What Republicans can beat Obama?
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Author Topic: What Republicans can beat Obama?  (Read 4570 times)
LBJ Revivalist
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« on: December 31, 2010, 10:39:12 AM »

What Republicans, if any, can beat Obama?
The only one I thought had any chance of doing so was Romney, but it appears he might not run according to some...
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Whacker77
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« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2010, 11:13:00 AM »

In terms of chance, well I think there are a few who have a chance.  Romney is one.  Daniels is one.  I think case could be made for Pence and Thune as well, but it would take a lot of things going right.  Of the four I mentioned, I think chance is really the best word because I think they are all relatively weak candidates.  I also think Christie and Jeb have a chance, but neither has given any public indications of wanting to run.
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Grumpier Than Uncle Joe
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« Reply #2 on: December 31, 2010, 11:14:12 AM »

None I can think of........
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Inmate Trump
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« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2010, 11:22:51 AM »

Romney is a joke.  He'd never win against Obama.  Same goes for Palin.

Huckabee has the best shot among the "big 3" (Romney-Palin-Huckabee) but he's got a lot of ground to cover if he's gonna win.

Rubio could topple Obama easily, but he won't run until at least 2016.  Christie is an ideal candidate and would crush Obama in a debate, but I think he'd also come across as mean-spirited to most of the electorate.

So my pick is for Huckabee, though he's a longshot.
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Niemeyerite
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« Reply #4 on: December 31, 2010, 02:45:35 PM »

Mmmmm... Mitch Daniels and Jon Hoeven could give obama a close race..
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Mr. Taft Republican
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« Reply #5 on: December 31, 2010, 03:05:24 PM »

My bets on Huckabee, but I think with enough coverage Johnson could really be competitive. Also, just saying, Ron Paul 2012!!
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CultureKing
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« Reply #6 on: December 31, 2010, 03:48:44 PM »

I can see three that could conceivably take down Obama:
1) Huckabee, he simply has the charisma to pull it off
2) Romney, should the conditions be ripe and should he somehow win the GOP nod (I still think it would be difficult for Romney to do so)
3) Thune, has not yet carved a national identity which leaves room for growth but at the same time makes it extremely difficult for him to even get his name out there.

----
4) Daniels, though I highly doubt his ability to win the GOP nomination
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wildfood
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« Reply #7 on: December 31, 2010, 03:52:13 PM »

IMO, Newt Gingrich is the only Republican who can beat Obama in 2012.

Gingrich combines political savvy with the virulent attacks that so many on the right love.

Palin is all bite and no credibility, Romney was gov of Mass and can be shown to be hypocritical via his policy changes, and Huckabee's appeal is to the religious right which has lost much of it's former political steam.

A Gingrich/Huckabee ticket would be the biggest threat to Obama in an economy which will be much better than during the 2010 congressional elections.


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Whacker77
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« Reply #8 on: December 31, 2010, 05:20:47 PM »

Predicting Johnson could be competative nationally is the kind of talk that only takes place on message boards.  It's fantasy.
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tpfkaw
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« Reply #9 on: December 31, 2010, 05:23:26 PM »

Can?  Any one of them who isn't a child molester.
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Mr. Taft Republican
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« Reply #10 on: December 31, 2010, 05:29:28 PM »

Predicting Johnson could be competative nationally is the kind of talk that only takes place on message boards.  It's fantasy.

Huh, im sure that's what they said about Garfield. It happens.
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albaleman
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« Reply #11 on: December 31, 2010, 07:09:40 PM »

Romney and Huckabee could if things go badly for Obama. There are some other candidates who could beat Obama but they won't make it out of the primaries.
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ShamDam
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« Reply #12 on: December 31, 2010, 07:11:36 PM »

Predicting Johnson could be competative nationally is the kind of talk that only takes place on message boards.  It's fantasy.

Huh, im sure that's what they said about Garfield. It happens.

Why don't we check the message boards of 1880 and find out?
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exopolitician
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« Reply #13 on: December 31, 2010, 07:18:32 PM »

If anyone, Daniels or maybe Pence. If Romney actually stepped up his game, chose a legit running mate, and kept to the issues about the economy then he'd probably have a chance.
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Mr. Taft Republican
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« Reply #14 on: December 31, 2010, 07:56:54 PM »

Predicting Johnson could be competative nationally is the kind of talk that only takes place on message boards.  It's fantasy.

Huh, im sure that's what they said about Garfield. It happens.

Why don't we check the message boards of 1880 and find out?
Haha, true true. But Conventions today don't work like they did in Garfield's, I guess. Still, I can dream.
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pbrower2a
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« Reply #15 on: December 31, 2010, 08:44:28 PM »

That such comparative unknowns as John Thune and Mitch Daniels are the people that some people think most likely to win against President Obama seems to indicate not so much their strengths but instead that their weaknesses are little known.

OK -- she is Governor of Alaska. Impressive! largest land area of any state. Really impressive!

She probably knows a few things about the oil industry and a major constituency of the Republican Party. Great!

She is a rugged individualist  -- someone who can deal with Nature at its nastiest. bring back the romance of the Frontier!

No legislative record, so nobody can pin her down on some 'trivial' vote. That's an edge over Lisa Murkowski.

Democrats had a chance to nominate a woman, and they  ended up with a man. Maybe some disappointed feminists will vote for her.

Maybe -- maybe -- if everything goes right...

Whoops!

Americans know President Obama very well. To beat him, the republicans need someone decidedly better. Incumbency has its advantages, including (usually -- Gerald Ford proves the exception that illustrates why the rule works) that one has already won the office that one now tries to keep, and that one knows how to campaign and set up a political apparatus. Americans know his faults -- more faults if one is a conservative-to-fascist and fewer if one is a liberal-to-radical socialist. The faults that a primary campaign might not show to those in the Party might not appear until the other side finds them and exploits them.


