Sarah Palin, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump… New GOP Contenders, Third Party Runs Or Just Hype?
It is becoming more and more evident that conservative and independent voters aren’t sure that they have found the winning candidate to beat Barack Obama or that the candidate they are looking for has stepped up yet. What they can agree on is that the main goal is making Barack Obama a one term president'; that this is the most important election of our lifetime and maybe in the history of the U.S.; and that Election 2012 is going to be a rough, tough and dirty fight! It is also becoming more and more evident that the Presidential Election process in 2012 is going to be unconventional!
There is speculation everywhere about possible late-entering GOP candidates like Sarah Palin of Jeb Bush. There are also thoughts that Dr. Chuck Baldwin, Presidential Candidate for the Constitutional Party, might still jump in again, or that Ron Paul could make a 3rd Party run if he doesn’t get the GOP nomination (highly unlikely on both counts in my opinion) and then there is the Trump factor. There are some other speculations, but these are the ones that matter or could make a difference.
If you’re Sarah Palin, Donald Trump or Jeb Bush, all you have to do is open your mouth and the speculation runs wild and generates news on both sides. And that is because all any of those three need to do is say, “I’m in” and the entire race changes.
Palin announced in October she wasn’t running for president. Bush has been saying it for two years. But both were back in the headlines last week with some timely thoughts on American politics and the present GOP field.
Palin might just have been having some fun, but told Fox News it wasn’t too late for someone to get into the Republican contest. Plus the former Alaska governor admitted she wasn’t yet impressed enough with any of the current gang of seven candidates to make her endorsement.
“You know, it’s not too late for folks to jump in. I don’t know, who knows what will happen in the future,” Palin mused. “You know, my endorsement is going to be with sincerity and enthusiasm and I’m just not there yet with the field as it stands.”
Does this mean Palin is reconsidering her decision. There’s no sign one way or the other that she is taking another look. But, Palin’s comment generated dozens of headlines raising the possibility. And according to ElectionMeter, she is more popular than Mitt Romney.
Per ElectionsMeter: Sarah Palin More Popular Than Mitt Romney, Republican Party
h/t to Gary P. Jackson at a Time for Choosing
ElectionsMeter tracks 90 day popularity trends. In the quarter ending December 23, 2011, Sarah Palin rates higher than Mitt Romney, and the Republican Party as a whole. This is an online poll, so not as scientific as others, but telling none the less.
Sarah Palin 49.4%:
Mitt Romney 48%:
GOP 42.6%:
The most popular person in this poll though isn’t a politician at all. Dr Martin Luther King is by far, the most popular in this poll at 57.6%:
And ditto for Jeb Bush, who was out with an op-ed piece in last week’s Wall Street Journal (See link) on the threat leaders in Washington pose to capitalism and economic freedom.
Again, there is nothing – other than the timing of the piece, just ahead of the Iowa caucuses – to suggest Bush might be giving second thought to a late ‘for the sake of the party’ run in 2012. But it was enough to generate a lot of speculation.
It has long been assumed that Bush, if he was ever to run for president, would wait until 2016, giving some space between his candidacy and his brother George W. Bush’s term in office. And with good reason. If Rick Perry has suffered from the fact that he shares only the title – Texas governor – with George W. Bush, then it’s a safe to say Jeb would suffer from having the same last name. For many Americans, not just Democrats, it’s likely still too soon to even contemplate another Bush in the White House. let along elect one. But that won’t stop anyone from speculating.
And then there is Donald Trump who just switched parties from Republican to Independent and who has said all along that he was leaving the door open to running as a 3rd party candidate if he was unhappy with the GOP’s nominee. The fact that each of the present GOP candidates has visited Mecca (Trump Tower) this election season to get Trump’s blessing, advice and perhaps an endorsement and then declined to participate in the NewsMax GOP debate scheduled for December 27th where Trump would have been the host was surely the catalyst for this move. According to Politico, which first reported Trump's party switch, he will still be able to vote in the New York presidential primary next April. Trump had once also been a registered Democrat.
My thoughts on the Trump are that if his concern is really for the good of the country he should re-register as a Democrat and run against Obama in the Democratic Primary. There might be enough moderates and Dems just fed –up with Obama that maybe he could beat him and if not he’d weaken him and cause him to have to use up a good chunk of his war chest. And if he won the Democratic nomination and beat the GOP’s candidate, we’d still be better off.
A straight third party run will guarantee 4 more years of Obama and a move from the United State of America becoming the United Socialist-States of America and a weak contender on the world stage.
As for Palin, I think she is a lot stronger and more popular than we think or than the media has allowed us to think. And I also believe that if she jumped it, it would clear the field. We’d have Palin and Romney plus Gingrich and Paul for just a short while longer. If she doesn’t run she might be a smart consideration for VP for Mitt Romney who looks like he will be the GOP candidate if Palin doesn’t run.
And as for Jeb, he’d be smart not to jump in now. The “W” wounds, whether you think fair or not are still too fresh!
2012 will absolutely be the most important election of our lives! Let us make sure that we and everyone we encounter understand what is at stake, why it matters and what is true, as well as to make sure that voter registration, the actual voting process, and the vote count is honest and accurate.
No comments:
Post a Comment