Frankly, I am just as excited about Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dumber as I am about Dole, McLame, Lindseed Graham, Huckelberry, Crispy Creme, and a whole host of other GOPe Rinos.
Posted on 01/20/2015 9:56:01 AM PST by xzins
Hot Air readers won’t be surprised by the lack-of-dynamic dynamic from the first big names testing the GOP’s 2016 waters, of course, but supporters of Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush might be — if they can be found. According to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, approval ratings for both men dropped after making clear they plan to run for the party’s presidential nomination. And that retreat comes from within the big tent of the Republican Party:
Just 27 percent of Americans now offer a positive rating for Romney, the Republican party’s nominee in 2012, compared to 40 percent who give him negative marks. And just over half of Republicans – 52 percent – give him a thumbs up, while 15 percent disagree.
In September of last year, when Romney was widely expected NOT to seek the presidency again, his ratings stood at 32 percent positive/ 39 percent negative. With Republicans, that split was 60 percent positive/ 13 percent negative.
While former Florida governor Jeb Bush is not quite as well-known as Romney, with 13 percent of respondents saying they don’t know the name, he’s also seen a drop in approval since announcing that he’s “actively exploring” a 2016 run.
Just 19 percent of Americans now give Bush a positive rating, while 32 percent assess him negatively. His fans include just 37 percent of Republicans, while 15 percent offer a poor assessment of him.
That’s compared to an overall rating last November of 26 percent positive and 33 percent negative. Among Republicans at that time, Bush’s rating stood at 44 percent positive to 12 percent negative.
It’s actually a little worse than this description indicates, at least among the general population. Romney had a “very positive” rating of 24% in October 2012, just before the election; it’s down to 8% now. That’s still better than Bush, whose “very positive” rating has never gone into double digits in this series, and now stands at 5%. Compare that to Hillary Clinton, who gets 20% — her lowest rating since the summer of 2008, but still far outpacing the two well-known potential GOP rivals.
This is not an issue with name recognition. It’s more than familiarity breeds contempt, even if that contempt may be somewhat unfair to both men. Republicans cannot woo voters by offering another nostalgia campaign, especially since Democrats seem bound and determined to do exactly that with Hillary Clinton and a return to the 1990s. They have to offer a forward-looking campaign set in the present, and as I argue in my column for The Week, the GOP has plenty of talent with which to do so:
When Reagan ran in 1976 and again in 1980, he represented something new within the party. Reagan was a new voice of Goldwater-esque conservatism combined with a record of practical application. By the end of the 1970s, the Nelson Rockefeller Republicans had lost the GOP rank and file and had failed to inspire the moderates in either party. Reagan brought a new approach to Republican politics, a sunny optimism about personal liberty and a fighting spirit for freedom abroad that soared over the heads of his more pessimistic competition.
In short, Ronald Reagan represented not just the future of the Republican Party, but the aspirations of the electorate for the future of the United States. Regardless of their desires, Romney and Bush represent the past: the past of their own track records, and the past of the Republican Party.
Ironically, the GOP may have an abundance of candidates who can lay a better claim to the mantle of Reagan than either Romney or Bush. A number of two-term Republican governors, for instance, who first won office by courting the grassroots and won second terms by fulfilling promises of significant conservative reform. Scott Walker reformed state government and survived a recall challenge by Big Labor in Wisconsin, not all that dissimilar to Reagan’s fight with striking air-traffic controllers. Bobby Jindal reformed state-run education in Louisiana. Susana Martinez cleaned up a corrupt state government in New Mexico. Mike Pence expanded on reforms initiated by Mitch Daniels in Indiana. Nikki Haley in South Carolina, John Kasich in Ohio, and Rick Snyder in Michigan may all make similar claims in the next few months, too.
I’d include Rick Perry on that list too, plus arguably Senate hopefuls like Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Rand Paul. They have all won elections in the present Republican Party, not the GOP circa 2002 — before bailouts, before ObamaCare, and before the Tea Party became the latest expression of Goldwaterism. These are Republicans of the present, those who know and engage the electorate as it is rather than as it was. They may need some time to match the name recognition of Hillary Clinton, but that investment will make the GOP the party of the future and not the past … unless it chooses to remain hobbled by the latter.
