The Need for a CCA
Without exactly using our terminology, Politico cites the need for a CCA in the GOP nomination battle. Using quotes from Rush Limbaugh, Erick Erickson of RedState, and Reagan author Craig Shirley, Politico shines a light on this glaring hole in the race.
"The party is headed for the wilderness," complained conservative publicist Craig Shirley. "I really feel strongly that if the slate is what we have now, then we're not going to win in 2008," added Erick Erickson.
"To be honest with you, there's nobody out there that revs me up," Rush confessed to his audience of several million conservative sympathizers on his radio show last week, "so why should I pretend there is?"
Politico mentions the Coolers favorite CCA, Sam Brownback. But the problem with Brownback is that he’s gone left on the War and already held the pro-“amnesty” position on immigration. There is no Gary Bauer or Alan Keyes in this race so the question is, where will all their voters go? This is especially relevant here in Iowa where candidates of that mold make up a significant portion of the electorate. Will they be sold by Romney’s conversion story? Swallow McCain because of his pro-life creds? Vote Tancredo? Ignore Huckabee and Brownback's immigration issues?
"The party is headed for the wilderness," complained conservative publicist Craig Shirley. "I really feel strongly that if the slate is what we have now, then we're not going to win in 2008," added Erick Erickson.
"To be honest with you, there's nobody out there that revs me up," Rush confessed to his audience of several million conservative sympathizers on his radio show last week, "so why should I pretend there is?"
Politico mentions the Coolers favorite CCA, Sam Brownback. But the problem with Brownback is that he’s gone left on the War and already held the pro-“amnesty” position on immigration. There is no Gary Bauer or Alan Keyes in this race so the question is, where will all their voters go? This is especially relevant here in Iowa where candidates of that mold make up a significant portion of the electorate. Will they be sold by Romney’s conversion story? Swallow McCain because of his pro-life creds? Vote Tancredo? Ignore Huckabee and Brownback's immigration issues?
posted by Caucus Cooler at 1/30/2007
13 Comments:
I still wonder why people continue to say that McCain has "pro-life creds" despite his vote supporting federally fund embryonic stem-cell research and his opposition to the marriage amendment. Do people not remember SC in the 2000 race?
McCain and Romney will falter and someone else will rise up to take thier place.
Billy- What does marriage have to do with life? I find that my traditional marriage might actually be cause an early death.
Peter, what do you do that you hang out on Iowa blogs all day long?
During the first hour of his show today Limbaugh clarified his comments.
To the disgust of some on the fringe Limbaugh stated that nobody excited him yet and that the current crop of candidates may do so in the future.
He was clear that the current candidates are good and that they will come around in the next few months.
So, no the world is not falling and his comments are not part of the first step into the wilderness and some in the GOP want us to beleive.
Whew - good to hear.
Once I was listening to Rush and he told me that I was going to receive riches beyond my wildest dreams. I went to a McD's drive thru and they accidentally gave me an extra LARGE FRY!
Can you believe it?!
Is it possible Rush just had a couple too many valiums yesterday?
11:14 hates someone for having a better opinion, sheesh...
Caucus Cooler hit the key questions:
Will people swallow Romney's conversion story? Or ignore Huck's and Brownback's immigration issues?
I'm betting on Romney, and not just b/c I support him. When the option is between someone who might be what you want (Romney, if he's true to his campagin rhetoric) and someone who is flat out telling you they won't be what you want (Brownback and Huckabee on immigration), I think things are lining up well for Romney with conservatives.
Fredo, that is just really sad that you would take barometer over a fan.
GOP Right Sees Lemons in White House Race
By: Jonathan Martin
January 30, 2007 03:14 PM EST
Contemplating the current field of Republican presidential candidates, Rush Limbaugh sounded like a man with malaise.
"To be honest with you, there's nobody out there that revs me up," he confessed to his audience of several million conservative sympathizers on his radio show last week, "so why should I pretend there is?"
What for much of the past year has been an undercurrent of grumbling on the right about the top tier of Republican contenders -- Sen. John McCain of Arizona, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani -- is lately on the rise in both frequency and volume. Limbaugh's sour note is the most striking of examples.
From consultants to bloggers to talk show hosts, there is a climate of suspicion -- at times bordering on contempt -- among conservative activists about their 2008 choices.
McCain is courting social and economic conservatives this year, but still faces grave doubts because of his past attacks on conservative religious leaders and his frequent willingness to make common cause with Democrats. Romney, who is positioning himself as the true conservative alternative, faces charges of opportunism because of his recent past as a social moderate. Giuliani's potential candidacy would test whether a leader with liberal views on abortion and gay rights could prosper in a party whose activists are steadfastly opposed to both.
Some activists see all three men failing the test. "The party is headed for the wilderness," complained conservative publicist Craig Shirley, author of a book on Ronald Reagan's insurgent 1976 campaign. "In some ways it's a victim of its own successes, but it's also been co-opted by folks from the inside with less than pure intentions: People who've come to party for power, money, access, celebrity."
Romney "is a question mark" who has "got problems because of his past," Shirley observed. As for McCain and Giuliani: "I don't know of any conservative who is excited about either one of them."
"I really feel strongly that if the slate is what we have now, then we're not going to win in 2008," added Erick Erickson, the founder of the influential blog, RedState. Erickson, who recently posted an entry about the GOP contenders titled "They All Suck," said in an interview that he's "not sure if there is a Republican out there who can win" the general election next year.
"Where do social conservatives go?" asked Dan Schnur, a California-based Republican consultant who worked for McCain in 2000 but is staying out of the 2008 contest. "They've been the determining force in the nomination process for a generation and they've got no candidate in the top tier."
Plenty of people are trying to prove Schnur wrong. McCain's advisers are betting that the disdain toward the Arizonan among many of the most vocal activists will not prove representative of primary voters. Running in a party that counts many Baptists, Romney may find a sympathetic audience for his story of conversion on social issues -- if he can convince people that he saw the light on the road to Damascus, not the White House.
They act as if the big three are the only candidates.
They are. Now start paying attention.
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