Is there a winner among (what’s left of) the GOP field?
Herman Cain jumped in, at an Atlanta rally attended by thousands at “high noon.” Mitch Daniels slunk out, via an email to supporters sent in the middle of the night. Another weekend, another news cycle so full of Republican presidential politics you’d think it was spring 2012, not spring 2011. Where does it all leave us?
Cain’s decision was hardly a secret, so let’s focus on Daniels. The Indiana governor was seen as a top choice for fiscal conservatives but potentially vexing for social conservatives. He talked for months as if he didn’t want to run, but no one seemed to believe him — or maybe they just didn’t want to believe him — until his midnight email Saturday. Compared to, say, Donald Trump, Daniels’ declining to run feels like a real loss. (OK, compared to Trump, Charlie Sheen’s declining to run would feel like a real loss.)
So we can now add Daniels to a long and distinguished list of Republican governors or ex-governors who say they’re not running for president next year: Mississippi’s Haley Barbour, Florida’s Jeb Bush, New Jersey’s Chris Christie, Arkansas’ Mike Huckabee, Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal and Texas’ Rick Perry. That’s seven men who have won a total of 12 gubernatorial elections and racked up a host of policy achievements — but who insist they have no interest in running for president.
What do you think of the GOP presidential field?
- Beat Obama? Please. (156 Votes)
- There's a winner in there. (120 Votes)
- I can imagine a Republican beating President Obama, but not one of these guys. (120 Votes)
Total Voters: 396
Loading ...Next to them, the govs and ex-govs who say they are running or are still exploring a run — Utah’s Jon Huntsman, New Mexico’s Gary Johnson, Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty and Massachusetts’ Mitt Romney — comprise a lesser list. I don’t think the comparison improves very much if you add Alaska’s Sarah Palin to the mix.
Of course, it only takes one — and there are non-governors in the running as well: Cain, former Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Congressman Ron Paul, former Sen. Rick Santorum. Your question this Monday morning: Does the current field have a winner in it? Answer in the poll to the left and in the comments thread.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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162 comments Add your comment
Reality
May 23rd, 2011
2:17 pm
Robert
May 23rd, 2011
2:03 pm
What a joke. Nowhere did you meantion “Taxed Enough Already”.
You have zero facts to back your idiotic statements.
Dave R.
May 23rd, 2011
2:17 pm
Robert, so many errors in such a short post!
“1. The homegrown terrorist group(s) known as the “tea party” (aka klanmens, skinheads, birthers, etc.).”
There is no evidence of skinheads nor klansmen in any significant numbers in the Tea party. Please provide any you can find. Birthers were less represented in the Tea Party than the GOP.
“2. Weapons of choice are hatred, fear and rage/mob mentality against minorities, women, gays & lesbians and Muslims & Jews.”
Please provide any substantiated claims to rage/mob mentality. And while you’re at it, tell us how that “mob mentality” differs in terroristic activity than the actions of unions in Wisconsin, who occupied their State House for days.
“3. The whole world saw their hatred and bigotry on display during the 2010 midterm elections.”
Proof?
“4. The whole world heard their call to battle (take back my country).”
Yep. Not a problem with that.
“5. The American People saw the majority of White Americans embrace the “tea party” and vote for the entire GOP ticket regardless of the candidates experience which is why the GOP is in trouble today.”
Kinda missed the whole 70+ seat swing in the House of Representatives, didn’t ya?
“6. The American People have never seen organized terrorism at the ballot box and I hope we never will again.”
And still haven’t, unless you have proof that no one else has seen.
“7. Time for the GOP to choose sides. The American People or the homegrown terrorist group(s) known as the “tea party”
The American People ARE the Tea Party, Robert. You might have missed their political makeup in polls taken last year, but they are a cross-section of libertarians, moderates, independents and disaffected Republicans AND Democrats.
JB
May 23rd, 2011
2:17 pm
Rich, liberal Democrats have no idea where we are heading with their wishes and principals. Maybe they have enough money to get out when all Hell breaks lose. Because when half this country, sitting around sucking on that big ole Government T**, and it runs dry, their coming in those gated, private door man buildings to get what they need. It won’t be pretty.
Say what?
May 23rd, 2011
2:18 pm
This is from Cain’s speech on Saturday: ”
And I know that there are some people that are not going to do that, so for the benefit of those who are not going to read it because they don’t want us to go by the Constitution, there’s a little section in there that talks about “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Uh yeah Herman…. that would be the Declaration of Independence… not the Constitution. Nice try
Reality
May 23rd, 2011
2:20 pm
Dave R
Excellent response to the less intelligent one.
Lil' Barry Bailout
May 23rd, 2011
2:21 pm
Fletch, thanks for making my point for me. Turn off your MSNBC hate-TV and try being an American instead.
