Who do you think the GOP will nominate in '08?

[WI_DEM]

[Seen the light]

1. My money's on George Allen

[VolcanoJen]

5. Hey, Y'all!! It's the 10th Annual George Allen Hoedown!!

It's this Saturday! Yeeeeh-haw!!! I'm so there...

http://www.georgeallenhoedown.com/hoedown/index.htm

Seriously, I do hope it's George Allen. I'm not afraid of his phony, hokey, down-home act one bit. Eight years of Dubya Fatigue isn't going to help Allen one bit.

Bring it on.

[Rowdyboy]

17. God I hope you're right, maybe the people are smart enough to see

through Allen's bullshit. I agree with you that he will be the nominee. There's no way in hell the Republican electorate will nominate Guiliani, McCain or Rice.

[bunny planet]

2. McCain, he'll be the only one left who hasn't been indicted for something.

[Seen the light]

4. That doesn't mean much to GOP primary voters

Hell, they'd probably nominate DeLay before McCain.

[VolcanoJen]

7. Naw. They'll use ageism against him.

He'd be the oldest president ever. We won't have to bring that up, because they're going to chew McCain to bits over it in the primaries, if you ask me.

[peace frog]

12. He has the most broad-based appeal

and the GOP is all about maintaining power. They'll go with whomever can capture the most votes among their base and among crossover Dems, and right now McCain is the only one who can do it.

[Zynx]

3. George Allen

[knitter4democracy]

6. Mitt Romney

He's even running in Michigan already, saying how badly Granholm's doing (as if!!) and all. He's got the image they need and the barely centrist appeal that they have to have after this mess. Dean or Clark could beat him pretty easily, I think.

[VolcanoJen]

9. But, he can't even win his own state, let alone region.

I don't think the Repubs can get any leverage by nominating a northeastern governor.

They're going to have to fight tooth and nail to keep their base together, and their base lives down south.

Look for another southerner, or possibly someone from the plains states, but I don't see Romney getting past the GOP "Order."

[Davis_X_Machina]

13. Romney is actually a Utahan...

...and a lot of his cred is tied up with the SLC Olympics, not running the People's Republic of MA.

He is probably counting on the GOP's nervousness about the Mountain West to catapault him to stardom.

He's the anti-Schweitzer.

[Ravenseye]

27. They'll play him in Mass as a positive

All those communists up there couldn't handle him or some such.

[sarcasmo]

8. Newt has been getting a lot of PUB lately.

[Mz Pip]

10. Cheney

I think he'll be the candidate who will carry on with the Repugs true PNAC agenda. No one else comes close. I don't see BushCo abandoning that for the likes of John McCain.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[CottonBear]

23. I don't think Cheney will survive until 2008. His health is awful. n/t

[iamjoy]

11. McCain Would Be Tough To Beat

many people still see him as a maverick, independent sort.

I used to, until the last campaign when he whored so shamelessly for Dubya.

But, too many Americans haven't opened their eyes yet and they would vote for him. We would have to be very careful in attcking him, because he is seen as so likeable and we don't want to be like Dubya. Age might be something, if elected in 2008, he would be 72 when he took office. Of course, that might lead to comparisons to Reagan.

[Seen the light]

14. Many staunch GOPers have started liking McCain even less lately

Since his vote against the marriage amendment thing, he's been in the doghouse.

[WI_DEM]

15. He and Hagel would be tough

the rest of them would be pretty easy.

[gauguin57]

16. I'll bet the Bushies turn on McCain. He lost his dignity/credibility by

sucking up to the Bushies during the 2004 campaign -- I just know those Bushes have someone else in mind (maybe Jebbie and Katherine Harris for prexy/veep), and they will hang McCain out to dry, sure as shootin'

And McCain will only have himself to blame for kissing the asses of a crew that dashed his presidential hopes on the rocks in 2000 with lies and dirty tricks.

