Grover Norquist Looks at 2008 Presidential Race

[wiley]

Hillary Clinton is a shoe-in to grab the Democratic nomination for president in 2008, but the Republican field is wide open, according to Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform.

Writing in The American Spectator, Norquist says that Clinton "will be followed around the nation by six or seven emasculated senators" who will "pretend to run for president while actually auditioning for vice president."

He mentions Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Evan Bayh, former Sen. John Edwards and Virginia Gov. Mark Warner among those who might seemingly challenge Clinton for the nomination, but in the end they will "suck up to Hillary," Norquist predicts.

Here is Norquist's take on the race for the GOP nomination:

* Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney "has the advantage of serving as governor of a state whose television footprint covers the population center of the first primary state, New Hampshire." But his Mormon faith could work against him.

* Virginia Sen. George Allen "stands most comfortably in the center of the Reagan coalition" and is "on good terms with taxpayers, pro-family activists and gun owners."

* Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist upset social conservatives with his support for experimentation on embryonic stem cells.

* Arizona Sen. John McCain has high name recognition and a "fawning establishment press," but he voted against each of the significant Bush tax cuts, is anti-gun and favors the Kyoto climate change treaty.

* Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has made himself an expert on healthcare and has "kept his name and ideas in the limelight enough to be ready if lightning struck and a presidential bid became possible for him."

* Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum "looks very good on paper - Catholic, Big State, GOP Senate leadership - if he can get past the very serious challenge of getting re-elected in 2006."

* Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was the "welfare-reforming, tax-cutting, crime-fighting mayor who turned around a failing city." But Norquist wonders how his social liberalism on gay marriage and abortion might impact him in the GOP primaries.

* New York Gov. George Pataki "has been a tax cutter and governed well in a large state that should be able to fund a serious presidential campaign."

Norquist also mentions Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford and Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel.

But he saves his final remarks for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush:

"At present Bush is saying 'no' to the idea of a 2008 presidential bid. Some believe he should pass that year to avoid the appearance of a Bush Dynasty.

"But logic runs the other way. Only in 2008 will it be impossible for even the New York Times to argue with a straight face that we cannot elect one president's brother because we must elect another president's wife."

From NewsMax, of course.

[Hekate]

1. So Hillary is the favored choice of the VRWC's Grover Norquist

I like Hillary Clinton, she's a fine Senator for NY, an accomplished intelligent woman. I have defended her on this board before and will again.

BUT (you knew there had to be a "but")

The Slimeballs from Hell could write their anti-Hillary ads in their sleep. They can Swiftboat her with a whispering campaign without turning a hair. Their script is on the shelf and ready.

If we run Hillary Clinton, she's a cinch for crucifixion.

And now Grover Norquist, the Dark Prince himself, is chortling and rubbing his hands at the prospect.

Run for the border, Hillary!

Hekate

[prolesunited]

3. I agree

No matter what her credentials (and, frankly, I have a lot of problems with both her and her husband), the Dems would be making a HUGE mistake if they run Clinton. They RW has been salivating over this for years. It would be just playing into their hands.

[billbuckhead]

5. Hillary's going to be the candidate, get over it

Like these guys wouldn't "swiftboat" Jesus

[iconoclastNYC]

15. Why do you think that?

Do you know something we don't?

[LWolf]

22. "Get Over It" 3 years before a primary?

:wow:

I guess GWB is not the only one to have left the democratic process behind.

[punpirate]

2. That headline should read...

... "Norquist looks at 3-to-5 years in prison in 2008."

Abramoff will be singing long and loud quite soon.

[robbedvoter]

8. It should, in a better world - one with justice. As it is, he brokers

"elections', Abramoff will be pardoned and the junta will be staying on and on and on...

[bookman]

4. Some of those names are laughable

Gov. Rick Perry in my state of Texas (aka Gov. Goodhair)

I'm not sure he can win the republican primary here.

Newt "an expert on healthcare"?

I hope the Dems can come up with a dark horse winner for 2008.

[iconoclastNYC]

16. Dark Horse

The first test of any candidate is: Will the Democrats LOVE HIM.

You know you can go 'round and 'roudn with all the poli-sci pop-theory about "swing voter" appeal...but the first test is....does our BASE love this candidate.....if we don't love him, we'll won't bother to talk the swing voters into liking him/her.

We need a candidate that unites the base, fires up the base, and one that we can vote for enthusiastically....unlike Kerry whom, IMHO was imposed upon us by the DLC/MEDIA Dean hit squad.

[BigYawn]

39. Bill Clinton was laughed at in 1992 as well.....

It did not stop him, being from a small, poor state.