JB
May 23rd, 2011
2:23 pm
95% of tea party people are law obeying, tax paying citizens. Like any large voting block( Christians,NRA etc) start to make noise and get movement heading away from Liberal thinking and policy, The press will play their part and frame them as loons and terrorists. Still may be a little time left with the help of moderates to save this country a little while longer. When everyone 60 and older today is gone, God help this country.
Fletch
May 23rd, 2011
2:26 pm
LBB – “Fletch, thanks for making my point for me. Turn off your MSNBC hate-TV and try being an American instead.”
Ahhhh…. so you advocate the sheep mentality? BTW, my comment was neither partisan or supportive of one pary over another. Yours on the other hand, not so much. And for the record, I don’t watch MSNBC, CNN, FOX or the other mindless so called “news” outlets. I tend to read, study and analyze a situation before drawing a conclusion. Same goes for political candidates. And based on my observations, it looks like I’ll be withholding my vote for yet another election season. Nothing good on the Left or Right.
Dave R.
May 23rd, 2011
2:32 pm
“Uh yeah Herman…. that would be the Declaration of Independence… not the Constitution. Nice try”
Verbal gaffe from unscripted remarks, Say What. Everybody makes them, including Hope & Punt ™.
Most reasonable people don’t dwell on them. Move on.
JB
May 23rd, 2011
2:33 pm
I would take a President, either party, if they would put America and her people first, rather than a ideology driven by special interest.
Fletch
May 23rd, 2011
2:39 pm
JB – “I would take a President, either party, if they would put America and her people first, rather than a ideology driven by special interest.”
As would most rational voters. Unfortunately, we probably have a better chance of getting Raptured.
Lil' Barry Bailout
May 23rd, 2011
2:42 pm
No, Fletch, I advocate the American mentality. The wingnuts who get their “news” from MSNBC and similar hate-TV outlets need to start thinking independently an rejoin Americans to take back the country from Democrat party America-haters.
Linda
May 23rd, 2011
2:43 pm
If Kyle required all comments that quoted “facts” be backed up with proof by citing sites, most of the liberals on this blog would be mute. Their venom mixed with complete untruths is appalling. Do Democrats know how to surf the web or do they get all their information from MSNBC? Are they deliberately lying or are they stupid enough to actually believe their own statements?
GT
May 23rd, 2011
2:44 pm
Mr. Liberty the real cause of the economic crisis was greed. Wall Street had the keys to pension funds and other pools of money around the world they just needed an excuse to use the keys. Mortgages were defined as collateral marked product and almost automatic as long as they were underwritten by a credit rating agency. Wall Street paid the credit rating agencies who began to blur the lines in order to compete. They paid the pension funds indirectly to buy the mbs packages, each round becoming more liberal than the next. No one knew what they were selling or buying and the production got so huge no one cared, all were making money. All thought they were protected by an ever appreciating housing market and falsely thought there was a huge margin of error when there was absolutely none. This compounded by criminal activity both on the streets and Wall Street cause the collapse and the atmosphere still excise for more. The government as much as we would like to think, had little to do with this except to be indifferent to the going ons with Wall Street. A lot of this head turning was lobbied by WS and political contributions. A lot by a familiarity of WS and government executives in charge, but none the less an absence of government made the problem then a too late bale out are the causes. Banks should be allowed to fail, they should also not be allowed to cross over to private enterprise under government protection. Free enterprise works if we just try it. It is just when it works no one is guaranteed an income that doesn’t work for it, which put a record number of retirees on notice. There may have been only a trillion dollars of good mortgages in the entire world and the made 3 trillion so something had to break.
JB
May 23rd, 2011
2:45 pm
GT………Good stuff………..From a Dawg fan.
Fletch
May 23rd, 2011
2:47 pm
What’s the obsession with MSNBC? I’m guessing it’s the equivalent of someone on the Left accusing someone on the Right of getting all their news from FOX?
Reality
May 23rd, 2011
2:49 pm
Linda
“Facts” backed up by “proof”. If that were true, we wouldn’t have our funny little Libs.
Linda
May 23rd, 2011
2:49 pm
The first GOP debate was in SC with Cain, Johnson, Paul, Pawlenty & Santorum. Frank Luntz had a GOP focus group of 29, only 1 of which was a Cain backer prior to the debate. Afterward, more than half were Cain backers. Luntz said he had never seen such a response for a candidate in all the debates he’s covered.
http://freedomslighthouse.net/2011/05/05/herman-cain-declared-huge-winner-of-sc-gop-debate-by-frank-luntz-focus-group-video-5511/
JB
May 23rd, 2011
2:51 pm
Cain- Obama debate would be interesting…………But Cain, would be murdered by the main stream as untrained and Unequipped to be President…………………LOL…Like this fool we have now was……
Fletch
May 23rd, 2011
2:53 pm
JB – “Cain- Obama debate would be interesting”
If it’s anything like these blogs, it would be 2 hours of them calling each other “lib” and “con”. Maybe I need to dust off my old copy of Robs Rules.
