BY Jack Lee
As of 20 May, 2011, the following names are either declared GOP candidates or are likely to seek a presidential bid. They are listed in order of greatest potential and popularity (based on my research). Here are the top candidates so far:
- Gov. Mitt Romney
- Amb. Jon Huntsman Jr
- Gen. David Petraeus
- Rep. Ron Paul
- Gov. Mitch Daniels
- Rep. Newt Gingrich
- Gov. Rick Perry
- Rep. Michele Bachmann
- Gov. Jeb Bush
- Gov. Tim Pawlenty
- Sen. Rick Santorum
- Mark Sanford
- Rep. Paul Ryan
- CEO Herman Cain
- Gov. Sarah Palin
- Gov. Chris Christie
- Gov. Gary Johnson
18. None of the above. (Only kidding)
My choice is a tie between Chris Christie and Rick Perry. Want a governor that knows how to run one of the 50 united states that is required to have a balanced budget. Both of them have an excellent record for their states.
Sarah Palin will run for in 2012, and no one will be able to stop her. Read the writing on the wall. Who is the most hated, and most attacked person by the MSM, Obama admi9nistration, Democrats, Hollywood, Music industry, and yes even those inside the beltway established Republicans are afraid of her.
The one they attack the most is the one they are afraid of, and when she announces, it will be a whole new game. Obama, your time is up!
Go Sarah go!
Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin,
Oh, did I mention that I am a huge Palin supporter? Well just in case you missed it I support Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin, Palin.
What a field! How was the order decided, Jack?
Jim,
I hate to burst your bubble, but your opinion on Sarah Palin’s electability is far outside the mainstream; most on the both the left and right do not view her as a viable candidate for president, and for good reason. She’s a divider who quit her post as governor halfway through, a serial liar on important national issues, and is far too sensitive to criticism to ever be considered presidential. She’s revealed herself as a complete narcissist who makes herself the victim in every situation. McCain’s choice of Palin for running mate is very likely what cost him the election in 2008, and despite the public’s disappointment in Obama, Palin would certainly cost Republicans again if she were to win the nomination–which she won’t, because Republicans aren’t that stupid. Liberals would love nothing more than a Palin run in 2012, because it would ensure Obama a second term and provide hours of comedy along the way.
My prediction: none of the people on this list will ever be president. Romney was the first to implement the individual mandate that “Obamacare” is based on, which Republicans now say is unconstitutional and socialist, despite inventing it in the 90s. He and Pawlenty are both huge flip-floppers, as is Gingrich, whose campaign is already suffering huge embarrassment due to many factors, including his aggressive critiques on Ryan’s budget plan. He later tried to walk back these critiques by making the absurd statement, “Any ad which quotes what I said Sunday is a lie.” Most of these people have a lot of absurd statements under their belt, most notable Bachmann, who is basically Palin without the burden of the general public knowing who she is. Ron Paul is a libertarian, and Jeb Bush is a Bush, and those traits alone make them both unelectable. Perry is far too divisive a figure, and Bolton’s mustache is creepy. If you look at the reaction on the left to these people, we’re basically saying “This is all you got?” Maybe that will change later on in the game, but for now, this list is unimpressive.
Chris’s opinion must be taken within the utterly hilarious Obama context. The left chose this inadequate, inept, inexperienced crowd pleasing community organizer and now they think they have some ground to strand on to criticize!
Give me a break.
All of the candidates above could “govern” circles around Obama…all actually have executive and/or foreign policy experience and grounding.
It was sort of my personal opinion influenced by some of my favorite pundits…hardly scientific, but it’s starting point for debate. And that’s all it was intended to be.
Thanks Jack…I was just curious.
Got a hot date so I’m outta here. Have fun kids. Don’t fight!
It is too early to really get fired up about any one candidate but I like what I have read about Michele Bachmann. The MSM and Left seem to really hate her so that is a huge plus. Like I said its early yet and I am having too much fun watching Obama flounder around.
Okay Tina have fun on your date.
The Republicans will give us the same man they gave us in ’08: Barack Obama.
Of course, they will also nominate someone to carry the “Official” Republican banner. Last time it was McCain.
One thing is certain. In December 2012, the “Official” candidate will get a medal–much as Bob Dole did.
Please Sirs, if I may ask;
If You could be paid from Your jobs in a money that You could go to a bank and get a true silver coin *quarters, half dollars, etc* or even small dime sized gold coins*
OR
You could get paid from your job with a money which was made of non silver or gold, *inferior metals such as tin alloy’s etc*
Which would You prefer to receive?
I bet allot of business who are overseas at the moment would agree with You.
Please, Ron Paul for 2012
Thank You America
I like Bolton, He is just a no nonsense guy, certainly not wishy washy like many listed.
Palin? I don’t think so, I like her however but would prefer she keep doing what she is doing or run for congress, not the presidency.
