Yep, I called it. Well, I knew Trump was in it for the exposure and he got exposed pretty bad by the President. I thought Huckabee might keep his FOX gig if he wasn't interested in going after Romney again. And I still think Palin and Gingrich will still drop. Palin is also in for the self-promotion, and I thought the newt was too. He is in officially and will stay for a while until he fails in the primaries. I could be wrong because he just may be a little too crazy to figure out.
A friend sent me this link from Slate which is a little disconcerting. It points out that Huckabee was the only one in the potential Republican field who actually believed in government and did not buy into the unrealistic Libertarian anti-government philosophy which I think is a potential risk to our of, by, and for the people Union. I'm not sure I believed in the economic populist, socially conservative activist government Huckabee was promoting, but he did have some acceptance of the social protections for the elderly and poor. If that is "compassion," I guess the Slate article works.
So, it's hard to figure how this impacts the remaining (and potential) field. Bachman benefits as the likely heiress to the born-again conservative interventionists. Palin could maybe, if she were actually serious about running (she's not). Gingrich is poised to pick up the crazy Obama haters who were with Trump on the birther thing. They'll hear the dog whistles of the "food-stamp president" Gingrich is now promoting. I think Pawlenty benefits too for those on the far right of the social issues who were with Huckabee to be anti-Romney. But, it all still helps Romney as he remains the big name front-runner who could come out on top if all the others neutralize themselves against each other. Yet, they will all keep up the pot shots on Romney as the apparent front runner, and Romney isn't doing himself any favors trying to wiggle away from national health care reform on his Massachusetts model, but we'll see. This may also help Mitch Daniels come in as he sees an opening with Huckabee gone. Daniels is being courted by some of what's left of the Republican establishment, at least the Bushies.
But just maybe, Huntsman is the new anti-Romney. Not with the social conservatives, but could it possibly work with the mainstream, establishment Republicans if Daniels stays out?
Monday, May 16, 2011
2 comments:
Comments are welcome. Feel free to disagree as many do. You can even be passionate (in moderation). Comments that contain offensive language, too many caps, conspiracy theories, gratuitous Mormon bashing, personal attacks on others who comment, or commercial solicitations- I send to spam. This is a troll-free zone. Charity always!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I know the polls show otherwise, but I just can't seem to accept that Romney will win the nomination. Between being a Mormon in a fundamentalist Christian dominated primary, Romneycare, perceived phoniness, and the actually not so great economic record of Bain Capital, I just can't figure out why he's the frontrunner and I don't think he'll win. Maybe I'm wrong.
ReplyDeleteI also have always assumed (maybe incorrectly) that Huntsman is just putting his name out there to lay the groundwork a real run in four years. Which leaves Pawlenty, I guess, among the normals, but I don't know anything about him other than he is considered boring and has apologized profusely for supporting cap-and-trade (too bad).
This is about the weirdest primary I can remember. Should be fun.
Jacob- Yes. Absolutely weird. And I agree Huntsman may just be positioning himself for 2016 after the Republican Party comes to its senses following the debacle that will likely be next year.
ReplyDeleteAnd I just can't figure Romney. Could it be that we are judging the extreme conservative born-againers too harshly? I mean they all seem to love Glenn Beck? I just dread living in Utah if he is the Republican nominee.