Potential GOP candidates no one has mentioned...

[Moooooo]

*Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee?

*Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher?

*Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour?

*Texas Governor Rick Perry?

*Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge?

*Kansas Senator Sam Brownback?

*New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg?

Just wanted to hear some opinions on these potential candidates who have not been mentioned much.

[YRABNNRM]

*Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge?

*Ahem* I've mentioned him

[AuH2O]

They're all on my first-edition Vegas odds sheet, to be posted tomorrow, though some are much more serious than others (count Huckabee, Gregg, and Ridge as the serious ones).

[Erc]

Huckabee has to survive '06 (unless he's term-limited, which he may be)...and even then, he's a Republican in a Southern State with two Democratic Senators...might not be seen as the greatest leadership (party-wise), perhaps?  He's a possibility, though.

Tom Ridge would have been a possibility...but people are just going to remember the color coding, nothing else.  If he hadn't taken the job at DHS, he'd be a very serious candidate now.  As it stands, maybe 2012 if he makes a stab at Rendell at some point.  Otherwise, his career in politics is over.

Rick Perry's can't even get support in his own state.  In addition, do the Republicans really want Bush's Lieutenant Governor?

Barbour?  Fletcher?  Don't make me laugh.  Barbour may run, but he won't make it any further than Bob Graham did for the Democrats in '03.

Don't know enough about Gregg or Brownback to make a judgment, although Gregg has the NH thing going for him.

[ian]

*Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee?

*Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher?

*Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour?

*Texas Governor Rick Perry?

*Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge?

*Kansas Senator Sam Brownback?

*New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg?

Just wanted to hear some opinions on these potential candidates who have not been mentioned much.

Many people have said Barbour and Perry.  And I mentioned Gregg.  But that's ok.

[Notre Dame rules!]

Huckabee sucks!

He's trying to give illegal aliens in-state tuition, while at the same time, he wants to maintain the much higher out of state tuition for 'legal'  non-Arkansans

[George W. Bush]

Rob Portman

[Rob]

Gordon Smith. He's moderate, popular, and would deliver Oregon.

[Notre Dame rules!]

Hmmm...So we carry OR, but lose AR, KY, TN, MS, AL, NC, SC, FL, VA, LA, TX...   I'm not sure that's a very good trade.

[Rob]

Hmmm...So we carry OR, but lose AR, KY, TN, MS, AL, NC, SC, FL, VA, LA, TX...   I'm not sure that's a very good trade.

He would carry all those states. He's a devout Mormon, but a moderate on social issues(i.e., he personally opposes abortion but thinks it should remain legal). He would hold the GOP base, and gain moderates.

[Notre Dame rules!]

Let's face it, the GOP nominee will more than likely be another Southerner...It's our EV base.   The Dem nominee will more than likely be a Northeasterner, again.  It's your EV base.

[Rob]

Let's face it, the GOP nominee will more than likely be another Southerner...It's our EV base.   The Dem nominee will more than likely be a Northeasterner, again.  It's your EV base.

I'm not a Democrat... but you're probably right.

[Beet]

Bob Ehrlich. He's a moderate who would throw Maryland into play.

[Moooooo]

Bob Ehrlich. He's a moderate who would throw Maryland into play.

The Democraitic candidate would have to campaign here more than he or she would like, but it would still go democrat.

Beet, who do you like as the Democratic nominee in 2006 for the Maryland gubernatorial race, Duncan or O'Malley?  Also, how do you think us Democrats will do here in Maryland in 2006?

[Rob]

Bob Ehrlich. He's a moderate who would throw Maryland into play.

Is he really that popular?

[Moooooo]

Bob Ehrlich. He's a moderate who would throw Maryland into play.

Is he really that popular?

Last I checked, 52% approval ratings.  Plus, we're registering new Democrats here in Maryland at a rate that Maryland GOP could only dream of.  Ehrlich would "put it in play", in a sense that the Democratic candidate would actually have to make a couple stops here.