Posted on 01/02/2012 7:19:06 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Tomorrow less than 20 percent of registered Republicans in Iowa are going to tell us who they believe should take on President Obama. Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, who has bypassed the caucuses, said last week that Iowa picks corn, not presidents. Is he correct?
Well, if you ask Mike Huckabee, he would say yes. But on the other hand, Obama did win the state.
Iowa’s importance will be in whittling down the field of contenders. It is most likely going to claim several conservatives, which means that their voters could flock to another right-wing candidate — not necessarily the frontrunner.
If Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich gets an Iowa bump, as Huckabee did, you can expect establishment Republicans to once again pound the message that voters have to nominate a moderate to win the presidency.
This theory makes sense for the commonwealth, because we are the People’s Republic of Massachusetts. That’s why U.S. Sen. Scott Brown does not vote as conservatively as we all want.
However, the rest of the nation is not Massachusetts, so GOP voters can hold out for a Ronald Reagan conservative.
For years the Democrats believed they could not nominate an ultra-left-winger and win the presidency. That was one of the major reasons given in 2004 to end Vermont’s former Gov. Howard Dean’s candidacy. Obama trashed that hypothesis.
Compared to Barack, Hillary Clinton looks like Margaret Thatcher.
In 2008, Republicans dutifully nominated U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
Despite publicly criticizing then-President George W. Bush on federal spending, McCain was otherwise an establishment moderate because of his record of being part of the Senate Gang of 14 and a supporter of amnesty for illegal immigrants.
When Republicans select a moderate, the nominee cannot run to the middle to win over voters. Actually, the candidate has to do the opposite to make sure there is no base abandonment.
Moderation can impel Republicans to stay home rather than vote, as we saw in the disastrous 2006 and 2008 elections. GOP voters were angry at our elected officials for increasing spending, growing entitlements, etc. They repaid them by refusing to vote.
Being a shrewd politician, McCain tried to motivate the base by picking Alaska’s Gov. Sarah Palin.
It wasn’t enough to retain conservative voters when he stumbled over the market meltdown, and in the end, even moderates such as Colin Powell ditched McCain.
We have been there and done this moderate candidacy against Obama. Are we going to repeat this unsuccessful model?
With Nixon we got the EPA. Thanks Dick!
Not saying I like them, nor have I properly projected the angst of an 0bama-Clinton ticket.
I just know, though, that if there was anything that could make libs stupider than they already are, it would be the cocktail of 0bama’s empty promises plus the wistful longing for the utopia of the Clinton era. Why, we’d have hope for the future plus the internet revolution plus super low unemployment plus the harmonic convergence of the new century all bundled together.
Pfft. None of them really- the field is weak. I like Santorum’s social conservatism but I can’t see that he has any executive experience. I think much the same of Michelle Bachmann, although I find her more attractive, because, well, I find her attractive. Newt Gingrich is in my opinion a crook, Perry a repeat of the last Bush, and Romney in my view might as well be a Democrat. All that being said, I find Bachmann, Santorum, or Newt preferable to Romney in that order. Ron Paul....well, considering I want Mecca, Tehran etc. to be radioactive dust ASAP, doesn’t make the cut, nor would Huntsman- actually working in the Obama administration voluntarily suggests he isn’t worthy of my support.
I agree but this article is worth the read.
The Obamas and Clintons DO despise each other, but they agree on anti-American policies both at home and abroad. Bob
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