A tweet regarding reports that an unnamed senior Republican Senator asserted to ABC News that if Romney cannot win Michigan, “we need a new candidate.” The “we” apparently is the Republican political establishment, and the new candidate according to the Senator is Jeb Bush.
To which Ed Morrissey tweets:
Irish Spy responds, “There is another.” Really, who might that realistically be?
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Romney must now know that if he loses Michigan, he will “die a death of a thousand forks.”
Quick — time for another $5 million in carpet bombs. That’ll do it!
When the time comes (shortly) to write the ignominious epitaph of Romney’s pathetic political non-career it will interesting to get the final tally of money spent, personal fortune squandered and time and human spirit wasted in this quest (“Quixotic” doesn’t quite do it).
political non-career
Hugh Hewitt has nicknamed Barry President Say Anything. I believe the title would apply quite well to his man Mitt should he make it there.
Jeb?
That dog won’t hunt in November. The left’s even longer knives would come out for a Bush45 prospect.
Let’s be clear-
It’s not the man, nor the name that brings out the long knives…
It’s the (R).
That is exactly right, Browndog. That is how the left campaigns. And this current President is vindictive to the point of being evil.
“President is vindictive to the point of being evil.”
Or is he evil to the point of being vindictive…???
Tick-tock.
OR
Tock-tick?
NO
No mo Bushes. Ever.
No Bushes, Roosevelts, Kennedys or Clintons. Ever again.
What can I say? I couldn’t resist quoting Yoda there. 🙂
FTR, much as I like Jeb, I don’t consider him a realistic alternative.
It’s almost as if the GOP establishment doesn’t trust it’s own constituents, and would rather install their own candidate…
….for the good of the country.
It isn’t about R vs. D.
Bush for President
Because the Third Time’s the Charm
Yeah, that’ll work.
It really is too bad that at the Presidential election, there’s not a ‘none of the above’. That way, whoever wins can’t claim a mandate. Let’s be practical: any Establishment will pick someone who’s like them. And all Establishment candidates are more alike to each other, than they are alike to non-Establishment candidates.
In other words – if you want to see a candidate get elected who’s not from either of the existing Establishments, you’ll have to create a new Establishment, and out-organize/out-plan the existing ones. That’s a long-term plan, and the Tea Party members are hostile to (a) organizations and (b) long-term planning and execution.
That’s why the existing Establishments know they can safely write off the Tea Party and the OWSers – leave angry, unorganized mobs alone, and they eventually lose their energy as no results are seen, and disperse.
Sometimes you have to wonder if there are some associations that are forged in Hell.
I wonder if any money passes hands, at all !
In 2010..
The Congressional Black Caucus, irate by what it perceived as lack of support by the White House for the plight of the inner city ‘minority’, demanded action, threatening to pull their support-
They were summarily dismissed-“Where are they going to go? Vote republican?”
In 2011…
The Tea Party Movement, irate at what they perceived as lack of action to reduce government spending by the leadership in the House of Representatives, threatens to pull support for GOP establishment.
They are summarily dismissed-“Where are they going to go? Vote for Obama?”
Jeb Bush? A current backroom leader in the crony club pushing Romney?
Who does everyone think the unnamed Senator was? We know it’s a guy as the writer used he, and lets face it there are no prominent female GOP Senators.
The story also said theguy hasn’t endorsed anyone yet. If you look at the list of Senators who haven’t endorsed yet there aren’t that many prominent ones left.
The story also said that if Romney loses in MI this Senator would publically call for a new candidate to enter the race.
Just using some deduction there aren’t many candidates. I looked at the list and came down ot either Lindsey Graham or Tom Coburn. Graham is more prominent than Coburn, although both of them are faily open in terms of talking.
Graham is loathed by the base so him calling for a new candidate to stop Santorum wouldn’t really have any effect and would only end up helping Rick.
So, my guess would have to be Coburn was the anonymous Senator. He’s conservative enough that his call might be listened to, although even that I doubt.
We are where we are. If Rick wins MI and AZ he’s likely the nominee and I think Romney fades very quickly. If Romney wins both he’s likely the nominee, although it’ll be tougher and I’d expect Newt to rise up for the 3rd time. If there’s a split I give the edge to Rick in a drawn out contest.
