Crist? He’s not even a republican anymore, and he just endorsed Obama. He has as much of a chance of getting the republican nomination in 2016 as a non-incumbant Romney does.
First of all, if Gore had decided to be the voice of the loyal opposition he could have ran and might have won in 2004, but after 9/11 Gore took on the role of the elder statesman of the environment and so was not in a position to come back. Think of what Palin has tried to do since her defeat. She saw herself as the leading Republican and was definately planning a 2012 run. Thank god someone talked her out of that.
Even if Romney wanted to run, his campaign has been such a travesty that he would never make it past Iowa and Hew Hampshire in the primaries. No one would vote for him because he’s already shown that under the best circumstances he can’t win the general election. My biggest fear is after losing twice with “moderate candidates” that what we need is “more flair”* in a candidate and we are going to go so far Right that Reagan will look like a Communist by comparison.
*from Office Space
Of course he won’t run again. He could try, of course, but if he loses this year there’s no way in hell he’d get the Republican nomination again.
As I remember it, he was sued for sexual harassment by a masseuse and the case was laughed out of court (2006), his son had some drug problems (2007), and he separated from his wife (2010). Were he interested, I don’t think that would deter him and I am sure it wouldn’t be enough to derail a campaign.
That was supposed to be Christie.
What’s interesting about Christie is that he’s not really a conservative. Conservatives just love him because he talks tough. But I’m not sure he’d win the nomination unless he was the head of a weak field.
The guy most likely to be “next” is Paul Ryan, although Bob McDonnell, Mike Pence(assuming he becomes governor of Indiana), and Bobby Jindal would be highly rated as well. Rubio is attractive, but very young and with no leadership or management experience. Like Jindal and Pence, he would benefit from running for governor of Florida, perhaps in 2018.
How so? He might be rather moderate, but he hardly is a Michael Bloomberg or Charlie Crist.
True, but he’s pretty close to Rudy Giuliani.
The problem with McDonnell, Pence, Jindal, Rubio, and some of the other names being mentioned is that they’re campaign virgins. None of them have ever run a presidential-level campaign before so nobody knows how they will hold up. Who would have guessed that Perry would fold under the pressure and Santorum would blossom?
With the exception of George W. Bush, no Republican candidate since Goldwater has gotten the nomination their first time in the running. I think it’s a reflection of Republican nature - they’re conservatives and their first choice is to go with something they’re familiar with before trying something new.
True, which would make Ryan a heavy favorite in 2016 if he runs. But without an obvious “next” choice, someone has to win and odds are that in a large field someone will prove to be clearly superior to the others.
Of course, Mike Huckabee is credible enough to be “next” if he chooses to run in 2016. And Bushes automatically count as “next” if they run.
Mike Huckabee is not credible now and wasn’t in 2008. He’s perfectly content to spew anti-Obama venom on Fox. “Real” Republicans would reject him because he has some compassion for the poor.
You would think, but he’s likeable and is a good campaigner. His 2008 campaign didn’t die from gaffes and missteps, it died from simple lack of money and being relatively unknown before he won in Iowa.
I don’t like Huckabee’s policies either. Compassionate conservatism is an oxymoron, at least at the public policy level. It’s just big government conservatism. We tried that with Bush.
I would bet that this “eager, young, up and coming Democrat” will suddenly be found to be an un-american communist radical who is the most liberal candidate ever seen to seek the presidency and has a secret plan to destroy America. Generating irrational hatred is the best weapon the right has they aren’t going to drop it in the next four years. Still I agree that Romney won’t be likely to do any better against him.