Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Will Republicans Blow It?

[Of course they may. The GOP powers-that-be have obviously already anointed Romney. Trouble is these “powers” forget that We the People are getting tired of being led down bland, flip-flop, Beltway rabbit holes! – JS]


From Thomas Sowell at townhall.com

… The smart money inside the Beltway says that the Republicans need to pick a moderate candidate who can appeal to independent voters, not just to the conservative voters who turn out to vote in Republican primaries. Those who think this way say that you have to "reach out" to Hispanics, the elderly and other constituencies.

What is remarkable is how seldom the smart money folks look at what has actually been happening in presidential elections.

Ronald Reagan won two landslide elections when he ran as Ronald Reagan. Vice President George H.W. Bush then won when he ran as if he were another Ronald Reagan, with his famous statement, "Read my lips, no new taxes."

But after Bush 41 was elected and turned "kinder and gentler" -- to everyone except the taxpayers -- he lost to an unknown governor from a small state.

Other Republican presidential candidates who went the "moderate" route -- Bob Dole and John McCain -- also came across as neither fish nor fowl, and also went down to defeat.

Now the smart money inside the Beltway is saying that Mitt Romney, who is nothing if not versatile in his positions, is the Republicans' best hope for replacing Obama.

If conservative Republicans split their votes among a number of conservative candidates in the primaries, that can mean ending up with a presidential candidate in the Bob Dole-John McCain mold -- and risking a Bob Dole-John McCain result in the next election.

Read it all …

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