Certainly Newters and Bible Spice are both disasters waiting to happen in 2012. I think Newters will come to the realization that he's basically McCain without the occasional bouts of sanity and with even more moral failings to trip over (calling your wife the c-word is nothing in comparison to dropping the divorce papers on your cancer-stricken wife's bed in the hospital with your mistress on your arm).
Caribou Barbie is going to run, and she'll almost certainly be facing off against Multiple-Choice Mittens. It's going to be comedy gold. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
But any signs of who the phoenix might be who arises from the smouldering wreckage of "republican carscrash 2012" and leads them into 2016 ? keep to the Fen Causeway
I'm not even going to think about 2012. I think any Dem who's thinking in terms of a permanent Democratic majority is deluding themselves, but it's going to be at least a couple of unusually interesting years before the dust settles and we can see how well Obama is doing, and how organised and coherent the opposition is going to be.
If Obama is looking even slightly vulnerable in 2012, don't be surprised if Clinton runs against him and destroys the party.
No civil war brewing over Lieberman. Only 12 of our people had our backs. Leahy and Sanders, obviously, and probably that guy from one of the Dakotas. But even Kerry and Durbin fucked us. Dodd fucked us. I'm sure Feingold fucked us, since he's all about his little group of campaign-finance buddies (even when they break the law like his bestest buddy St John). Then obviously Bayh, Warner, etc, will all fuck us. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
The real contender (if Republicans actually want one) turns out to be Huckabee.. The longest lasting contender to McCain.... Who, just incidentally, has spent the last 8 months writing a book about..... the future of the Republican party..... (Can you say......."Perfect timing"?) All: "Perfect timing...." TIME covers it, _you can get a brief synopsis here) but in Huckabee the Republicans have something every other candidate lacked... A human being who listens to people, thinks through his argument, and responds with a real answer... maybe not the one you wanted to hear... but you know its real and you know that is what he will do....
TIME covers it, _you can get a brief synopsis here) but in Huckabee the Republicans have something every other candidate lacked... A human being who listens to people, thinks through his argument, and responds with a real answer... maybe not the one you wanted to hear... but you know its real and you know that is what he will do....
Huckabee is a whole human being with excellent "people" skills. He is a fundamentalist and he calls out the self anointed leaders of the religious right on grounds that will resonate with that base. The question that remains is whether he can move to the center sufficiently to broaden his appeal without alienating his base. He will be helped in this in that he is and will be perceived to be a genuine believer. That will give the base a comfort level with him that will allow him to better position himself for a general election than McCain ever enjoyed. He could be for real. Sort of a Republican version of Jimmy Carter. If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.
Then I fell off my chair again when the reps didn't kick him out of the party for that. "Ideas or the lack of them can cause disease." - Kurt Vonnegut
2016? Who knows? Assuming for the sake of simplicity that Obama wins a second term, I'd guess Bobby Jindal would be an obvious contender. I don't like his chances, honestly, since he's both Indian and Catholic (brown + wrongcult != GOPnominee) in a party that is almost entirely white and Evangelical. Imagine Alan Keyes and Mitt Romney all rolled into one, and then add exorcisms to his resume. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
As in my not at all impartial dictum:
A conservative is one who sells the mistakes of yesterday as solutions for tomorrow. What conservatives want to conserve is the illusion of a past golden age, so that all the problems that were hidden behind the façades can be ignored. The only thing conservative politicians want to conserve is their power - secured and expanded by all means. The only moral all conservatives follow: forgive the sins of fellow conservatives.
What conservatives want to conserve is the illusion of a past golden age, so that all the problems that were hidden behind the façades can be ignored.
The only thing conservative politicians want to conserve is their power - secured and expanded by all means.
The only moral all conservatives follow: forgive the sins of fellow conservatives.
