Posted on 09/20/2011 5:47:05 AM PDT by danielmryan
A new, potentially, game-changing factor has crept into the GOP presidential race. It used to be enough to win the pro-life caucus goers and primary voters to be for overturning Roe. That may be about to change. If it does, all bets on whether Mitt Romney and Rick Perry will remain front-runners are off.
Why might the nearly-dormant Life issue come back to, well, liven and shake things up? A fissure has opened on this issue. The candidates are in agreement on the core anti-spending, anti-tax, anti-regulatory issues and, with the exception of outlier Ron Paul, on foreign policy. The race won’t turn on who will repeal Obamacare fastest. Free market differentiating issues such as the gold standard (advantage: Paul) and immigration (advantage: Perry) have not yet come front and center, although they may.
But there is a huge, and, potentially, politically critical, difference about the right to life. Should we repeal Roe and leave it to the States? Or should the federal government provide legal protection to the unborn? A candidate who relentlessly hammers this home will have a powerful advantage with the social conservatives (the pro-life camp), in the Tea Party (pro-constitution), and moderates (for whom abortion is not a key issue but are just tired of having candidates attempt to finesse them).
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
He doesn't mention her name, but there's another conservative star who could take the limelight by basing pro-life in the 14th Amendment.
“MB has become the attack dog for Mittens.”
It’s more like a suicide bomber.
I have been Pro Life all of my life. But even I have to admit, this race is going to be all about The Economy, Stupid.
Right!
John McCain and Gomer Huckabee = Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. Only Huckleberry was much easier to listen to and like. MB is shrill, hysterical, and nasty.
>>> I have been Pro Life all of my life. But even I have to admit, this race is going to be all about The Economy, Stupid. >>>
AMEN, and pass the plate!!
And even more to the point than JUST the economy, it’s going to be about big government everywhere in our lives which not only destroys our economy, but it destroys all of our freedoms. And in fact, when you destroy an economy you DO destroy freedoms by definition.
With all due respect to Mr. Benko, I think his premise is flawed fatally. He makes some good constitutional points, but the idea that there is a huge opening based on this issue in this election cycle is simply not close to reality as I see it.
He is correct that most candidates are very close on the main economic issues and the size of government and the regulatory issues. But he misses a huge huge factor: who will take this message at Obama and the Dems the hardest, the best, and the most effectively.
THAT is the opening, and probably explains Perry’s rise. People perceive, rightly or wrongly, that a brash governor of a very red state will take the message forward the best. When Herman Cain had momentum, it’s because folks perceived that about him. Ditto’s when MB had the big mo on her side.
This is the issue that will determine the winner - not the life issue and the 14th amendment.
Reading this title, I just realized that if Michele Bachmann somehow wins the GOP presidential nomination, she may decide to pick a Catholic VP candidate, perhaps one from the East Coast who can win Democrat votes despite his conservative positions, and who can help the ticket have a catchy slogan . . .
BACHMANN-TURNER OVERDRIVE 2012!
TAKIN’ CARE OF BUSINESS ... AND YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHIN’ YET!
You know who I think would make a nice, solid VP?
Don Carcieri, former Governor of RI. Good man.
Blind PitBull. Snapping at every hand.
Bachmann went into over-drive to fast and busted the drive train, now she only has the over-reving loud pipes and is going nowhere fast.
I think that Carcieri would make a terrific Senator from RI, but I don’t think he adds enough to the GOP ticket—it’s not like we can carry RI or MA or probably even ME or CT, and even if we somehow carried all four we’d win fewer EVs than we would carrying FL.
Not even the Pope on the GOP ticket could deliver RI but I think Carcieri would be a nice compliment to Bachmann.
Evangelical Protestant - Catholic
Large Rural Midwestern state - Small Urban Northeast state
Scadavanian hertiage - Mediterranean heritage
Rising new legislative star - experienced 2-term Governor with years of executive experience
Baby boomer - Silent Generation
Makes more sense than the freepers fantasing about a Perry-Palin ticket because they're from "two of the largest energy producing states!!" Palin wouldn't play second fiddle again and the idea that GWB-clone Perry would increase her appeal in middle america is simply delusional.
The only area a Bachmann-Carcieri ticket wouldn't be balanced is ideology. Both are staunch conservatives. But I don't have a problem with that. The Obama-Biden ticket is two socialist douchebags with a history of plagiarizing things. :-)
OTOH, Carcieri has little to no name recognition, unlike Cheney, so it would be a much bigger sell than Cheney was.
Perhaps a US Senate run would suit Carcieri better.
I liked your argument. Carcieri would add gravitas to the ticket and shore up the areas where Bachmann is lacking. If she gets the nomination he should definitely be on the short list.
Of course, if she doesn’t get the nomination, Carcieri would ideal to recruit for a Senate race. He’s probably one of the very few Republicans that would be competative in RI.
He's probably THE ONLY Republican that would be competitive in RI, especially on a statewide basis.
You speak with much wisdom my friend...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.