# 2008 - what if the Republicans don't run? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 10, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224 "2006-08-10T23:01:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/1 "2006-08-10T23:01:04Z")
[This Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Ventura) indicates that Jesse Ventura has Presidential ambitions. It seems to me that any Republican candidate will be tainted by Iraq, so could they decide to not run at all? Or run, ‘attack’ JV alot, then withdraw? Why? Because JV could, in their eyes, be better than a Democrat. After all, just like Minnesota, he’d have no political base in the Senate or Congress. Fanciful thinking? ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/2 "2006-08-10T23:02:53Z")
If he manages to get enough signatures to run I’m going to cry. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/3 "2006-08-10T23:04:04Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Fanciful thinking? [/QUOTE] That would be putting it mildly. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/4 "2006-08-10T23:04:07Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] Fanciful thinking? [/QUOTE] Yes. The Republicans will absolutely run a candidate. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/5 "2006-08-10T23:08:49Z")
C’mon, Charlton Heston would definitely win over Jesse Ventura. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/6 "2006-08-11T01:39:55Z")
[QUOTE=bordelond] Yes. The Republicans will absolutely run a candidate. [/QUOTE] Agreed. Asking “What if the Republicas don’t run?” makes as much sense as asking “What if alien space bats give every human being a sex change?” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/7 "2006-08-11T01:45:01Z")
Why would the Pubs want Ventura for prez, even in preference to a Dem? His political roots are in the [Independence Party of Minnesota](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Party_of_Minnesota) – “fiscally conservative, socially liberal,” and essentially derived from the “Progressive” (as opposed to Buchanan’s “Populist”) wing of the old Reform Party. IOW, not good for established business interests. No more reckless foreign wars! No more government welfare to corporations! No more pandering to the religious right! No more Republican Party! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/8 "2006-08-11T16:35:35Z")
[QUOTE=bordelond] Yes. The Republicans will absolutely run a candidate. [/QUOTE] What if they _forget_ to run? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/9 "2006-08-11T18:39:22Z")
If the Republicans don’t run, the Democrats will figure out a way to lose to themselves, and the nation will be completely ungoverned. The resulting economic boom and expansion of liberty will be remembered as the ‘golden years’. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/10 "2006-08-11T18:43:19Z")
😛 Maybe the Dems will lose to the Libertarian Party. Wouldn’t THAT be interesting? Fanciful thinking? Oh, no doubt…but one can dream… -XT ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/11 "2006-08-11T18:57:48Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] If the Republicans don’t run, the Democrats will figure out a way to lose to themselves, and the nation will be completely ungoverned. The resulting economic boom and expansion of liberty will be remembered as the ‘golden years’. [/QUOTE] Best damn thing I’ve read all day. Keep up the good work. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/12 "2006-08-11T19:35:20Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] If the Republicans don’t run, the Democrats will figure out a way to lose to themselves, and the nation will be completely ungoverned. The resulting economic boom and expansion of liberty will be remembered as the ‘golden years’. [/QUOTE] So you’re admitting that the current Republican-led government is _worse_ than having no government at all? Can’t argue with **that.** Hell, I can’t imagine _any_ scenario where the Republicans don’t run that doesn’t lead to peace and prosperity for everyone… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/13 "2006-08-11T20:20:57Z")
You haven’t been paying attention. I’ve been saying the Republicans suck for a long time. I’m sure the Democrats will suck even more, but I hope they win so that the Republicans learn that running on a platform of small government and then selling out to every special interest they can find is a one-way ticket to the ex-politicians club. But the Republicans will run, and they’ll pull every trick they can to win. It’s all about power. Principle no longer matters. It’s all about who can stay in a position of control. The Democrats will do the same thing. And if they win, people like you will be ecstatic for a few months or a year, then you’ll start getting pissed off when the Democrats do the same thing the Republicans are doing. THe hardcore partisans will never admit it, and find an excuse for everything the Democrats do, just like the hardcore Republican partisans manage to excuse everything the Republicans do. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/14 "2006-08-11T20:32:07Z")
Dammit, Sam! You’re on good form today! ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/15 "2006-08-11T20:48:27Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. [/QUOTE] I think historians will look back on the Bush years and note the best thing he did for the Republican party was to make Nixon look like a great president and statesman by comparison. I sincerely hope that, whoever is elected, Republican or Democrat, he or she is _not_ the same as the boss we’ve got now. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/16 "2006-08-11T21:17:57Z")
[QUOTE=Loopydude] I think historians will look back on the Bush years and note the best thing he did for the Republican party was to make Nixon look like a great president and statesman by comparison. I sincerely hope that, whoever is elected, Republican or Democrat, he or she is _not_ the same as the boss we’ve got now. [/QUOTE] You know, before Bush was elected, both John Kerry and Al Gore were hawks on Iraq. They were to the right of the Republicans on the issue. When Bush first started pushing for an Iraq war, both Bill Clinton and Al Gore agreed with him. I firmly believe that had the Democrats won in 2000, they would have been pushing for an Iraq war. And the (non-peacenik) left probably would have supported it, just as they supported Clinton’s adventures in the Balkans. And the primary opposition would have come from isolationist Republicans, probably including George Bush. I’m in a particularly cynical mood these days. My big hope now is that the U.S. winds up with a split government - a Democrat or Republican in the White House, with the other party controlling both houses of Congress. Then neither side will manage to get a damned thing done, which is probably the best thing you could hope for. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/17 "2006-08-11T21:31:27Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] Then neither side will manage to get a damned thing done, which is probably the best thing you could hope for. [/QUOTE] We’ll never know if you’re right about the other stuff, but I’m afraid I agree with this statement completely. Presently the Republicans stand for all the wrong things, and the Democrats for the polls. I see little reason to think this will improve in the near future. I said here not long ago I was hoping for the Dems. to win at least one house so as to produce gridlock, as that would be an improvement over Republican-crafted results. However, I find it difficult to imagine _any_ results will rival the stunning incompetence of the current administration for a very long time to come. Maybe that’s just wishful thinking ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/18 "2006-08-11T23:40:37Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] I’ve been saying the Republicans suck for a long time. [/quote] Yeah, I can’t recall a time where you haven’t thrown your anti-Bush/anti-Administration/anti-Republican views into a political thread. :rolleyes: [QUOTE=Sam Stone] I’m sure the Democrats will suck even more [/quote] At this point, I don’t think that’s scientifically possible. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2006, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2008-what-if-the-republicans-dont-run/368224/19 "2006-08-12T01:00:11Z")
[QUOTE=rjung] Yeah, I can’t recall a time where you haven’t thrown your anti-Bush/anti-Administration/anti-Republican views into a political thread. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Like I said - you haven’t been paying attention. You’re always too busy composing your latest drive-by tirade to actually read what other people are saying.