House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) announced this week that he would not be seeking reelection in order to pursue a career as a radio host.
IMHO, and the opinion of others, he is positioning himself for a run at the White House in 2016.
Now, I am a deeply Liberal Democrat, but I have seen him speak on many news shows and find him to be a reasonable advocate for his point of view and a good communicator. I’m not ready to say I’m a fan or that I would vote for him. Rather, I can’t help thinking that if he shows up in the next Republican primary season he will present a very good alternative to the usual suspects. I have no real idea about his policy bent, but he certainly hasn’t given me the idea that he is a Tea Party/culture warrior type.
Thoughts? Opinions? Will we see him attracting the right attention on the Republican side? And if he is a reasonable type who could attract voters in the middle, could he pose a real threat to the expected coronation of HRC?
Considering the present location of “the middle,” that would not be a reasonable type. See, e.g., the ongoing discussion of Jeb, who is distinguishable as far more centrist than the Tea Party wing of the GOP, but is still a bizcon and climate-change denier, neither of which is a reasonable position in America at present.
In fact, there seems to be practically nothing reasonable remaining in the GOP any more.
Regardless of his politics, I don’t think he’s a serious candidate for the GOP in 2016. Republican primary voters tend to pick guys whose “turn” it is. Rogers hasn’t been in the jungles before, so it’s not his turn yet.
The bizcons ain’t reasonable, the libertarians ain’t reasonable (“End the Fed!” is nothing a reasonable person would say), the paleocons ain’t reasonable and don’t want to be, I hope we’ve all learned by now the neocons sure ain’t reasonable, and both the Tea Party and religious-right factions are nuckin’ futs.
You do this in every thread. You and I might hate him, but Mitt Romney won 47.2% of the vote in the 2012 election. Republicans do not make up 47% of the electorate, which means he won a lot of people in the middle.
Are there that many people in the middle anymore? I’m wondering how many Romney votes were people who would vote for any Republican over any Democrat, how many were votes against the black guy, and how many were votes against who they thought was a Muslim. To be fair, Obama got a lot of votes from people who would vote for any Democrat over any Republican, and from those who could not vote for a Mormon. Perhaps I’m getting cynical, but I’m starting to think the middle of the road voters are mythical.
Certainly some of that 47% is people who aren’t Republican because they’re not right-wing enough, but to pretend that it’s most of them is asinine. Besides, since every election is decided by 10% or less, it doesn’t matter if those are the only true swing voters.
Once again, and for future reference in all questions as to whether a given segment of American voters might be “mythical” or not or similar questions, please see the most recent edition of the Pew Political Typology. There are three “Mostly Independent” groups: Libertarians, Disaffecteds, and Post-Moderns. N.B.: Independent != centrist; where these groups might belong on any given political spectrum is a different discussion.
You think he’s leaving the House because he’d be better positioned to launch a Presidential Campaign as a radio host?
I’d say there is about a zero percent chance of that being true.
He’s playing coy about running for President for the same reason dozens of others do so, its a cheap way to get press for his radio show. For whatever reason, the Press will waste ink on just about anyone if they can pretend is a Presidential hopeful for fifteen minutes.
You don’t find many moderate voters, or even intellectually-active ones, listening to talk radio. You find the sort of people who think that’s the best use of their time.
If you read the article, you will detect that it is a 2 part approach. He is targeting the early primary/caucus states with the radio show - and the target Republican primary/caucus voters DO listen to talk radio. The moderate part comes later, once he has the nomination.
I’ve got to agree. The changing to moderate part worked out so well for McCain and Romney after they had the nomination; I can’t imagine why it won’t work for Rogers.
I don’t think there is much chance he is going to run. I am in his district, listened to him speak once, but I wouldn’t vote for him. He is simply cashing out. He was appointed by Boehner to his post, if Boehner loses his election, he might lose his chairmanship. But mostly money - lots of cash, not much restriction on what he does, or says. He isn’t liked by the tea party types, since he supports all the NSA stuff, and has spoken out against them. His seat is in play, it is slightly R, but if a tea party type gets the nomination, it might go D.
My thoughts on Mike Rogers is that he’s an average Congressman with no particular qualifications or anything else to pique my interest in a potential Presidential candidacy.
I’m still on the Jindal bandwagon, which as of right now consists of well, me and Bobby Jindal.