# Who would you pick as the Republican Nominee in '08? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 2, 2005, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407 "2005-10-02T01:46:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/41 "2005-10-03T01:17:38Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/42 "2005-10-03T01:58:50Z")
Hell, I’d choose Goldwater if I could. Good on staying the hell out of people’s bedrooms, good on the budget. Freakish on defense, I admit. But I’d make that trade in a heartbeat. Giuliani is an interesting choice but he’ll NEVER make it through the primaries. Hagel is one hell of a choice. He’s almost as smooth on television as the master, Bill Clinton. He’d be a formidable opponent for whomever the democrats nominate. Though if Hagal gets the nomination I’d say it would be a sign that the country is repudiating Bush’s policies on Iraq. Hagel has been a thorn in the side of the administration on the war for a while. AND he was McCain’s campaign chair during the 2000 primaries AND he hate Bush with a deep passion (just like McCain). He’d be an interesting choice. I just don’t see it being Rice or Jeb. I think that vein is about played out. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/43 "2005-10-03T02:05:33Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > That of course should read “George _W_ Bush was not…” since obviously George HW Bush was running for re-election in 1992. Wow, so The Name Which Not Be Mentioned doesn’t even ring a bell in your head? Doesn’t really shock me. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/44 "2005-10-03T02:16:56Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > Wow, so The Name Which Not Be Mentioned doesn’t even ring a bell in your head? Doesn’t really shock me. I don’t know what “The Name Which Not Be Mentioned” means. Is it some cutesy-poo manner of referring to Bill Clinton? If that’s the case, then no, obvioulsy the “Summer of 1992” didn’t settle the question about presidential candidates and military service. Seeing as how the Republicans attacked Clinton unrelentingly on it and attacked more than one actual bona fide war hero since, while running a candidate who arguably jumped the line to save his rich ass from duty and then deserted. Personally I wasn’t planning on getting any deeper into the subject of GWB’s shameful military and the staggeringly hypocritical attitude of those morally bankrupt Republicans who overlooked his apparent desertion in their zeal to tear apart Gore, Cleland and Kerry (you know, people who actually _went_ to war) with smears and lies, but if you want to wear yourself out like a mange-ridden dog on a dessicated bone over one word and a couple of commas in a post of mine, knock yourself out. I don’t plan to engage any further on the topic, and now that this thread has been moved to the Heart of Darkness I may not even be back. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/45 "2005-10-03T02:43:19Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I don’t know what “The Name Which Not Be Mentioned” means. Is it some cutesy-poo manner of referring to Bill Clinton? I guess what he’s saying is “Democrats said in '92 that Clinton’s war record didn’t matter.” > [@GrahamWellington](#): > > Everybody else, as far as I’m concerned, is just another politican that has no ideas about how to solve anything. Egad. The guy who told a caller “You should get AIDS and die, you pig?” Yes, he’s a gentleman and a scholar. He sounds like a guy so full of solutions that it’s coming out his ears. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2005, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/46 "2005-10-03T03:17:21Z")
McCain/Rice is the dream team for the Republicans in '08. It will be funny to see them (if it happens) destroy whatever same ole same ole the Dem’s serve up…and then see the consternation of those on this board as they scratch their collective heads (after crowing for months how they will destroy them in the election of course 😉 ) and fall back on how dumb the American electorate is, blah blah blah. Hell…if BUSH could friggin win, McCain/Rice don’t even need to show up. Just move right from the Republican nomination to the WH. Why go through all that other pain?? 😛 Myself, I think I’m going to find and even less likely candidate than Badnarik for the next election…maybe The Mickey Mouse Club will be running someone. -XT ---
**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:** [October 3, 2005, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/47 "2005-10-03T03:22:26Z")
McCain/Rice is the dream team for the Republicans in '08. It will be funny to see them (if it happens) destroy whatever same ole same ole the Dem’s serve up…and then see the consternation of those on this board as they scratch their collective heads (after crowing for months how they will destroy them in the election of course 😉 ) and fall back on how dumb the American electorate is, blah blah blah. Hell…if BUSH could friggin win, McCain/Rice don’t even need to show up. Just move right from the Republican nomination to the WH. Why go through all that other pain?? 😛 Myself, I think I’m going to find and even less likely candidate than Badnarik for the next election…maybe The Mickey Mouse Club will be running someone. -XT ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/48 "2005-10-03T03:27:35Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > You’re kidding, right? Savage couldn’t get elected dogcatcher. In spite of his claims his listening audience is a very small proportion of the electorate. He couldn’t even carry his home city of San Francisco. > > I couldn’t think of a poorer candidate if I tried. Gosh, I could think of many poorer candidates: Rafael Palmiero Carrot Top Michael Jackson LaToya Jackson Omarosa Stallworth ---
**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:** [October 3, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/49 "2005-10-03T03:28:12Z")
McCain/Rice is the dream team for the Republicans in '08. It will be funny to see them (if it happens) destroy whatever same ole same ole the Dem’s serve up…and then see the consternation of those on this board as they scratch their collective heads (after crowing for months how they will destroy them in the election of course 😉 ) and fall back on how dumb the American electorate is, blah blah blah. Hell…if BUSH could friggin win, McCain/Rice don’t even need to show up. Just move right from the Republican nomination to the WH. Why go through all that other pain?? 😛 Myself, I think I’m going to find and even less likely candidate than Badnarik for the next election…maybe The Mickey Mouse Club will be running someone. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/50 "2005-10-03T03:41:17Z")
