Archive → May, 2011
Perry will consider a 2012 run?
In one of the best bits of news conservatives have heard in a while, Tea Party-friendly Texas Governor Rick Perry, who is loud and outspoken about opposing Federal overreaching of the Enumerated Powers clause of the Constitution, has finally admitted he will consider a 2012 run for the White House.
He’d being much needed star quality to a GOP field awash in too many RINOs and lesser names. And if he sticks to his pro-Constitutional guns and somehow gains the party nomination and the White House, there’s a chance the US could return to the sort of Constitutional limits on federal power that haven’t been seen since prior to the days of FDR.
Heck, if Perry’s in, I’ll start printing posters for his campaign now. Aside from Herman Cain, Perry would become my immediate favorite for the top job in the nation’s government.
Perry-Bachmann sound good to anyone? How about Perry-Cain?
Mitch says No to 2012
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, hyped by the White House and the liberal media — never a good sign — as the GOP’s best hope, has decided to bow out of a 2012 bid for the White House. While Daniels has earned a fair amount of credibility as a budget cutter, some question his conservative credentials, especially amid the “strange new respect” Daniels has earned from the Obama White House and the liberal media of late.
While he may come by his reputation unfairly, Daniels bowing out actually increases the chances of a more reliable conservative winning the nomination; the most prominent RINOs still in the race are Mitt Romney and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.
Of those who have declared, the clear favorite for my money – at the moment – is Herman Cain. He’s the best speech giver and public speaker, and has a wide resume in both government work and the private sector, and has succeeded pretty much at every step along the way.
Newt Gingrich’s time is passed; his expiration date arrived when he attacked the Paul Ryan budget and coined the term “right-wing social engineering.” Might not be a RINO yet, but he’s certainly a RINO-in-training.
Gary Johnson has no chance, and neither do Fred Karger, Tom Miller, Tim Pawlenty, Vern Weunsche.
Who’s left? Rick Santorum doesn’t fire me up; Ron Paul does, but not in a good way. And Mitt Romney is a RINO, and the last thing I want to see is another John McCain fiasco.
So who’s left?
Plenty of promising conservatives, that’s for sure.
There’s Michele Bachmann, who is more likely to end up as someone else’s running mate. There’s John Bolton, who would bring a lot of needed honesty and foreign policy experience. And there’s a dark-horse move to draft Texas Governor Rick Perry, which wouldn’t be a half-bad idea.
I’m less than interested in Charlie Crist and Lindsay Graham. And Jon Huntsman is a nobody.
And then there’s Sarah Palin, who could be the best of them all … except for Herman Caine.
So here’s my list, in order of preference, at the moment, for the top of the GOP ticket.
1. Herman Cain
2. Sarah Palin
3. Rick Perry
4. Michele Bachmann
5. John Bolton
All of those in my Top 5 are far more conservative than Romney, Pawlenty, Gingrich and Santorum. I’d vote for any one of those five over President Obama in a hot second. But especially Cain.
And the future looks bright for the GOP. Here are some names to keep in mind for 2016, 2020 and beyond: Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Paul Ryan, Bobby Jindal, Jan Brewer, Nikki Haley, Susanna Martinez, and Mary Fallin. They are all powerful conservatives and the political equivalent of unlocked cell phones.
GOP survivor could be right’s Bill Clinton
While the New York Times is running a story about how weak the GOP field of candidates is because so many folks are running that none of them have even 20 percent support right now, the truth is that there are a lot of parallels to the situation the Democrats faced in 1992.
Back in 1991, as Democrats weighed going against the massively popular post-Desert-Storm George H.W. Bush, many of the big guns bowed out. Candidates considered obvious heavy hitters, like New York’s Mario Cuomo, wanted to wait for a year when he would not be facing a popular incumbent president. So the ’91 field was critiqued even at the time as “the Seven Dwarves” because they were all relative unknowns. Lots of folks to choose from, none of them sure-bet heavy-hitters.
Out of that field, though, Bill Clinton emerged and went on to control Washington for the next eight years, becoming the first two-terms Democrat since Harry S. Truman.
Now, the popular opinion among some establishment Republicans is that Obama is a bit too imposing to go against; even despite a bad economy and falling popularity, some GOP candidates fear facing off against Barry Obama for fear of the “racist” label Dems are sure to toss at whoever ultimately opposes the President.
There are a lot of GOP names in the hat right now, and similar “dwarf” labels are being tossed about. While some familiar names are hesitating, like Huckabee, Palin and even Newt Gingrich – in fact, about the only brand name candidate who seems sure to run is the one few conservatives really want: Mitt Romney, affectionately known as John McCain Jr.
So yes, the field is littered with under-experienced, no-name conservatives, as well as publicity-hungry, un-serious candidates like Donald Trump. But out of this vast field, a new Bill Clinton of the right could very well emerge. Thinning out the field won’t be easy, like how to get rid of whiteheads on face, but it will happen.
For conservatives, in fact, there are several names to get excited over.
Herman Cain. Michelle Bachmann. Mitch Daniels. Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. Rick Perry. Chris Christie. Paul D. Ryan. Scott Walker. Nikki Haley. Jan Brewer. Bobby Jindal.
Of course, there are still plenty of RINO candidates like Tim Pawlenty and others. But with such a wealth of conservatives, surely we can do better this time around than George W. Bush or John McCain.