[William769]

18. Who's ever left standing after all the investigations.

:shrug:

[longship]

19. Think!!! It will *not* be McCain.

The Repug party is so engrained with ideologues McCain could *never* ever get the nomination.

Looking at their behavior since 2000--totally oblivious to any consequences--it is very apparent that they will not change their agenda, their corruption, their positions.

They will not nominate McCain, because they don't see that they have done anything wrong. There is no need for any political correction because they see themselves as being irrevocably correct, even if the entire world is against them (which is the way it is).

Anybody suggesting that McCain will be the nominee in 2008 is ignoring everything that has happened in the past 25 years, and especially everything that has happened in the past five.

The Repugs will go down with the ship before they surrender their ideology. The operative, and extremely worrisome, question is: what proportion of the world will be sacrificed to that ideology? Either the whole party goes down, or I shudder to think of the consequences.

[wuushew]

21. What exactly are they mad at McCain for?

He is anti-Mexican and pro-war, two staples of the Republican party.

Is he not enough of a theocrat or is it his stance on campaign finance reform?

[longship]

33. Yes.

Both, he is not a theocrat and he's for accountability, both on which the ideologues cannot compromise.

Also, he is a moderate (or pretends to be).

[davidinalameda]

20. My money had been on Frist

but the whole stock thing seems suspicious to me

it seems like they're setting him up so he won't run for prez but maybe for re-election instead

[Spike from MN]

22. I say they cut to the chase and nominate Satan.

Might as well cut out the middlemen and get the leader himself in there.

[jonnyblitz]

24. wingnuts HATE McCain. I can't believe he is ahead in this poll

so far. maybe it's too early in the vote. he is the LAST person I would think they would want. Freepers HATE him.

[0rganism]

25. I'm thinking one of the more popular red-state governors other than Jeb

Unlike senators, governors tend to run strong in presidential races. The RNC is well aware of this, and will actively supress any McCain-esque primary runs. That said, there are a number of governors in good shape to run:
Dave Heineman, Nebraska
Jon Huntsman, Utah
Dirk Kempthorne, Idaho
Kenny Guinn, Nevada

Jeb won't be ready for a run in '08, although he'd probably like to. After 8 years of bush, America will want a change of surname. They'll save Jeb until 2016. By a similar token, I don't think Rick Perry's sub-50% approval is going to merit a run; he'd carry Texas and the south, of course, but have a harder time in the midwest.

[peace frog]

34. I think they'll sneak Jebbie in as VP running mate

to a more acceptable 2008 presidential candidate. However, should said GOP candidate win the election he'd better watch his back...
Remember Reagan's unfortunate little *accident* shortly after he became president (which, had the shooting resulted in his demise, would have ushered in the first Bush presidency a tad ahead of schedule).

Yes, I'm being fitted for my tin hat as we speak. ;-)

[The_Counsel]

26. It Could Be The Governor of Arkansas All Over Again...

Mike Huckabee has been spending a lot of time in Iowa and New Hampshire lately. Ya never know...

[Johonny]

28. Who cares

The real fun is going to watch the primaries. All these good old yes men that have waited for their payoff. The fur is going to fly.

[geomon666]

29. This guy

[Skidmore]

30. Depends on who's not in prison.

[Zero Division]

31. Immigration is the key issue. It will not be McCain.

http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2005/05/23/daily28.html

My prediction: Whoever can appease the hard right over the issue of immigration, generally appeal to the hard right, and most successfully appear more moderate will win the GOP nomination in '08.

I think McCain will be slightly more popular (at best) in the GOP primaries than Lieberman was in the last Democratic primaries.

[nonconformist]

32. I have a feeling it might be senator Sam Brownback (KS)

A bad feeling, that is.

My dream GOP ticket would be Frist/Delay, personally.

[cynatnite]

35. I voted other because I don't think it'll be anyone on that list...

They won't take McCain...he's too moderate. Maybe as a VP they'd stomach.

[devilgrrl]

36. Other: None that I'm voting for

:puke: