The likelihood is that we will face McCain or Guiliani in '08

[WI_DEM]

Allen was eliminated in this years election. Frist has announced that he won't run. Gingrich is the candidate the right wing would like, but they know he wouldn't win a general election. Romney may have a chance, but I think he's running for VP.

So it looks like we will get McCain or Guiliani in '08, probably McCain, and the problem with these two is that they are perceived as moderates and are strong with Independents. I think we will have our hands full in '08 and will need to give great thought to who we nominate.

p.s.
don't think the GOP will never nominate McCain or even Guiliani after '06 they want nothing more than to win in '08.

[trotsky]

1. I really, REALLY don't see the party's base nominating either of them.

They hate McCain, which is obvious, and they'll never nominate a Repub like Rudy who is gay-friendly, etc.

[station agent]

2. So, who's left?

Brownback? I think not.

[tridim]

6. Newt!

:rofl:

[trotsky]

32. Names I have heard: Hagel, Pataki.

Dark horses: MN Gov. Pawlenty, AR Gov. Huckabee

Pawlenty is "my" governor. He's a chucklenuts. Smarter than Chimpy, no doubt, but has this total smarminess about him that makes you want to slap the smirk off his face. Rumored to be on the short list of VP candidates, but who knows, maybe he'll try to head the ticket.

[aquart]

5. In two years, 9/11 will be even further away.

Rudy will be further rotted. He's a cancer survivor and he looks like a corpse. He's also a New Yorker who can't carry his home state. Nobody in this city will vote for the man who allowed the fed to lie about our air quality downtown.

McCain is SEVENTY YEARS OLD.

The Republicans are going to have to drag someone clean and shiny out of the boonies.

[CanonRay]

35. No way the Christian Right lets Giuliani get it...

[Red Zelda]

3. Would someone PLEASE

...explain to me what the hell that lizard-faced Guliani has EVER done to warrant such consideration????????????????

[BlueStater]

9. I know what you mean

9/11 was five years ago. What the hell has he done since then?!

He's no different then Bush in how he has used 9/11 for his political gain.

[thereismore]

10. Really! I consciously stop myself from judging people by face,

but in his case (and shrub's) I get very strong negative vibes when I see the face. Rudi's face tells me:
he is for himself, he's a backstabber, an underhanded, shady character. If he likes you, you're doing great, but if he doesn't like you, you better hide. Am I off the mark?

[tridim]

13. He cracked down on faux fat-free frozen yogurt

Oh wait, that was a TV show.

[KamaAina]

20. It was Seinfeld, no less

that means we can tie him to Michael Richards by association. :-)

[aquart]

14. Mayor of America.

That magazine cover is his ticket.

[EdwardM]

4. We want McCain to win the primary.

He may be seen as a moderate right now because of his 2000 campaign image, but once he gets in the national spotlight again, his true ultra right wing views will come out. Once people realize that he now wants 100,000 more troops in Iraq and wants to overturn Roe vs Wade, he is toast. Rudy on the other hand, is much closer to a moderate, and will be much harder to beat.

[physioex]

7. McCain will never win.......

He seems like a moderate but he is indeed ulra right wing. He also loves to portray the image of a straight shooter but he is just as corrupt....

[EdwardM]

11. You're right, he will never win the general election.

That's why we should pray he wins the primary!! :evilgrin:

[aquart]

12. Wrong.

Bush faked moderate simply by having the media lie. They will lie about 70 year old McCain. Never refer to that man as anything but 70 year old McCain.

Giuliani has crappy race relations. CRAPPY. And he cannot carry New York. So who the hell else will vote for him? Fundies? With that marital record? He's a serial adulterer. He's the man who recommended Kerik.

Are you thinking the Independent vote will break for Catholic, divorced, stained New Yorker Giuliani over the Democrat?

After the Republicans finish trashing Rudy, we won't have to do a thing.

[Poiuyt]

27. I agree. It doesn't matter if McCain is conservative or moderate, it's how

he is perceived by the public. Right now, the media loves both McCain and Giuliani. But both of them have serious baggage that needs to be brought to light.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

19. Guiliani has skeletons in his closet that would make a tough win in the south

His pro gay "agenda" is spoken of even now by Texas Republicans. I don't think he can overcome that in the good ol' bible belt.

Right now their choices are not looking good.

[Abuhans]

34. I pray they run Guiliani against us

Gun owners would not take kindly to him. A pro 2A Democrat would whip him BADLY.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

37. Wouldn't that be odd

For the Dems to use the gun issue against the Repugs. Speak of coming full circle to bite them in the butt!

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[AndyTiedye]

29. People Said the Same Thing About * in 2000

once he gets in the national spotlight again, his true ultra right wing views will come out. Once people realize that he now wants 100,000 more troops in Iraq and wants to overturn Roe vs Wade, he is toast.

People won't realize that, because the MSM will not tell them. He runs as a "moderate", and the media fawns over him.

They did the same thing with Bush* in 2000.

[sallyseven]

8. I would not like to see Romney as vp.

I want him back in a cave where he belongs. Just out of Massachusetts thank you very much. I never want to see him again.

