Posted on 02/25/2011 8:18:18 AM PST by Kaslin
o beat Obama, Republicans must field their best candidates — now.
At the approach of an election that’s likely America’s most important since 1864, many Republicans are acting as if they’re content to conduct tryouts for the jayvee. One wonders: where is the sense of urgency, the recognition of the acute need to get the best possible candidates into this defining presidential race?
The comparison with 1864 is not overwrought. Then, victory in the Civil War, and hence the fate of the Union, hung in the balance. This time around, the fate of ObamaCare and, with it, the fate of limited government — not to mention fiscal solvency — hangs in the balance. Congressman Paul Ryan put it beautifully here.
No one in decades — perhaps a century — has done more (however inadvertently) to promote the citizenry’s interest in America’s founding than the overreaching Obama, who subscribes to its ideals less than any president since Woodrow Wilson (and probably ever). As a result of his efforts, we now face the very real prospect of a reengaged citizenry leading America toward the higher horizon of liberty — or of an enervating consolidation of money and power in Washington the likes of which this country has never seen.
Thanks to Obama, advocates of limited government and liberty now have more hope than in ’08 — and than we would have had, with all due respect, under a President John McCain. But we are now playing without a net. One electoral win — just one win — and ObamaCare and the Progressive agenda could be here to stay.
But President Obama is clearly beatable. A recent Gallup poll showed that Americans don’t give him a 50 percent approval rating on any of the eight issues on which they were asked to rate him. A recent CNN poll showed that far more voters definitely plan to vote against him than for him.
Look at the recent reelection patterns. Jimmy Carter lost convincingly to Ronald Reagan. Reagan beat Walter Mondale in a rout. George H. W. Bush lost pretty convincingly to Bill Clinton (likely because Bush’s profligate spending motivated Ross Perot to run). Clinton beat Bob Dole convincingly. And George W. Bush beat John Kerry narrowly.
Notice any common trends? Of the past five presidents, three sought reelection against weak opponents, and each won. Two sought reelection against strong opponents and lost. In four of the five races, the determining variable seems to have been the quality of the opposition. Only Reagan, who won 49 states versus the hapless Mondale, would almost certainly have beaten a strong challenger.
This time around, candidates who inspire similar levels of enthusiasm as Dole or Kerry (or McCain or Dukakis) won’t beat Obama. But a strong candidate would. It is essential that the best candidates enter the race.
The class act of the Republican congressional delegation (House and Senate alike) is clearly the bold, articulate, personable Congressman Ryan. The most well-liked and respected Republican governor is Chris Christie. Both are dynamite in one-on-one confrontations. Both would shred Obama in a debate. Christie doesn’t look the part, but as Noemie Emery has noted, there are advantages even to that. Ryan, a true believer in the founding ideals, is presidential timber. The question is whether either man will seize the opportunity at the perfect, needful time to reclaim those ideals — or whether they’ll only step forward once we’ve already passed the tipping point.
Too many Republicans fail to grasp the urgency of the moment. In addition to Ryan and Christie, Mike Pence, a telegenic, presidential-looking conservative, who would also appeal to both Tea Partiers and more establishment types, should reverse his decision and opt back into the race. Any Republican who thinks he or she might be the best, most electable, candidate should run.
Some say that Ryan, in his 40s like the victorious Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama, is “too young”– and Christie “too fat.” But watch Ryan here. Watch Christie here. Tell me you wouldn’t thrill to seeing either of them onstage against Obama.
Yes, Ryan may be “only” a House member, but he is also the chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee, and where is the action right now? Lincoln, too, had “only” been a congressman. Christie may “only” be a first-term governor, but Obama was a first-term, back-bench senator. The fact is, Ryan and Christie are the best there is on Capitol Hill and in the statehouses. They are the men Obama doesn’t want to face.
If that weren’t enough, Wisconsin and New Jersey would be nearly must-win Democratic states in a close election. Ryan and Christie, currently running one-two in a Tea Party straw poll, would put those states into play.
And make no mistake: this time around, every state counts.
Given the extraordinary decision faced by Americans in 2012, it is the profoundest understatement that it’s time for Republicans to put the varsity on the field. The finest candidates in the Republican Party owe it to their country, and to the ideals in which they believe, to enter this race with a determination to win. And the rest of us who love our country need to do all that we can to draft them into service. Through Facebook pages — here are Ryan’s and Christie’s — word of mouth, and civic interaction of all sorts, we must act now.
This is not the time for resigned cynicism. This is the time for victory — hardly easy, but surely attainable. As a great patriot in another struggle once wrote,
The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will […] shrink from the service of their country [but] the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly […]. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.
Let us value that great good accordingly. Let us act. Let us implore our nation’s best leaders to run for its highest office at this crucial time. We cannot afford to enter the 2012 election without having one of the best and the brightest atop the Republican ticket. Should they hesitate much longer, we must not hesitate to draft them into service.
Christie is a moderate with a commanding presence. Ryan is a good legislator with zero executive experience and a noncommanding presence.
Next!
But the author is ignoring the obvious...
GOP ain’t got no “varsity”. Best conservatives are all in business, and eschew grasping and wheedling for political power as beneath them. But, as Ted Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, and the current Wisconsin Wunaways prove, no ploy or gimmick is too low and base for a Democrat.
Agreed.
If you criticize every possible candidate that is suggested we will never get the People's house back
I remember a rookie quarterback by the name of Troy Aikman who led Dallas to 3 Superbowl wins. It's a matter of what kind of mind they have, the way they apply history to their agenda and MOST of all, the way they stay true to their Principles, regardless of the controversy.
These are qualities they either have or they don't. It cannot be learned or faked. And Ryan is on the job NOW, showing everything I have outlined, and then some.
Knowledge is commanding.
Watch Ryan school Obama here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InimsXo9mc4
If looks could kill . . .
But Ryan doesn’t want the job. Who can blame him?
One-trick ponies always lose........
If I want a reality TV star to chat with Kate plus 8 or Oprah, I think of Palin. If I want a president, I think of someone else. Would she have Snookie from the Jersey Shore as her VP?
Actually Ryan’s had to be pushed and prodded by the freshman tea partiers. He’s not been a heroic leader.
If we can keep it to a 2-person race, anybody can beat Baraq.
After $5 gas torches the economy, voters in Nov 012 will be fondly remembering the 10% unemployment of 2010 as the “good old days”
Blasphemy! How dare you think of other candidates and express your honest opinion! /s
(you will now be pummeled, punished, accused, convicted, chastised and generally disrespected........)
One individual, no matter how capable, can’t save this country.
Only a combined citizenry that has reestablished the plumb line of our founding moral principles can do that, with God’s merciful and gracious assistance.
We need to spend a lot less time looking for some leader on a white horse to come and rescue us and a lot more time being the kind of leaders that are desperately needed within our sphere of influence.
Really?
Well then, show us the evidence of that accusation.
Wont be the first time I’ve been beaten up for anti-Palin “heresy” on FR.
Speaking of the $5.00 gas prices where is Pelosi's outrage? Remember when she complained when the gas was $2.36 a gallon. Unfortunately I don't have the site anymore. Perhaps someone else does. I can sure use it
I’m sure that when anyone posts anything contrary to the image they have of their icon, the “abuse” button entries nearly crash the server. (humor not withstanding)
The GOP is like the 1996 Greek World Cup soccer team. The Greek team made the world cup and then the good players were replaced by retired and politically connected players and coaches.
The GOP leaders are the fools who gave us McCain, Trent Lott, bobdole, charlie crist, and a host of other rinos and idiots.
The GOP leaders want only what the democrats want, personal power.
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