Future races, sure, perhaps - but you have to win the ones that are about to happen and it's not looking that good (nor should it). You can say ' hard right loves him which is death around here of course' but you're acting like it's just a few of us, when in fact 'hard right' (and then some) is also electoral death in most of the large electoral states.
Jindal, West, Haley no way. Too much racism at the core level in the party still. It's not even subtle on places like FreeRepublic and RedStates, and no one is going to with the R nomination without the support of that element of the party.
And Nikki Haley? Really, all you can say about her qualification to hold national office is 'she's hot', boy that speaks volumes. Thank's but I prefer Hillary, smart is better than pretty when it comes to government. She needs to find a way out of the South and onto a national, or international stage before anyone is really going to look at her.
Rand Paul has too many views that create high negatives and the most wonderful ability to speak them in a really dumb manner, and though you can get undecided to shift positive, a candidates negatives never seem to go down so I don't think he get's beyond a cult, which is what his dad has, and hey, that's pretty good. And the high negatives are also Palin's problem, she can't overcome her negative ratings.
Ryan is going to get a lot of the blame for the budget screw up, and it was his baby, someones got to be responsible after all. He's all but dead on the national scene unless there is a huge economic miracle in the next month or two.
Rubio perhaps, he seems to avoid the problem of saying too much deerp, and he's sharp. Would poll well among Hispanic voters who the Rs should have, but stupidly lost.
Walker nope, his more a fluke Gov in Wisconsin who slid in due to Democratic bungling and mismanagement, other wise known as 'business as usual' for the Dems. Let's see if he can win re-election. Let's see if he can avoid recall, and win that if it happens. Unions are big, huge complex things and they take some time to get all up and going particularly if you're trying to get them all up and going together. But, BUT, when they do get going they can really rearrange elections. All that election money deal cuts both ways and now the unions are not going to have any restrictions on what they can go do in Wisconsin and Ohio. They have the golden key, money+manpower, and they are going to do everything they can, apply all the knowledge (and there is a lot of institutional knowledge about this in unions) they have accumulated in learning how to win elections to make sure that Walker and the other anti-union governors DON'T become national figures. Because: If you can't win statewide, you sure can't win nationwide. Ahem there Rick Santorum (google it!).
All that social stuff sinks Tomey on the coasts, and you have to carry at least part of them.
Gov. Chris Christie is about the best in the bunch, but I don't see it happening. Too much prejudice in our current culture against fat people. He doesn't come off on TV very well either. And he has health problems. But I could almost vote for a Chris Christie. I wouldn't, but I almost could.
John Kasich, I don't know why, but Ohio doesn't play well outside of Ohio. No one from there in a long, long time has ever got any national traction. Not even John Glenn. Like I said I don't really know, but I've always wondered if they had any of that New Jersey underlying sleaze factor. Some places state government is really so corrupt that you can't really do it with out it touching you somehow. Louisiana too. Also South Dakota for some reason.
And, as cool, now and happening as that list is, and I'd sure put Dick Cheney's daughter on it as well, none of them are running. And what were being offered is not exactly inspiring. My money is still on Romney because he's the oldest white guy in the room who's been waiting the longest and that's who they almost always give it to. Tea party and bought polls and Iowa caucuses aside I'm pretty sure that big money still runs the Republican Party, and big money will out.
Now, since the 'Pubs can't run on their favorite issue - national defense/security - (since O has not cut the defense budget, nor ended the two wars, hell, he went out and got us one against that Quadafffyy guy, and he shot Ossma, that alone is a winner in a lot of places), and everyone seems bored with gay marriage, and because Jesusland is still pretty queasy 'bout that whole Mormon thing and because an election between Mitt and O on economic issues is going to be duller than dishwater, I don't see O losing. And, as I've said, I don't think the real management of the Republican Party sees it any differently.
