So why is it the Republicans have such a poor roster of candidates?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

Is this a consequence of their own education?

Or what?

I am genuinely puzzled.

Who can tell me?

:shrug:

[mmonk]

1. Maybe they just seem poor to us since we tend to have IQ's

above 50.

[undeterred]

2. Well educated people do not flock to the Republican party.

[elocs]

29. Do average American voters qualify as "well educated people? n/t

[undeterred]

30. Not any more.

[krabigirl]

66. No.

[kentuck]

3. Because their Party is in chaos..

and deeply divided. The Tea Party is the only thing that is holding them together.

[BobbyBoring]

5. The tea Party

is holding them together and splitting down the seams at the same time. Ironic huh?

[kentuck]

21. Yep.

They can't live with 'em and they can't live without 'em... :-)

[OmahaBlueDog]

4. Honestly, I think it's cyclical

Even factoring out dislikability, it looks to me like they will be loaded for 2016.

By then:

Gov. Daniels and Congressman Pence will be ready for prime time
Gov. Jindal's poor SOTU response will be forgotten
Gov's Scott Walker and Chris Christie may also be well positioned on the national stage.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

7. Jeb Bush will also be ready for 2016.

God help us.

[Arugula Latte]

45. Peggy, someone needs to invent a time machine, go back to the 40s,

and give George Sr. a vasectomy.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

46. Wouldn't that be terrific?

I so agree!

[Name removed]

56. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Magron]

70. oh give me a break. that was 30 years ago. god..spaz over something relevant

[Arugula Latte]

73. What are you talking about?

I'm simply saying if the Bush family evil offspring had never been born, this country would have been much better off. Do you disagree? Are you a Bush family fan? Are you in the right place?

[MedleyMisty]

27. If Walker is still governor in 2016

And is still "well positioned on the national stage", then we will be fully fascist.

And I will be trying like hell to get out of the country. I've read enough about Nazi Germany to know that at some point the intelligent people have to get out, because there's no hope to change it from within and they will kill you and it won't change anything and it won't be worth it, so it's best to just get out and let the natural course of events go.

[DireStrike]

59. Yeah, you took the words out of my mouth.

I have a little hope these days, due to the sudden resurgence in leftist movements.

But I still have my exit trajectory mapped out.

[WCGreen]

36. Kasich in Ohio As well...

[brokensymmetry]

6. No ideas...

Really, they haven't had any compelling ideas in years. Other than the "cut taxes" issue, endlessly repeated, with an occassional "drill baby drill" thrown in for good measure, they offer nothing. Who would want to represent that?

Answer: no one.

[hlthe2b]

8. They've created their own monster...

Exploiting ignorance as they deride the educated as somehow "elitist" and "liberal," they are left with the ignorant. Exploiting racism, homophobia, and misogyny for their own benefit, they are now largely left with racists, homophobes and sexist pigs. Exploiting big money interests at all costs, renders their candidate as little more than a puppet for those interests.

So, how would a more mainstream candidate (or even "sane," yet greedy corporatist) attract this base to get themselves elected? I think all but the most egotistical RETHUGS that have any intelligence and genuine acumen towards the job, see the writing on the wall.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. I think you may be on to something here...

After all, those people that you've described have always existed, and always will.

The Republican party has attracted them. And they need candidates that will keep that part of the electorate happy and inside the Republican fold.

Good grief.

[alsame]

15. I agree. They have to pull so far to the extreme right in order to

win their primaries and the GOP nomination that the field contains the most ignorant and outrageous zealots. And it's gotten so much worse since the Tea Party started calling the shots.

[Curmudgeoness]

16. This seems to be the best description of the reason for lack of

decent candidates. I agree that a mainstream candidate at this point would have no chance in hell with the Repub so-called base. I am finding that most of the Republicans that I know are getting more paranoid and more right-wing than in the past. It is the hate speech out there that is leading them in that direction, and it is working.

[Magron]

55. Neonazi's is as Neonazi's does

And that's all I have to say about that.

[jpak]

9. cuz they suck?

cuz they done run the country into a ditch and keep spinning the tires?

:shrug:

[OHdem10]

11. Smart ones know the country is such bad shape, they do not

want to ruin their reputations trying to fix something
that is a long hard slog.

[Warren Stupidity]

12. Because they are a bunch of vile loons.

[Motown_Johnny]

13. They can only elect people who believe that government is the problem

so all their candidates approach their job with that self defeating attitude.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. That is certainly a factor.

Talk about schizophrenic!

