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September 24, 2011 08:37 PM UTC

Republicans Still Ain't Got Nobody

  • 34 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Politico’s Juana Summers recaps a tough week on the GOP primary trail:

There was no election-ending gaffe or singularly disqualifying remark. But [Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s] second consecutive weak outing set off alarm bells on the right, where too many cringeworthy moments raised questions about Perry’s durability, his seriousness and ability to compete on a stage with Barack Obama. Worse, after a near-flawless August rollout fueled his rise in the polls and quieted critics who fretted about the quality of the GOP field, Perry’s nationally televised face-plant revived dormant talk-and hopes-about the possibility of new candidates entering the race… [Pols emphasis]

“A few weeks ago, the question was how far and how fast [Perry] would ascend; now, after his third debate, it’s how much he’ll drop,” Lowry wrote.”His weak performance will stoke more speculation about New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie possibly entering the race.”

The pile-on began before the Fox News/Google event finished-conservative commentator Ann Coulter tweeted “Governor Perry losing debate with his own tongue” in real time-and continued uninterrupted through Friday…

“People from Texas often say that, while they don’t dislike Perry, he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer,” wrote Ross Kaminsky [in the American Spectator]. “With every debate, that criticism has been validated, with Thursday night the most egregious example of Perry’s intellect simply not being at the level of others on the stage.”

The latest word today is that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, after stating over and over that he would not run for President, may be reconsidering as the current field of GOP primary candidates fails to thrive–the Washington Post reports on continuing efforts by conservatives to persuade Christie to get in the presidential race while there is still time. Or maybe that’s just wishful thinking, says The Atlantic. And of course this is after Gov. Rick Perry’s relatively late entry into the GOP field last month, an entry acknowledged by all sides (except the current candidates, naturally) as a response to perceived weakness in the slate.

We said before that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney did well overall in Thursday’s debate, with the pointed exception of his extremely regrettable “there are a lot of reasons not to elect me” throwaway. But Romney’s decent outings in presidential debates seem to only be holding his place as the frontrunner nobody wants. For at least a few days, Jon Huntsman was going to be the better Romney than Romney. It seems like the more we see Huntsman saying reasonable, electable things on the trail, the farther back into single digits he drops. Perry was supposed to sink Romney, but as it turns out he can’t even make himself look good.

We don’t know anybody who will tell you that President Barack Obama is having an easy time right now, but there’s simply no Ronald Reagan to make the Jimmy Carter analogy work. Obama, after all the presumption of weakness and that “devastating” first midterm, is still in better shape than he’s given credit for basically anywhere in the media or public perception right now. Certainly if you compare his admittedly soft approval ratings to Congress, which is in downright (don’t take this the wrong way please) Arab Spring territory. But the best evidence of all is supplied by conservatives: the growing concern on the right, after seeing Perry in action a few times, that he will get cut to ribbons in a debate against Obama. At the end of the day, for all of Obama’s problems, voters are still going to have to choose someone on the 2012 ballot — and it’s still hard to see Obama losing a matchup with any of the current contenders.

So, when does this change the discussion, folks? When do we admit that reality, at least the range of currently foreseeable outcomes, isn’t conforming to the sturm and drang?

Because we think there’s a, you know, a bit of a disconnect emerging.

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34 thoughts on “Republicans Still Ain’t Got Nobody”

    1. A lot is going to hapen in the next year.  I will, however, take some encouragement from the state of the GO(T)P field for now. If Perry can’t knock off Romney, i don’t think the barely animated Ken doll that is Romney can pull it off. I also remember when 2008 was supposedly a foregone conclusion: HRC v Giuliani.

      I don’t know why HRC would want to trade her prestigious position for Veep, not exactly a position of Cheney like proportions in the Obama White House while SOS is an important international position and she may want something with more pizzazz when she chooses to leave it.  But I honestly don’t think it would be a bad idea to lose Biden, who neither adds nor detracts, for HRC or another well regarded dynamic figure in 2012.

      2. He has been involved in final details of key legislation and his experience as a six term senator has been valuable in helping craft legislation.

