Presidential Primaries 2012

Question from a curious European here.

Is there really no chance of the Republicans fielding a "normal" person.
Say, an Eisenhower, Ford or even a Nixon?

Has the political culture of the American right really morphed so much over the years?
 
G. Pataki, not unexpectedly, will not run for president. We'll strike him through.
http://www.ny1.com/content/145836/pataki-won-t-seek-2012-presidential-run

That leaves ...
S. Palin
R. Giuliani
A. Keyes (a non-entity this cycle; may strike him soon in housekeeping run)

GOP
S. Palin of Fox News (bearing the decisive qualities of a certain Danish prince)
W. "M." Romney (Campaign slogan: Romneycare ≠ Obamacare) •
M. Huckabee of Fox News
N. Gingrich of Fox News •
B. Jindal
T. Pawlenty •
K. Bailey Hutchison
M. Sanford
D. Patreus
T. Ridge
J. DeMint
C. Crist
R. Paul (le père) •
A. Keyes
J. Bush
R. Giuliani
D. Hunter
J. Huntsman Amb. to China •
M. Steele
J. Ensign
H. Barbour
R. Santorum of Fox News •
M. Bachmann •
R. Cheney
M. Pence
S. King
R. Ailes of Fox News
G. Pataki
S. Brownback
J. Thune
M. Daniels
G. Johnson (free the buds!) •
J. Bolton of Fox News
C. Christie
P. Ryan
H. Cain (change of heart, loves the Mohammedans) •
D. Trump
S. Angle
C. "B." Roemer •
R. Paul (le fils)
F. Karger •
R. Perry •
R. Moore •
T. McCotter •
D. Duke (All new! Frosty beard!) •

Dem
B. Obama •
R. Terry •

Anti- Certain Things Too Much Habituated in the 2 Major Parties
L. Dobbs of Fox News
D. Trump (Hair today, gone tomorrow)

The Rent is Too Damn High
J. McMillan •
 
Eddie Dane said:
Question from a curious European here.

Is there really no chance of the Republicans fielding a "normal" person.
Say, an Eisenhower, Ford or even a Nixon?

Has the political culture of the American right really morphed so much over the years?
Click to expand...

How does Romney not fit that? I mean, he's a pragmatist asshat whose opinions match with incredible precision the most relevant of today, but he's not clinically insane.
 
Puppycow said:
Update:

Paul Ryan is the new flavor of the week. Available only for a limited time! Get yours while supplies last!

Perry: 35.9% -1.3%
Romney: 31.0% +0.7%
Ryan: 7.2% +6.7%
Huntsman: 6.5% -0.5%
Bachmann: 5.9% -1.0%
Palin: 5.0% -1.5%
Click to expand...

It's been almost 2 weeks since last we checked in. Michele Bachmann's star continues to fade. For some reason people still seem to think that Sarah Palin is going to get in this thing even though we're only a week from Labor Day. Speculation about Paul Ryan and others has been laid to rest, I think that Sarah Palin in third is just more evidence that it's a two-man race.

Perry: 36.9% +1.0%
Romney: 29.7% -1.3%
Palin: 7.9% +2.9%
Huntsman: 6.5% unchanged
Bachmann: 4.4% -1.5%
 
This headline made me look:

2012 primary calendar: Arizona starts the party

The 2012 presidential primary calendar is about to gel.

This Saturday is the deadline for Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) to decide whether to move up her state’s primary to January. That decision represents what could be the first shoe to drop in another “front-loading” of the primary calendar that could include contests right after the New Year or even in December 2011.

But Arizona isn’t the only state threatening to crash the presidential party. In fact, there’s plenty of reason to believe some other states could advance their primaries as well.
Click to expand...

I for one am tired on the chokehold that Iowa, New Hampshire and So. Carolina have on the process. There is no God-given right for them to go first every time. I'd rather have the national parties get together and come up with a new schedule that is fair to all states. I see no reason why it should a partisan issue.

Something like this: Starting in late Jan. or early Feb., three or four states chosen at random get to go each week.

So, by all means do it Jan Brewer and others! Someone needs to upset the applecart or nothing will change! No special exemptions for privileged states! It's obvious that the other states aren't going to get anywhere by just asking nicely.
 
