Posted on 02/01/2007 10:06:51 AM PST by GulfBreeze
Republican conservatives are unhappy... don't have a presidential candidate.
...they don't see a "real" conservative in the top tier of the GOP field.
...may have to choose between a front-runner who professes fealty to conservative causes but whose devotion may be suspect or a lesser-known ...
The disquiet stems largely from polls showing the two front-runners ...John McCain of Arizona ... Rudy Giuliani, who supports abortion rights, gun control and gay marriage.
The fastest-rising contender ...Mitt Romney, ... once campaigned as a backer of abortion rights and urged a bigger role for gays and lesbians in the GOP.
In a column last month ... Republican pollster David Hill dismissed .. McCain and Romney candidacies ...
...that doesn't mean there is no GOP aspirant with a record that social conservatives could readily support. Sen. Sam Brownback... Mike Huckabee... James Gilmore... Duncan Hunter of California and Tom Tancredo of Colorado, are also wooing the right.
... Mr. Hill, who seemed mainly concerned with questioning the motivations of Mr. McCain and Mr. Romney. Both "possess some conservative credentials," he conceded, but "neither of them seems particularly interested in being the 'real' conservative."
"They are already moving to the center to win the general election, and this could be their undoing if a genuine conservative enters the fray,"...
The conservative dilemma is hardly a new one. Since Barry Goldwater's 1964 candidacy, the most conservative contenders – from Phil Crane in 1980 to Gary Bauer in 2000 – have usually lost the GOP nomination to more broadly acceptable candidates.
But one thing is clear: Republicans have tended to do better with nominees like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, who drew the enthusiastic support of conservatives, than with those who attracted less fervent backing, like Gerald Ford, the elder George Bush and Bob Dole.
...
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
As a conservative, I have decided to meet RINO propaganda with ANY propaganda. Long overdue. Glad you caught it.
But I still mean it.
Giuliani is the kiss of death.
I am completely open to a Hunter candidacy and look forward to learning about someone other than the media driven front runners.. But I think that folks pushing him right now need to be careful not to Howard Dean him.
Nice to meet you, too.
I remember the exit polls saying that John Kerry was presidnet. OOPS snuck one by ya.
They are hopelessly trying to fight off the DUNCAN HUNTER FOR PRESIDNET epidemic that is about to be unleased. Conservatives and moderates alike are tired of circular double talk. Duncan Hunter isn't afraid to use the words YES and NO.
Frankly, I don't think Duncan will make it....although I have signed up to work on his campaign....
Rudy won't get the support of conservative republicans....so he is out too....
McCain....is a RINO.....so thats another one down.
So who does that leave??????
Yeah I'd vote for Lou Dobbs.....
AND WE NEED MORE PROTECTIONISTS....damn man, Bush sold us out!!!!
Gingrich would be a good candidate - but Hunter would be better.
Gingrich carries too much baggage from the past and is more likely to accomodate the kind of people Bush II has been accomodating than Hunter who has a SOLID record on illegal invaders and other core conservative issues.
"Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be. One-hundred-percent and then some."
"Never shall I fail my comrades... Surrender is not a Ranger word. I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy..."
Yep. The only problem though is that none of the GOP candidates, except Hunter, really has a good amnesty position, and I question whether Hunter has what it takes.
I'm talking about economic protectionists... which we do NOT need! Those who cry and moan about American jobs going overseas have no clue.
Illegal immigration is a different story.
Speaking of idiots, just how long have YOU been a "R" Howlin?
In the mold of Duncan Hunter or gridlock, BUMP! Blackbird.
Her is the full article as Reprinted in RealClearPolitics.com
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/02/no_candidate_for_conservatives.html
February 02, 2007
No Candidate for Conservatives, Yet
By Carl Leubsdorf
Republican conservatives are unhappy. They don't have a presidential candidate.
Their favorites aren't running, and they don't see a “real” conservative in the top tier of the GOP field.
There's no sign the situation will change before the decisive caucuses and primaries a year from now – if even then. Conservatives may have to choose between a front-runner who professes fealty to conservative causes but whose devotion may be suspect or a lesser-known candidate with only an outside chance.
The disquiet stems largely from polls showing the two front-runners as Sen. John McCain of Arizona, who provoked the enmity of conservatives in his unsuccessful 2000 bid and with some of his congressional votes, and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who supports abortion rights, gun control and gay marriage.
The fastest-rising contender is former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is wooing conservatives but once campaigned as a backer of abortion rights and urged a bigger role for gays and lesbians in the GOP.
Romney turned up last weekend at a conservative conference sponsored by the National Review Institute and got mixed notices. The weekend's star: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
But the president's brother insists he won't run in 2008 – at least not for president. He's one of several non-candidates who look good to some conservatives.
In a column last month in the Capitol Hill publication The Hill, Texas Republican pollster David Hill dismissed the McCain and Romney candidacies and suggested two “big name true blue conservatives”: former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm and former Vice President Dan Quayle.
Hill called Gramm, who flopped in a 1996 presidential bid, “a ferocious fundraiser who'd really get conservatives in a lather if he decided to run.” He termed Quayle, who abandoned his 1996 race on health grounds, “an interesting thought.”
There's no sign that the GOP electorate – or the two men themselves – are interested. After all, their last political outings hardly demanded an encore.
One reason for the conservative void is the 2006 defeat of former Sens. George Allen of Virginia and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and a decision by former Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee not to run.
But that doesn't mean there is no GOP aspirant with a record that social conservatives could readily support. Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas is a solid conservative who recently criticized President Bush's plan to increase U.S. forces in Iraq. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is a folksy former Baptist minister from Bill Clinton's hometown of Hope; however, he did raise taxes while governor.
Former Gov. James Gilmore of Virginia talks of running as a “Reagan conservative,” though he is little known and left Virginia in some fiscal trouble. Two House members, Reps. Duncan Hunter of Alpine and Tom Tancredo of Colorado, are also wooing the right.
But all of them have a long way to go. None even merited a mention from Hill, who seemed mainly concerned with questioning the motivations of McCain and Romney. Both “possess some conservative credentials,” he conceded, but “neither of them seems particularly interested in being the 'real' conservative.
“They are already moving to the center to win the general election, and this could be their undoing if a genuine conservative enters the fray,” the Texas pollster added.
Actually, that's not quite right. McCain and Romney seem preoccupied with proving their conservative “bona fides.” That translates to Romney disavowing past policy statements and McCain doing the same regarding past skepticism about tax cuts.
The conservative dilemma is hardly a new one. Since Barry Goldwater's 1964 candidacy, the most conservative contenders – from Phil Crane in 1980 to Gary Bauer in 2000 – have usually lost the GOP nomination to more broadly acceptable candidates.
But one thing is clear: Republicans have tended to do better with nominees like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, who drew the enthusiastic support of conservatives, than with those who attracted less fervent backing, like Gerald Ford, the elder George Bush and Bob Dole.
**********
LOL! I agree with you about Hunter.
"Those who cry and moan about American jobs going overseas have no clue."
Some people have an agenda that is frightening and saddening at the same time. The level of ignorance diwplayed here is disgusting.
Millions of American Jobs HAVE gone offshore....and anyone that denys that is definitely a part of the Lunatic Fringe.
Tony Snow
That he was!
FACT: More jobs are outsourced TO America than FROM America. You shut down the outsourcing, and you can expect net LOSS of American jobs.
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