In my view, this election basically ended for the worst for conservatives the day Sarah Palin decided not to run.
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Yeah; Sarah, Jim DeMint, Paul Ryan..... the good ones decided, for whatever reason, not to run. So, we ended up with RINOs (Romney and Huntsman), wackos (Paul and Bachmann) and dummies (Perry and Cain). (Yes, I know I did not include Santorum and Gingrich in the RINOs, wackos and dummies). And, as far as Herman Cain, whom you mentioned......
Thank God we found out about Herman Cain before he got the nomination. I still say that if he was innocent of the charges, he would have stood and fought instead of running and hiding behind his wife and God. He let down a lot of people.
“Yeah; Sarah, Jim DeMint, Paul Ryan..... the good ones decided, for whatever reason, not to run”
There wasn’t anything for them to gain by doing so. Paul Ryan is in the catbird seat in the house, the same could be said for Jim DeMint in the Senate. So why deal with the grief of running for President?
Sarah Palin had a less obvious rationale. I think she came to the opinion that being flayed alive in the media for 10-12 months for the dubious privilege of cleaning up barky’s messes just wasn’t all that appealing. Although I do think she agonized over it for awhile and still isn’t completely sure about the choice. She’ll be a good Senator for AZ and she’s still a relatively young woman.
“Yes, I know I did not include Santorum and Gingrich in the RINOs, wackos and dummies.”
Neither really has the ability to win in my view. Rick Santorum couldn’t hold his own Senate seat in PA and has the charisma of a rock. I like his political views and might support him if I thought he had a ghost of a chance, but I just don’t see him as a contender.
Newt has too much baggage and is a beltway retread. Smart guy who says some awful dumb things. And he has zero ground game.
While it’s certainly not popular on this website, I’m supporting Ron Paul as my third choice. He’s got the ground game, is the remaining candidate who will reduce the scope and size of the Federal government by the most, and actually has the ability to draw non-gop folks into the fold. While I disagree with him on some things, foreign policy being on the top of the list (which is why I think a lot of folks characterize him as “nuts”), I also think that having a particularly active foreign policy going into the future is something that we’re no longer able to afford.