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Adieu, Adieu, Remember Me
March 25, 2011 | 38 comments
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DeMint’s Defense of RomneyCare is Ignorant…And Dangerous
March 17, 2011 | 85 comments
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McConnell Pushing Vote to Block the EPA from Regulating Carbon Emissions
March 17, 2011 | 9 comments
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More Barbour on Afghanistan
March 16, 2011 | 8 comments
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House Passes Three Week Spending Bill
March 15, 2011 | 8 comments
The Spectacle Blog
With the 2010 elections now behind us, the political world is already shifting to discuss what will happen with the 2012 presidential race. While President Obama is weak right now, one thing that could save him would be if Republicans nominate a dud to challenge him. Right now, while various candidates have their constituencies, there isn’t one candidate who really gets a broad spectrum of Republican voters fired up. Sarah Palin has her intense supporters, but Hunter Baker’s post yesterday is reflective of the doubts many conservatives have about her as a presidential candidate. Mitt Romney has RomneyCare. Mike Huckabee is distrusted by economic and to some extent national security conservatives, not to mention his problem with pardoning criminals. Newt Gingrich has lots of personal baggage. Tim Pawlenty is seen as too dull, and though he’s positioned himself as more of a conservative in the past few years, his earlier reputation for being more liberal (such as one-time support for cap and trade) will hurt him.
A new CNN poll of the Republican field reflects this — Mike Huckabee leads the pack with 21 percent support, Mitt Romney is at 20 percent support, Sarah Palin is at 14 percent and Newt Gingrich is at 12 percent. The rest of the field is in the single digits.
In a head to head race vs. Obama, Huckabee leads 52 percent to 44 percent, Romney leads 50 percent to 45 percent, Gingrich trails 49 percent to 47 percent, and Obama leads Palin 52 percent to 44 percent.
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More Blog Posts by Philip Klein
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polistra | 11.4.10 @ 11:28AM
Huckabee's pardons are an important matter. Wash state just passed a referendum tightening bail laws, as a direct result of Huckabee's nice Christian pardon of Maurice Clemmons.
This is one of the best arguments for secular leadership. We are a nation of Christians, but Christian principles weren't designed to be applied by rulers. When applied seriously, the result is surrender and loss of civilization.
bookworm| 11.9.10 @ 4:11PM
I'm tempted to agree with you, but I think this has more to do with the loss of seriousness and moral clarity among our Christian spokesmen. Read David Gelernter on "Old Testament Christianity." This is what we Americans traditionally have espoused.
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 11.4.10 @ 11:45AM
The silent candidate in the next election cycle is the economy.
If it continues to deteriorate, and I think you can just about bet on that, neither party can claim an advantage since both have some power.
The only question that remains is whether either party is smart to enough to see that government has failed, and the only way out is to energize the public sector.
The government needs to get out of the banking business, the auto business and housing.
Until Fannie and Freddie are done, you can bet nothing is going to change in the economy.
In the meantime, the Republicans should call for a hiring freeze at the federal level, and a permanent freeze on federal salary structures. Without meaningful reductions in federal bureaucracies any approach to restoring the economy would be meaningless.
Tim*| 11.4.10 @ 11:54AM
We Tea Party Rebels are urging Our Tea Party Kingmaker Jim DeMint to run for The Presidency in 2012.
Marie| 11.4.10 @ 12:01PM
I agree on Jim DeMint - a man of honor and principals. We need to set the bar HIGH and not allow the media to once again determine candidates.
Bydand76| 11.4.10 @ 2:26PM
AYE!
I would like to see in this order
De Mint/Bachmann or
De Mint / Ryan or
De Mint/ Pence
2012
tomgeist| 11.4.10 @ 11:59AM
Here in Iowa (home of the first caucus in only 13 months) we just voted to remove three supreme court justices who legalized sodomy marriage. The force behind the effort was Huckabee's campaign manager - and the Huckster won the caucus the last time. The strong organization in place that removed the justices are ready to promote the candidate who shares their views. In Iowa, the caucus is Huck's to lose.
FastJohnny| 11.4.10 @ 12:13PM
Huckabee isn't a bad choice. Conservatives could do a lot worse. Although there are some reservations about things such as those pardons, at least he didn't hang out with convicted terrorists like the Weather Underground. he doesn't preach racial divisions like Wright and he actually has a moral compass. I consider myself very secular, but see the advantage of morals though church and other non-secular means. I also see the sicking post-modernism and revisionism of the liberal secular left and I know where I stand. I would rather have Huckabee as national leader than many others who have been suggested.
I like Sarah Palin and have a great deal of respect for her, but as most of us know, she is incredible at helping make candidates win, at the very least propelling them to wins, she is great at getting conservative minded folk motivated, but I do not think those who are independents or disenchanted liberals would be inclined to listen to her. Too bad, because I believe that she would be a champion of the people. Gingrich, although powerful in campaigning for conservative causes, might also turn off a large number of undecided or otherwise voters.