:crazy:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

17. Because the Republicans subscribe to this H.L. Mencken axiom.

“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” - H.L. Mencken

[CaliforniaPeggy]

18. Yes.

I recall some folks saying that this showed us the inevitability of Bush.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

19. Well, Reagan beat him to drooling idiot bowl in the White House.

[lunatica]

20. I think the Republicans are being bullied by the Tea Bag faction

They're nasty shits to anyone who doesn't do things their way. They don't believe in governing.

I think they're even pushing the Weeper of the House around with threats.

[The Straight Story]

22. They know they will lose against the incumbent, setting out trial balloons

oh, and they only have sucky candidates :)

[trackfan]

23. I think it's because it would take a rare talent to pull off what they ask.

Their platform and ideas are mostly unpopular, according to polls. They need someone to be able to overcome that by means of a combination of bullshit, and personal charm, while still appearing presidential.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

24. Indeed.

And they just have not attracted the folks with said rare talent. I honestly don't think they possess it.

[dimbear]

39. Not only true, but the rarity of those talents is a good thing. n/t

[starroute]

42. This is true -- and has been for a while

Nixon was the last centrist Republican president.

Reagan was the exact paradigm of what you describe.

Bush I -- harder to explain his victory in 1988, but I think it was a combination of his residual centrism and Reagan's coattails, plus Dukakis being a weak campaigner. But it wasn't enough to get him reelected.

And Bush II was kind of the poor man's Reagan -- that same combination of bullship and personal charm, plus an ability to convince voters about that "compassionate conservatism" thing. And he barely squaked by.

But at this point, they've left behind any pretense to centrism or even compassionate conservatism -- which is why Romney is going nowhere. So their only hope is folksy charm -- which I guess would mean Huckabee. But Huckabee is probably fatally compromised, both by his extreme fundamentalism and by a number of questionable decisions in his past.

They've been trying to develop another alternative, which is the image of the competent, pro-business governor who knows how to manage the economy and can bring in jobs. That's an image that a lot of Americans would be prepared to buy -- but so far they haven't been doing too well with the actual competence part.

[wickerwoman]

25. The smart ones realize that POTUS is now just a figurehead

and that real power is held elsewhere.

The last real Republican player to even run for president was Bush senior. All the rest have been convenient puppets for the real movers and shakers.

[Shiver]

26. This year, or in general?

This year, they want to keep the good candidates, the ones who have a chance of winning, from going in. They know they are going to lose, so they're sending out the circus clowns. They'll be an entertaining diversion, while perhaps some lesser-known Repubs will stump for them or speak at the RNC and bolster their own images. They're saving the serious candidates for 2016, for when they don't have to face an incumbent president.

Also, they've spent thirty years drumming the liberals, the moderates, and even the center-right people from their party. They courted the religious right, which means they courted the racists and the homophobes, pushing aside minorities, homosexuals, and anyone who is pro-gay rights. They've pushed aside so many demographics that what they are left with is... this. Crazies. Loons. Morons.

And people wonder why I don't want our side to follow the same suit. Everyone they've pushed out has come left - or stayed in place while they moved further right. If we start pushing out people who aren't 'left enough', then we become just like they are. Marginalized and struggling to stay relevant.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

28. I meant in general.

And I agree with your first points, about keeping the "good" candidates out this year. This election (2012) will be a sacrifice.

Your answer is well thought-out.

Thank you!

[ddeclue]

31. It's just really hard to find a high quality candidate crazy enough to believe what their base wants

To paraphrase what someone famously once said about South Carolina:

The Republican Party - it's too big for an insane asylum and too small for a nation.

[elocs]

32. Because they've moved their party too far to the right.

Even if they had candidates who are not at the far right of their party they feel obligated to pander to the far right because they fear the far right. As a result they do not have a good chance of being elected. Oh, they will get millions of votes, at least the current crop, but not enough to get elected.

The same is true of our far left candidate choices if they were to run, as orgasmic as we would be about them. You would have to be as out of touch with reality as anyone who actually believes that a Palin or a Bachmann could be elected as it would be to believe that a Kucinch, Weiner, or Grayson could ever be elected as well.

[Archaic]

33. They have a candidate for all of their constituents

They will fight and spend and trash Obama. 10 voices against him, instead of one. When it gets closer, each candidate will fold their tent, and their supporters will dutifully vote for the candidate they're told to. Meanwhile, their corporate candidate will hold back, save their money and garner all the votes because they stayed "moderate".

Each nut job candidate is there to wind up their segment of the base. But the real candidate will stand up later.

9 guys can lie incessantly, the press will issue corrections sometimes, the fact checkers will show the statements to be false, but it will be too late.

So they have the perfect set of candidates to win. Not to govern effectively and fairly, but to win. And that is all that matters.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

35. I'm sure they will do all those things.

But I also believe that they won't get anywhere.

The economy's improving, as is unemployment, and Obama has shown them to be essentially unpatriotic.

