There is a growing feeling in the Republican Party, and among prognosticators, that the pool of GOP candidates for President in 2016 is lacking in so many ways.
Chris Christie is in trouble due to the scandal over the George Washington Bridge, and his handling of Hurricane Sandy money.
Scott Walker is in trouble over charges that he was involved in corruption during the 2012 recall campaign in Wisconsin.
Ted Cruz has made enemies every time he opens his mouth, and his push to close down the government in 2013 backfired, and caused division within Republican ranks.
Rand Paul is leading a fight against the “Establishment”, and is unlikely to be able to win support to be the nominee, with his libertarian and isolationist views.
Marco Rubio made enemies with his immigration reform plan, and is seen as having floundered ever since.
Paul Ryan has come across as someone who has no understanding of what middle class people go through, and with little compassion for the poor, and even fellow Catholics are often critical of him.
Bobby Jindal has come across as insincere, uncaring about his own constituents, and has lost whatever luster he once had.
Rick Perry may have gained classy glasses to wear, but he is still a horrible candidate in so many ways.
Rick Santorum is trying to reform his image as well, but he is still a former Senator who lost his seat ten years ago.
Mike Huckabee is an also ran from the 2008 Presidential campaign, and has sounded more looney than ever each month as his Fox News Channel show pushed him much further right than he had been in 2008, when he actually sounded reasonable.
Jeb Bush looks much better by comparison with other Republicans, but he is still a Bush, and has supported immigration reform and the common core education curriculum, both unpopular with his party, and besides, he certainly represents the “Establishment” more than anyone.
Mitt Romney claims not to be interested at all in running again, but yet he is seen by many as the fallback choice, despite his losing the Presidency in 2012.
Jon Huntsman, arguably the best candidate possible, seems to have absolutely no chance to convince the Republican Party that his moderate, practical conservatism is the right path.
The more one thinks about it, it makes sense that the Republican Party should seriously consider finding a candidate, preferably a Governor, from the Midwest, which is the true battleground of the Presidential Election of 2016!
None of the above mentioned candidates for the Presidency are from the Midwest, except for Ryan and Walker, both from Wisconsin, but both have fatal flaws hard to overcome.
But all of the Midwest, except Illinois, is arguably a battleground, although only Indiana and Missouri went Republican in 2012, and only Missouri in 2008!
Ohio and Iowa are true battlegrounds, and Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota are potentially up for grabs by either party.
So what seems to make sense is to give a hard look at two Midwestern Republican Governors, both of whom have served in Congress, and understand Washington, DC, but have also governed key states that are good models for preparation for the White House, at least in theory!
These two Governors are:
John Kasich of Ohio
Mike Pence of Indiana.
A lot more attention will be given to these two men as we get closer to the real beginning of the Presidential race at the end of 2014 and going into early 2015!
Ronald writes, “These two Governors are: John Kasich of Ohio | Mike Pence of Indiana.”
Neither are electable on a national scale. (Mike Pence was barely elected. And his state shifted 11 points, to carry for Mitt Romney by 10 points, at the presidential level.) They’re about as charismatic as constipated old geezers from sophomoric sex-romps of motion-picture comedies.”
It doesn’t matter who the Republicans nominate, in the minds of their owners; so long as the nominee is a complete whore for the Koch brothers and their ilk.
It’s likely that next Republican-party president of the United States will hail from a state that is a part of today’s base of the Republican Party. So, look to the likes of such double-digit electoral-vote states as Texas (yet again!) and Georgia and Tennessee. If the party can get a president not from the Top 21 in rank (double-digit electo-vote states which runs from California, with 55 electoral votes, to Minnesota, with 10 electoral votes), we can talk Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Utah, etc. (Of course, the last Deep South president was Jimmy Carter. But, if it can at least happen once…it can happen again.)
D, I am confused. Tennessee or Georgia, as the home of the next Republican nominee? Who do you have in mind?
And actually, despite your depiction, Kasich has been on Fox News Channel in the past, and Pence actually has, I think, a lot of charisma.
This does not mean I am endorsing either, as I do not think any GOP nominee other than Jon Huntsman, has any legitimacy.
But I think you dismiss both too readily, and forget that the Midwest is the one true battleground, if there is one!