The pundits don't seem to "get it". Repubs don't WANT the WH just now.

[SoCalDem]

There is no treasury flush with loot, and jobs are not pumping in tax money right and left.

They like to take over the WH when there's money to take..

Their best-brightest are not interested in squandering what;s perhaps their only real shot at the WH only to take over in dangerous financial times.

They KNOW what a mess Georgie made, and they would rather have more distance when one of their own takes over.

They have effectively RUN the government with their House takeover & the help of a few wishy-washy dems in the senate who were too timid to reinstate the 51-49 rule, so there's really no reason to hold the WH as well.. The Senate map favors them too, so if they have house & senate and a further-weakened Obama, they can achieve a lot more evil..

Most of their governors are safe from ouster, and they get to re-align districts for the next 10 years, so they are sitting pretty right now.. there is no need to waste a good candidate just now.

[Firebrand Gary]

1. You are smack on.

[Sherman A1]

2. I disagree with your assessment

the pundits to get it. The pundits job however is to fill air time and hopefully sell ad revenue. It's about the "show" not who wins or lose from their point of view.

[madokie]

3. You hit the nail square on the head with what you said here

Rec'd with gusto :-)

[mwb970]

4. Having a hard time swallowing this.

republicans want power and nothing else. The president is powerful, regardless of the factors you mention. The president appoints Supreme Court justices, if nothing else!

No, sorry, they do want it, I just don't see how they can get it. Anyone who can get nominated will lose to Obama easily. Anyone who could conceivably beat Obama could never get nominated.

They won't get it. That's not the same as not wanting it.

[SoCalDem]

11. They are fierce competitors, and will "try" for it, but if they fail this time

they will also have an "out".. the candidates they wanted, refused to run.. and of course they will probably manage to wrest away the senate by use of their dodgy election rules they have been feverishly prepping for 2012..or at least they will have muddied the waters enough to cheat again and get away with it...

Most polls actually show them holding the house, so they can truly "run the show" no matter who sits in the Oval office.

I seriously doubt that they want a 2nd tier republican going for a 2nd term in 2016.. that would set up a GHWB scenario like 1992, and they are still wincing about that one.

They are patient, and are probably more than happy to aim for that clean sweep in 2016..

Every election season they have something to work on..local/state/federal judgeships, governorships, congress, voting rules, Christianizing of America, school privatization, chiseling away women's rights..that all goes on whether they have the presidency or not

[CrackersMcGee]

5. From the looks of their presidential candidates they don't want it next term either.

:rimshot:

[Scuba]

6. Why would they want it? They are already getting what they want.

[SoCalDem]

9. exactly.. they get their way AND they still have someone to blame the failure on

and they know that probably by the time 2015 rolls around, many people will be open to the idea of "trying something else"..even though if they were honest, they would have to admit that very little has changed (in leadership) since Reagan.

Clinton was dominated by the vicious rightwing from day one (of course he gave them more than enough bricks to toss back at him), and Obama has spent most of his tenure trying to woo them to his side(never-gonna-happen).

The SCOTUS picks Obama has made are "better" than the ones Georgie chose, but dems know better than to even try to choose a truly liberal candidate to start with, so we send "moderates" and they send right wing zealots..zealots never bend..,moderates bend easily

[Fumesucker]

7. Who do they have that is both a "good candidate" and can get through the nomination process?

The Wingnuts and Teabaggers control the primaries, they won't vote for someone that will appeal to a wide spectrum outside the Republican base.

Of course the election is still Obama's to lose, if unemployment is still as high as it is now in a year there's no telling what will happen.

[Frank Cannon]

8. They're greasing the skids for Jeb Bush in 2016.

It's all part of the plan.

[SoCalDem]

10. Yep.. Jebbie will probably team up with Christie

and the "crowd will go wild"...