Who will be the Republican presidential nominee in '08?

[smoogatz]

Poll question: Who will be the Republican presidential nominee in '08?

Here's the current field of Republican contenders, as I understand it. Who will emerge from the pack as the presidential candidate? Will McCain find a way to distance himself from his doomed "surge" proposal? Can Giuliani appeal to southern fundamentalists? Can a nutcase like Brownback effectively court the corporate money boys? Don't vote for the person you want to run against--vote for the person most likely to win the nom.

[Dinger]

1. Where's jebbie? (nt)

[smoogatz]

2. I could be mistaken, but I think he said he's not running. n/t

[LionInWinter]

3. A year and a half ago I predicted Hagel, so I'll stick with that choice.

Of course I also predicted that he'd be running against Mark Warner.
:shrug:

[wakeme2008]

4. Well not Jebbie... But I would not be surprise if it was non of the above

Bush may have fucked things up so bad that the Repugs will pick somebody that has no connection to Bush in any way

[yurbud]

10. I wish he would. I'd love to see the commercial on his new age spirit guide friend..

not that there's anything wrong with that, but it would discomfit the religious right.

[sniffa]

5. condi

[yurbud]

8. Not. She always sounds like a guilt ridden honor student when she lies and would too obviously be

a tool of the Bush gang.

[smoogatz]

18. She says she's not running. n/t

[sniffa]

20. peopLe say Lots of things

[smoogatz]

22. True. You never know.

She still polls better than anyone else in the Bush administration. Even if she runs, thoug, she'll have a hard time overcoming racial/gender bias within her own party.

[CTyankee]

48. Laura says Condi can't run because she doesn't have family, no kids.

n/t

[smoogatz]

52. Well, that settles it, then.

If Pickles says the Chimperor's 2nd wife can't run, I guess she can't run.

[yurbud]

6. Hagel and McCain would need the backdoor replace Cheney route to get past far right

the knuckledraggers think Bush's problem is he didn't go far enough.


For them, it wasn't enough to let black people drown in New Orleans, Coast Gaurd helicopters should have been flying over throwing gays, Mexicans, and Muslims in the water too.

I think they expected an abortion ban while they held all three branches of government.

[napi21]

12. I think the extreme RW has lost a lot of their power in the last 2 years.

The ones remaining are very vocal so it sounds like there's still a large group, but I keep hearing a lot of grumbling from long time Pubs about their disappointment inwhatthe RW Pubs have done over the last 6 years, and as a Party, I don't think we're going to see another extremist fora long time.

[yurbud]

55. without the jethros though, the GOP is five guys at the country club and maybe their caddies

[mirounga]

7. Vote

Where's Barney???

[Lost4words]

9. I personally believe the GOP should be disbanded.

abolished.

We should give them a few FEMA trailers some food and let them live out their lives on the Polar Ice caps. There they can observe the effect of their policies first hand, for a while anyway, hopefully.

Well I can dream cant I?

[leftofthedial]

11. some talentless schmuck

who will do what he's told, take the fall and lie on cue

his name and background is utterly irrelevant

[warrens]

13. If they're smart, Hagel

So it won't be Hagel.

[Virginia Dare]

14. You forgot Jimmy Gilmore...

you should in fairness put him up there, so he can get zero votes along with the other delusional asshats.

[smoogatz]

21. So many asshats, so little space.

I tried to stick with the major, nationally known asshats as much as possible. There are numerous other, more obscure Republican asshats who've expressed interest--Gilmore, Hunter, Keating and Paul among them.

[specimenfred1984]

15. Beelzebub

Like all current day repukes, he'll be pro:

Torture
Murder
Child molesting
Perma-war
Lying
Propaganda
Dictatorship
Fascist
Cronyism
Religious pandering
Smirking
Bribery
Looting
Assassination

[Virginia Dare]

16. Cheney hasn't announced has he?...n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. Don't know. But, the Republican convention is gonna be a brawl.

Right now, a lot depends on the success/failure of the "surge". If, by some miracle, Bush's "hail mary" should possibly show some signs of accomplishing anything other than more carnage, then one of his supporters of the escalation will probably get the nod. If not, which I consider most likely, it will be some "middle of the road" candidate who is either unconnected to the war - a governor - or has successfully distanced himself from it without actually being against it.

I find it hard to believe that the repugs would so decry the Shrub as to nominate Hagel. McCain is running to the right now and has the best name recognition, but the RW hates his guts and doesn't trust him.

