2012 GOP Presidential Nominee

[wmw999 2,149]

While we might not agree on which candidates have the appropriate experience , I tend to agree that real experience is good. A one-term senator doesn't have enough experience; I would have liked to have seen at least 4 more years of experience. From what I've heard from my brother (who lives in Illinois), Obama is very, very smart; I'll vote for the smart guy nearly every time. It's not all teleprompter by any stretch of the imagination.

I happen to agree there are plenty of qualified conservative women (besides the ones who've gotten the most press recently , mostly for being too-far-out), and it'd be nice to see them run, or have been put up as VP selection. Sarah Palin cost John McCain a lot of people's consideration (mine, certainly). It was a strong signal to me at least that he wouldn't be his own man as President.

That brash assertion of "whatever I already know is enough" mentality is not adequate for a job that requires reacting to realtime situations, and balancing the conflicting needs of constituents. Frankly, most elective jobs mean representing all of the constituents, not just the ones that the legislator agrees with.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[quade 3]

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Claiming that these people did not have the leadership abilities to be president is a bit of a stretch IMO.

Right. For instance, Reagan wasn't just an actor; he was also a union boss.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[wmw999 2,149]

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didn't you get the memo.. he was only a community organizer.

And he's black, and his middle name is Hussein

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[skyrider 0]

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I still think Mitt Romney is the one with this leadership experience and not someone Hollywood could easily exploit.

Man, you really give Hollywood a lot of credit for making and breaking things. Hollywood doesn't even have a cohesive voice, let alone one that can significantly alter the course of an election.

FFS, they can't even get people to go to theaters.

Then why did Odumbo have so much Hollywood support when he ran?

They may not make a difference to thinking people, but , "joe crotch scratcher believes" in them!

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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So veterans, actors, lawyers etc - would be out?

- Veterans? Depending on the veteran, I would assume they would make excellent leadership candidates. There are a number of Canadian military veterans (yeah I know it's hard to imagine we have them) who possess excellent leadership skills.

- Actors? ROFLMAO ... Arnold? Jessie Ventura? Were they really that good? Depending on your views, Reagan was either an anomaly with his leadership skills or he was just "El Diablo" to all those who strive for a communist/socialist society. No in most cases I don't view actors as the Gods some people view them as. But I have already stated my contempt for most (not all) of Hollywood's work.

- Lawyers? Yikes ... one only needs to look at how bad Canadian politics has become to realize the vast majority of our politicians are lawyers. NOOOOOOOOOO ... lawyers are the worst!!! "First thing we must do is kill all the lawyers".

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[quade 3]

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"First thing we must do is kill all the lawyers".

Wait, I thought you didn't like taking advice from theatrical types? You do realize who said that; right?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Amazon 7]

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Claiming that these people did not have the leadership abilities to be president is a bit of a stretch IMO.

Right. For instance, Reagan wasn't just an actor; he was also a union boss.

I had some moron here at work trot out the Obama is a Marxist crap yesterday..... I seem to remember Reagan knowing and cavorting with a few commies in his union days.

Said moron did not believe Ronnie RayGun was a union guy

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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I think there are many valid arguments to be made against Obama. Idiocy, however, is not one of them. I mean come on, a respectable academic background and full sentences made from words one can actually find in the dictionary are at least a nice start.

Are you sure those are his words? because look what happens when his teleprompter fails:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omHUsRTYFAU

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[masterrig 1]

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Palin .. WTF are you people on? For fuck sake get real.

...but ...but... she can see Russia from her house!


Chuck

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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Wait, I thought you didn't like taking advice from theatrical types? You do realize who said that; right?

Yes William Shakespeare and there is a major difference between him an the modern day Hollywood elites who seek to socially engineer society through their work.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[dgskydive 0]

Not many votes.....but Palin? Really?

She quit on Alaska and people think that she would be a good President? Ugh.

Hell she couldn't even mange to keep her commitment and attend DWTS to support her daughter.

Dom

[quade 3]

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Claiming that these people did not have the leadership abilities to be president is a bit of a stretch IMO.

Right. For instance, Reagan wasn't just an actor; he was also a union boss.

I had some moron here at work trot out the Obama is a Marxist crap yesterday..... I seem to remember Reagan knowing and cavorting with a few commies in his union days.

Said moron did not believe Ronnie RayGun was a union guy

Not only was he a union boss, he ratted out his fellow workers during the HUAC trials.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[wmw999 2,149]

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Hollywood elites who seek to socially engineer society through their work

What makes them different from corporate elites who seek to engineer society through their money?

Isn't that what a lot of the PAC's are all about?

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[billvon 2,435]

>- Veterans? Depending on the veteran, I would assume they would
>make excellent leadership candidates.

Agreed - although some veterans are scary indeed.

>- Actors? ROFLMAO ... Arnold? Jessie Ventura? Were they really that good?

Schwarzenegger started out like a bull in a china shop, but ended up being a decent governor. Reagan was a scary guy at first, but ended up doing a reasonable job overall (and perhaps most importantly managed to not start World War III.) By all indications Eastwood was a pretty good mayor.

>Lawyers? Yikes .. lawyers are the worst!!!

And yet Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Adlai Stevenson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams became some of our best presidents/vice presidents.

Perhaps the lesson from this is that it is the person and not their title that's important.

[quade 3]

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Wait, I thought you didn't like taking advice from theatrical types? You do realize who said that; right?

