This was prompted by this quote from a poster on RedState named Eric.
While I doubt most conservatives would be as candid as this, these sentiments do seem to things I’m hearing a lot.
The three current frontrunners, Guiliani, McCain, and Romney, all seem to be deeply disappointing to conservatives looking for pure “movement” bona fides. Guiliani has a liberal record that stretches from wearing drag to championing gay adoptions. McCain was part of the Gang of 14, and despite his kowtowing, he’s “just not one of us” in so many ways that many conservatives seem clear on. Romney looked promising, but the fact that it has come out that he is a former gay-rights supporting Democrat who seems to have overplayed his conservatism, and only recently, has soured a lot of people on him. All of these guys are having to struggle to get even grudging support from major constituencies and their efforts to run right are being met with grumbling disbelief.
And that’s it: those are the front-runners who are most obviously in the race. Every last one of them is a person who could run as a Democrat, and while they arguably might not win a Dem primary, Dems wouldn’t be particularly that upset with them. That CAN’T be something very encouraging for Republicans (if Dems are not that unhappy, you’d better believe that’s a bad sign).
On the sidelines, we have Newt Gingrich. And while he’s certainly flirting with the idea, I have a hard time seeing it work, and so do a lot of conservatives, even if he is ideologically sound. There’s Brownback, but he’s nuttily far enough RIGHT to actually given even some pretty conservative conservatives pause, and very few people think he’s electable. There’s a couple of folks no one has ever heard of. Have I missed anyone who’s making noise so far?
There was a reason that George Allen was a golden boy for the nomination: he was conservative, he didn’t seem to have much overwhelming baggage, he was young, arguably handsome, and he seemed to have a decent message. Some whispered that he was a boob, but that’s not exactly a liability for a politician in terms of electibility, as long as his heart is in the right place. But now Allen is damaged goods: he blew his wad on losing a Senate race that was a sure thing (doing some of the most expensive single ad buys ever in Virginian history too).
There also used to be Frist: he was boring, but he was at least solidly in the right corner. He seems gone too.
In short, the field seems to be very dispiriting for Republicans, and thought I’m a Democrat who of course likes that idea at present, it’s also worth considering that the current slump may in fact shake some new face out: a dark horse Governor (the way Clinton came out of nowhere), a “draft so and so” movement, and so forth. If so, is there anyone out there who could ride into town to bring cheer to the masses?
While I’m focusing on the Republican side in this thread, it’s of course valid to compare the Democratic side, and there it seems like the consensus is that there is a great field. None of the candidates are perfect of course, but they’re all debating the fine points of exactly how to implement universal health care and get out of Iraq. They are ideologically pretty solidly in the realm of most Democrats, and the “oh no, I have to choose between THESE guys” attitude just doesn’t seem to be there to the same extent.
So, what say you all. Are things as I say they are? Do you think Republicans are likely to decide to take another look at someone I mentioned and decide that they aren’t so bad after all? Will they just end up mostly holding their nose during the primaries? Or is this an awesome opportunity for some shining knight of true conservatism to ride out of obscurity and into the White House?