 
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Mechaman
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« Reply #16 on: January 01, 2011, 01:32:13 PM »
« Edited: January 01, 2011, 01:34:47 PM by Mecha In Name Only »

Predicting Johnson could be competative nationally is the kind of talk that only takes place on message boards.  It's fantasy.

Huh, im sure that's what they said about Garfield. It happens.

Why don't we check the message boards of 1880 and find out?

Okay let's check

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Are you bloody serious?  James Garfield?  I mean granted we are on a message board when the internet supposedly doesn't exist and therefore there is no Wikipedia but still somehow we all know who this James Garfield chap is.  Anyway, where the hell do you get this insane notion that a nobody like Garfield can somehow make it to the National Convention Ballot?  Especially when the likes of Sherman, Grant, and Blaine are all likely to be the top contenders?  Men with infinitely more name recognition than this randomass Ohio Representative?  I mean if anything he is probably just going to be a yes man for Sherman anyhow?
I mean why the hell would the Convention nominate a nobody like Garfield against someone with name recognition like Hancock, Hendricks, Bayard, or even Tilden.  Considering that Tilden kicked the GOP's asses in the popular vote and only lost by one electoral vote imagine what kind of damage he would do if a nobody like Garfield is nominated?
Astronomical says I.[/quote]
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tmthforu94
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« Reply #17 on: January 01, 2011, 01:57:15 PM »

If the economy stays the same, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, John Thune, John Hoevan, Mitch Daniels, Mike Pence, and Tim Pawlenty could all beat him. For Palin or Gingrich to win, the economy would have to sour, and Obama's approval ratings would need to be lower than 35%, I'd say.
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Badger
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« Reply #18 on: January 01, 2011, 02:32:10 PM »

Mike Pence is way overrated IMHO. I can't picture him ever making a credible play for the center after the nomination the way Romney or Daniels could. He's probably in the same category as Gingrich on that score (i.e. the economy needs to tank further for him to have a serious chance in November).
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sentinel
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« Reply #19 on: January 01, 2011, 02:46:22 PM »

Basil Marceaux.
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anvi
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« Reply #20 on: January 01, 2011, 04:55:16 PM »
« Edited: January 01, 2011, 11:01:55 PM by anvikshiki »

I'm surprised to have seen Hoevan mentioned several times.  He is certainly well liked in NoDak.  But he used to be the president of the Bank of North Dakota.  One prediction I feel pretty safe in making about the election is that a former banker won't win the presidency as soon as next year.  And, seriously, it's way too early for him.
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Mechaman
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« Reply #21 on: January 01, 2011, 06:07:14 PM »

I'm surprised to have seen Hoevan mentioned several times.  He is certainly well liked in NoDak.  But he used to be the president of the Bank of North Dakota.  One prediction I feel pretty safe in making about the election is that a former baker won't win the presidency as soon as next year.  And, seriously, it's way too early for him.

Yeah yeah he just won election to the US Senate.
If Obama wins re-election or the Dems hold onto the White House I could see Hoeven being a serious contender in 2016 though.
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pbrower2a
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« Reply #22 on: January 01, 2011, 11:10:28 PM »

Mike Pence is way overrated IMHO. I can't picture him ever making a credible play for the center after the nomination the way Romney or Daniels could. He's probably in the same category as Gingrich on that score (i.e. the economy needs to tank further for him to have a serious chance in November).

Better yet, he is practically unknown. The Republicans are looking for miracles, and that is when dark horses come to the fore. If he is virtually unknown, then so are his weaknesses as a candidate.
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anvi
anvikshiki
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« Reply #23 on: January 01, 2011, 11:12:02 PM »

I have no idea what is going to happen in the country in the next 22 months, much less what will happen in the next election.  If the Republicans pick a qualified, appealing and persuasive nominee, sure they'll have a shot at taking back the White House.  

But a lot of what passes itself off as election analysis in this country is actually thinly veiled cheerleading (that's of course sometimes true of me too).  But, even in relatively hard times, Obama is not an easy guy to beat out there.  It was no mean feat for him to defeat the heavily favored Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries.  Time after time, he would saunter into states one week before a primary polling 6-7% behind Clinton, and would end up pulling a ten point or better turnaround on voting day.  McCain was no gimme either; no Republican should have gotten above 45% of the vote in the 2008 general, and he did, and was actually leading slightly after the conventions.  Obama is no political pushover, and his campaign team is as savvy as they come.   If the GOP is going to beat him, they have to chose someone both highly competent and with broad appeal.

The GOP should just pick the nominee that would be best for the whole country.  The best person will give them the best chances.  
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Sam Spade
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« Reply #24 on: January 02, 2011, 12:33:59 AM »

What will likely happen is what always happens in these re-elections - if the voters choose to re-elect Obama, they will regardless of who's running against him; if they don't want him back, his opponent probably just has to show that they're a competent wooden spoon or something similar.

Three key points to remember for now:

1) There is no guarantee 2010 will be anything like 2012.  It could be much better or much worse or no relation, but the same.  Get the drift?
2) The two mistakes that the public makes the most about all politicians, and this error can be extended to prognosticators, is a) assuming that the past will repeat itself; and b) assuming that when one fails, choosing any other option will lead to a better result.
3) Obama, moreso than all Presidents in the last 30 years and perhaps before, will be given a second chance by the voters who pulled the lever for him.  Given the circumstances he is in, and the type of person he is, failure, once more, is by far the more likely option and if it is not failure, it will be only by the benefit of time.  But the second chance will be given, if it has not already been extended (and it probably has) - he never had to really work for it (but then again, he has never really worked for much of anything, so what a shock!)
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