Yes William Shakespeare and there is a major difference between him an the modern day Hollywood elites who seek to socially engineer society through their work.

I see you know as much about theatrical history as you do everything else.

(cough)

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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Perhaps the lesson from this is that it is the person and not their title that's important.

Okay fundamentally I am having a hard time disagreeing with this, so let's try to get back on track with this thread. This thread is not about Obama (there are plenty of other threads for this topic). No this thread should be about who the 2012 GOP Presidential Nominee should be. Personally unless they are willing to throw away the election in 2012, I think Palin would be one of the worst people the GOP could pick. As you said earlier, Comedy Central would have a field day with her.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[freethefly 6]

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Seriously guys?

Is it possible to have even one political conversation where Bush isn't somehow blamed?

My biggest problem with Obama is Bush. Obama fans always want to compare him to Bush. Bush is gone, out, never ran against him, never intended to, couldn't if he wanted to, GONE.

Everything during the 08 election was antibush...which was amusing for the above reasons. Every problem post 08 election has been Bush's fault. Now we have had another election...and it's still all Bush's fault?

Really?

I wonder why nothing in this country is changing.

No need to worry...

"...And once you're gone, you can't come back
When you're out of the blue and into the black."
Neil Young

[CanuckInUSA 0]

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I see you know as much about theatrical history as you do everything else.

Just because I dislike Hollywood does not give moderators the right to throw personal attacks at others here. I may not be the sharpest pencil in the box, but contrary to your accusation, I am not dull.

Try not to worry about the things you have no control over

[Amazon 7]

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Claiming that these people did not have the leadership abilities to be president is a bit of a stretch IMO.

Right. For instance, Reagan wasn't just an actor; he was also a union boss.

I had some moron here at work trot out the Obama is a Marxist crap yesterday..... I seem to remember Reagan knowing and cavorting with a few commies in his union days.

Said moron did not believe Ronnie RayGun was a union guy

Not only was he a union boss, he ratted out his fellow workers during the HUAC trials.

Oh that was ok to tell as long as you were a McCarthist sympathizer. Hell I bet the modern GOP would welcome him with open arms... fellow travellers and all. Fuck.. they would probably groom him to be their new Fuehrer.

[billvon 2,435]

>I think Palin would be one of the worst people the GOP could pick.

Well, she's currently #2. Romney is #1, but I don't think he's electable. The right depends heavily on Christian fundamentalists, and they aren't likely to rally behind a Mormon candidate. Palin is popular and many people think she's hot - and that is a very big deal to some people.

If you mean "who would make the best president" I'd go with Ron Paul, but he is far less likely to win than either of the above. A libertarian President, democratic Senate and republican House would be a very interesting combination.

[SivaGanesha 2]

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Well you know it has already started, so who should be the GOP's 2012 Presidential Nominee?...

Actually don't the candidates usually declare themselves in January of the year before the election--in this case it would be Jan 2011?

I'm waiting to see how the Alaska Senate race turns out before forming an opinion on Sarah Palin. Right now the Alaska race seems to have become a real mess largely of Sarah Palin's making, but maybe something will shake out in the next 8 weeks that will prove Palin to actually be an inspired mad genius

"It's hard to have fun at 4-way unless your whole team gets down to the ground safely to do it again!"--Northern California Skydiving League re USPA Safety Day, March 8, 2014

[kelpdiver 2]

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Claiming that these people did not have the leadership abilities to be president is a bit of a stretch IMO.

Right. For instance, Reagan wasn't just an actor; he was also a union boss.

Err, was governor of California too.


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Palin only gets the bid if the GOP doesn't think they have a shot at winning. That's how we got Dole in 96. Certainly no slouch, it would be unkind to compare him to her, but he was not presidential.

Since it seems pretty clear that 2012 will be a contestable election, it will be someone else. The tendency of the GOP primaries to be winner take all hurts Palin - she'd have a better shot with the Democrat's approach where she could get 20-30% of the delegates in the big states, and more in the smaller states.

Romney had his shot and lost. It looks like his high water mark. Their most viable candidate will be someone that emerges from the 2011 Congressional session. If they can make legislative progress and show some leadership, that's the candidate that can win. I venture we're done with governors for a bit.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Actually don't the candidates usually declare themselves in January of the year before the election--in this case it would be Jan 2011?

typically, no. But would be candidates start popping up in Iowa like crazy.

[quade 3]

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Actually don't the candidates usually declare themselves in January of the year before the election--in this case it would be Jan 2011?

The trend is to campaign early, sometimes up to two years prior to the actual election, but not officially declare until as late as possible. The reasons are (or at least should be) obvious.

In some people's cases, an official declaration would bump them off their Fox News spots and they'd want to delay that as long as possible. Right now that applies to (if I've counted this right) four potential Republican candidates.

It will be "interesting" to see how all of that shakes out when people do go through the process of officially declaring.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[Amazon 7]

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Actually don't the candidates usually declare themselves in January of the year before the election--in this case it would be Jan 2011?

The trend is to campaign early, sometimes up to two years prior to the actual election, but not officially declare until as late as possible. The reasons are should be obvious.

In some people's cases, an official declaration would bump them off their Fox News spots and they'd want to delay that as long as possible. Right now that applies to (if I've counted this right) four potential Republican candidates.

It will be "interesting" to see how all of that shakes out when people do go through the process of officially declaring.

I wonder if they could all just stay on if FAUX NEWS just fessed up to being the Information agency of the GOP (Grand Olde Pravda )