There's going to be as much blood flowing for the repugs as can be expected for the dems in 2007-2008.

[lpbk2713]

19. I'd like to see Gingrich make a real strong stab at it.

He would make a real good spoiler. He would ruin a lot of others' chances while in reality the sleazebag would have no chance at all.

[porphyrian]

23. Yeah, let's frame their choice for them, since they've already decided Clinton is ours. - n/t

[mentalsolstice]

24. Where's Lieberman?

I figure he'll jump in if for some reason his new BFFE (McCain) doesn't run.

[smoogatz]

28. Ya know, I almost put him in

just to piss off Lo Zoccolo. Next time.

[baldguy]

25. Whomever publicly and forcefully repudiates the policies of the Bush Regime.

Whomever promotes REAL conservative values: responsibility-both fiscal & personal, fairness, public service, personal honesty & integrity.

For those of you who don't recognize this description, of course not, There are no real conservatives in the GOP leadership today. Hatred is not a conservative value. Neither is greed or imperialism. The real conservative Republican will advocate a balanced budget with redistributing tax cuts to the middle class, a total and immediate withdrawal from Iraq, and trials for the criminals who started the war.

I'm not going to hold my breath.

[smoogatz]

29. You are so TOTALLY wrong.

Who are these "real" conservatives you're imagining? They don't exist, and they never have. Bush is every REAL conservative's wet dream, for God's sake--or at least he was until his poll numbers went into the toilet. REAL conservatives are people like Rove and Cheney and Rummy and W, and their nitwit klatch of so-called conservative "intellectuals" like Kristol and Kagan. I propose that we all stop promoting the myth that 'real" conservatives are somehow honorable and decent and really just like liberals/progressives, except that they support a balanced budget. That's a falsehood--a lie and a damned lie. True conservatives believe in preemptive war and torture and "military Keynesianism" (deficit spending which feeds the military-industrial complex) and the imperial presidency. They believe that government has no business regulating corporations, that organized labor is communism, and that the poor can go fuck themselves. There's no such thing as the nice, civilized "conservative" you describe--never has been.

[jgraz]

26. I'm starting to think Huckabee's got a great chance

He's exactly the kind of candidate that the 'pukes want: a malleable, "likable" guy who can speak fluent theocrat. The corpocrats will like him because he's stupid enough to be pushed into any policy they need. The dominionists will be love his Christianist code speech. Whether Huckabee believes it or not is irrelevant; he's definitely mastered the the "all things to all people" shtick in the same way * did in 2000.

If we don't pick a decent candidate, Huckabee may not even need to steal this next election.

[On the Road]

35. Me, Too -- Huckabee Has Me Worried

Any Democratic nominee will win in a walk against a neocon, warmonger, or evangelical.

Huckabee is the anti-Bush. He has the kind of appeal that wins individual votes in New Hampshire and Iowa. Doing well in those states would make him a serious candidate.

[Catchawave]

27. I like Mike :)

Well, for that team, and the possibility of seeing buttons with I Like Mike on them :D

[The Count]

30. Hagel has the ES&S so the primaries are done but the baloons....

[cynatnite]

31. I don't see the RW nutjobs having that much pull these days...

The repubs will go with someone a little more centrist. Hagel is probably the closest to that, IMO.

[Norquist Nemesis]

32. Don't forget Duncan Hunter

But I'd vote for Hagel on this poll.

[ellisonz]

33. Brownback/Huckabee.

They're going to duck the war and try to win the Midwest and the South yet again.

[Jackpine Radical]

34. Dave Zien. He needs a job

and the Puggies are gonna have to reach pretty low before the find a taker.

[smoogatz]

36. He could be the first Harley-riding pretzeldent.

Jesus. What a fucking whack-job that guy is. I was proud to have contributed--in whatever small way--to his current lack of employment.

[Jackpine Radical]

37. Moi aussi.

Ainnit cool to have someone with brains like Kreitlow representing us in Mad City? (Or are you not in the 23d?)

[smoogatz]

39. 31st--Vinehout.

A genius compared to the guy she beat--Brown. We also tossed our mega-dumbass wingnut assemblyman, Kreibich.

[Jackpine Radical]

41. I expect Vinehout to be outstanding.

Yeah, Kreibi(t)ch is no loss.

