Posted on 02/22/2011 9:16:34 AM PST by ejdrapes
February 22, 2011 12:09 P.M. By Jim Geraghty Tags: John Thune John Thune will NOT be running for president. For months now, my wife Kimberley and I have received encouragement from family, friends, colleagues, and supporters from across South Dakota and the country to run for the presidency of the United States. We have appreciated hearing their concerns about where the country is headed and their hopes for a new direction. During this time, Kimberley and I and our two daughters have given a great deal of thought to how we might best serve South Dakota and our nation. That process has involved lots of prayer.Along the way, we have been reminded of the importance of being in the arena, of being in the fight. And make no mistake that during this period of fiscal crisis and economic uncertainty there is a fight for the future direction of America. There is a battle to be waged over what kind of country we are going to leave our children and grandchildren and that battle is happening now in Washington, not two years from now. So at this time, I feel that I am best positioned to fight for America’s future here in the trenches of the United States Senate.Sen. John Thune NOT Running for President
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Which Bush are you referring to?
Everyone thought Bush41 would be the nominee in 1988 and everyone thought Bush43 would be the nominee in 2000. Who was the George Bush that no one expected and only surfaced much closer to the primary?
He’s our John Edwards, if he wasn’t “handsome” he’d never be mentioned for President and wouldn’t have the Freeper fans he inexplicably does.
You think so?
Doesn’t he get any props for knocking off a sitting US Senate majority leader?
Yeah that’s true. And he deserves those props.
But his record in office should disqualify him as a serious conservative choice.
Yes, and he got those props in 2004 from numerous freepers, including me. And it was rightfully deserved at that time. He earned an enormous amount of good will with the conservative base. Sadly, since that time, he's squandered it away and done nothing to justify further promotions. In fact, given his medoicre track record, he probably deserved a primary challenge in 2010. South Dakota can do better than a big spending, RINO championing, McCain suckup, now that Daschle is no longer a factor.
George Nethercutt knocked off a sitting US House Speaker, which was probably even more impressive given that nobody had done that since the civil war. But I don't see any "Nethercutt 4 President!!!" threads, do you?
At this point....the only Republican who stands a real chance is Donald Trump and at this point he is pretty much the only one I would vote for. I am just not impressed by anyone else in the field.
Remembering how repulsive Daschle was though, gives JT a few merit points IMO.
What disappointed me most about Thune is he seemed to continue Daschle's "obstructionist" policies once he took office. Sure, he was 50X more conservative than Daschle when it came to floor votes, but his routine of riding the government gravy train to funnel pork his way, cutting deals behind closed doors, and blackmailing people to get what he wanted was very Daschle-esque.
The low point for me is when Thune joined the RATs in opposing Bolton's nomination and promised to vote against Bush's priorities until the defense department kissed his butt. I'm amazed how many freepers sweep this under the rug and still touted Thune as a wonder principled "christian conservative leader" after Bolton's career was ruined.
Seems to me alot of freepers have their priorities wrong. They crusify conservatives Senators who vote the "wrong way" on a bill that doesn't even pass (e.g. Jon Kyl), while dismissing problems with conservative Senators who have successfully scored a victory for the RATs and screwed over the GOP base multiple times (e.g. John Thune).
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