It is my feeling that the 2008 Republican nomination is

[nevergiveup]

John Mc Cain's if wants it and his health does not become a factor. He is still immensely popular among Independents and many moderates and he wins the conservative vote by default. Do you think it is possible for a Democrat to defeat him?

[Warpy]

1. The Bush family want Jebbipoo to get it

which is why he was sent on that junket to the tsunami disaster area and why he's grandstanding for Florida's fundies.

McCain is the only guy who could possibly defeat that man in the primaries unless Idiot really does get us into a depression and a series of unwinnable wars.

[fujiyama]

13. I don't think Jeb will go for it...

Just yet anyways. He'll run, that's for sure, maybe in '12 or '16...

Several reasons could be that he'll consider a senate run against Nelson in '06, or he'll go to the private sector because he wants to make mone.

As for McCain, he seems to have made up with the right, but I still don't see him getting the blessing of Rove or the WH. I think there's too much bad blood there.

If Santorum wins reelection in '06, I think he'll make a run for it. I think he gets along well with Bush and the WH. I don't know about Allen or Frist, but I think the right would prefer them to McCain.

I see Hagel's chances as being slim to none. He's criticized the administration on the war a bit too much. I think that's a big no no in the party. Probably kills his chances.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

2. I agree with you, but I think it's because he did a deal with the BFEE

I think the only reason that McCain openly backed Bush*, campaigned with him and spoke at the GOP convention was that McCain was promised BFEE backing for 2008. McCain despises Bush* and the BFEE but he's allied with them as it's going to get him a shot at the WH. Jeb Bush has said multiple times that he's definitely not running.

Also the country might be in such a mess by 2008, the BFEE might not mind McCain as a sacrificial lamb to the Democratic candidate.

[Leilani]

9. If your theory about McCain & a deal with Bush is correct,

how come he backed him in 2000, campaigned for him in 2000, & spoke at the GOP convention for him in 2000, after he had been defeated by Bush in an extremely ugly campaign?

Ever think he's a Republican, & that he's no Zell Miller?

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

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[justy329]

4. I'm afraid so.

Why? Because on this very site MANY indicated that they would seriously consider voting for him over Al Gore.

I think that the only way we could defeat him is if we highlight his pro-life views. But, that would be important only if the SCOTUS was about to overturn Roe V. Wade.

[elfin]

5. I still think it will be Hagel

McCain may be too old and with persistent melanoma. Jebbie may find that a stealing wife, drug addled daughter and 2 problematic sons (one for vandalism, another for screwing in public) don't make up for a BFEE supported career.

Hagel will step back from his Iraq criticism just in time and restore some credientials with the Neocons and squeak thru the primaries. Then we are in trouble..... again.

[formernaderite]

19. Hagel and McCain are both troublesome and media whores...

I frankly can't stand them. Have either of them ever held executive positions? I realize they have "warrior" backgrounds, but a strong Governor on our side could easily overcome Senate legislative records that can always be skewed as "waffling".

[robbedvoter]

6. BFEE - regardless of figurehead. Unless they keep emperor George

It matters not as the votes are already counted, the articles of 'his" victory already written.

[ruggerson]

7. The Talibornagain

hates McCain. They will use every slime tactic in their loving, rightwing Christian arsenal, including race baiting, rumormongering, etc. to defeat him. Pat Robertson and Co. loathe him.

It would not surprise me if they assassinated him should he win the Presidency.

[ClassWarrior]

8. Jeb. They're gonna try to do what the Kennedys were killed for...

...supposedly. For creating a family dynasty, a virtual monarchy. Interesting to note George HW Bush's connections to the JFK assasination.

NGU.

[Leilani]

10. All the current talk is about George Allen.

Too soon to tell.

[Clark2008]

11. I think we should do to the Republicans what they did to the Dems

and start, now, promoting someone we know can't win. Like Bill Frist. He has the charisma of left-over lunchmeat, but he would pass the primary "purity" test for the fundies and their neo-con brothers.

