Republicans who could win but GOP won't nominate

Let's face it, folks.  The GOP field is a sorry lot, and I'm not saying that just because I support the Democrats.  James Carville wrote similar sentiments on CNN comparing the 2012 lot to the 1980 lot (I bet he had input from his GOP wife), and the whole much-ado-about-nothing for Chris Christie indicates the discontent among the conservative and the moderate Repubs.

From Mitt "The Flipflopping Mormon" Romney to Rick "Oops" Perry to Herman "Some of My Best Friends are Women who I've Never Harassed" Cain, the road to the nomination has been all about appeasing the far right Tea Party.  Simply put, there are worthy Republican leaders who probably could actually have a shot at Barack "The Compromiser" Obama, but absolutely zero chance at surviving the nomination process.

It's fairly easy to think of two:  Colin Powell and Rudy Giuliani.  I, for one, would seriously consider voting for Powell.  He is the most Reagan-esque candidate having the most centrist, moderate and independent appeal, and military credentials like Eisenhower.  As for Giuliani, the recent tributes and re-tellings of the 9/11 10-year anniversary reminded me once again how his leadership skills were critical in the aftermath of the Twin Tower collapse, the obvious opportunities to earn political clout notwithstanding.

It's also obvious that it's too late in the campaign season to realistically consider a better GOP candidate entering the race for Iowa and New Hampshire.  What a disappointing presidential campaign when compared to 2008.  Am I right, folks?

Iowa Caucus Results - the email that started it all

So what do you think of the Obama and Huckabee winning? I know it's very early yet. A bit surprising on the Dem side, but the young-uns love Obama. Glad that Edwards came in 2nd, albeit a close 4rd for Hillary. I'm still hoping for Edwards to stay for the long haul, but I wonder if he'd accept a VP nod again. I think an Obama/Edwards, or vice versa even, would be a solid ticket. Edwards should just make his RFK transformation complete and go down in a blaze of glory. If he's gonna be out, so be it! Speak up for the Left!

It will obviously come down to the moderates vs. fundamentalists for the Repub. Huckabee will be in it for the long run, but I don't think Romney or Giuliani will be gone soon, not to mention McCain.

To BRM, disappointed about Thompson's showing? How do you see the GOP race shaping up?

As an aside, I took part in the 1992 Democratic Caucus here in Seattle when itturned out to be a Bush/Clinton/Perot race. At the time, I did not support Clinton initially because of my bias against yet another Southern Democrat. I think it came down to Tsongas and Clinton at my caucus. I don't recall who I ended up supporting (probably Clinton), but I do remember not being happy with the choices. Mike, did I tell you about the caucus back then?

Appreciate your thoughts,
Young

The Calm Before the Email Storm

Here's the email that got me thinking about starting a discussion on the 2008 presidential elections. Thanks, BRM.
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From: "Brian Menard"
Subject: Choose Your Candidate (washingtonpost.com)
Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 09:25:30 -0500

This is a great tool in today's Washingtonpost.com either to search for a candidate to support, or to confirm whether or not your support is directed to the right candidate (based on the correlation of your views). I'm pleased that my residence in the Fred Thompson camp was confirmed solidly, with the BRM/FDT correlation being 2 1/2 times as high as the next closest in my results. I haven't done the Dems yet; it will be interesting to see how I come out there. How do they rank (D's and R's) in your results?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/interactives/candidatequiz/?hpid=topnews