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As the 2010 mid-term elections rapidly approach, many folks already have one eye on 2012. President Obama is clearly struggling and there will be no shortage of Republicans, and perhaps even a few Democrats, who will line up to take a shot at the nation’s highest office.
Amazingly, by this time next year, we’ll be deep into coverage of candidates campaigning in New Hampshire and Iowa. As we speak, the candidates are fundraising, organizing and (we hope) studying up on the issues. But who exactly will pull the trigger and who will stay on the sidelines?
No one would be surprised to see Romney, Palin, Huckabee or Pawlenty get into the ring. But we like long-shots here, and the Center for Individual Freedom has just released a list of five “dark horse” candidates for 2012. The most interesting name, to me, is former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton.
No one expects he could win, but he could bring the topic of foreign policy back into a race that looks like it’ll be 90% driven on domestic/economic issues.
Here’s the full list… what do you think? Did they miss anyone?
John Bolton – The mustachioed diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations in 2005 and 2006 has impeccable conservative credentials: positions in the last three Republican presidential administrations; a long-time affiliation with the American Enterprise Institute; he even proudly touts his high school admiration for Barry Goldwater. Bolton’s wheelhouse is foreign policy, which may take a back seat to domestic concerns in the upcoming election. As an uber-hawk who eschews the pretensions of nation building, however, he could be a powerful antidote to the millenarian dreaming of Obama abroad. And even a failed candidacy could land him on the short list to be the next Secretary of State.
Jim DeMint – While Sarah Palin has enjoyed a de facto coronation as head of the Tea Party movement at the hands of the mainstream media, Jim DeMint – the junior senator from South Carolina – has been an arguably greater institutional force for the revival of limited government conservatism in the GOP. A strict believer in the three conservative pillars of free markets, traditional values and a strong national defense, the soft-spoken DeMint’s stewardship of the Senate Conservatives Fund – which has explicitly challenged the Republican establishment when it backs insufficiently conservative candidates – has been the most dynamic factor in the 2010 election cycle thus far. While he denies any interest in the White House, DeMint could have a fervent Tea Party army at his back were he to change his mind.
Mike Pence – The silver-haired congressman from Indiana (a former talk radio host) has spent a decade methodically positioning himself as one of the foremost voices of conservative conscience in the house. A riveting speaker (as his broadcasting background might suggest) who chairs the House Republican Conference, Pence has both the resume and the intangibles of a viable presidential candidate. Even that, however, may not be enough to propel a presidential candidacy from the House of Representatives. Only once in the nation’s history has a sitting congressman been elected president (James Garfield in 1880).
Marco Rubio – If the hype behind Rubio – the young, charismatic, articulate former Speaker of the Florida House now aiming for the Sunshine State’s open U.S. Senate seat – is to be believed, he’s the Republican Obama. That’s already given rise to the idea that he could marshal the same sort of meteoric rise to the White House. But even Obama had four years between arriving on Capitol Hill and making the short trip down to the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Rubio would literally have to start running for president before he took his oath of office. That makes the odds long, but don’t be surprised to see this son of Cuban immigrants on the short list when it comes time to pick a vice presidential nominee in 2012.
And finally…
Hillary Clinton – The ultimate X factor in the 2012 race. With President Obama scraping bottom at the polls and Democrats in congress likely to suffer a wipeout in November, the left’s political ascendancy has cratered with breathtaking speed. If, as beltway conventional wisdom suggests, Obama rebounds a la Reagan or Clinton in the closing of his first term, Clinton likely stays at the State Department or searches for greener pastures outside of government. But what if Obama’s downward trajectory proceeds unbroken? What if the nation suffers a second round of recession or a crippling terrorist attack? What if both? Then the doomsday scenario may unfold: Four years after fighting the most divisive presidential contest in its history … the Democratic Party relitigates the matter.
John Bolton is the ultimate expert on foreign policy and would suffer no fools in debates. He would overwhelm the opposition with his bonifide knowledge and intellect.
One solution is to lock Bolton in a rubber room and *tell* him he’s President. It’s revealing that Mr “Tough on Terrorism” favors the $60 Billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia, the greatest exporter of terror in the region (from the hateful Wahhabi cult to the endless stream of suicide bombers flowing across the border into Iraq). Naturally he wants to bomb Iran, the Saudi finks’ main rival.
Surprisingly, Governor Haley Barbour missed this list.
Jim DeMint is my hands on favorite Senator. Charisma, well Mike pence has him beat on that score.
John Bolton, Intelligent, experienced in foreign affairs and solid as a rock. Executive experience ?
