Assuming the Republicans lose the election in November, how will the current nomination cycle of primaries and caucuses affect the next presidential election?
Have Huckabee and Romney laid down markers for a future, more successful, bid? Right now I don’t see Guiliani or Thompson returning to the fray, and I expect Ron Paul will stand again and get nowhere again. But Huckabee and Romney campaigned well and both achieved a modicum of success.
2008 was the best year ever to be a GOP contender, because the quality of the field was so crappy. Any of this year’s losers don’t really stand a better chance in some future nomination contest.
Huckabee might run again, but I don’t see his appeal widening all that much. It’s hard to see Romney dumping another $50M of his fortune into another race.
Each nomination cycle is usually a mix of some recycled candidates and some new favorites. I have a feeling that in 2011, the GOP field will be almost brand-new.