As for there being another, who knows. If the GOP really wants to beat Obama, the one guy I think would have a real chance is Colin Powell. I think he’s respected enough and considered centrist enough that he could do it. He endorsed Obama last time so he’d have credibility going against him. He’s black so all the white guilt folks can still vote for him and not feel racist. He could peel away a small % of the black vote from Obama. The media loves him so that would help.
I know conservatives don’t really like him, but he’d be better than Obama and at least get him out of the picture.
Powell/Rubio would be an extremely formidable ticket and would probably win.
It seems most think it was either McCain or Lindsey Graham.
Too obvious.
My money is on McConnell.
Can’t be McCain, the story said it was a Senator who has yet to endorse anyone.
McConnell is prominent, but he’s the GOP leader in the Senate. I can’t see him coming out and openly calling for a new candidate. Also, he couldn’t even help the GOP pick in his own state beat Rand Paul in the primary so I don’t know what impact he’d have nationally. I don’t think he’s especially well liked or well respected by conservatives. McConnell, McCain, Graham, etc… calling for a new candidate would only help Santorum at this point. My money is still on it being Coburn.
While I don’t necessarily agree with his politics, Colin Powell is a great American. Unfortunately, he is almost 75.
At this confused and apprehensive time, it bears recalling what he said some years ago at the World Economic Forum in Davos:
Far from being the Great Satan, I would say that we are the Great Protector. We have sent men and women from the armed forces of the United States to other parts of the world throughout the past century to put down oppression. We defeated Fascism. We defeated Communism. We saved Europe in World War I and World War II. We were willing to do it, glad to do it. We went to Korea. We went to Vietnam. All in the interest of preserving the rights of people.
And when all those conflicts were over, what did we do? Did we stay and conquer? Did we say, “Okay, we defeated Germany. Now Germany belongs to us? We defeated Japan, so Japan belongs to us”? No. What did we do? We built them up. We gave them democratic systems which they have embraced totally to their soul. And did we ask for any land? No, the only land we ever asked for was enough land to bury our dead. And that is the kind of nation we are.
Colin Powell is far from a great American?
That was a statement, not a question.
Compare the prudence of the Powell Doctrine to the wishful
thinkingplatitudes of Bush’s Second Inaugural Address.“Irish Spy responds, ‘There is another.’ Really, who might that realistically be?”
If I were Mitch Daniels’ wife, I’d watch my back.
Let me be clear. While Romney will elicit me to hold my nose and vote for him. Jeb Bush will not. I will not vote for another Bush.
O.K. RINOs I see this might turn into high stakes poker: So I’ll see your Bush and raise you Palin.
You Betcha!
Nah, Palin’s ship has already sailed. The last straw was her stringing along her supporters, only to announce she’s not running at the last moment. That was pretty lame. I was a big Palin fan in 2008, but my enthusiasm has gradually declined since then, and that was the last straw for me.
I do have to admit, though, that a Palin vs. Obama election would be the most entertaining election cycle EVAH! And if Palin managed to beat Obama, there would be a serious case of people’s heads “a-splodin'”.
Now see, I’ve been telling you all this for some time, but nobody believes me. =)
Michigan will determine if Santorum is for real. If Santorum wins MI, he becomes the favorite to win. If Santorum wins MI and AZ, Romney is toast, burnt toast.
No matter how Santorum does, Newt will not re-enter the top tier.
If it comes to a brokered convention, we will end up with either Romney or Jeb Bush.
Hi Astroman, Your mothership just called to say your jet-pack is ready:)
Do you just make this stuff up as you go along? – Regardless of what happens in Michigan or Arizona, Mitt and Newt will still be in the race. There is no top tier that’s why it is a three man race. Very few delegates have been awarded and we still have many states to go.
Uh, OK.
Off the top of my head, there have been what, 9 primaries thus far?
Santorum: 4
Romney: 4
Gingrich: 1
Paul: 0
Newt’s currently on a SIX state losing streak. In most of the states, Newt has finished last/near last. And I don’t exactly seeing anyone predicting him winning AZ or MI. So yeah, Newt is still in this race. Watch out!
