Republicans sketch out path for new candidate

[Whacker77]

Mike Allen has the story in Politico today.  Apparently, Republicans are drawing up a plan how a new candidate could enter the race if Romney is defeated in Michigan or falters on Super Tuesday.

Last week, I noted Al Cardenas specificity on when a new candidate could enter if Romney faltered was quite revealing and indicated something was in the works.  This story seems to confirm that.

Essentially, time is short, but time is still there.

http://www.politico.com/playbook/

[Whacker77]

New Jersey, California and Texas won't vote until June. A late entrant could sweep those three states and win a sizable enough portion of delegates to force a contested convention.

Of course, what if a late entrant didn't catch fire? Then they'd be even worse off than before.

Trust me.  There would be some people who would stick with the ding dongs still in the race, but most Republicans are dying for a better choice who is competent.  A CBS poll this week said 62% of the party wants another choice.

If there is a late entry, he won't be a dunce like Rick Perry.  Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and Mitch Daniels aren't dunces.  Many people may disagree with their politics, but they's aren't fools like Perry or the Alaskan dingbat.

I suspect support would flow to any of those three just as it did once Connie Mack entered the Senate race.  There are a lot of similarities between that field prior to Mack's entry and this three ring circus.  Californian, New Jersey, and Texas would be ripe for the picking.

[Whacker77]

Jeb Bush should be the sacrificial lamb. His brother got the nation into this f'ing mess, helping create such a batsh**t crazy party in the process, so on behalf of his brother he should have to throw himself down on the sword, figuratively speaking. He will lose in a landslide, of course, but at least he is articulate and intelligent enough to restore some dignity to his family's name. And who knows...things are going to be so bad by 2016, he might get renominated and win the presidency at that point.

Wow.  The Romney supporters are really getting antsy.  It's not our fault the guy hasn't been able to close the deal for more than five years. 

[Whacker77]

I've never received a real answer to this question: Why did this hypothetical glorious Messiah not get in while people still were and run in the actual campaign? I mean with a field this weak this unbeatable savior would've just waltzed to the nomination.

There are only three real messiahs, as you put it, who decided not to get into the race.  They were Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and Mitch Daniels sort of.  Daniels has become a messiah only in relation to the current field.  Perry, who did run, was never a messiah to anyone who had ever seen or heard him speak.

In terms of Jeb Bush, he chose not to run last year because he didn't want his brother to be a campaign issue.  That's what Tom DeFrank wrote anyway and he has many sources in the Bush family.  My retort to that thinking now is will the people who hate the Bush name really not hate the Bush name in 2016?  I doubt it.  It's always going to be a problem.

Chris Christie chose not to run because he said he wasn't ready.  I believe him, but I also think he didn't want to campaign for two years.  He said as much to Piers Morgan last Fall.  When he announced he wasn't running, polls showed him ahead of the Republican field and even against Obama.  I assume he's got some skeletons in his closet.

Mitch Daniels probably wouldn't have gotten a lot of support had he jumped in last May, but he would now because we're so disgusted with the field.  He didn't run because his wife and daughters didn't want him to run.  As you've probably read, they have a unique history that might not have sold well with social conservatives.

I think Jeb Bush would be the best bet to run and win, but I also think Christie could as well.  I'm not so sure about Daniels.  The one wild card is Marco Rubio.  He would be an instant hit with the whole party, but would he have the stones to run now, even though it's way ahead of schedule?  I doubt it.

[Whacker77]

Here is what Karl Rove thinks about those who indulge in the white knight Pub nominee fantasy. But there is hope. Psychotropic drugs just keep getting better and better.

And for how many years has Karl Rove been a shameless shill for Mitt Romney?  By my memory, he's been in the bag for Mittens since 2006.  He's probably right, but he also thought Republicans would fare well in the 2006 mid term elections.  So he's not infallable.  If he were to say otherwise, we'd really have a story.

This all depends on what the android does in Michigan and on Super Tuesday.  If he loses or badly underperforms, something will happen.  There just too much chatter for something not to be at least in the serious discussion stage.  Rove is not and has never been a Jeb confidant.  Al Cardenas, on the other hand, was and is.  If he's sending out smoke signals, I'm trying to decipher them.