GT
May 23rd, 2011
2:58 pm
go dawg!!!
mhs
May 23rd, 2011
3:07 pm
I think Joe Biden is stepping aside so that Barack can choose Cynthia McKinney as his new running mate. They are certainly have much more in common.
Reality
May 23rd, 2011
3:13 pm
mhs
Hilarious!! Joe Biden and Cynthia….LMAO!!! Two FINE examples of The Democratic Party!!!
Linda
May 23rd, 2011
3:16 pm
Let’s explain what is really happening with the corrupt media & the liberals. There is a very rich & powerful man who wants a new world order. To accomplish his mission he needs to bring down the United States. He has already brought down several other countries & caused the British Sterling to collapse (google Black Wednesday) (sort of like what is happening to the dollar). To bring down the US, he thought that controlling the already corrupt media would be helpful. He’s spent $48 so far. Notice that FOX did not join in the scandal. You will see Cynthia Tucker’s name on the list.
http://www.mrc.org/bmi/commentary/2011/Over__Major_News_Organizations_Linked_to_George_Soros.html
Linda
May 23rd, 2011
3:18 pm
Herman Cain figured out what the liberals were up to & was not afraid to say it out loud, “The objective of the liberals is to destroy this country. The objective of the liberals is to make America mediocre…That’s their objective. Well, let me tell you something about mediocrity. It’s not in an American’s DNA to be mediocre.”
Reality
May 23rd, 2011
3:32 pm
JB
Don’t forget the Presidential Teleprompter.
JB
May 23rd, 2011
3:32 pm
If I hear the main stream press question any GOP contender as not be qualified, I’ll scream…Like Obama WAS! Obama was as ill prepared as anyone I’ve ever seen elected President. Being black, and cool and using a blackberry certainly doesn’t make one qualified to be President. And that’s the bulk of his qualifications.
Linda
May 23rd, 2011
3:38 pm
GT@2:44 & others, Even Obama wanted to know what caused the economic collapse, so he appointed another commission, but decided to fix it before he knew the cause of it. Financial reform was passed last summer which did not even address Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (the GSEs) nor hedge funds.
The members of the Financial Inquiry Commission could not agree. One report is about 600 pages of mostly what we already knew that happened. The other 13-page report is what I personally witnessed. The top of page 2 explains 3 ways the govt.’s intervention into the housing market was the trigger, the match to the fuse, that caused the tsunami. The “govt. was following a social policy…” i.e. social justice, socialism. It started with the passage of the GSE Act in 1992.
http://keithhennessey.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Financial-Crisis-Primer.pdf
JB
May 23rd, 2011
3:39 pm
Reality………….You are correct….When you can’t go into a third grade class and wing it for 5 minutes, You really have to question what’s going on. Can you imagine Bush doing this. Can you imagine Bush Saying ‘corpse” for “corp’ twice in a speech?
Dr. Pangloss
May 23rd, 2011
3:41 pm
JB
May 23rd, 2011
2:17 pm
Rich, liberal Democrats have no idea where we are heading with their wishes and principals.
————————-
Rich, liberal Democrats own their own school administrators? Boy, they are rich!
JB
May 23rd, 2011
3:49 pm
Doc………..The crowd I’m talking about are the crowds that show up for Obama in NY and LA and write a check for 50K. That Rich liberal crowd.
Linda
May 23rd, 2011
3:51 pm
37 new Republicans elected in 2010 had no previous govt. experience. Why do we keep electing career politicians & lawyers? Does anyone wonder how we have trillions of dollars in debt when professional politicians have NEVER seen a balance sheet?
Someone said Cain didn’t know how Washington works? When has Washington worked? Has it ever worked for we, the people as it was created to do?
GM became a health insurer with some cars. The fed. govt. is now a health insurer with a military.
Dr. Pangloss
May 23rd, 2011
3:56 pm
buck@gon, you didn’t burst any of my poll bubbles. Take a look at the other national polls at:
http://www.pollingreport.com/wh12gen.htm
Reality
May 23rd, 2011
3:58 pm
JB, didn’t the The Great and Powerful Community Organizer receive the largest donation from BP?
JB
May 23rd, 2011
3:59 pm
The Press doesn’t want Cain…………..He’s might to fix something
Chrissy Matthews
May 23rd, 2011
4:00 pm
I’m the only one that gets a “tinglin feelin runnin up and down my leg” when Obama speaks?