Tina, it wasn’t just “the left” that chose President Obama; the majority of the country did. And we did this because we liked his promises and proposals more than those of his opponent’s. Bush fatigue also had quite a lot to do with it; I don’t think Obama fatigue has quite gotten to that point yet among the general public.
Toby, if you think Palin has been portrayed unfairly in the mainstream media (y’know, with all those tough gotcha journalism questions, like “Name a newspaper”), then I can see why you’d consider that a “plus” for personal reasons. But do you think it’s also a plus when it comes to whether Palin can actually get elected president in 2012?
Of the above, Petraeus is the only one I could see winning against Obama, but from what I’ve heard it’s unlikely he’ll run.
Mr. Washington, most people do not care about getting paid in gold coins, which is one of many reasons Ron Paul will never be president.
Chris: “it wasn’t just “the left” that chose President Obama; the majority of the country did.”
I meant as their candidate. The left not only chose this guy, they fell in love…puppy love! They refused to vet him, they covered for his mistakes, they viciously attacked and dug for dirt on his opponent (Hillary) and later his contender(s) (Palin). The media gushed like teenagers…had tingling leg moments…OMG…it was a spectacle not a campaign.
When someone promises all things to all people what’s not to like? This is the first sign of an inexperienced, inadequate candidate and should have been a first clue.
Some of that Bush fatigue was due to relentless media treatment that was the exact opposite of what Obama received. Go back and look at how the media reported Bush’s bad economy and compare to what they do with Obamas now. Only a left president would enjoy such good spin on the terrible consitions we are now experiencing. Unemployment numbers are always put in hopeful terms. The economy is always improving…we’re making progress.
Geeez. On the campaign trail the President alluded to 57 states and nothing was said. But Palin’s every word was measured and cut to shreds. Disgusted? Yes…yes I am! But that’s politics. You keep on keepin on until we fall into the abyss.
So far so good.
Chris, I said nothing about Palin in my post. What are you talking about? Second, before Obama was elected the Left called your choice for a republican candidate General Betray Us. What has changed?
For the Ron Paul supporters and those considering supporting him here is an article worth reading.
By David Bahnsen
“My challenge to Ron Paul and his benign followers is this: Come out and tell us if you agree with Lew Rockwell that the Constitution is a flawed document which invites statism. Tell us if you believe that the Winston Churchill statue at Hillsdale College is a travesty. Tell us if Abe Lincoln, FDR, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush are warmongers. I already know you believe all of this. And I am ready to engage that discussion.”
http://www.redcounty.com/content/lover-constitution-how-well-do-you-know-ron-pauls-muse
Peggy that’s a good article, thanks for sharing it. The author expresses the same concerns that I’ve had about Paul…but with greater specifics.
Just goes to show we have a lot of work ahead in picking our candidate.
Sorry, Toby, I got her mixed up with Bachmann. An understandable mistake! 😉
As for Petraeus, I’m only going off of what I know about the man; I don’t claim to speak for the left.
Chris, you should work on your reading comprehension. Maybe we should start using pictures and smaller words to help you out.
I am reading more about Herman Cain and like what I am reading. Looking forward to seeing Obama digging up dirt on Cain.
Chris seeing how you are easily confused, Herman Cain is a black guy with tons of business experience. I only mention him being black because white people seem to trip you up.
Toby, I like Herman too. I would just as soon vote for him as any of the others I see out there right now. Tim Pawlinty is starting to gain some traction…watch him, he could be a serious contender.
Chris, did you graduate this year?
Toby, very witty. I know who Herman Cain is. He’s a paranoid, Islamophobic moron, and his bigoted statements clearly show that he will not be able to follow the constitution and lead all Americans as president.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDXCwd65R5o
KEYES: You came under a bit of controversy this week for some of the comments made about Muslims in general. Would you be comfortable appointing a Muslim, either in your cabinet or as a federal judge?
CAIN: No, I will not.
Jack, nope, I’ve got either another semester or another year, depending on whether I passed chemistry! Thanks for asking.
Chris your assessment is grossly in error and you know that. Cain was expressing caution at a time when there are enemies to our state who might find infliltration of our government a viable tactic in the war as they define it. It was a typical set up question…I’m sure he learned from the experience. No liberal candidatew or representative of the people would ever be asked such a question.
Neil Cavuto interviewed Herman Cain the day after those comments and he took the opportunity to clarify his position:
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/your-world-cavuto/transcript/herman-cain-defends-controversial-muslim-comments
He’s not a bigot…he’s honest and willing to tell the truth about his concerns about the enemy we face/ But you keep playing the racew card Chris. It’s about all your side knows how to do. You won’t discuss the issue or even consider the danger and how to handle it.
Plain spoken and honest, yes. Bigoted or racist…NO!