Frist would be seen as a boring, cadaverous Dr. Strangelove next to, oh, say, a handsome, intelligent hardass like, oh, say, Wesley Clark. ;)

[phaseolus]

12. I bet it's been sort of decided already...

...at least as far as the hard-right-wing is concerned. And I have a reason.

I was listening to a little bit of Limbaugh on Friday before he made me physically ill (Hey, I don't do it much. I had a long drive.) and one of his comments was about the Democrats' holding up Condi Rice's confirmation vote in the Senate into the following week. He stated that whichever Republican gets up and whines the loudest about how obstructionist the Democrats are being will be the person that the 'pugs should look to as the possible successor to Emperor George I come 2008.

My analysis -- Like many other pundits he's plugged into the inner circles, and I have no doubts that he's fed advance info that real journalists, and probably even some Republican politicians, don't have access to. It's possible that Pigboy was playing analyst, or indulging in wishful thinking when he said that, but I think Mr. Rising Star is all picked out & will make his debut in the first full week of the second term. And like a good little apparatchik, Rush is earning his pay by programming the faithful in his audience...

Please let it be Santorum, Please let it be Santorum... :evilgrin:

[seito]

14. Mc Cain is too moderate

for the neocon taste. Should he attempt a run in 2008, he will be "dealt with" in a manner reminiscent of 2000.

[Telly Savalas]

17. Not too moderate, but rather too sane

McCain is an extremely conservative guy and tends to part ways with his rightwing buddies only when they get too batty. (e.g. overly exhuberent optimism in the foreign policy arena, concern about animated homosexual indocrination, that sort of thing) Because he's witty, articulate, and willing to work in a bipartisan fashion at times, it can be easy to forget that the Senator is a rightwing ideologue. Just because he's not a total dumbass like George Walker Bush or a little prick like Newt Gingrich doesn't change this fact.

Of all prominent Republicans, I think he'd have the best chance at winning in '08. Fortunately, I don't think he'll get the bid because the same powerful forces in the GOP that squished him in 2000 are still around. Furthermore, after his experience in 2000 is he really interested in being crucified by those bastards again?

[CatholicEdHead]

18. Exactly

besides the hatred from the born-agains, McCain is considered a RINO in may GOP circles. On other GOP leaning boards I watch, I mention McCain and they all froth at the mouth over him, and not just the born-agains.

He may to appeal to many cross-overs but McCain is thought of like Zell is for Democrats.

[GRLMGC]

15. That would be problematic

I've met Dems who like him too. I guess it all depends on whether he can actually get the nomination and if he distances himself from the Bush Administration.

[left is right]

16. the repuke nominee is already chosen

but it won't be mccain. It might be jeb but whoever he is he will have the same character traits of the one we have now

[ThorsHammer]

20. IMO, 2008 will define the GOP

(Posted in another thread, but applicable here)

Do they continue to stick with the neo-con, W side, or do they move towards a moderate? McCain would be tough to beat, but I don't think the neocon wing will let him get out of the primaries. Hagel seems decent too, but might have the same problem as McCain (not a neocon favorite; IIRC he has been critical of W's foreign policy). Allen is very interesting, and might be a good choice. On the flip side, Mark Warner could easily counter him. I do think the Dems have a much bigger pool to draw from - Clark, Dean, Hillary, Edwards, Kerry, Boxer, Warner, Richardson, etc.

If they stick with the neocon side and things don't get better in the ME and with the economy, the Democrats could run a paper plate and win. Frist has zero charisma, Santorum has extremely narrow appeal (still not sure how he ever won in a blue state), Jeb shouldn't win as most Americans dislike dynasties. Among the moderates, Arnold is ineligible, and Giuliani has been tainted by Kerik. McCain would be their best bet, but he might be too moderate for the far right. I'm not sure about Allen - is he moderate or neocon?

I still think the opportunity is wide open for a Democratic candidate to run on a "Hope for America" type message, and win in a rout.