Posted on 02/01/2012 5:08:49 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
I will start this out by saying that I am usually wrong when I make political predictions (how did that Hillary Clinton-Rudy Giuliani face-off turn out in 2008?). But I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and in the off chance that I happen to be right, I just want it on the record. So here goes…
Mitt Romney will not be the Republican nominee for president in 2012. Neither will Newt Gingrich. And certainly not Ron Paul or Rick Santorum. No, the Republican candidate for president will be someone who isn’t even a candidate for president right now. It will be someone who will swoop in and snatch the nomination away, much to the delight of Republican voters who won’t much like the person who emerges with the most delegates from the primaries.
There are two ways this could go down -- one of the candidates, likely Romney, will have enough delegates to clinch the nomination by April or May. That’s plenty of time before the convention in late August for Republican leaders and their flock to determine that nobody really likes Romney and there is no possible way that he can beat President Obama. They will go looking for someone else.
Or that someone else, who is likely already working behind the scenes, will start talking publicly about Romney’s unelectability, whipping Republican voters into such a frenzy that reluctant party leaders will be forced to go along and ask delegates to change their allegiance.
Remember, candidates used to be picked at conventions. The current system of the convention being a coronation for an already-chosen candidate is a relatively new phenomenon. This would be a throwback to days gone by.
Who might that someone be? That’s the hard part. It has to be someone big. It can’t be Sen. Joe Nobody. It has to be someone known to voters, not someone who needs to introduce themselves to the nation for the first time. That doesn’t leave many options.
The logical choice is Sarah Palin. She might already be laying the groundwork for such an operation. After she announced in the fall that she was not running, she pretty much disappeared. But now Palin is slowly coming back, making television appearances and talking about the election. In a telling strategy, she has not endorsed anyone. She has expressed some support for Gingrich but has been critical of Romney. Expect that to continue as he piles up delegates.
I don’t think Palin could beat Obama, either, but she has a better chance than Romney. If anything she might excite and motivate Republicans to at least get and out vote and perhaps stop Democrats from taking back the House. Romney excites no one. Palin still has plenty of devoted followers, and she is just the type to go against the GOP establishment and attempt to pull this off.
Giuliani is another possibility. He is obviously known to everyone and is reasonably well-liked. Unfortunately, his big issue is terrorism and national security, and with Osama bin Laden dead and al-Qaeda severely weakened, Giuliani has lost his biggest selling point.
Jeb Bush? He might be a stronger candidate than Romney but I don’t think anyone is clamoring for a third Bush in the White House.
With the economy still in shambles, New York City Mayor and mega-billionaire Michael Bloomberg is another possibility. But would Republicans trust a pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, virulently anti-gun New Yorker who changes parties as often as he buys a new Bentley (he is now an independent after spending his life as a Democrat but switching to Republican for his three runs for mayor)?
There are other options out there that might emerge in the coming months, but whoever ends up being the Republican nominee, it will not be someone who is running right now. You heard it here first. Unless I am wrong, which is a definite possibility.
Ain’t happenin’.
Sheer fantasy.
>> There are other options out there that might emerge in the coming months, but whoever ends up being the Republican nominee, it will not be someone who is running right now. <<
What a f****** idiot. No, there’s no-one going to swoop in and save us from Romney... because the election has already started! You have to get on ballots, and that costs time and money, and the process is already completed for many states. Don’t professional writers even bother to check out the laws before speculating on something like this?
If frogs had wings they wouldn’t bump their asses.
Not the Donald??
I’m all for it if it’s Palin.
But a draft or brokered convention would more likely lead to someone like Jeb Bush or Chris Christie.
I’m betting on the lottery too. The odds are about equal.
I’m all for it if it’s Palin.
But a draft or brokered convention would more likely lead to someone like Jeb Bush or Chris Christie.
I still think Sarah Palin will be riding in to save our bacon and fry it up in a pan
This is something that must be earned, not stolen.
Newt is trying to EARN America's respect.
Who is your pretender that she might slip in and steal it?
Mayor, the Christian and American hating, Bloomers? Right. That’s the ticket! He can give a speech from the Victory Mosque at ground zero. But he’ll need to ban the Chrisitans from coming.
Agreed. Sheer fantasy.
Newt/’Cuda 2012!!!!!!!!!! Sarah Keynote February 11 !!
No. It would piss off Republicans more than anything else to have a hard-won campaign, to only sweep it under the rug.
Unless Mitt is pulled out by May, that is who the GOP is going to run with, for better or worse.
I do not believe it will ever happen. We now have the only candidates we are going to have.
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Trump
hes got an announcement tomorrow about the POTUS race
Reading this is like watching much of the national news on TV; pure speculation based on opinion and fantasy.
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