But I think we are forgetting some of the more charismatic conservative younger men and women that are on the rise. Rubio, Ryan and a few others are certainly worth thinking about. Good looking, well spoken and at the moment seem to be squeaky clean. Also lets add to the mix, some of the new African-American conservative congressmen. The republicans and conservatives have a lot of good options and there is no need to keep looking at the same old choices from the past.
John Navratil| 11.4.10 @ 8:38PM
Huckabee is not a comfortable choice for this Christian. His attacks on Romney's Mormonism were quite suitable if he were trying to save the nations soul, but that's not what I want in a chief executive.
FastEddie | 11.4.10 @ 10:42PM
Agreed Johnny. We Repubs have a distressing tendency to nominate 'whoever is next in line'. Witness the embarassments Dole and McCain. Those are two reasons to stay home and trim your toenails on election day. We should nix Huck and Mormon, who were too uninspiring to even win the primary against the charismatic charmer McCain. I'd suggest Demint, Santorum, or Kasich , with Rubio, Allen West, or Palin for Veep.
Simon| 11.4.10 @ 12:27PM
First of all, Sarah 2012! Second of all: Tim Pawlenty ok'd Al Franken's "election", the most obvious case of voter fraud or undead voters I have ever seen, so he's out for me.
Does Huckabee have any objections to Obama's agenda(s)? I don't watch him all the time but he doesn't seem to be too much against this administration. That would speak volumes, I think. Anyway, he hasn't done anything I've heard about in that direction.
Sheila| 11.4.10 @ 1:06PM
Huckabee is a rabid open-borders, Christianity equals social justice type with populist flashes (I was a poor boy, yada yada yada). Romney is the ultimate GOP establishment candidate who was popular enough with the insane Massachusetts' electorate to win and craft Romneycare. Pawlenty is McCain without the war hero badge. If these are the best the GOP can come up with, they're the ones in for a walloping in 2012. For once, I agree with Margie - I'd vote for Jim DeMint.
John Navratil| 11.4.10 @ 8:46PM
I agree that the running the "old guard" won't work any better in 2012 than before, but just what rising star will the Dems run now that the last saviour of all that is good and right has destroyed their party? Hillary 2012? Schumer? Durbin? Governor Moonbeam? What obscure Southern governor can they draft now that they are all used up?
Margie| 11.4.10 @ 10:54PM
LOL, that wasn't me, Sheila, it was Marie, but I'd vote for DeMint too, in a nano second. :^)
Purple Lips| 11.4.10 @ 12:33PM
Given the result of Tues elections, here a few things to ponder about a potential candidate:
1)The GOP has its Deep South Firewall. The Dems have New York and California. Obama won Virginia and Ohio in 2008. McCain lost Indiana. The GOP candidate to win must win Virginia, Ohio, and most probably Pennsylvania without losing states like West Virginia or Florida. It would help to pick up either a Colorado, Wisconsin, or Michigan. Can any of these canidates pull that off?
2)Money and more money. The RNC gots its tail wacked in fundraising for 2010. It is a small miracle that the GOP House races went so well, as many candidates were running on fumes. The RNC diverted the last of its cash reserves in the final few days to Fiorina. This was probably to difference in West Virginia, which could have used the $8 million in the final 5 dyas. The RNC is not only a poor place to raise money, it makes poor decisions. Whatever candidate can raise the most money (and lots of it) will be well positioned. He/she must do better than McCain, whose team got whipped by Obama's money machine big time. Remember, the Dems have an almost unlimited soures of big time donors (unions, Hollywood, internet, foreigners, Wall St).
Taking just those 2 things into consideration, the only potential GOP candidate who fits this bill is Mitt (a person I am not fond of). And barring some crisis, Obama would beat Mitt if the elections were held today.
Bill H| 11.4.10 @ 12:41PM
The only use for this CNN poll is to tell you who the liberals want us to nominate. They would dearly love to face Huckabee or Romney because they know they are easily defeatable. They are scared to death of Palin because they see another Reagan coming at them. Do we have a short memory? The same things were being said in 1980 about Reagan. Remember jokes about Bedtime for Bonzo or the fact that Reagan did not want us to give up the Panama Canal? Or that he had been out of office 8 years or was too old or too conservative or would get us into World War 3? They asked if we were really going to nominate an old B movie actor as our candidate. Read Sarah's article in National Review today and then tell me she lacks the intellect. And she is just the candidate to attract the Reagan Democrats. If we want to win in 2012, Sarah is our ONLY choice!
bookworm| 11.9.10 @ 4:21PM
You make a lot of sense.
ml| 11.4.10 @ 1:16PM
The Republican conservatives are not satified with all the candidates like Romney, Huckabee, Palin, and Gingrich because they are not true conservative. If one of them do get the nominee in 2012, the Republican Party will lose the election.