Marco Rubio, I may have been one of his first contributors. Go Go Rubio. The man has not won his congressional race yet, Men like him and Govenor Bobby Jindal are the future of the GOP.
I am still confused as to why Gov Haley Barbour was omitted.
Current Office: Governor
First Elected: 11/04/2003
Last Elected: 11/06/2007
Party: Republican
Background Information
Gender: Male
Family: Wife: Marsha
2 Children
Birth Date: 10/22/1947
Birthplace: Yazoo City, MS
Home City: Yazoo City, MS
Religion: Presbyterian
Education:
JD, University of Mississippi, 1973
Professional Experience:
Chair/Chief Executive Officer/Founder, Barbour Griffith & Rogers
Director, White House Office of Political Affairs, President Ronald Reagan
Political Experience:
Governor, State of Mississippi, 2003-present
Chair, Campaign Advisory Committee, George W. Bush for President, 2000
Candidate, United States Senate, 1982
Organizations:
Deacon, First Presbyterian Church of Yazoo City
Caucuses/Non-Legislative Committees:
Chair, Republican Governors Association, 2009-present
Member, Governor Bush’s National Presidential Exploratory Committee, 1999
Chair, Republican National Committee, 1993-1997
Founder, Governors Commission on Recovery, Rebuilding, and Renewal
Although congressional race is technically correct, I should have said Senate race for Rubio.
Herman Cain from Georgia – CEO of Godfather Pizza. He ran for US Senate a few years ago and is being mentioned by a few Tea Party types as an outsider candidate. Don’t know if he’s a Big Time Neo-con like Bolton on foreign policy.
Herman Cain would be a very interesting addition to the field. Do you think he’s really consdering it?
Haley Barbour was excluded because they considered him a top tier candidate, not a dark horse. So he should take that as a compliment. 🙂
Great piece, Austin. On the Democratic side, keep an eye on Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor whose talents are being largely wasted in academia and might — just might — pull a Gene McCarthy or Pat Buchanan-style challenge to a sitting President of his own party, especially if the “Great Recession” continues to linger or possibly deepen.
Austin F. Cassidy,
We consider Haley a top Tier candidate also, he will do nothing before Nov 2.
Thanks you for the response.
Robert Reich 2012, Interesting concept.
Herman Cain is allowing people to toss around his name – and is not denying any interest he may have. I don’t think he has much of a chance unless a coalition of Tea Party types and Palin followers unite – and the field clears to Cain vs. dinosaurs like Romney and Gingrich. Even then he’s a real long shot – he’s rich, but is he mega-rich so he can primarily underwrite his own campaign? I don’t know what his foreign policy views either – he may be the let’s-bomb-nations-into-our-kind-of-democracy crowd (like Bolton, Gingrich etc.) which will not make him much of an alternative to the neo-con GOP.
http://draftcain.org/default.aspx
more on Cain …
http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=181961
nice bio – accomplished businessman etc., but he’s also a Religious Right type – strident anti-abortion, fierce opponent of gay marriage, and, if his association with religious conservatives is true to form, then he’s a card carrying member of the Israel-can-do-no-wrong club. That means saber rattling foreign policy and a domestic agenda influenced by the military-industrial complex which fuels our war-based economy.
I think it is pretty clear by now that the Republicans are the only grown-ups in the room. The two that bring the most intellectual command presence to the table. I like Newt for POTUS and Bolton for VP. Both of them rub many people the wrong way, but those people probably need to be rubbed the wrong way anyway.
John Bolton for President? Hellyeah (that’s southern for “Yes, that would be a perfect choice”) Quite frankly, I don’t want another weak knee politician who’s not willing to get punched in the stomach and give a few black eyes. As a Rep. look where that got us in the last Presidential election. John McCain was the right man for the wrong job-his time is long past. John Bolton is an experienced (yes, he actually knows what he’s talking about) diplomat who has forgotten more intelligence reports than our current President has even read. His style is rough and direct and that is what America needs: straight talk and firm decisions in OUR best interest. Not the UN’s or some other nation. It’s time for an American President who puts Americans first and not everyone else. What good will this nation be if it evolves into something nobody can recognize as America? WE ARE NOT LIKE OTHER NATIONS AND THAT IS A GOOD THING.
Your Comments
What America needs is something new as we have had Democrats and Republicans and all they do is screw things up, hows about we start thinking like maybe a third party president, someone who can kick all the dirt to one side and really think about getting America back to where we once were the Leaders of the World, We need someone with the courage to stand up to the like of both these stupid parties, and say hey! In America Americans come first, ADF, American Defense Forces who protect the Constitution of the United States, nothing else matter, and thats my take on the matter. Justin Payne a true American