Lil' Barry Bailout
May 23rd, 2011
4:00 pm
Obama was as ill prepared as anyone I’ve ever seen elected President.
——–
You win the prize for “Worst Use of Past Tense” for the day.
Dave R.
May 23rd, 2011
4:05 pm
“Take a look at the other national polls at:
http://www.pollingreport.com/wh12gen.htm”
Not a single national poll means anything for Nov. 2012 in May of 2011, Dr. Pangloss.
None of them.
Ever.
Get it?
Dr. Pangloss
May 23rd, 2011
4:07 pm
JB
May 23rd, 2011
3:39 pm
Reality………….You are correct….When you can’t go into a third grade class and wing it for 5 minutes, You really have to question what’s going on. Can you imagine Bush doing this. Can you imagine Bush Saying ‘corpse” for “corp’ twice in a speech?
————
Can you imagine typing “corp,” the abbreviation for “corporation” for “corps,” the term for a body of troops consisting of two divisions?
Linda
May 23rd, 2011
4:08 pm
Libs like Robert just fire me up. I know better than to argue with him. I know he knows he’s lying. He’s trying to insult Tea Party members. What he doesn’t understand is that it hasn’t worked for over 2 yrs. & backfires every time the strategy is used. People that spew hate toward Tea Party members motivate me to make bigger, more colorful & very respectful signs! I would enjoy a refreshing glass of tea over Koolaid any day.
Maybe Robert does not know the Herman Cain has spoken at 70 Tea Parties & maybe Robert has not noticed that Cain is black. Maybe Robert is getting the Tea Party rallies mixed up with the union protests.
Linda
May 23rd, 2011
4:18 pm
Cain is an unknown & must get his message out.
What I don’t understand is what message Obama is trying to get out. Is he still trying to sell Obamacare? He campaigned for the Ill. Senate, where he campaigned for the US Senate, where he campaigned for president, where he’s been campaigning for re-election for nearly 3 yrs. If Obama had to pay for his own gas & fuel to campaign, we could pay down some of the natl. debt & he would have to open an arugula stand on Pennsylvania Ave., which would be his first business venture.
Robert
May 23rd, 2011
4:42 pm
@Dave R & @Linda –
Time for you to choose what side are you on? The American People or the homegrown terroist group(s) known as the “tea party” (aka-klansmen, skinheads, birthers)
Your children and grandchildren are depending on you to be a real man and stop all the hatred and bigotry spewing from the mouth of people claiming to be members of the “tea party”. It is time for the GOP to clean-up this mess.
Jamie B
May 23rd, 2011
4:47 pm
“…homegrown terroist group(s) known as the “tea party” (aka-klansmen, skinheads, birthers)…”
Any facts to back this up? Or just another idiotic, loony, left wing statement.
Jamie B
May 23rd, 2011
4:48 pm
Poor Robert, are you sure you aren’t thinking of those Union goons?
Linda
May 23rd, 2011
4:51 pm
Obama went on a bumpy ride today, seesawed & lost traction on the campaign trail. Doesn’t Ireland already have health care?
http://ajc.newsinc.com/video.html?wid=1529&cid=5051&vid=23417220&freewheel=12699&sitesection=ajc&plg=1527
Linda
May 23rd, 2011
4:59 pm
Robert@4:42, I know a federal prison guard with more manners & charisma, & he’s also a whiz with punctuation. Ever met a “real man” named Linda?
MrLiberty
May 23rd, 2011
5:26 pm
GT – All that very clear explanation on my part and you are still ignorant. Sad.
I never denied the greed of wall street or the bankers, or whomever. Without the Federal Reserve printing money out of thin air and lending it for 0% there would have been nothing or very little for anyone to be greedy with. There would have been no money for home loans, there would have been no money for purchase of the derivatives, etc. That is the point of the damage a central bank can cause. If you are unwilling to learn about the Federal Reserve and the mechanisms it has used to destroy the value of your savings, the dollar, and the overall US economy then there is little hope for you. Greed will always be with us. Without a central bank and the bailouts of the US government, that greed is contained and the moral hazard eliminated. Hey, the information is free, all you have to do is take the time to get educated.
MrLiberty
May 23rd, 2011
5:29 pm
And JB, why don’t you go to www(dot)mises(dot)org and get an education on the Fed as well.
Road Scholar
May 23rd, 2011
5:44 pm
So, if all the Repub candidates suck, what about the Repub policies?
Daniel
May 23rd, 2011
5:50 pm
Bart,
I was actually there. It was a large crowd. Easily 5,000 and I would believe 10,000 or slightly more as I was only in a small corner of the park.