Omnibus Republican hero-of-this-week/train-wreck-of-the-next thread

[Brittain33]

This thread is dedicated to Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain again, and potentially Chris Christie. All of whom are united by their shining potential for success, or at least popularity, among Republican primary voters only to crash and burn when they hit the stage.

The spiritual fathers of this thread are Fred Thompson and Wesley Clark.

I didn't watch the debates this week so I missed Rick Perry's immolation in the flames of mediocrity. Let us join together in watching the sad progress of his campaign as it peters out or somehow survives, and then quickly shift our attention to the next hero who will do the same.

[President von Cat]

AKA "Massive Overreaction Thread"

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Herman Cain formed his exploratory committee in January, not really a late entry...

[Brittain33]

Herman Cain formed his exploratory committee in January, not really a late entry...

True, he hasn't been sitting on the sidelines... more like a no-hoper with no record who suddenly became the Next Big Thing without actually being a viable candidate.

[Bull Moose Base]

Gotta admire your refusal to give up on Trump as you assembled your list of flameouts.

[Brittain33]

Gotta admire your refusal to give up on Trump as you assembled your list of flameouts.

LOL. I forgot about his brief time as the front-runner.

It's insane how by all economic measures, this election should look like 1980, but so far, it still looks like 2004.

[The Mikado]

It's insane how by all economic measures, this election should look like 1980, but so far, it still looks like 2004.

Quite so.  Obama may as well be dead in the water, but corpses in the water float for a while while the GOP candidates are bloated, waterlogged corpses that are sinking to the bottom.

...That metaphor didn't turn out the way I wanted.

[krazen1211]

Gotta admire your refusal to give up on Trump as you assembled your list of flameouts.

LOL. I forgot about his brief time as the front-runner.

It's insane how by all economic measures, this election should look like 1980, but so far, it still looks like 2004.

By many polls, 1980 did not look like 1980 at this time in 1979 and early 1980.

[Brittain33]

Gotta admire your refusal to give up on Trump as you assembled your list of flameouts.

LOL. I forgot about his brief time as the front-runner.

It's insane how by all economic measures, this election should look like 1980, but so far, it still looks like 2004.

By many polls, 1980 did not look like 1980 at this time in 1979 and early 1980.

True, I do have this feeling that what can not go on, will not go on, and the bottom would drop out of Obama's support if Romney is nominated and projects basic competence.

[Penelope]

Gotta admire your refusal to give up on Trump as you assembled your list of flameouts.

LOL. I forgot about his brief time as the front-runner.

It's insane how by all economic measures, this election should look like 1980, but so far, it still looks like 2004.

By many polls, 1980 did not look like 1980 at this time in 1979 and early 1980.

This is true. Unfortunately, the Republicans have yet to find their Reagan. Or at least, someone who could have a Reagan moment.

Romney might be your Reagan, though, if he can ignore the crazy people in his party.

[krazen1211]

This is true. Unfortunately, the Republicans have yet to find their Reagan. Or at least, someone who could have a Reagan moment.

Romney might be your Reagan, though, if he can ignore the crazy people in his party.

Mittens is certainly running a solid primary campaign. He has a decent long view attitude and isn't sweating the day to day 24 hour hoopla.

[Bacon King]

This is true. Unfortunately, the Republicans have yet to find their Reagan. Or at least, someone who could have a Reagan moment.

Romney might be your Reagan, though, if he can ignore the crazy people in his party.

Mittens is certainly running a solid primary campaign. He has a decent long view attitude and isn't sweating the day to day 24 hour hoopla.

The same could have been said for Giuliani at this point in 2007 though, and that didn't really turn out well for him.

But as far as the next GOP flavor of the week, I think Santorum might be due for his turn soon. 

[Averroës Nix]

The same could have been said for Giuliani at this point in 2007 though, and that didn't really turn out well for him.
 

I've said it before: Giuliani is a unique figure in national politics because of his (now-tarnished) status as a national hero. He started his campaign with high name-recognition and great favorables, and most figures in politics and in the media were unwilling to criticize him. Ever. For that reason, it's tough to make comparisons. If Mitt Romney (or any other Republican) had the views and record (sans 9/11) of Giuliani, his campaign would be a total bust.

IMO, Romney's success is all due to practice and preparation: Because of this, he's well-positioned, articulate, informed, and well-organized. I don't think that any other Republican can overcome this advantage.

[Bull Moose Base]

Gotta admire your refusal to give up on Trump as you assembled your list of flameouts.

LOL. I forgot about his brief time as the front-runner.

It's insane how by all economic measures, this election should look like 1980, but so far, it still looks like 2004.

By many polls, 1980 did not look like 1980 at this time in 1979 and early 1980.

This is true. Unfortunately, the Republicans have yet to find their Reagan. Or at least, someone who could have a Reagan moment.

Romney might be your Reagan, though, if he can ignore the crazy people in his party.

Perry, trying to salvage things after the press savaged him on Friday, specifically cited Reagan's own sloppy articulation in debates- an uncharacteristically flawed picture of Reagan allowed by a Republican candidate.  Reagan however was also a experienced actor, trained to express emotion, if nothing else could make a loaded-up line pop.  Yet for all the rose-colored remembrance of Reagan, I wonder how he would hold up in a primary in the Tea Party moment and with scrutiny and exposure of the cyberworld and cable universe.  I'm not convinced his candidacy would be any more stable than Perry's now is.

[Erc]

Gotta admire your refusal to give up on Trump as you assembled your list of flameouts.

LOL. I forgot about his brief time as the front-runner.

It's insane how by all economic measures, this election should look like 1980, but so far, it still looks like 2004.

By many polls, 1980 did not look like 1980 at this time in 1979 and early 1980.

1980 didn't look like 1980 until a week before the election.  I watched one of those Sunday Morning McLaughlin-esque panel group shows a few years back at the Paley Center---two days before the election, two of the panelists still thought Carter would pull it out, one thought there would be a narrow Reagan victory, and just one thought it would be a Reagan blowout.

[krazen1211]

This is true. Unfortunately, the Republicans have yet to find their Reagan. Or at least, someone who could have a Reagan moment.

Romney might be your Reagan, though, if he can ignore the crazy people in his party.

Mittens is certainly running a solid primary campaign. He has a decent long view attitude and isn't sweating the day to day 24 hour hoopla.

The same could have been said for Giuliani at this point in 2007 though, and that didn't really turn out well for him.

But as far as the next GOP flavor of the week, I think Santorum might be due for his turn soon. 

Partially. Rudy of course put far too much importance into Florida and lost and his national security issues slowly went away as Iraq stopped being frontpage news.

Mittens is a little more seasoned, has slowly figured out how to fight his flopflopping business, and has a lot of the big politicos in his corner. The problem is of course the base issues; he will imo be a very problematic 2nd term President for conservatives.