Character, Values, clear Conservative track record. Telegenics are important but trails the other three.
If the masses don't vote for Conservative Values over identity by 2012 the country is doomed plain and simple.
“Idiotic identity politics is the last thing we need”
Needs repeating over and over.
We need conservatives - period.
Well you may say that but look at the 2008 primaries and tell me if identity politics did not drive them on both sides when they were competitive. Alabama’s results in both are instructive on that front in terms of which counties and precincts broke for whom.
Also, by running a pro-life Catholic at the top of the ticket Joe Robinette Biden would be put on the spot and while he could probably finesse it like Cuomo always did it wouldn’t be good for that ticket overall, if they are the ones who are renominated in 2012.
You may not like identity politics but it is the way things work in this country. There is a reason why you don’t have German politicians getting elected in Rhode Island and that you don’t have Scots-Irish Pentecostals getting elected in Michigan. People just naturally tend to gravitate towards their own. That 90% Romney got in Utah had nothing to do with policy.
And especially when times are tough such as we are in now, that is when people instinctively retreat back into their neighborhoods, back into their groups and become more responsive to identity politics than ever. Now, we can capitalize on that because Obama does have an identity politics weakness but only if we use the right candidate. That candidate should have the right positions but if the choice is between two candidates that both have the same positions (and are conservative) but one has better numbers for identity politics purposes you take the one with the better numbers