Puppycow said:
I for one am tired on the chokehold that Iowa, New Hampshire and So. Carolina have on the process. There is no God-given right for them to go first every time. I'd rather have the national parties get together and come up with a new schedule that is fair to all states. I see no reason why it should a partisan issue.

Something like this: Starting in late Jan. or early Feb., three or four states chosen at random get to go each week.
Click to expand...


Well said. This annoys the h' out off me too. A lot of good people are left in the dust by this unrepresentative process and a few hometown heroes, like Bachman this time, get an illegitimate boost.

I *think* the primary process should be regional with perhaps 6 or 8 regions (let's see 57 states and ...) . Maybe base the regions on population rather than number of states. Then rotate the regional order every time.

There are regional issues but few regions are so lopsided and unrepresentative as Iowa & NH.
 
hgc said:
Fun times. Jokebag news network CNN has invited R. Giuliani and S. Palin to the Sept 12 GOP debate they have coming up on Sept 12.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2...no_roemer_but_we_invited_rudy_and_palin_.html
Click to expand...

The network adds that Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin were invited: "Giuliani declined the debate invitation, while a Palin representative has yet to respond to it."
Click to expand...

Palin obviously wants to keep people guessing for as long as possible.
 
This is a long shot but I just heard on a podcast that Petreaus has retired.

Just thought I'd mention it just in case.
 
Puppycow said:
This is a long shot but I just heard on a podcast that Petreaus has retired.

Just thought I'd mention it just in case.
Click to expand...

In case of what? He retired from the Army because he's taking over as Director of Central Intelligence.
 
You've completely forgotten to list the very first Republican candidate for the 2012 election, Bruce Allen Gidner. He was filed on 2/1/2002. And he has an great statement of candidacy.
 
elbe said:
You've completely forgotten to list the very first Republican candidate for the 2012 election, Bruce Allen Gidner. He was filed on 2/1/2002. And he has an great statement of candidacy.
Click to expand...


Where's the line between makes the list and doesn't? Apparently it's somewhere between F. Karger and B.A. Gidner. :)

(R. Moore and D. Duke make the list due to prior notability.)
 
hgc said:
Where's the line between makes the list and doesn't? Apparently it's somewhere between F. Karger and B.A. Gidner. :)

(R. Moore and D. Duke make the list due to prior notability.)
Click to expand...

Not even the "legal son" and "legal daughter" of Jeb Bush?

Seriously, though, there are some crazy people who've filed.
 
elbe said:
You've completely forgotten to list the very first Republican candidate for the 2012 election, Bruce Allen Gidner. He was filed on 2/1/2002. And he has an great statement of candidacy.
Click to expand...

It seems he's running as an independent as the "party affiliation" and "office sought" fields were left blank (although I take it he is running for president).
 
Puppycow said:
It seems he's running as an independent as the "party affiliation" and "office sought" fields were left blank (although I take it he is running for president).
Click to expand...

The FEC lists him as a Republican, probably because on two of his applications he's listed that. His filings are a bit of a mess, he filed for 2004 three times and 2012 twice, but I really like all the extra pages on the one 2012 entry form.
 
mhaze said:
And she's probably still guessing, too.
Click to expand...

Well, the unofficial deadline for getting in the race has now passed, and if you look closely, she's not doing most of the things a serious candidate would do, such as building a real campaign organization. OTOH, she is going around Iowa and New Hampshire giving speeches. But I think she's just playing for attention.

Punters are finally starting to realize that she won't be in the race, and that it's really a 2-man race.

Here's the latest:

Perry: 39.0% +2.1%
Romney: 32.0% +2.3%
Huntsman: 7.0% +0.5%
Palin: 6.0% -1.9%
Bachmann: 4.0% -0.4%
Paul: 4.0% +0.4%

Punters have really soured on Bachmann's chances, as she's below non-candidate Sarah Palin and only equal to Ron Paul.

Huntsman's chances seem to be overrated too, as he averages only 1.3% support in polls. Even Santorum (2.6%), Cain (4.3%) and Gingrich (4.5%) each have more support according to polls than Huntsman. So, the punters seem to be way overestimating his chances.
 
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