[mmonk]

6. How come all rightwingers say Hilliary is going to be the democratic

nominee? Whether you are for her and want to tell me in a reasoned logical way why they insist this (no get over its and other garbage) or you are against her and want to speculate why, give me your take.

[blindpig]

10. Wishful thinking.

It's their wet dream. No matter how bad bu$h fucks up and disgusts his base the Clinton name will be absolute gold for bringing otherwise demoralized wingers to the polls. Suicide for the Democratic Party but the nominee will have to be considerably better than anybody-but-Hillary.

[iconoclastNYC]

17. BIG LIE - Repeat it enough times and it becomes the truth

Or...if you wanna get tin hat.....if you think they can swing elections in the general...why not the primary?

[Donna Zen]

19. Because they accept

that it is all about the money. Hillary has the money and thus, the nomination.

The corporations are the government.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. It's the "oh please don't throw me into that briar patch" approach

to psyching the opposition.

Sad to say, a lot of Dems are going to fall for it.

[BigYawn]

40. Actually all the dem pollsters are getting the same results...

Hillary leads every friggin poll by a WIDE margin over the
emasculated senators running against her.

[robbedvoter]

7. When Grover sez "shoe in" - she is the designated loser to BFEE

That means the media will cover her exclusively - and not to unfavorably - until the pesky primaries are done with and they can set phasers on "attack/ignore" while kissing the BFEE candidate (assuming W will want to vacate)

[DainBramaged]

9. Who gives a shit what he has to say, he'll be in jail by 2008

[LeftNYC]

11. Santorum?

Looks good on paper?

[wiley]

26. It's NewsMax

They're nuts, but people follow their (mis)lead as if their ideas were their own.

[JDPriestly]

12. Hillary is not that popular among Democrats.

Bill is, but not Hillary. She seems cold. Democratic activists I know favor either Warner or Bayh. That is what I am hearing from those of my friends who attend Democratic Conventions and organize the campaigns here in Southern California. Personally, I think Warner and Bayh are too wishy-washy on some really important issues, but my knowledgeable friends seem to think that as middle-of-the-road types, they have the best chance of winning.

[second edition]

18. Screw "middle of the road" and too much analysis of who can win.

Our problems are party perception related and until we fix how we are perceived by the general public trying to come up with a winning formula just looks like we are avoiding the hard work necessary to change our message and reach out.
Anyway, we keep going back to the same old tired formula, middle of the road, Governor,from a Southern state. Surely, we are all smart enough to come up with a new strategy and run well qualified,honest candidates. A President should be Presidential (a leader, authoritative,strong etc)- not someone too uncomplicated and simple. Southern votes aren't going to vote for our guy simply because of the "winning formula". They already got our number. We should also be concentrating our efforts in the Mid-West.

Warner is not qualified enough IMO, to fix all that needs to be fixed once Bush leaves office and his only appeal is he has that so called "winning formula" going for him. Nice guy,great governor, yes, it seems so, presidential,no. Bahy, there again, has that so called same "winning formula", but doesn't even have as much appeal as Warner. Both are also big DLC candidates and are thus being pushed because it is assumed they can garner corporate dollars for campaigning. I doubt grass roots means much to either of them.

[GatoLover]

34. Same old tired formula, middle of the road gov from a southern state

I'm sympathetic, but here's the problem:

1993-2001 Bill Clinton, Gov. AR
1977-1981 Jimmy Carter, Gov. GA
1963-1969 Lyndon Johnson, former Sen. TX
1961-1963 John Kennedy, Sen. MA
1945-1953 Harry Truman, former Sen. MO
1933-1945 Franklin Roosevelt, Gov. NY
1913-1921 Woodrow Wilson, Gov. NJ

This is an exhaustive list of all Democratic presidents for the entire twentieth century. You notice the pattern since JFK? Heck, the only non-Southern Democratic presidents for the entire 100 years were Wilson, FDR and JFK.

So, before we dump the tired old model, we'd better be sure we have a better one.

[second edition]

13. Strange, Hillary really isn't popular with most of the electorate ,yet the

media has her anointed as our nominee. Personally, I think she will be a disaster and doesn't deserve the nomination if she does in fact get it. i for one think the Clinton's need to step back and allow others to lead. They had their day.

[Tactical Progressive]

27. The Clintons most assuredly did not 'have their day'

The last two years of the Clinton presidency were taken away by an unethical, un-Constitutional assault on the Clinton's personal life.

Plus the third 'Clinton term', in the guise of Al Gore, was flat-out stolen from them and us by lies, judicial treachery and election rigging by both the Republicans and their mainstream media machine. It would probably have been two Gore terms, earned by the success of the Clinton and Gore administrations, but at the very least it was one, in the same way that Reagan's popularity 'earned' Bush I his term as President.