That’s amusing – Except we don’t count by number of states won, we count delegates, there are over 2,000 more to go and the “pledged delegates” count (not the projected count)puts Newt in second place;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_primaries,_2012
You’re right, I’m wrong, momentum is completely meaningless, especially in this primary… and the way Newt has been finishing at the bottom of the pack state after state, Newt is ure to win a metric ton of delegates. Uh huh.
FACEPALM.
The word momentum is of the moment. For instance, one could say Germany had the momentum going into WWII, but they lost the war.
Meghan McCain appeals to moderates and has big boobs.
Palin. There’s been an increase in the chatter. She’s already vetted. It could be the most interesting election season ever. Our disillusionment, if it exists, is because we don’t think she’s in, if she is in, I’ll warrant ALL the enthusiasm returns.
And the left has blown its wad.
This post made me laugh!!! The right needed to see that a Palin recast as establishment (“electable”) figure is never going to appear, and that for her to have entered the race would’ve been to go to the center of a circular firing squad, yet again. Even when she was contemplating entering the race, Romney, Perry, Bachmann, etc., had their long knives out for her w/ a series of underhanded remarks & dirty tricks (like Perry’s pollster cooking up a poll dismissing her), as pundits like Coulter & Krauthammer etc. were only beginning to indicate the treachery of which they’re capable. So she reasoned: let them see how well they like the alternatives, and then, maybe, we’ll talk.
Though about it some more and I’ve always thought the election will come down to the economy and jobs anyway.
If we have 9 more months of 200k a month jobs figures and unemployment is down below 8% and dropping Obama will beat anyone. It won’t matter who the nominee is
If things slow down or even get worse and unemployment rises back up towards 9% or higher, Obama will lose to anyone.
Gas prices will also play a role. If gas is up past $4 a gallon maybe even getting closer to $5 a gallon Obama will also lose to anyone.
And there is the possibility of a natl security/foreign policy event playing a role. Say Iran tests a nuke. Say AQ carries out an attack in the US and kills a few hundred people in September or October. Really anything can happen.
So I think someone new at a convention could well win in the right circumstance. A lot can happen in 6 months.
Lets say hypothetically we get to the end of August and the economy has slowed down. Maybe we’ve had a month or more of job losses. unemployment has creeped back up closer to 9. GDP growth has stalled and is stagnant. Inflation is on the rise. Gas is at $4.25 a gallon and rising, even more in the larger urban areas. and in CA, NY, IL, FL, the bigger states. Obama’s approval is down in the low 40s or maybe below 40. The European debt crisis is still bubbling and Europe has gone back into recession.
The GOP Convention is the last week in August. So we get to Aug 29 and we have no idea who the nominee is. Finally on the last night of the convention someone emerges on the 5th ballot. Doesn’t matter who. Maybe it’s someone who gives a stemwinder of a speech and starts a stampede. The convention gets the highest ratings in history, 60M+ viewers. It’s the most exciting political drama in ages.
First friday in Sept the jobs #s come out and unemployment is at 9.1%. A week later the market crashes and loses 3000 pts over the following month. The media starts trumpeting a new recession/depression and economic collapse. Gas is past $4.50. October’s jobs #s come out and unemployment is up to say 9.3. By the middle of October the market is down almost 30% from labor day. Gas is around $5 by Columbus Day.
And, oh, by the way, AQ just sent a few guys with AKs to schools up and down the east coast and opened fire on hundreds out at recess in playgrounds. The Brotherhood is firmly in control in Egypt. The Taliban are bragging about victory as US troops begin to leave Afghanistan. Islamists are on the rise in Libya and Tunisia. Assad falls in Syria and the Brotherhood takes over. Ahmadinejad announces to the world at the UN in September that Iran has “stood up” and is now a nuclear power.
In that situation any GOP ticket would win. We could nominate Jeb and he could pick Cheney as his VP and they’d win. Palin/Rubio would win. Palin/Cheney would win. Cheney/Bush would win. Palin/Bush would win. Bush/Palin would win. Basically, name any 2 Republicans and they’d win.