I’d take Herman Cain over the man in the WH in a heartbeat. He is clearly able to see the enemy (not all Muslims) for what it is and make decisions in full awareness that you can’t drop your guard completely just for political correctness. I appreciate his candor.
Obama in contrast doesn’t seem to realize that it isn’t Israel that can’t live in peace. He condescendingly treats the Israelis and Palestinians as a parent would when dealing with a couple of unruly kids. Israel is the older child so he sternly expects Israel to make all the sacrifices. This idiotic position denies the alignmnet with terrorist elements, the Palestinian refusal to acknowledge that Israel has a right to exist, the fact that Palestinian children are still taught to hate Jews, and the countless agreements that Palestinian leaders have refused to accept. It also denies the history of Israel as a state where Palestinians can and do live free and participate in government and society.
It would not be hard to make the case that Obama harbors covert, unreasonable bigotry toward Jews but that would be unproductive and stupid…just like your ugly, careless marginalizing of Herman Cain over a single statement is.
Tina,
Let’s look at how Cain has handled this whole fiasco.
First, his initial response to the question. Even if he had done everything he could to distance himself from his initial remarks after the fact (which he absolutely hasn’t; nor has he shown any sign of acknowledgment that they were wrong), that wouldn’t change the fact that his gut instinct upon being asked if he would hire a Muslim to his cabinet was to say, “No, I will not.” You simply can’t get a more obvious sign of bigotry than that, Tina. Nor can you get a more obvious sign of someone who isn’t prepared for the obligations of the presidency. Any halfway skilled politician–hell, any halfway intelligent human being–would have instantly answered that question by saying something like, “I will hire the most qualified person for the job, regardless of religion.” If Cain doesn’t have the common sense necessary to give such a simple and obvious answer, I don’t know how you expect him to lead our nation.
And if such an easy question was really a “setup,” as you claim, then Cain is one of the dumbest people on the planet for falling for it.
The most you can say for Cain is, at least he was honest that his gut instinct was to violate the Constitution and employ a religious test for his cabinet members if he were to be president. I’m glad he doesn’t have the sense necessary for him to lie; it means he won’t have a chance at winning any kind of election, and he won’t be able to use a position as president to discriminate against one of the fastest growing segments of our population.
As for Cain’s “opportunity to clarify his position,” he should have taken that opportunity to apologize. His initial remarks were bigoted; no honest person could deny this. Though it wouldn’t have made up for his initial reaction, the decent thing to do would be to say, without being prompted, that his remarks were wrong and that they do not represent his full opinion on the subject, and that he absolutely would hire the most qualified person for the job regardless of religion. He didn’t do this. As the transcript you posted shows, Cain started out by doubling down on his initial remarks. It was only after being prompted by Cavuto that he conceded he might consider a Muslim under the right circumstances. Not once did he apologize, not even a half-hearted, “I’m sorry if I offended anyone” apology. In fact, he blamed those who took offense to his comments for being “PC”–because, apparently, getting angry over a presidential candidate saying they will violate the Constitution is just something us elitist liberals do.
So, to recap: He’s a bigot who doesn’t even try to hide or apologize for this fact, and he doesn’t have the political savvy, common sense, or ability to think under pressure that God gave Sarah Palin.
At this point, I don’t know why I should be surprised that you are actually saying “Yes, I want to be led by this man.” But still I am surprised.
“No liberal candidatew or representative of the people would ever be asked such a question.”
And the logical reason for that is that no liberal candidate has the same history of Islamaphobic statements that Cain and many on the right do.
Also, you’ve got some nerve accusing me of playing the “race card” when I didn’t bring up race, and when you are a devoted fan of the worst race-baiter on the airwaves, Rush Limbaugh.
His latest verbal dump:
“Jewish people, it seems to me, have long memories about everything except Democrats. The same thing with blacks.”
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201105240032
I’d ask you to admit that this is an example of racist rhetoric, but I know better by now; instead I’ll just wait for your explanation of how this latest statement, like all the others, isn’t actually racist; your explanation will surely be creative and result from a lot of hard work, even if it will not likely be honest.
Also, this:
“He’s not a bigot…he’s honest and willing to tell the truth about his concerns about the enemy we face…You won’t discuss the issue or even consider the danger and how to handle it.”
Is 100% whole grain bull$h!+.
If you’re talking about the issue of radical Islam, of course I have acknowledged this threat. I have also proposed some ways that I think it could be dealt with, which you have rejected. For example, I think Imam Rauf’s efforts to reach out to moderate Muslims in high profile campaigns to promote peace within the religion is a great idea. President Bush’s administration apparently agreed, since they helped him start these campaigns. Yet now you and others on the right are rejecting Rauf and sabotaging his efforts.