[smoogatz]

43. His demise was especially sweet for us--

my wife and I both work for the UW system. I had a particularly pointed letter published in the student newspaper here--who knows; culd've made a difference. He only lost by a couple of hundred votes.

[Jackpine Radical]

61. I got a farly good zinger into the Chip & Menomonie papers

on Zien too. I like to delude myself that I'm responsible for Kreitlow's win.

[smoogatz]

62. Hey, you never know.

Zien's final result was damn close, too, wasn't it?

On edit: I also wrote a letter for the Bleeder Smell-o-gram, but of course they didn't publish it. Rightwing rag that they are.

[Seen the light]

38. Former Republican primary voter here:

I say it will be Huccabee. Though Giuliani and McCain gobble the headlines, it's still the Christian right that dominates the primary process. Huccabee will win it if he runs.

Trust me on this people.

[smoogatz]

40. You could be right.

Especially now that McCain has been sandbagged by Bush (again) on the "surge" strategy. It'll be hung around McCain's neck forever when it fails. I know nothing about Huckabee, except that he's allegedly a southern Christian "moderate," whatever that means--and can run successfully as an outsider when Bush's approval rating ends up in single digits. No damning pictures of Huckabee and Bush jerking each other off exist, as far as I'm aware.

[stevedeshazer]

42. Aw, c'mon.

Where's Duncan Hunter? :)

[mnhtnbb]

44. If they want to take away Iraq as an issue, they'll nominate Hagel

[WI_DEM]

45. Hagel will not be nominated--he's too reasonable for that party.

[SteppingRazor]

46. I've been saying Mike Huckabee for a while...

he's far and away the greatest threat the GOP has to offer. He's a Baptist minister, and thus holds sway among the Christian conservatives. But unlike their other candidate, Sam Brownback, he's managed to portray himself as fairly mainstream, not a total nutcase, thus allowing him to draw from more-moderate Republicans as well.

Also, his "I lost 100 pounds" is the sort of pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps, inspirational story that GOP voters love. Granted, I commend the man for his efforts too, but I fail to see how it better qualifies him to be president.

Pro-choice, pro-gay rights Giuliani will never make it out of the primary. McCain is the GOP version of Hillary -- as equally hated by his own people as he is the other side. The GOP primary is wide open for a dark-horse candidate to come swooping in and grab the brass ring, and if anyone can do it, it's the governor from Arkansas.

[Dems Will Win]

50. I think Huckabee too. Did you know he plays bass in a good rock band?!?!

He and Romney are the only GOP chance for the youth vote.

[Kelly Rupert]

47. Where's Katherine Harris?

Kitty in '08!

[smoogatz]

51. Interesting question. Where IS Katherine Harris?

And is she taking her meds, finally?

[Kelly Rupert]

53. Oh, she's so much more fun without them.

In my imagination, nobody told her that she lost, and they've set up a little Last Emperor-style resort for her, where she's convinced that she's a real Senator.

[milkyway]

49. Joe Lieberman.

[Ioo]

54. You forgot Satin... he is running

[yurbud]

56. Satin? Isn't that what Elvis named the hump on the back of his mom's neck? pic

http://www.granarygallery.com/common/imgpiecethumb.php?galleryId=10B5-DCFH-6E59&titleId=1601&whichimage=1

[mtnsnake]

57. Romney will end up playing to the conservative base better than McCain. nt

[Alexander]

58. The way winds are blowing now, Chuck Hagel.

Then again, I was being ridiculed on DU for saying Hagel would be the 2008 nominee long before the political winds were blowing this way.

Given the Iraq War, Republicans would need to run someone with a military background unconnected to Bush who is moving in the opposite direction - against the war.

Chuck Hagel is that man. Like McCain, 10 years younger and without all the Bush ass-kissing. He will probably also have moderate appeal which a Sam Brownback or someone else wouldn't have.

Hagel, Huckabee and Romney are the three most dangerous potential nominees, IMHO. Because they could actually win.

[many a good man]

60. I agree. Hagel is the ONLY one who scares me.

He was the only one right against the war. But man oh man is he Paleo! On every issue other than Iraq he just makes my blood curdle. But he's the only one who can hornswaggle the fundies, the moderates and the swing voters.

[lutefisk]

59. Huckabee- the only choice on the list that isn't repulsive

I still think "Condi-Jeb in '08" is a strong possibility, though.

[yurbud]

63. Jeb would have one great campaign button: ya KNOW I'm going to be better than W