        He is no Cheney but no one wants another Cheney.  Biden is the least of Obama’s worries.

        1. I have watched Joe Biden for years and I suspect he doesn’t agree with many of the  opinions of Obama’s close advisers. He undoubtedly gives his opinion but is enough of a team player to support the President once a decision is made.  His friends in the House and Senate know that and respect him for it.

          No he’s not a Dick Cheney who would backdoor his President, thank God.  

        2. I agree with much of what you say about Biden but that’s inside baseball stuff. He doesn’t add anything in terms of engendering enthusiasm where it is most needed for 2012.

          I’m talking strictly about what could enhance the chances not only for reelecting Obama in 2012 but for rekindling the kind of enthusiasm that will be needed to get the biggest possible turn out, not just for Obama but for all Dems running for congress, state legislatures and statewide offices.

          As far as legislative prowess,  with the present situation or one in which the Rs hold the Senate as well as the house, it’s pretty clear there are no deals to be made on the most important issues with or without legislative prowess. In the less likely but possible event that the Rs take the trifecta, the ensuing destruction to the fabric of American society would be almost beyond repair.

          Anything that helps avoid that is worth considering.  That said, I doubt Biden will be jettisoned.

  3. Herman Cain fills the bill. He governed the country’s largest state through difficult times, has twice before run for president, and has been a well known spokesman for conservative causes going back generations. Isn’t he?

    1. California is the most populous.

      Herman Cain did not govern either California or Alaska.

      Or, did you mean the not-quite-half-term Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin?

  4. The Conservative Punditocracy has been pounding an anti-Perry drumbeat all week. I wasn’t sure that the Tea Baggers were paying attention to what the Daddies were saying.

    Clearly, they are looking for a more electable candidate, which probably favors Romney.

    On the other hand, this might be nothing more than Pageantry Politics using brainwashing techniques. Run a lot of noisy debates with outrageous statements in order to keep the 24 media cycle’s attention, and to prevent rational discussion.

      1. Condi Rice has a snowball’s chance in hell with  today’s GO(T)P primary voters? The Bush administration is almost as out of favor as with them as the Obama administration. 2010 was all about, yeah we know Bush really screwed up but we’re not Bush.  Compassionate conservatism and everything connected with it, especially Bush administration views on immigration and illegal alien issues, is poison.  And if Condi demonstrated  anything  it was that she definitely could not hold her own with the heavy hitters and is much better suited to the world of academia and think tanks.

        Besides, the only way for female contenders to get attention this round seems to be by either being Palin or trying to sounds as crazy as Palin ( Bachmann) and even then, it’s not enough to compete with the men.  Look what happened to Bachmann the second Perry, a man, showed up. And as he fades she isn’t regaining. They never were seriously going to run a woman and jumped to the new TP rightie, the one who wears pants, at the first opportunity. Condi? No way  

        1. but I don’t think the Tea Party is going to choose the nominee. All of their nominees end up looking like Saturday Night Live parodies of themselves. The GOP will find someone intelligent, fiscally conservative, and who has not yet pissed off the Tea Party, although not as extreme as one of them. Someone with a good marriage and goes to church, yet doesn’t preach too much like the Tea Party bozos do. If they’re smart, and I am not quite sure they are, they will be catering to the fiscal conservatives more than the social conservatives, if they want any chance in this game at all.

          They need someone on the ticket with a more middle-class rags-to-riches story, too.

          They would also be wise to go with someone younger than 55, and make it gender/ ethnic balanced. Rick Perry was closest of the bunch, but he didn’t say what they wanted to hear on immigration.

          I think Romney could be the right guy for them, but I do think the religious conservatives will find his faith to be suspicious. I’m not sure who their candidate will be, but I think they’re still looking through hundreds of people to find the right one, and not too eager to prop them up in the store window too early. Just my hunch.

          Oh, and lest someone thinks I am being boring with my serious tone, they need great hair, too.

          1. the entire party has gone to place where a Condi would be impossible IMHO. Romney more likely to be what they’re stuck with but you’re right about the religious conservatives who don’t think Mormons are Christian and do think all elected officials should be Christian and not too far from their particular flavor of Christian. I also don’t think Condi would have the slightest desire to enter the fray.