Hmmm.
That is the first mainstream media article/poll that isn’t gaga over either Romney or Bush.
Maybe Romney AND Bush and their moneymen will take a hint — if either gets the Republican nomination, the Democratic nominee wins — again.
Of course, that does NOT mean Christie or Huckabee is the new go-to guy.
Frankly, I am just as excited about Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dumber as I am about Dole, McLame, Lindseed Graham, Huckelberry, Crispy Creme, and a whole host of other GOPe Rinos.
I can’t put much stock in an article that mentions Rick Snyder as a new conservative leader. That guy is about as conservative as Lindsey Graham or that idiot that started the ‘no labels’ party.
You are right that Snyder is a moderate, but FWIW, I think the author wrote that Snyder ran as a conservative, is a new face, and has been effective in Michigan.
Great intellect, great debater, no administrative experience. I hope he stays in the Senate and goes after McConnell.
“I would love to run a Cruz/Martinez ticket if she pans out.”
That would not be bad at all. I could vote for that ticket.
I saw that this morning.
Come on GOP. With Dems calling for redistribution aren't Romney and Bush the two perfect candidates to pitch the alternative, that if they make mo $$$ we all end up better? If Romney gets a tax cut we all win. I think that line cant lose.
And don't forget that 47% that Romney claimed that he wouldn't care about.....
I guess in 2012 he didn't convince the entire remaining 53% to vote for him, the other 47% ......he has a plan for them,....??
But this time Romney says he will be *himself*, not the phony his handlers told him to be in 2012.
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The Solicitor General is the state's chief litigator in the U.S. Supreme Court and the Texas Supreme Court. In addition, as a member of the Attorney General's executive leadership team, the Solicitor General serves as a top legal advisor to the Attorney General and advises other agency lawyers and state officials on complex constitutional and other legal matters.
what?!
I am hyped up they are both running!
Now they can both split the moderate Republican GOPe voters and leave the way open for Cruz or Walker to take the nomination!
That cuts both ways since we’ll have 3 establishment candidates, but on the conservative side there will be Cruz, Perry, Rubio, Paul, Walker, Pence, Martinez, and Santorum.
Looks like Huckabee will try to split off some of the Christian vote and that Santorum will try to split off some of the the pro-life vote.
What do you think?
Snyder ran as a moderate and only won because the dems ran a rabid barking moonbat... Verg Bernero.
Good thing Mommy put different colored ties on those boys..
theyre hard to tell apart...
There is absolutely NO basis for a Santorum candidacy. He wouldn’t even be able to win his own home state, he couldn’t be anymore unlikable, and if by some miracle he DID get the nomination, he would get DESTROYED in the general election.
I’m SURE the RINO “front runners” will see to it that enough money gets into his campaign to split up the conservative vote during the primaries though. The biggest favor he could do for the conservative movement would be to NOT get in! He is DONE as a national political concern.
I think Santorum, like Romney, has lost enough races. He should smell the coffee. Unfortunately, I think these campaigns keep alive his name recognition and enable him to make a living.
They just need to come to FR and poll the Freepers. Last week had several threads filled with people ready willing and outright PROMOTING the RINO choices to WIN!!!
Because winning with an R is what matters most.
Other than Reagan and Coolidge what governor has been worth a crap in the White House? Clinton? BushII? Carter?
I’ll take Cruz anytime over what is being shoved at us by the GOP buffoons.
” Last week had several threads filled with people ready willing and outright PROMOTING the RINO choices to WIN!!!”
Some Rove plants,a couple traitors, the rest STUPID.
Not sure why so many here thing giving the /no matter what’ crowd more fall back options in front of/before considering a conservative is such a great idea. But they better start thinking a bit deeper about history.
Because the more chance you give the morally gutless to vote RINO, the more chance they will find excuses to.
I’d go with a couple stupid and the rest paid plants and open liberals. Because the odds of that many stupid people in one place would require a mental health facility.
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