In American politics, the scariest leaders on the other side are those that have a chance to poach your voters. For the Republicans, the two scariest leaders on the other side in the last half century have been Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Both were populist, Southern and very appealing to middle American, middle of the road, family oriented voters of modest means.
The Democrats have had a much worse time of it. Republicans have come up with leaders who are very attractive to a wide spectrum of voters. Ronald Reagan was the best. Everybody loved Reagan. I didn't because I lived in California while he was Governor but most Americans weren't paying attention to Reagan in the '60's. George W Bush was very scary. It wasn't too hard to see what an asshole he was but he had an undeniable appeal, in a lowest common denominator, let's admit we all pee in the shower way, to a broad spectrum of American voters.
I'm assuming that Barry O will be the Democratic nominee in the 2012 Presidential race. Right now the scariest candidates that I'm seeing on the Republican side are Rick Perry and Tim Pawlenty. I hate both of them but can easily see how they could get elected. Huckabee doesn't worry me, neither does Palin. They wouldn't stand a chance. Romney doesn't worry me because he might make a pretty good President, for all the people. The Republicans would never run anybody like that.
Who do you think could win the Presidency for the Republicans?
3 comments:
I think Romney is a force to be dealt with. Even better, "Romney-Palin 2012"
Your suggested candidates are one state wonders, with no national selling power.
The scariest Republican leader is Huckleberry.
I have to say I haven't really thought much about national politics. Post-Bush, that's probably a mistake given the power that Bush assumed for the Office of the President. I'll have to look around at not only the first tier, but the next level of Republicans. It's not like Jimmy Carter was the obvious choice in his day, nor Bush.
I think Pawlenty is the one to watch. Very Red guy from a Blue State. That's got to be an attractive combo. They could team him up with a Southern dark horse like Bobby Jindal or Kay Bailey.
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