But if the issue you’re referring to is the non-existent threat of radical Muslims infiltrating the cabinet of the President of the United States in order to replace our constitution with sharia law, then you’re right; I refuse to acknowledge such a silly, never-gonna-happen conspiracy theory as anything other than senseless fear-mongering–the new national pastime of the GOP.
“Yet now you and others on the right are rejecting Rauf and sabotaging his efforts.”
Sure…having and expressing honest concerns about things HE HAS SAID AND DONE…and asking the man to consider a different location out of respect for the 911 victims is “sabotaging his efforts”. You are delusional and rediculously defensive.
“I refuse to acknowledge such a silly, never-gonna-happen conspiracy theory as anything other than senseless fear-mongering–the new national pastime of the GOP.”
Then you are a naive little fool and have failed to learn the lessons of history. If yiou keep going you might learn to be a usefull idiot as well. Blindly following what someone tells you is not a smart way to live, I don’t care who you’re talking about.
I repeat…can you think outside the PC bigotry box?
Tina: “Sure…having and expressing honest concerns about things HE HAS SAID AND DONE…”
Many of these concerns were not honest. For example, one of the things Rauf said that you and others took issue with was that the U.S. played a small part in creating the conditions that led to the 9/11 terror attacks. He made it clear that the U.S. did not deserve such a horrendous attack, yet you and others used this statement to smear him as a radical Islamist. Glenn Beck also attempted this smear, even though a couple years before Beck himself had said the exact same thing. This fact went ignored by your side, because if you were to be completely honest you’d have to either give up this line of attack or conclude that Glenn Beck is also secretly a radical Islamist.
Just one of many examples.
“Then you are a naive little fool and have failed to learn the lessons of history.”
Tell me, Tina, what “lessons of history” are informing your belief that the president’s cabinet is susceptible to being infiltrated by radical Islamists, and that our constitutional protections are so weak that oppression by Sharia law might be just around the corner?
To me, that sounds less like “lessons of history” and more like “delusions stemming from prescription drug abuse,” but then, I’m just a useful idiot so what do I know?
“I repeat…can you think outside the PC bigotry box?”
That question isn’t going to magically make sense of itself through repetition, Tina.
Yet more evidence that Cain is not familiar with the Constitution:
“We dont need to rewrite the Constitution of the United States,” Cain said. “We need to reread the Constitution and enforce the Constitution.”
“And I know that theres some people that are not going to do that. So, for the benefit for those that are not going to read it because they dont want us to go by the Constitution, theres a little section in there that talks about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
“You know, those ideals that we live by, we believe in, your parents believe in, they instilled in you. When you get to the part about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, dont stop right there, keep reading.
“Cause thats when it says that when any form of government becomes destructive of those ideals, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it. Weve got some altering and some abolishing to do.”
http://politifact.com/georgia/statements/2011/may/25/herman-cain/cain-mistakes-declaration-independence-language-co/
Mixing up the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution might be a forgivable slip…if he weren’t in the middle of lecturing the rest of us about not knowing the Constitution well enough!
Politifact has rated six of Cain’s statements so far. Only one was rated mostly true, one half true, three false, and his incendiary claim that Planned Parenthood’s original goal was to “kill black babies before they came into the world” was given a Pants on Fire rating.
The guy’s not only a bigot, he’s also a liar and a moron.
Do you really want to go down this road, Chris? I can go find all of the moronic things Obama has said and done that the media and fawning left ignores if you want. And how ’bout Joe Biden…Al Gore? I assure you there is a lot of ammo out there.
The latest on the President I was going to ignore but you had to play the smaret assed smarmy leftist game so it will post soon. In the mean time, just yesterday Obama didn’t know what YEAR it was. He wrote the date and 2008 on an official guest book.
Tina, there’s a big difference between slips of the tongue, which all politicians make from time to time, and getting such a huge fact wrong while masquerading as an expert.
President Obama obviously knows that the year is 2011, and that there are not 57 states. I’m sure George Bush never intended to put food on our families. These sort of slips are good for a laugh, but they don’t really represent what the men actually believe. In Cain’s case, he seems to genuinely not know that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” is not in the Constitution. Like I said, if he hadn’t been in the middle of lecturing the rest of us on how ignorant we are of the Constitution, this wouldn’t be that big of a deal. But given this, and his previous admission that he would violate the Constitution due to his personal prejudices (something for which he has yet to express the slightest self-awareness of), it seems very likely that Cain does not understand the Constitution at all.
There’s another person who has been willing to pass himself off as an expert on the constitution. His fawning public supporters and partisan hack promoters never fail to admonish that “he taught constitutional law”…an overblown claim but still.
This marks a twofer…and on the same day…check the video, which I am happy to post momentarily!
I seemed to have veered this conversation far off from my original point. I wonder, Tina, if we can agree one at least one thing:
Cain’s original comments in the video I posted were discriminatory and wrong, and he should not have said them.
Can you at least agree with this?