Phil Gramm is an excellent object lesson that money only goes so far. He was, by far, the best-financed candidate in the race and it got him nowhere. Without a good presence, solid (and appealing) speaking skills, a certain amount of telegenic quality, no candidate will go anywhere. Steve Forbes is another example of money doing little to buy a nomination.
My congressman won against a democrat incumbent with double the funding.
It should be noted that Palin and Romney both backed one of the GOP challengers who was less than conservative in that race.
It’s Phil CRANE, 1980, not Phil Gramm. In 1980, Gramm was still a Democrat.
Phil CRANE was actually very handsome, well spoken, telegenic, decidedly conservative, with a big beautiful family. I also don’t see where this article established that Crane was anyone’s, much less ‘the establishment’s” stalking horse. His run may have infurated the Reagan folks (or not) but the ‘stalking horse’ argument has not been made in this article.