The Real G.O.P. Dark Horse: None of the Above

[WestVirginiaRebel]

NY Times:

Two of my favorite analysts, Rhodes Cook and Josh Putnam, have a good debate going about just how plausible it is that a Republican who is not currently running for president could enter the race later and potentially win it (probably necessitating a brokered convention). Those of you who follow my Twitter feed will know that I think Mr. Cook has the stronger side of the argument; I think there is a small but nontrivial chance that the Republican nominee could be someone like Jeb Bush, Paul Ryan, Mitch Daniels, Tim Pawlenty or Chris Christie. (In fact, I was speculating about these scenarios as long as a month ago.)

I’m not going to describe the means by which this would occur; Mr. Cook covers that in great detail. Instead, I’m more interested in the motive.

The motive is simple: Republicans are dangerously close to having none of their candidates be acceptable to rank-and-file voters and the party establishment. It’s not clear what happens when this is the case; there is no good precedent for it. But since finding a nominee who is broadly acceptable to different party constituencies is the foremost goal of any party during its nomination process, it seems possible that Republicans might begin to look elsewhere.

A recent Gallup poll asked Republican voters directly about which candidates they’d consider acceptable nominees. Only two, Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney, were deemed acceptable by a majority of Republican voters. The other six candidates (including Herman Cain, who has since dropped out) were considered unacceptable by a majority of the party’s voters.
________

A party turns its lonely eyes to...?

[Saltbag]

With an exhausted "Ugh" I look around myself. Clock is ticking.

 

I'm looking back at Santorum and Bachmann. Those two I dismissed largely due to their charisma, yet they are solid in what they say from debate to debate. I have no love, and fall back into the ABO camp.

[Argyle58]

I tire of this whole debate as to the viability of the Republican candidates. Reagan wasn't considered viable at this stage of the 1980 campaign and the good Lord knows that Richard Nixon was NEVER considered viable, and yet, they both won. At this point in any national election the polls will almost always favor the incumbent, and will continue to do so until a nominee is selected.

 

In 2008 Obama ran as a centrist and had no record to prove otherwise. He has now proven to govern from the left and has surrounded himself with appointees who come from similar philosophical backgrounds. He cannot take this route in 2012.....he must run on his record, a record of failure. His only choice is to run against a mythical Republican agenda that he expresses in terms of class warfare.

 

In my opinion the Republicans are blessed with the current field of candidates in that there are no centrists, or "moderates" running. Any of the current crop running for the nomination make a stark contrast to the current administration, a fact that will offer a real choice to the voters. My only regret is that the party establishment is ignoring the sentiments of the public and has engaged in a particularly nasty bit of propaganda of their own, against their own.

 

We don't need a dark horse. Once a nominee has been chosen, the real race will begin. Once that happens, the contrast between the vision of a resurgence of the America that has led the world for a century against the reality of what current policy has brought us to will begin to become more evident. At that point we will be able to better gauge how the electorate feels.

[Pepper]

Saltbag! Count me in the ABO camp

 

Argyle58! Excellent post with great reminders. You are correct on GOP eating its own.

 

Obama cannot run on his miserable record of failures and government intrusion and wil continue to divide our nation with explicit class warfare and implicit anti-Western rhetoric.

[Valin]

I tire of this whole debate as to the viability of the Republican candidates. Reagan wasn't considered viable at this stage of the 1980 campaign and the good Lord knows that Richard Nixon was NEVER considered viable, and yet, they both won. At this point in any national election the polls will almost always favor the incumbent, and will continue to do so until a nominee is selected.

 

(Snip)

 

In my opinion the Republicans are blessed with the current field of candidates in that there are no centrists, or "moderates" running. Any of the current crop running for the nomination make a stark contrast to the current administration, a fact that will offer a real choice to the voters. My only regret is that the party establishment is ignoring the sentiments of the public and has engaged in a particularly nasty bit of propaganda of their own, against their own.

 

We don't need a dark horse. Once a nominee has been chosen, the real race will begin. Once that happens, the contrast between the vision of a resurgence of the America that has led the world for a century against the reality of what current policy has brought us to will begin to become more evident. At that point we will be able to better gauge how the electorate feels.

 

 

 

You get an Attaboy.

 

ATTABOY

 

The differences between the GOP candidates (with one exception) are minor, in comparison to "The One".

[nickydog]

Add my ATTABOY to Argyle58's post.