The Race to 2012 - GOP Primaries

[le Voyageur]

All that I'll say is that as a minarchist I don't see much in any redeeming value in any of the parties, and this includes the Tea Party.... I keep wondering what has happened to the Middle, and why extremists on both sides are allowed to keep driving the mule cart over the clift?

[GernBlansten]

"I keep wondering what has happened to the Middle"

All the RINOs and DINOs got bagged by the Tea Party during the last hunting season. Those who survived scurried to the edges.

[Lisabob]

Here's my Republican wish-list for 2012:

 

Palin (sure, you betcha also too), Michelle Bachman, Christine O'Donnell, Ken Buck

 

oh, please oh, please oh, please...

[packsaddle]

Lisa, have you forgotten Phyllis Schlafly? She is still available.

[BS-87]

We're nominating a President, not going on a moose hunting excursion or summoning demons.

[BrentAllen]

I still prefer Haley Barbour. Obama is going to have a difficult run in 2012, no matter who he is up against. The electoral college will be different, and not in his favor. According to exit polls, Obama has lost much of the white vote, and it isn't coming back.

 

White Flight

http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/in-2012-obama-may-need-a-new-coalition-20110105?page=1

 

Excerpt:

By any standard, white voters rejection of Democrats in Novembers elections was daunting and even historic.

 

Fully 60 percent of whites nationwide backed Republican candidates for the House of Representatives; only 37 percent supported Democrats, according to the National Election Poll exit poll conducted by Edison Research. Not even in Republicans 1994 congressional landslide did they win that high a percentage of the white vote.

 

Moreover, those results may understate the extent of the white flight from the Democratic Party, according to a National Journal analysis of previously unpublished exit-poll data provided by Edison Research.

 

The new data show that white voters not only strongly preferred Republican House and Senate candidates but also registered deep disappointment with President Obamas performance, hostility toward the cornerstones of the current Democratic agenda, and widespread skepticism about the expansive role for Washington embedded in the partys priorities. On each of those questions, minority voters expressed almost exactly the opposite view from whites

 

 

[John-in-KC]

Right now, if the Honorable Ms Giffords survives, recovers, and decides she wants the job, she may be on the sudden and very fast track to 1600 Pennylvania.

 

 

[packsaddle]

OK, I'm getting the impression that this thread is going to fester all the way until the primaries are over. Egad!

[sherminator505]

"The idea of a President Palin is enough to scare the bejeebus out of anyone. She's perfectly competent, just lacks relevant experience and has gained a poor public reputation despite her venture into reality tv."

 

She had an excellent opportunity to gain that relevant experience; unfortunately, she left before she could get the full benefit.

[NJCubScouter]

It's kind of disturbing how quickly the politics has begun swirling around the tragic shooting of Rep. Giffords and the others, including the deaths of the little girl, the judge and others. That is not to say that there aren't some statements (by politicians, local officials etc.) that I agree with. I just think that when something like this happens there should at least be some short time in which we just think about the victims and their families and hope for the recovery of the injured, instead of the back-and-forth starting within hours after the incident.

 

This comment is prompted by John's comment about Rep. Giffords but not meant as criticism of his comment.

[BS-87]

"She had an excellent opportunity to gain that relevant experience; unfortunately, she left before she could get the full benefit. "

 

Yet another weapon to be used against her, and another reason she cannot win in a general election. Which makes her popularity devastating to the GOP at this juncture...

[drmbear]

At our church service yesterday, the talk was about Thomas Jefferson and his religious freedom principles that ended up as part of our Bill of Rights. I guess there is some talk about removing Thomas Jefferson's name from our district name because of his slave-holding legacy or some such nonsense. Anyway, it made me think of some of the principles that I personally picked up, beginning with my time in Scouting as a youth. In religion and in politics it seems we seek to find ways to divide rather than bring together. In Scouting, I learned that we should strive to find ways to bring people together, the whole "world brotherhood" concepts and the Scout Law. Yet in politics, I find the main things we try to do considering Republicans vs. Democrats is divide. Same thing, Protestant, Jewish, Catholic, Muslim, etc. It is all about division, and a big part of many of the conflicts occuring around the world. Virtually every world religion has principles along the lines of "love one another," - be nice, but the divisiveness drives them to interpret that to mean "unless you are not one of us." So my call, whether it's politics or religion, instead of divisiveness, let's find ways to come together. Far more productive and good for us all.

[NJCubScouter]

drmbear, I agree with most of your post, but not your reference to the concerns over Thomas Jefferson's slaveholding as "his slave-holding legacy or some such nonsense." Personally I do not think that Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and other Founding Fathers should be "de-honored" because they owned slaves. They were living according to the morality of their time and place, not ours. I doubt that many "historical icons" would stand up very well under today's standards -- the leaders of today have enough trouble doing so themselves (not that they own slaves, but you know what I mean.) But at the same time, it is not "nonsense" to believe that a mixed message is sent when we honor someone who owned slaves. The question is what we do about it now. Removing peoples' names (at least in the case of Washington, Jefferson etc.) is not the right action in my opinion, but let's not dismiss it as "nonsense."

[NJCubScouter]

Packsaddle, it looks like this thread is becoming the usual mishmash of topics rather than just a discussion of candidates. Like most other threads, it will probably just ramble on a bit more and then fade away. Thankfully, it's probably a little early for a sustained discussion of the primary candidates.

[BS-87]

Sustained discussion of the primary candidates AND issues. It's pretty easy to tell what the primary topics will be in 2012. First and foremost being Health Care and Health Insurance. Immigration never fails to be brought up. The Economy and jobs will certainly be at the top as well. The war may be taking a back seat in this election even though it shouldn't.