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 ...
NOT Perry.
I’m still leaning DeMint, Pence, Bachmann, Palin, Hunter or Barbour.
No Mitt, Newt, Huck or any of those other RINOs, please.
I went to school with John Kasich. A nice guy, but he reminds me too much of McCain. In DC nice guys finish last. There is no room for compromise.
Lost ALL of his credibility, right there.
Perry better move out of TX if he wants to run.
Won’t vote for another POTUS from TX.
Unless he is endorsed by one person.
BTTT
I live in a strongly red state — my vote didn’t matter. But even if it had, I still think it was more important to punish those who nominated McCain than to stop Obama.
unkus,
I think ajay_kumar was being sarcastic when AK said “If the GOP nominee is some one I do not like, I want Obama to have another 4 years!”
Note his/her tagline: Need more Republicans of all stripes in congress to stop Obama’s socialist agenda
Unfortunately it wasn’t obvious that it was sarcasm, because we do see quite a few statements made in all seriousness, stating that they rather have Obama than a “RINO”. That doesn’t sound like a conservative stance to me either...
“There is no room for compromise.”
I’d love to see Dick Cheney or Rumsfeld, but unfortunately that isn’t going to happen.
Paul Ryan
His performance at the healthcare “summit” was fantastic.
I’m not sure he’s ready for a presidential run, but his star is rising.
It seems Fred dropped the ball here.Shows the fear of Palin from right as well as left.She is one of U.S.
Fred Barnes has never impressed me.
I like Tim Pawlenty personally....I think he’s a good conservative!
No need to be tied down, but the rank and file Republicans want Sarah Palin 1n 2012!
I mean, my God! Fred Barnes of the Weekly Standard, has his own show on Fox and he can’t even get the story straight on the documentary piece?
Agreed. I still kick myself for thinking Perot could actually win and denying Bush senior my vote.
If McCain had won we wouldn’t be looking at Republicans gaining seats this year. He’d be driving conservatives and Independents even further away from the party the way he did in ‘06 and ‘08. I voted for Palin but don’t fault people who couldn’t vote for McCain at all. Long term we’re better off he lost. If yu want to blame anyone, blame voters who selected McCain and Obama in the primaries.
Far as this ‘12 soeculation goes some people think America will want a colorless candidate. Jump from one extreme to the other. This is the argument the guys at Powerline advance for guys like Mitch Daniels. Some think you need a charismatic candidate to combat a charismatic candidate which leaves only Palin. Then you have the old northeastern club leaning toward Romney. With Perry winning a new front is opening up. He’s establishment but managed to claim somewhat believably to be against the establishment. He has ties to insiders and represents one of the most populous states, but he also has ties with the tea parties. Barnes probably thinks they’ve stumbled on the ideal candidate that isn’t named Jeb Bush.
I have doubts. Just as Jeb’s name bars him from running Perry being from Texas so soon after Bush may not play well. Plus while I supported him over KBH or the Truther that doesn’t mean I buy entirely his conversion. He was smarter about it then Romney, Romney’s 180 to being a conservative was a joke. Perry’s been able to make the transition seem seamless.
Cheney was a valuable asset to George Bush, particularly in foreign policy. But I doubt he would even consider a run, given his health condition.
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