angling for a future ticket with him, and is the point at which I started calling a future ticket with her”
Good analysis!
Palin supporters, many of whoma also seem to be anti-Perry, might want to pay attention. She endorsed Perry.
I don’t think Perry’s a statist. I really don’t think he has core principles at all, other than maintaining power and lining his pockets. You give him too much credit.
Google Perry and Merck.
Sarah’s just paying her dues, banking favors, being a good politician. Compared to the opposition, Perry was a reasonable endorsement if she felt the need to endorse anyone in the race. I think Cheney backed him, too.
He has been weak on immigration and has waffled on the amnesty issue.
The Gardasil mandate, while it was knocked down by the Texas Congress, was statist and not conservative at all.
Those are just a couple off the top of my head. You can look up his record; he isn 't horrible, but he isn't a conservative.
There are so many true conservative potentials that would much better serve the nomination and the White House.
Perry is as much a RINO as McCain was.
...cozzying up to the tea party to get the conservative base behind her future bid,and sucking up to people like Perry to secure a spot on a future ticket.
Friend, you're reading this exactly backwards. Sarah doesn't need to "suck up" to anyone in the Republican party. She is far and away, the biggest star in the pantheon of Republican movers and shakers.
Perry was extremely fortunate to get her endorsement. She has the power to elevate or demote the careers of politicians right now, not Perry.
No other politician in the country commands as much enthusiastic support as Sarah Palin does. No one else is a bigger threat to the liberals and Democrats. This is evidenced by the unprecedented barrage of attacks against her. Only Ronald Reagan created as much fear and loathing among the left.
You're badly misreading the political landscape if you think that Sarah Palin is trying to ingratiate herself to any politician or political group. The reality is exactly the opposite.
She’s a 10 story neon marquee, blazing in the night sky, yet some on our side look up and fail to notice her. It just baffles the mind.
You may not believe that Palin “needs” anyone, but without party/insider backing anyone would have a hard time getting the nomination.
Palin is playing this game like a pro.
1. She is ingratiating herself with party insiders/ the RNC crowd by backing McCain in his primary battle against Hawyworth (who is 10000000 times more conservative than McCain). Many people will read this many ways (ie. loyalty, ect) but my personal opinion is she is smoothing the path with RNC insiders for a future run by helping McCain.
2. She is keeping herself in the news, broadcasting her biography, and simultaneously honing her political skills with her books, FOX gig, and Leno type interviews.
3. She is courting potential running mates (like Perry) by endorsing them in various races.
4. She is flirting with the tea party, which will be crucial later for a variety of reasons.
5. And she is attacking the President each and every time he makes a big mistake, thus reminding people at each and every step that she is right, agrees with them, and has the answers to problems that Obama obviously doesn't.
I can't disagree with your five point assessment of Sarah's game plan.
However, if there's anything I've learned about Sarah Palin, it's to expect the unexpected from her. She's truly a political "rogue", and is re-writing the standard political operations manual.
Perhaps writing to the RNC expressing your opinions would prove more productive than whining on a political blog site.
I've written to Steele several times... not that he has a clue; and I've written to Jim DeMint and Sarah Palin.
So he is more of a politician in the McCain mold? His core principles are re-election and face time on the tube?
You're the one stomping your little feet at conservatives and defending the RINO establishment. Balanced only by a token statement of support for a DeMint/Hunter ticket. Since you put more effort in the former it's hard to trust where your loyalties lie at this point.
She's endorsed McCain as well.
And, judging from some of the shady deals he’s been promoting during his last term, lining his pockets.
Look up Gardisil, Merck, Cintra, Trans-Texas Corridor. The only way that conservative farmboy from West Texas could have so thoroughly dissed his roots is if somebody is greasing his palm. Even the Texas Farm Bureau refused to endorse him this time, and he was a popular Agriculture Commissioner before becoming governor.
Sadly, Perry will get my vote in November, because White is much worse. I believe that anyone who sits at home on election day forfeits the right to gripe till the next election. And I couldn’t give that up.
But President? NO WAY, Jose.
Are you seriously suggesting that living in Dallas makes Bush less of a Texan?
"Just say no to Newt."
"If it's Mitt, I quit."
"Just say no to Newt."
"If it's Mitt, I quit."
"Just say no to Newt."
"If it's Mitt, I quit."
"Just say no to Newt."
"If it's Mitt, I quit."
"Just say no to Newt."
"If it's Mitt, I quit."
"Just say no to Newt."
"If it's Mitt, I quit."
"Just say no to Newt."
"If it's Mitt, I quit."
"Just say no to Newt."
Now I feel better.
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