Only one potential hiccup. If Biden were to retire for “health”/”family”/”personal” reasons and Obama replaced him with Hillary. That’d be tough. But in the economic situation it still wouldn’t win/
So it really depends on events. If the economy continues to improve and nothing major happens to derail it Obama will win against anyone. May as well let Romney get crushed in that case. If something happens and the economy is in bad shpae, Obama will lose to anyone. In that case, we may as well go with the most conservative or the dream candidate and a brokered convention would be the best way to make that happen.
So I think a brokered convention would be worth it. Either someone gets picked who was always going to lose anyway or we may end up with someone better than the current field who wins. Would certainly be fun and interesting.
Tom Coburn used to be conservative. He seems to have drunk the water in DC lately. McCain endorsed Romney and Graham is McCain’s shadow. That is why he has acted the way he has and why the base hates him. He is a McCain clone.
The left’s idea of a prominent republican senator might not be ours. However, I will go with McConnell since he is the minority leader and a high mucky muck in the establishment. A smarter man would know to keep his mouth shut about this but I have noticed that there are very few smart mentin the senate or the the House either for that mater. It is a case with them of in thier heads out their mouths with no stops in between.
Colin Powell used to be a admirable citizen but all things change with time. He is now tarnished. If he had run in 1992 I would have voted for him but no longer. His actions before the Iraq war turned me against him. I felt he undermined the country on this and made our job harder with more loss of life. It was as if he had another agenda from the administration’s and was determined that his would prevail. And let’s not forget his role in the Plame affair and his silence when he knew the real culprit and didn’t tell the president. I don’t know if he told Fitzgerald but have no faith in that investgator’s ethics either. He caused a good man (Libby) to reviled and punished and his career taken away from him for a nothing issue. Clinton blatantly lied to the grand jury but Libby said all along that he didn’t remember some things but Clinton only lost is license for 5 years while Libby lost his for ever. And last but not least, do we really want a president who voted for the other side in the previous election. Powell is not a viable candidate and his only redeeming feature is that he would be better than obama. But then anyone would be.
I agree with one comment expressed above regarding no more from the Bush clan, in a sense. For now, yes indeed. But maybe in 50-years George P. Bush’s children could run.
The Bush problem quite simply is that another Bush would establish a “noble” family, a lot like what our dear European kin do all the time. George Washington set the standard for presidential behavior and that includes not having a “royal” family.
My money on the “anonymous” Senator is Lindsay Graham. He likes to think he’s relevant and can throw out things from time to time. I don’t think it sounds like Mitch McConnell to do something like this either.
I agree with everyone else. Jeb Bush would be a disaster and the Grand Old Party better wise up and fly right. They need to stop picking our candidates for us. We’re trying to send them a strong message now with Santorum.
They should just throw out one of their rising stars as in Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan or Alan West. All of these guys are Presidential material. Believe me the masses would pick these guys up and carry them into the White House without any vetting. They are clean!
Linsey Graham was on Gretta’show a week or so ago, He spoke highly of Newt. He thought congress was way to hard on Newt,
A couple of things. Whoever said that Colin Powell could be the (R) nominee and beat Obama; I’d like to know how you defeat a guy who you endorsed during the previous election?
Lindsey Graham is dumb enough to have said all this without requesting anonymity. I but it was either John Cornyn, Jon Kyl, or Tom Coburn. I’d put my money on Coburn because he says a@#h@#$ things quite often. Coburn often sounds like a jerk toward conservatives in recent years. He even wanted to do away with the mortage deduction.
What we need is a new candidate with a charismatic personality like Tim Pawlenty, or a golden tongue like Rick Perry, or an encyclopedic grasp of facts like Bachmann, or….
I can’t help but think that any new, not currently running, candidate who emerges from a brokered GOP convention will just be a sacrificial final presidential candidate from a dying party whose leadership is so far removed from reality it walks down the street past its own base without recognizing them.
We need to forge a US birth certificate for Great Britian’s Daniel Hannan or Israel’s Bibi Netanyahu.