That’s right, **xtisme** , just keep saying it and maybe it’ll come true. 😉 I would probably vote for McCain with a different veep on the ticket but Rice would repel me. She’s too tainted by Bush for Dems to vote a ticket with her on it. Like I said, trying to simplify Rice into her demographics is a huge mistake. Black people and women are not so stupid that they would reflexively vote for Rice for such shallow reasons. She has no credibility with anyone left of center. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/51 "2005-10-03T03:56:08Z")
Best shot, Giuliani. Dream candidate, Condi. Her only real known deficiency is not having held elective office yet. But the suggestion of a ticket with Rice as VP is intriguing. Then Condi for Pres in 2016 or even 2012. > [@Otto](#): > > I think they should nominate Satan. You know, cut out the middleman. Nah. We don’t copy Democratic strategy. > [@](#): > > And she’s vulnerable on … Katrina (a couple of well-placed “she bought shoes while New Orleans sank” ads and she loses the Gulf Coast states)… If Kerry can get barbequed over his Vietnam service while facing an opponent with Bush’s military, um, service, then I can certainly see the image of Condi’s shoe shopping damaging her. There is so much wrong with this it’s hard to know where to start. I’ll just keep it short. She’s the Secretary of State with ZERO involvement in disaster recovery. No one in their right mind would compare that to questions about Kerry’s Vietnam service and his later major involvement in the anti-war movement. And no one in their right mind would think that would influence voters. The leading Dems, at least, are not that stupid. > [@](#): > > staggeringly hypocritical attitude of those morally bankrupt Republicans …if you want to wear yourself out like a mange-ridden dog on a dessicated bone … now that this thread has been moved to the Heart of Darkness I may not even be back. No comment necessary. > [@Poonther](#): > > Everyone knows that Condi is packing a big white dong of hatred under her clothes. Ah, projection. Along with some wishful thinking, perhaps? > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > What does she have going for her besides melanin and genitalia? Racism **and** sexism? Wow. > [@](#): > > Or is it essentially a desire to see the Dems writhe that drives that speculation, in the face of her direct denials at that? That’s not my reason for wishing she’d run, desperate though you are to convince yourself of it. It’s a totally unexpected bonus to see Democrats expose their previously well-hidden seamier sides, at complete odds with their usual presentation. It’s very revealing and, I confess, sometimes very, very amusing. Kind of like seeing a very self-important, well-dressed person trip and fall face down into a pile of really fresh manure. And anyone who thinks we’ll listen to Democrats’ advice on who a good Republican candidate will be is definitely not in the “reality-based community”. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/52 "2005-10-03T03:59:43Z")
Republicans shouldn’t try to play the race card. It makes people snicker. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/53 "2005-10-03T04:02:16Z")
> [@rowrbazzle](#): > > And anyone who thinks we’ll listen to Democrats’ advice on who a good Republican candidate will be is definitely not in the “reality-based community”. Who thought that was a possibility? You definitely missed some humor in the posts you quoted, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/54 "2005-10-03T04:02:49Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > McCain/Rice is the dream team for the Republicans in '08… -XT For 20 minutes with a 1920’s style “Death Ray” by Duran Duran. I can’t see Condi pulling any vote. She’s one smart and hardworking woman but she’s not personable or warm. I don’t see Dems dropping party affiliation to vote for her because she’s a black female and I don’t see many republicans voting for her in spite of it. And the shoe shoppng while New Orleans sank will stick to her. It definitely won’t pull any southern black vote her way. She’d be a liability to McCain. McCain, on the other hand…Yes, he’s a little old for a run, but that’s what they said about Reagan in 1980. I know plenty of moderate Democrats (my self included) who like McCain. I think however that W’s administration has angered and polarized democrats (much like Clinton’s administration did to Republicans) and many of them will refuse to vote for a republican on princilple. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/55 "2005-10-03T04:07:19Z")
To really pull Democrat and liberal votes, though, mcCain would have to make some kind of real effort to repudiate the Bush administration. If he sucks up to it or apologizes for it, he won’t be trusted. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/56 "2005-10-03T04:11:46Z")
> [@BMax](#): > > I know plenty of moderate Democrats (my self included) who like McCain. I think however that W’s administration has angered and polarized democrats (much like Clinton’s administration did to Republicans) and many of them will refuse to vote for a republican on princilple. I know plenty of them, too. I do think that when they see McCain as a candidate with opinions on all the issues, instead of as a straight-talking gadfly type, many will change their minds. I don’t know how many Democratic votes a pro-life Republican will pull, for example. ---
**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:** [October 3, 2005, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/57 "2005-10-03T04:23:50Z")
Wow…sorry everyone about the tripple post. No idea whats up with the server tonight. ☹ -XT ---
**Author:** ![Cronos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Cronos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cronos1)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/58 "2005-10-03T04:54:39Z")
Gee, I am surprised no one has mentioned Sen. Rick Santorum. He certainly would rally the religious base of the GOP. It would have the added benefit of throwing the liberals into a tizzy. And if wins, most would recall GWB’s presidency as the “good ol’ days.” Yup, I’d say Santorum-De Lay ticket would beat the crap out of any sissy, weak on defense, soft on crime, flip flopper, godless, hedonist Democrat ticket. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/59 "2005-10-03T04:57:57Z")
It kinda depends on who’s still out of prison, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Cronos1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@Cronos1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cronos1)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2005, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407/60 "2005-10-03T05:20:44Z")
> [@Pochacco](#): > > It kinda depends on who’s still out of prison, doesn’t it? Yes, I am assuming ‘The Hammer’ will beat the rap and that Ronnie Earle will have moved to France. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-you-pick-as-the-republican-nominee-in-08/324407.md?page=4)