I don't really agree with the basic conclusion that Sarah Palin was our big chance for a conservative savior, but the analysis of the existing GOP field is spot on. We're right back where we started a few monthes ago before anyone knew whether Bachmann, Daniels, Perry, or Huckabee would run -- based on what we have in front of us, it's a matter of picking the "least mediocre" one.
Basically if Bachmann, Santorum, or Cain was elected President, I'd be fairly confident they'd make a good leader, govern with integrity, and make a real effort to reverse the damage Obama caused. That said, I think all three are long shots to win the nominaton and I don't think they'd be very strong general election candidates against the Obama machine. But the bottom line is I could happily vote for any one of those three. Cain's getting all the buzz, of course so was Bachmann prior to Perry jumping in and sucking all the air out of the room for weeks. I don't think this latest surge will last til January, though personally I would love it if Cain kicked Romney and Perry's butts in iowa. But if I had to bet, I'd guess Cain is old news by Thanksgiving and there's a new "rising star" getting all the buzz in a month.
Roemer. Perry, and Romney are in my next tier, don't care for any of them, think they'd be a lousy person to nominate. Roemer has less than a zero chance of winning so I don't concern myself with that. If it's either Perry or Romney I'd have to hold my nose to vote for them. And since I'm in Obama's "home" state, it really doesn't matter how I vote. I wouldn't be happy if any of them were the nominee and bottom line is I don't trust them to do the "right thing" if they became the next President.
Bottom of the barrel for me is Gingrinch, Paul, Johnson, and Huntsman. I'd get physically ill if they were "our" nominee. Newt's the best of the bottom tier, he'd an excellent speaker and a genuine policy genius, but the man is a scumbag and having met him in person I can verify he's a total a-hole to boot. Not to mention he has a record of selling his soul to leftists. If he was nominated, it would most likely gurantee another Obama term. Paul and Johnson are just plain flakey and support the far-left on some major policy isues. Ick. Huntsman is a total RINO, a non-entity, and has zero chance of beating Obama. But at least his daughters are hot.
Are they better than Obama? Yes, I can honestly say that even the last person on my bottom tier (non-entity Huntsman) wouldn't be as bad as Obama. But by the same token, I think this country would improve if Obama was replaced with a piece of plywood sitting in the oval office for the next four years. Being "less bad" than Obama doesn't say much.
2010 really opened my eyes. We had some great victories, but we also had some absolutely repugnant despised liberals win re-election in a "huge Republican year" (Harry Reid, Pat Quinn, Richard Blumenthal, etc.), simply because the well oiled RAT machine outmaneuvered the GOP on the ground, and in many cases we ran lousy candidates and assumed they'd win anyway because it was a Republican year. The RATs can elect completely worthless scum (Al Franken, Todd Stroger, etc.) who would be DOA if they were Republican candidates because the 30% of the country that votes GOP aren't zombie yes-men like the 30% of the country that votes RAT. This gives the RATs an advantage. RAT voters are just plain brain dead and vote for whoever they're told to. I'm afraid 2012 could turn out the same way.
We need a leader and I'm not seeing any on the horizon.
Yeah. I don’t know if you watched “South Park” recently but I feel like Stan Marsh seeing **it everywhere.
My rankings are similar to yours. I’d swap Romney and Newt. Old man Paul is getting senile and has no chance of gaining significant support but he at times looks more attractive to me in this bunch. At least we know he doesn’t have a hardon for big government. Aye-ye-yih. I don’t even now what I think any more!!
Johnson is an across the board libertarian, open borders, pro-choice, drugs, gay marriage. Anyone one of those would be a huge problem for a Republican but all 4!!! It’s no wonder he doesn’t register in the polls. It wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up the Libertarian party nominee.
Huntsman is Obama in whiteface. I wouldn’t vote for that creep but happily I won’t have to make that choice cause he’s gonna come in 8th. I love the vibe I get from him, it’s like he can’t believe that HE’S not the frontrunner.
I hadn’t heard about his daughters. It’s like someone cut Meg McCain the Hutt in three!!
As for Palin, I don’t agree at ALL with the poster of that article. I’ve been disillusioned with her for some time. I think she knew she wouldn’t run a long time ago and don’t see how she could win with her negatives. I don’t care at all whom she endorses (or about anyone’s endorsements really). We saw from the 2010 primaries that her choices were hit and miss.