Posted on 04/27/2011 10:32:42 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The 2012 Republican Presidential field is still yet to be known. Speculation over candidates pours into the media every day. The truth is, though, that many Republican hopefuls are not taking the fight straight to Obama.
Most Republican hopefuls have either setup exploratory committees, or are still deciding whether or not to throw their hat into the ring. However, it seems columnists and those in the media like to write off certain Republican candidates as not running for the Oval office. Unfortunately, we do not know the truth until they announce their decision.
So, instead of speculating whose running and whose not, lets evaluate a candidates true chance at winning the nomination.
Heres my take. (Note: This is an analysis, not an endorsement)
First Tier Candidates
Sarah Palin:
Sarah Palin may appear to be not running for President, but if she does, she will steal headlines and media attention more than any other candidate. She has strong governing and executive experience that Republicans want.
Palin doesnt display "politics as usual," and isnt an establishment Republican. Shes unconventional, and her ability to raise money and draw a crowd will skyrocket her status. She has a strong following, and is statistically the most favorable candidate of primary voters.
Donald Trump:
Like him or hate him, think hes Conservative or not; hes a frontrunner. Not because of his birtherism, but because he is going after Obama aggressively, even though he isnt a principled Conservative. He isnt politically correct, and Republicans like that.
In sense, he is currently leading the Republican field, but not talking substance. Right now, Republicans want a leader; hes filling the void only for now.
Mitt Romney:
Romney has been seen as the presumptive frontrunner since the beginning.....
(Excerpt) Read more at communities.washingtontimes.com ...
>> “Newt did do a good job 16 years ago. Contract With America did work” <<
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Bullshit!
The “contract with America” was nothing more than Newt’s attempt to jump on the bandwagon when it was glaringly clear that Clinton had infuriated enough people with Hillary Care that there was going to be a landslide in congress.
More importantly, it failed badly. We still have the Education department, the EPA, NPR, the UN, and tons more crap that a success would have obliterated.
Newt had no desire to accomplish any of the above, but one thing he had wanted to do for years was to knock real conservative Bob Dornan out of congress, and he did that, by supporting Loretta Sanchez on the sly.
F Newt.
Ok. You might be right. I’m not a Newt supporter.
At the time, though, it was perceived that Newt did come up with the CWA, and the CWA was at the time credited with the success of the Republicans in 94. People might be wrong about that.
But it’s believed to be true by many, even Conservatives who aren’t paying close attention. Romney has done nothing, Gingrich did Contract With America.
[Gingrich]'s debating skill is grossly overrated. He famously debated Clinton and folded . . . Then he debated Kerry, and folded too.His debating skills aren't the only thing about Newt Gingrich that have been overrated over the years. His should-be-former image as an aspiring government cutter remains remarkably overrated.
A brief revival of small-government conservatism occurred with the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994, but those advances gradually slipped away in the absence of a leader firmly committed to small government in the Reagan-Goldwater mode . . . The only truly compelling Congressional leader of this period was Newt Gingrich, but . . . he was not truly ideologically committed to cutting the size of government . . .One wishes that book had been made required reading for anyone stepping into the primary booths in 2008.According to (Alvin and Heidi Toffler in The Third Wave) . . . the third wave is the postindustrial society, built around information and technology. The Tofflers warned that the new age required new institutions of governance.
No one embraced this idea with more enthusiasm than House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who led the Republican takeover of (Congress) in 1994. Gingrich referred to The Third Wave as "the seminal work of our time." He made the book mandatory reading for newly-elected Republicans. This book says the U.S. Constitution "is increasingly obsolete, and hence increasingly, if inadvertently, oppressive and dangerous to our welfare." Therefore, it should "die and be replaced."
Gingrich is almost universally associated with opposition to big government. But that was not actually the case. Gingrich rhetorically criticised big government. And it served his enemies and the Clinton administration to portray Gingrich as slashing government programs. The Gingrich-inspired "Contract With America" was generally seen as a call for smaller government, although it did not actually call for cutting a single government program. (The closest it came was a call for zero-baseline budgeting.)
Actually, Gingrich opposed bureaucratic goverment---inefficient government---not big government per se. As Gingrich said in 1994, "government plays a huge role" in society and "anybody who believes in the American Constitution ought to believe in a fairly strong government." He went on to say that he has "no particular beef with big government." Or, as he said more recently, if the bureaucracies can be reformed and made more efficient, "the country could get excited about the opportunity to make government work."
(Emphases added.---BD.)
---Michael D. Tanner, from Leviathan on the Right: How Big Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution. (2007)
>> “Romney has done nothing, Gingrich did Contract With America.” <<
What Ginrich did was squander one of the largest groundswells of voter rebellion in a century, and he did it deliberately. He is a global socialist to the core, and everything he has ever done in his adult life is in keeping with that fact.
The best thing about Palin isn’t how smart she is; its the fact that she is not a part of that ‘club’ that cruds like Ginrich, Romney, Huck, and Boehner are.
nathanbedford, Sitting on the couch with Nancy Pelosi Newt claimed that Gov’t can plan the Climate! That’s quite a lot worse than claiming that Gov’t can plan the economy. Good riddance.
I can agree with all that.
Here’s the deally though, there is always a significant part of the Republican Primary electorate that doesn’t always pay close attention. Here’s what they’re thinking in the ballot box. “Newt Gingrich? He did that Contract With America, right? And that was good, right?”
Most thought that Gingrich was good up until after November 1994.
But whatever the reason was, Clinton won in 1996. And that might’ve been Gingrich’s fault.
I hear Global Socialist a lot w/ Gingrich, but I’m not sure where that is coming from. What is the evidence of that?
We have “did believe in Global Warming enough to sit with Nancy Pelosi for ads”, not sure if that’s the evidence of the Global Socialist, or if other stuff is.
Would be in favor of knowing more about why Gingrich is a Global Socialist.
But whatever the reason was, Clinton won in 1996. And that mightve been Gingrichs fault.Gingrich isn't even close to a faultless man, but in 1996 once the Republicans showed they were bent on nominating Bob Dolt (er, Dole) for the White House, Droopy Drawers could have run on a parking ticket, or as the candidate of the Tupperware Party, and beaten him.
One wonders what statement will win the title for presumption?
>> “One wonders what statement will win the title for presumption?” <<
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Offering Newt up as a candidate perhaps?
His ardent protection of UN funding is a strong indicator of where his heart is.
His support of central banking also backs it up.
So far, you have added "brazen" to match your "presumption."
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