And that is all that matters.

Welcome to DU!

Enjoy the conversation...

[ThoughtCriminal]

34. Positive feedback loops

as they get crazier and less tolerant of anything resembling compromise. Today, Bob Dole, Richard Nixon and even Ronald Reagan would be considered "Far Left Socialists" in today's GOP. How can you find any quality in that environment.

Edit:
And look at what happened to John McCain. Once upon a time he would have been a "Good Candidate" (I'm not looking at policy here). In order to get the GOP nomination, he had to transform himself into a know-nothing reactionary.

[defendandprotect]

37. They are at the bottom of their barrel -- at the thug level now --

and that's what it's going to take to get the things done that the elites

want done!!

[oldlib]

38. They might have a chance to win

if they ran a reasonable black man. That doesn't seem too likely, as a reasonable black man is a Democrat.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

44. Indeed!

And no reasonable black man would be a Republican, either.

[rhett o rick]

40. I think there are a couple of reasons. Pres Obama has reached out to the right of center

voters. He has been willing to throw the left under the bus to win their approval. This has effectively squeezed out the moderate candidates like Jeb Bush. He would have to fight an incumbent president for the right of center voters. And I believe that our corporate overlords arent that unhappy with Pres Obama. It would certainly be better under the Bush Crime Family but I think they are content to wait until 2016.

And my hope is that Pres Obama is doing what he has to to get a second term, then he will turn magically into FDR. Plez dont tell me otherwise. That is my fantasy and I am sticking to it.

Having said all that bull-crap above, I may have to eat my words. For someone (me) that has been very critical of the President's performance, I was quite surprised by his latest speech. If he keeps that up, he may open up the right of center for a moderate repuke challenge.

[Jack Sprat]

41. RepubliCons realized many years in the past

that to appeal to racist hillbilly rednecks, the dumber the candidate the better.

[oldlib]

43. And they have picked

some dumb ones, as represented by the current group of candidates.

[Little Star]

47. I don't know Peg. But......

it cracks me up. I've never seen such a line up of lousy candidates in my 64 years.

What's up with that huh ?????

[Little Star]

48. PS: Peg, the only one they have and have not thought of yet...

that would scare me a little is Scott Brown of MA. Hope they stay stupid!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

50. Not to worry...he's not Presidential enough...

Whatever that means, lol!

He's too young.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

49. That's where I am too!

I was just.......how did this happen?

And that led me to ...

this thread!

[Raine]

51. They're putting up their "F" team because *edit*

they already know there is no way they will beat the incumbent, no sense wasting the "A" team when they will lose. The heavy hitters will go up in 2016.

Edit: OPS I origiginally had written 2012 but I meant 2016 so I corrected it.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

52. Yeah, that's what I thought too.

But even the guys going up in 2016 look awful.

They just don't have anyone who could reasonably run the country, and not into the ground.

[whoneedstickets]

53. +1 ... but sometimes these calculations are wrong.

Remember 1992? When candidates were declaring, Bush looked unbeatable coming off the gulf war with an 80% approval rating. The democrats had the 5 dwarfs or something like that. Who won? Bill Clinton!

[Magron]

54. Because the Best can't quite stomach selling America out for their own financial wellbeing?

maybe?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

61. That's a hopeful thought, but I don't think so.

I think the Republicans really don't give a damn about this country except as a means to get wealthy and powerful.

I don't know how you can call them the Best.

They are far from that.

Enjoy your stay!

[Magron]

65. I meant that's the reason they have such a poor lineup

Yeah..the ones we're talking about obviously think the 'liberty' they like to sing about before the game involves the liberty to make a buck and that's it.

[GoCubsGo]

57. They ran all of the sane, relatively intelligent people out of their party

Nothing left but the dregs.

[deaniac21]

58. They are trying to match up dith the Democratic candidates.

[Forkboy]

60. I don't know, but I think we're damned lucky this is the case.

[Logical]

62. No one wants to run against Obama. n-t

[krabigirl]

63. Because they have to pander to the fundies and the nuts.

[Terra Alta]

64. because there is no such thing as a good Republican candidate.

They are all poor candidates, which is why one of them will eventually lose to Obama next year.

[Zorra]

69. Bingo. nt

[jimlup]

67. I think the party central has already written off 2012

They may settle for a joke candidate. The list reads like a joke doesn't it?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

68. It sure does!

[DonCoquixote]

71. because

Because all these clowns are just the cover for the Trojan Horse that will be let loose in Tampa. Jeb will be there, as will Rubio, as will Rick Scott. These three get o sit back, watch their enemies kill each other, and then ride in as messiahs, as each can offer Florida to the GOP on a silver platter.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

72. I hope that forwarned is forarmed. nt