[grizmaster]

15. Romney has the right wing base support

that the other two don't. Right now I think he's the front runner

[Horse with no Name]

16. I think Romney will be the guy

McCain and Guiliani are damaged goods.
They won't get the nod. Right now they have the name recognition as their advantage but that too shall pass.
I have seen rumblings that Rick Perry may be groomed for the job--but I think right now another Governor from Texas will send shivers down the collective spines of the electorate.

[fhqwhgads]

23. romney might also be a problem...

...for the fundies, since he's mormon. a lot of those southern baptist-types believe that mormonism is a cult and that mormons aren't really christians. that could be problematic for romney.

repubs march in lockstep, so the party leadership will decide who gets the nomination. i'm not sure it'll actually matter that much. they'll run the nominee's campaign much like shrub in 2000.

on mccain...he is perceived as a moderate whether we like it or not, and that perception is unlikely to change even in the heat of a campaign, since the media enjoys nothing more than fellating him.

[Horse with no Name]

24. Problem is

Romney is all they got.:shrug:
Everyone else is damaged goods.

[xkenx]

17. National Security will be the Rethugs playing card because

they don't have any other cards. So ANYBODY they run will run on that issue. Wes Clark is the one Dem. who can take them on, can't be swiftboated, can flip red states, yet who considers war as a last resort only. Think about all the Bush enablers in the Dem. Party, who don't have Clark's creds, who have to LOOK tough or terror lest they be labeled as Osama lovers. No such problem with Clark. And this is a guy who is a true progressive on the issues.

[AndyTiedye]

30. What Makes You Think they Can't "Swift-Boat" Clark? They Can Make Up Lies About Anyone

As long as the media works for THEM and will endlessly repeat their lies, they can "Swift Boat" anyone.

They haven't bothered with Clark, yet, because he never really was in the running in 2004.

They will.

[xkenx]

33. Yes they will and will receive the General smackdown, for these reasons.

--While they will lie and distort against anyone, Clark is the most immune because of his history.
Shot up in Viet Nam where he won hero medals (his direct commander witnessed Clark's bravery under fire), stayed in the military for 34 years building the all-volunteer army when he could have gone into the private sector for big $$$$, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (Eisenhower's last position),
won a war w/o loss of a single American life. Knighthoods (or equivalent) from 19 European nations.

--Now that people have been exposed to the swiftboat lies often, they will be less likely to automatically believe them. A Dem. veterans group (including Clark) was formed for the '06 elections for the purpose of instant retaliation. Example: When they started sliming John Murtha, ads were taken out, and Max Cleland and others went into Murtha's district to help him. Nothing stuck to Murtha, and Clark is even more immune.

--Clark himself has said that, if he runs, no attack goes unanswered, and is answered massively and instantly.

--The principle here is that someone with the truth on his side standing up to the bullies/closet cowards will cause the bullies to melt away, or at least cause the public to laugh at them.

[SoCalDem]

18. That will continue the freefall of the republican "base"

Giuliani's as admitted adulterer, multiply-married/divorced, pro-choice goofball
(bad false teeth for bonus points)

McCain..they already hate him..and he's too old/frail ...and he's a flip-flopper :)

NEXT??

[PaDem]

21. Huckabee is the guy to watch in my opinion.........

I don't know a whole lot about him, and have heard he lacks "charisma" or whatever. Beyond that though, he looks like the guy who the religious right will coalesce around.

[wishlist]

22. Giuliani is too moderate and also was afraid to run for Senator or NY Gov

Giuliani wouldn't run against Hillary or Schumer or Spitzer because he was not electable against them. He has been out of politics too long now and isn't even popular in NY and certainly not embraced by the Christian right. I think the contest will come down to McCain and Romney. Although Romney is Mormon, he has solid right wing credentials on social issues.

[warrens]

25. No way

Rudy is toast. Look up his marriage records. He was detested in NY. And I just don't see McCain going all the way. Look for a Repuke governor with a conservative record but not as stupid as Smirk. Who's not named Mitt Romney (the hardcore Christians LIKE Mormons, but consider them a cult doomed to hell...and the rest of the country doesn't like Mormons one bit).

[Alexander]

26. I think we'll face Romney and/or Chuck Hagel instead.

Rudy would never win the primary and McCain would be tarred with the Dolesque "he's too old" mantra. I think we have more to fear from McCain than Rudy but I don't think either one of them will win the primaries.

I'm banking on a Hagel/Romney or Romney/Hagel ticket. I suspect at least one of the two men will make it past the primaries.

[WI_DEM]

28. I personally think Hagel would be tougher to beat than McCain

I wonder if he'll run?

[blm]

31. I think Hagel is going to push out McCain and Giuliani - - he's far more appealing to

independents. And face it - Repubs can be very shallow, and they like guys who look like Hagel.

[catmandu57]

36. I think Hagel

but I also believe that by the time 08 gets here the republican party will be toast. There is going to be so much scandal and corruption come to light in the next year, they may be history.
I see their base splitting between what's left of the conservatives and the religiously insane.