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David Frum on 'Terrible' Presidents

By Robert Stacy McCain on 10.21.08 @ 11:46AM

The former Bush speechwriter speaks:

"The people who defend [Sarah Palin] have already given up any serious thought of Republicans' wielding governmental power anytime soon. . . . They have already moved to a position of pure cultural symbolic opposition to a new majority. The people who criticize her do so because we have some hope that we could be in contention in 2012, and there's some risk that she could be the party's nominee, and she'd probably lose -- and even if by some miracle she won, she'd be a terrible president."

For the record, David Frum spent several months as a "senior policy adviser" to Rudy Giuliani's GOP primary campaign, which finished with 597,518 votes. -- i.e., 4,102,270 votes fewer than Mitt Romney, 3,678,528 votes fewer than Mike Huckabee, and 562,885 fewer votes than Ron Paul.

Frum's ability to pick winning presidential candidates is not self-evident. As to his ability to determine exactly who would "be a terrible president" . . .

View all comments (5) | Leave a comment

james23| 10.21.08 @ 1:45PM

Keep in mind, Frum's guy Rudy (he was my choice, too) called the anti-Palin pundits on the right "jerks." Blunt but right, as usual for hizzoner.

Anyway, I hope this particular jerk will let us know soon who he is supporting for 2012. The Frum endorsement, like the Noonan endorsement, is one that candidates will want to avoid, I believe.

CoolCzech| 10.21.08 @ 8:57PM

I honestly don't get the absolute EAGERNESS with which some so-called Republicans break out the knives for Sarah Palin. The woman has electrified the base like no one in decades: not since The Ronald Himself. She's solidly conservative, she's not a religious nut, she's got executive experience (something no one else in this race has, not even McCain). As for "Washington Experience," what a red herring! How many people in the past have run on being "Washington Outsiders"? Well, no one can say that Palin isn't one!

Issues can be learned, new acquaintances made. Palin became one of the most powerful woman in America - by virtue of being a state governor, probably the most responsible office there is in this country aside from the Presidency itself - by being smart, articulate, determined, dynamic, and charismatic. She's got the right skills, she's got the right world view. Her Republican critics would prefer which seasoned Washington insider... Bob Dole?

ruth| 10.22.08 @ 2:04AM

I wish Republican pundits like Frum would just SHUT UP! He is one of the reasons why the GOP is known as the 'stupid party'. It's dispiriting that we won't stop eating our own.

Michael| 10.22.08 @ 2:18AM

Anyone David Frum, Kathleen Parker, Peggy Noonan, George Will and David Brooks oppose in 2012, I will be supporting. And I have a graduate level education! And I even wear shoes.

J Gard| 10.26.08 @ 6:28PM

The problem with the aforementioned kabal of conservatives (David Frum, Kathleen Parker, Peggy Noonan, George Will and David Brooks) is that they are fiscal conservatives and have zero tolerance for social conservatives, however that group may also be combined with a fiscal, small government philosophy as well. They consider any degree of social conservatism to be the dwelling place of inferior specimens of the human, not to mention conservative species. They are elitists. If they could, they would be their own party except that they are so few.... of this we can at least be grateful. What they really mean by Washington insider is "one of us"!

Spare me. They are they same group that would rather "save conservatism" by losing than the country by winning!