Posted on 05/18/2011 5:25:30 AM PDT by rabscuttle385
Top Republicans are increasingly convinced that President Barack Obama will be easily reelected if stronger GOP contenders do not emerge, and some are virtually begging Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to add some excitement to the slow-starting nomination race.
It’s a sign of the GOP’s straits that the party is depending on the bland, wonkish Daniels for an adrenaline boost.
But interviews this week with longtime party activists and strategists made clear that many in the Republican establishment are unnerved by a field led by Mitt Romney, who could have trouble confronting Obama on health reform; Tim Pawlenty, who has yet to ignite excitement; Jon Huntsman, who may be too moderate to get the nomination; and Newt Gingrich, weighed down by personal baggage and a sense that he is a polarizing figure from the 1990s.
Despairing Republican lobbyists say their colleagues don’t ask, “Who do you like?” but instead, “Who do we back?”
“It’s not that they’re up in arms,” said a central player in the GOP money machine. “It’s just that they’re depressed.”
And a huge swath of operatives, donors and strategists remain uncommitted, in the hope that the field is not yet set.
So instead of solidifying against the overwhelming force being amassed by Obama’s reelection campaign, the GOP is indulging in an embarrassingly public — and probably futile — search for a more compelling standard-bearer.
House Speaker John Boehner, the nation’s highest-ranking Republican, confessed that he did not watch the first GOP debate of the cycle because he believes there is still time for more candidates to emerge. He said last week on NBC’s “Today” show: “I would expect that we haven’t seen all of the candidates.” He then proceeded to plug Daniels.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Obama will surely destroy this nation.
Bush was one of the best presidents this country ever had. I’ll take Daniels over Obama any day.
Obama is the Democrat nominee so he can’t be the Republican one, Einstein.
You are such a deceiver. I support Sarah first and foremost. If she doesn’t run I will support whoever she does. I will support the Republican nominee whoever that may be. To do otherwise is to support the Democrats. I am tired of all you purists and trolls trying to turn voters against the GOP when the race has only barely begun.
Stop defending Romney, you show your true colors. Why are you giving up on Palin your namesake?
That’s my dream ticket.
Do you have proof of your accusation?
You're deluded.
You lie! I have not given up on Sarah. I still support her above anyone else, but if she doesn’t win the nomination, I will not sit at home and sulk come November and give the presidency to Obama. Unlike you purists, I am a moral person who puts the good of my country above my own ego.
I guess you are unhappy with the War on Terror, tax cuts, and Alito and Roberts?
The tax cuts were pathetic. We should have had real fundamental tax and entitlement reform. And Alito and Roberts are no great shakes either. Neither one will provide equal protection to babes in the womb, just like all of the rest of their colleagues.
How’d ya like Bush giving up free market principles and paving the way for Obama to destroy our economy? How’d you like his wild spending? And getting the federal hooks deeper into education? And the open borders, and refusal to enforce our immigration laws? And the attack on free speech he signed that we call McCain/Feingold? And the fact that after eight years, mostly with Republican control of the whole government, they’re still butchering 4 or 5 thousand innocent babies every day in this country?
I could go on, but what’s the point?
By the way, don’t you wish they had started fighting the war on terror the day Bush took office instead of on Sept. 12, 2001?
You have already gone on record saying you would vote for Romney if he won the nomination, even if Palin has to run third party to save us from him. You would be sorry if Romney won. You need to check his record.
You couldn’t tell the truth if you wanted too. Sarah would never run under a third party. She knows that would only result in the reelection of Obama, but that is exactly what you want, isn’t it?
I will not vote for Mitch Daniels. He is the epitome of a Surrender-Republican.
If Palin is the best candidate, which you obviously dont believe, and she gets shafted by the RINO party that picks liberal baby-killer Romney, then there is only one choice. You should want her to redeem conservatives in that case, not join the enemy unless you sympathize with them.
Sarah would never do that. Running third party is giving Obama the presidency on a silver platter.
As I recall, Bush wanted Harriet Miers. After a conservative outcry, Roberts was picked.
Badabing.
God help us if she agrees with you and supports Romney, I just hope you are wrong.
Mitt Romney’s money machine cranks up
The fundraisers, some clad in blue Romney t-shirts and others sporting blue hats that read “Call Day,” arrived as early as 5:30 AM to begin dialing for dollars on the East Coast. They kept at it until 2 PM. Each paid his or her own way to get here and even had to pick up their own lunch. Donors were, however, treated to a Sunday night reception at Steve Wynn’s Encore casino to get them fired up.
The goals varied, but the general targets were staggered at $10,000, $25,000 and $50,000.
Some, like former Romney business colleague and California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, aimed even higher.
“I’ve made hundreds and hundreds of phone calls,” Whitman said, noting that she had begun dialing even before arriving in Las Vegas. “The deadline that I gave people was end of business today.”
Many of the callers pegged their pitches to some of the 30-plus fundraising events on Romney’s calendar over the next month-and-a-half.
So when calls were made to potential givers in Washington, D.C., for example, the request was not just to cut a check but to come see Romney in person at an event at a lobbying firm on June 29th.
Romney officials restricted media access to the cavernous hall where the calls were being made, but did allow reporters to a glass-enclosed room above the floor to observe the process.
Dressed casually in slacks and a button-down shirt, the former governor could be seen making his way around the tables, taking cell phones from fundraisers to make some of the asks personally. He was joined by his wife and four of his five sons.
In a conference call with supporters earlier in the day, he signaled that, even though he’s yet to formally announce his candidacy, the event marked the effective start of his campaign.
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