            As with the field the GO(T)P  got stuck with for Governor and senate here in Colorado in 2010, I think it’s too late for a do over.  I think it could well be Romney as it was with McCain all over again or a clearly unelectable TP darling, depending on how far the loss of grown up control has really gone. There is no room for anybody even slightly more moderate than the 2011 version of Romney.

    1. just gets stranger and stranger. Literally nothing would surprise me at this point.  The only lunatic candidate who hasn’t won or placed near the top of a straw poll so far is Santorum and thanks to a recent thread I can hardly stand to hear that name anymore. Literally nothing would surprise me at this point. Not even a campaign to…. draft Dan Maes! Yeah, that’s the ticket!  

  6. are sweating big time.  There is still no one candidate who is consistently moving to the head of the pack, and staying there.  What’s the sound a balloon makes when you let the air out all at once? . . . what you hear is Perry.  And now the Hermanator has won the straw poll in Florida . . . well see here now, we can’t have that!

    The Repub wizards (of Oz) behind the curtain would probably prefer that the debates and straw polls come to a screeching halt, so they can come up with their magical, hand-picked candidate and present him/her to the country, ready to go for 2012.  They know the sooner that “selection” can be made, the sooner the dutiful Repub troops will line up in support of the magical candidate (of their dreams).  At least that’s always how it has worked in the past . . . .

  7. get back to smoke-filled rooms.

    Think of all the money that will be saved when you don’t have to pander to millions for votes, but just a few fat, white guys in the back room.

    Think of how much cleaner our airwaves would be.

    Do it “for the children”.

  8. Consider this extensive pasting an homage to ‘tad…

    The conservative commentariat spoke with near-unanimity Friday on Rick Perry’s debate performance: The Texas governor didn’t just lose, he bombed.

    “Reading the reactions of thoughtful commentators after the stage emptied, talking with conservative policy types and GOP political operatives later last evening and this morning, we know we’re not alone. Most won’t express publicly just how horrified – or at least how demoralized – they are,” Kristol wrote.

    The pile-on began before the Fox News/Google event finished – conservative commentator Ann Coulter tweeted “Governor Perry losing debate with his own tongue” in real time – and continued uninterrupted through Friday.

    Michelle Malkin, on her blog, remarked that “any random high schooler at the CPAC conference in Washington could have done better than this.”

    A scroll through the posts on the conservative blog RedState provided a good cross-section of the head-shaking

    Contributor Ben Howe, in a post called “I Need a Hero,” called the GOP field “a panel of damaged goods best relegated to sniping at each other or making statements that cause their staunchest allies to stare in bewilderment.”

    Of Perry, Howe said: “I feel that I’ve seen what he’s made of, and it makes me sad.”

    The site’s editor, Erick Erickson, also a CNN contributor, deemed Perry “a train wreck.”

    http://www.politico.com/news/s…

    Rumors have long been circulating that  many prominent Texas Republicans consider Perry dumb as a bag of rocks but they were always unattributed so I couldn’t find any solid quotes to cite with links. Still can’t find hard quotes from Texas Republicans but this leads me to believe those citing unnamed sources weren’t making it up

      1. No matter how bad the R presidential candidates are, Obama winning but the Rs taking the Senate and keeping the House is still a terrifying thought. Maybe smirking a little?

  9. Republicans spent a lot of time looking for alternatives to McCain before realizing very late that McCain was all they had. I see a similar situation playing out with Romney. I can see Romney holding on and picking a crazy wingnut running mate to keep the GOP base in tow.

    I think that’s a scenario for a guaranteed second Obama term, too.

    1. I just don’t think they’re dumb enough to stick a wing-nut in there with him. They’ll put in a yes-man/yes-woman with him. All hair, nice smile and no brains. (Anyone remember Dan Quayle?)  

          1. That Mittens will convince the Tea Party Christians to vote for a heretic? Once all the insane candidates are out of money, and if it comes down to those two, who will compromise and deliver victory, the fundamentalist Christians or the Bushco, Inc. corporatists?

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