Quite the opposite of what you say, this country deserves another Clinton term at the very least from what was stolen from us.

[BigYawn]

41. How can you say that about the smartest woman alive?

Me thinks Hillary was the force behind Bill. She lit a fire
under him. Bill would rather spend time with attractive females
than work like hell to run successfully for president. He surely
had the talent but it was harnessed thru Hillary.

[iconoclastNYC]

14. How can Hillary look at what they did to Kerry

And not think that she'd get the same treatment in spades?

I hope she's just making the moves to fake them out.

Hillary's politics aside...I think we can all agree the Republicans want to run against Hillary.

[karynnj]

21. What candidate will they not do what they did to Kerry?

The only way it will stop is if these hate ads campaigns backfire - and they never really have. Maybe if there was a bi-partisan board that could immediately designate ads as likely slander and if this designation would make the media cautious in playing them. It's a hard trade off with first amendment rights.

The big question would be if Hillary will be considered by the poulace to have already been extensively "checked out". What Kerry proves is that even if you've had a very public, largely scandal free life - they will make things up. (I know there are people who hate him for telling the truth about Vietnam, but the attacks were on his very highly decorated service. Out of the high profile Vietnam heroes based on the war itself, his service is the least questionable - McCain wasn't a hero except for being a POW for 5 years, Kerrey was complicit in actions that can't be defended.)

[iconoclastNYC]

23. Or....

Pick a candidate that is LOVED by the people. Then the negative attacks will just backfire. W J Clinton was well liked because he could connect to the voter. H R Clinton does not possess this skill.

We need a candidate that will be LOVED by our base and then liked by the middle so thier attack politics will backfire.

This is not Hillary. The only people who love her are the DLC corporatists.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

28. Yes, note that Bush was LOVED by the Republican base for both elections

Democrats saw Kerry as the pragmatic choice for 2004, but they didn't LOVE him the way Republicans LOVE Bush.

[iconoclastNYC]

29. I don't buy that Republicans love Bush

Look at the list of high profile Republicans who endorsed Kerry.

Look at the list of GOP-leaning newspapers that backed Bush in 2000 but backed Kerry in 2004.

There are a lot of lies in the conventional wisdom, IMHO to explain the shocking results of the 2004 election (3 million new votes?)

I don't buy that he won in 2000 and I don't buy that he won in 2004.

Republicans don't love Bush as much as the media would have us believe.

Sure the right-wing fundies love him but they are a minority in his party.

Paleocons distrust him. Small government types don't like that he hasn't veto'd one spending bill. Conservatives who dislike interventionist foreign policy don't like him.

Don't buy the hype, this president is not a well loved Republican.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

30. It wasn't just fundies--it was fat cats (as my neighbors were) and

mean and dumb types (like the guys on the bus who thought Cheney was "a cool guy").

I still maintain that the number of Republicans who LOVED Bush was larger than the number of Democrats who LOVED Kerry. Look at the primary wars on DU. Kerry was the second or third choice for an awful lot of people, not only on DU but out in the real world (given the high "mortality" rate among candidates after the first couple of primaries). A lot of people in late primary states never got to vote for their first choice.

This is leaving aside questions of fraud--which I believe took place. The fact remains that the race was close enough to steal. It should never have been.

[iconoclastNYC]

36. Fatcats are less than 1%

So I think fundies are like 20-30% tops....where do you get the other 20%

You sell some paperless voting machines that's how.

I think the GOP wanted Kerry to win. I think when Rove let out that quote about running against Dean it was reverse psychology. I think Rove's contacts in our party helped Kerry win.

[ticapnews]

20. My prediction is that Hillary will be like Mario Cuomo...

always the favorite, but never throwing the hat into the ring.

[TheFarseer]

25. You don't think she'll run?

What makes you think that?

[tsuki]

31. Out of touch.

[LittleClarkie]

32. He was wrong about Dems learning to like permanent minority status

and becoming docile and castrated. Some of us have become quite feisty, actually.

He can kiss my grits.

[Skidmore]

33. I want Grover to be watching the 08 election from behind bars.

Is anyone close to nailing him on something? Money-laundering? Supporting terrorists? Stealing hubcaps? I'll take anything. Rove, Norquist, Delay, and Frist, get 'm all.

[election_2004]

35. Self-fulfilling prophecy

I guess we know who Grover wants as the Democratic presidential nominee.

Now tell us why we should give a fuck who *HE* wants to see on the Democratic ticket...

[AntiCoup2K4]

37. Not a single name on that list is going to be President

And yes, I mean his ENTIRE list.

[BigYawn]

38. Grover is right on target with Hillary as the prima donna in 2008

with 7 dwarfs wooing her for Veep.