Marko| 11.4.10 @ 1:26PM
Palin's 'negatives' have been created and pushed by a frantic, lying, MSM since her nomination for VP, and she is still quite popular. If her accomplishments garnered a 1/10th of the press of the vile, inaccurate invective she's recieved she would poll much better.
The old guard GOP has problems with her - why? Because she'll toss their corrupt asses out on the street with the rest of the Donkeys.
As the alternative media's influence continues to grow the MSM's influence will be simultaneously decreasing to the point where their lies will work against themselves.
The person to run is the one who is the left more afraid of. Right now that is Palin.
Regarding the polls, after the damage that Team Obamao has done I have trouble believing he garners the support of more than 20% of the US.
wtpct| 11.4.10 @ 1:28PM
Palin/ Bachmann 2012 they'll wring out that socialist mop !!!
Matt X| 11.4.10 @ 1:55PM
I think Romney's numbers will go down once people know more about the disaster that is RomneyCare. Nominating Romney would essenatially take healthcare off the table, and that is obviously to Obama's benefit. He also is seen as a flip flopper on several issues.
iamse7en| 11.4.10 @ 2:08PM
If the people would educate themselves and learn about central banking, we could save ourselves from impending disaster.
Arms Merchant| 11.4.10 @ 5:48PM
This conservative Tea Partier will never, never, NEVER vote for Huckabee. Not only is he the most dangerous statist in the Republican party, he has used his TV show to throw softballs at liberal guests (like Michelle Obama) to set up a run as a compromising "moderate" ala John "Cross the Aisle" McCain, instead of a "conservative-means-to-achieve-mutual-ends" like those in Ryan wing.
Conservatives win (most places) when they run as principled conservatives. So-called moderates just keep the ratchet moving toward tyranny (albeit a little slower than the Demdespots).
The GOP candidate, whoever he/she is, will have to run a Reform or Tea Party-style insurgency in the manner of Rubio or Paul Jr to have any chance of toppling both the Obama-Dem machine and the McConnell establishment GOP. Christie would be a good choice but says he won't run. Gary Johnson has no organization. Mike Pence is great but may be too white to win in places like California.
Unfortunately the GOP may have to run a sacrificial lamb in 2012 to set up a Jindal , Haley, or Rubio run in 2016. In that case, by all means run a squish like Romney if that means we can put a stake in the heart of the old GOP.
2012 may be the year for a Third Party insurgency if the GOP goes back to its old, bank-loving ways.
Justsome| 11.4.10 @ 8:37PM
This conservative tea partier will vote for Huckabee. He's the guy who has a plan for fixing the economy and he has a moral compass. He can't be bought and has experience at actually governing.
manonthestreet| 11.4.10 @ 8:01PM
I like Palin's position,the ones up front will fade as they did last year.WATCH PALIN,SHE'S SMART AND SHE'S ELECTRIC.
Spicy Joker| 11.5.10 @ 12:43AM
NO to Mike Huckster, who pardoned cop-killers.
NO to Twit Romney, who signed Massachusetts' version of Obamacare.
NO to Newt Gingrich, who has a gigantic piehole.
NO to Juan McCain, for obvious reasons.
Dale Cord| 11.5.10 @ 8:28AM
Most of the population of our country is suffering under the delusion that the Republicans are for the American people. There is no difference between these two UN-AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES, who have been fleecing the citizens of this country now since Woodrow Wilson's Communist regime took root in Washington. Being uneducated in history and politics is no shameful thing considering, our educational system is being controlled by the political machine in Washington and abroad. What is shameful though is to remain in a state of mental confusion as to who our enemy really is in this country. To focus your mind on entertainment though, instead of who is violating the sanctity of your freedoms, livelihood, home and privacy as an American citizen is the epitome of shameful stupidity. Your bible and history books have a multitude of warning signs for your survival in this world of predators. Who seek not only your income but your very soul. If you really want what is best for your loved ones, and true God given freedom and equality for all in America. Then open your eyes and unlock your mind and let truth, set you free. The removal of both the Democrat's and Republican's in this great country of ours would be a great start. Read our Constitution for the legality and authorization by the people to do this or, remain subjects and cannon fodder to the warlords and criminals who rein over us at this present time. "There is a way that seems right to a man but, the end therein is Death"
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sarah| 11.17.10 @ 11:55AM
the GOP has its Deep South Firewall. The Dems have New York and California. Obama won Virginia and Ohio in 2008. McCain lost Indiana. The GOP candidate to win must win Virginia, Ohio, and most probably Pennsylvania without losing states like West Virginia or Florida. It would help to pick up either a Colorado, Wisconsin, or Michigan. Can any of these canidates pull that off?
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