John Thune

[Psychic Octopus]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that this guy will be a factor in the 2012 race? He's a mainstream conservative, young, tall, handsome, and he plays some good basketball. So, in that case, Thune is basically the Republican version of Barack Obama. He's also a giant killer, defeating Tom Daschle, The former Democratic Senate leader, in 2004. If he ran, he would probably occupy the "mainstream conservative insurgent" niche,which is similar to the role that Romney and Thomspon played, or tried to play, in 2008. What do you all think?

[Bo]

He could be a good VP in any year between 2012 and 2024. I doubt he'd run in 2012, but he might run for Prez in 2016 or beyond.

[Psychic Octopus]

Anyone think he could beat Obama at basketball, for that matter?

[Bo]

Anyone think he could beat Obama at basketball, for that matter?

No.

[Psychic Octopus]

Anyone think he could beat Obama at basketball, for that matter?

No.

Really? I hear he's pretty good.

[Bo]

Anyone think he could beat Obama at basketball, for that matter?

No.

Really? I hear he's pretty good.

Obama is better coz he's black.

[Psychic Octopus]

Anyone think he could beat Obama at basketball, for that matter?

No.

Really? I hear he's pretty good.

Obama is better coz he's black.

I don't think it works that way. I've beaten plenty of my black friends at basketball.

[Bo]

Anyone think he could beat Obama at basketball, for that matter?

No.

Really? I hear he's pretty good.

Obama is better coz he's black.

I don't think it works that way. I've beaten plenty of my black friends at basketball.

I think Obama can run faster and is more experienced playing basketball than Thune. He played basketball for over 30 years, if I recall correctly.

[Psychic Octopus]

Anyone think he could beat Obama at basketball, for that matter?

No.

Really? I hear he's pretty good.

Obama is better coz he's black.

I don't think it works that way. I've beaten plenty of my black friends at basketball.

I think Obama can run faster and is more experienced playing basketball than Thune. He played basketball for over 30 years, if I recall correctly.

Is that so? Oh, btw, I found a link:

http://baller-in-chief.com/articles/obama-and-thune-get-gabby-over-basketball/

[Sewer]

pro-rape theocrat trash

[ConservativeIllini]

I could definitely see him being a factor if he decides to run.  If Romney wins the nomination, I would imagine he would either pick Thune or Demint as a running mate in order to bring the evangelical vote towards him.  I haven't heard him speak, but if he sounds intelligent & confident, he can probably win a lot of votes. 

[Psychic Octopus]

I could definitely see him being a factor if he decides to run.  If Romney wins the nomination, I would imagine he would either pick Thune or Demint as a running mate in order to bring the evangelical vote towards him.  I haven't heard him speak, but if he sounds intelligent & confident, he can probably win a lot of votes. 

That's basically my ideas, although I think that DeMint would never be picked.

[ConservativeIllini]

I could definitely see him being a factor if he decides to run.  If Romney wins the nomination, I would imagine he would either pick Thune or Demint as a running mate in order to bring the evangelical vote towards him.  I haven't heard him speak, but if he sounds intelligent & confident, he can probably win a lot of votes. 

That's basically my ideas, although I think that DeMint would never be picked.

Didn't he endorse Romney in the last election?  I think he did (not positive on that one), and it would look excellent to shore up Mitt's evangelical credentials.  Just my opinion!

[JSojourner]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that this guy will be a factor in the 2012 race? He's a mainstream conservative, young, tall, handsome, and he plays some good basketball. So, in that case, Thune is basically the Republican version of Barack Obama. He's also a giant killer, defeating Tom Daschle, The former Democratic Senate leader, in 2004. If he ran, he would probably occupy the "mainstream conservative insurgent" niche,which is similar to the role that Romney and Thomspon played, or tried to play, in 2008. What do you all think?

Mainstream conservative -- Richard Lugar, Thad Cochran, Mitt Romney, Johnny Isakson, George Voinovich, John Warner, Bob Corker, Lamar Alexander, Pat Roberts, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Gordon Smith, Judd Gregg...


Theocratic conservative -- Jim DeMint, James Inhofe, Tom Coburn, Saxby Shameless, Mike Huckabee, Michele Bachmann, John Thune, Sam Brownback, Rick Santorum, Mike Pence, etc...

Thune is NOT a mainstream, garden-variety conservative. He's a religious wingnut and a member of "The Family".

[Mr. Morden]

I could definitely see him being a factor if he decides to run.  If Romney wins the nomination, I would imagine he would either pick Thune or Demint as a running mate in order to bring the evangelical vote towards him.  I haven't heard him speak, but if he sounds intelligent & confident, he can probably win a lot of votes. 

That's basically my ideas, although I think that DeMint would never be picked.

Didn't he endorse Romney in the last election?  I think he did (not positive on that one), and it would look excellent to shore up Mitt's evangelical credentials.  Just my opinion!

You do realize that, just over five years ago, DeMint said that single mothers shouldn't be allowed to teach in public schools?:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=10209.0

That alone probably makes him too politically radioactive for Romney to consider him.  Why would Romney take that kind of a gamble, when there are other choices who have not made such controversial statements?

[phk]

Seems like a more responsible John Edwards.

[HAnnA MArin County]

He's hot. That's about the only thing he has going for him.

Obama would still win in terms of the "cool" factor especially among younger voters since John Thune is such a social conservative, which would mean Obama would still hold and probably strengthen his hold on younger voters because of the social issues.

[Bo]

He's hot. That's about the only thing he has going for him.

Obama would still win in terms of the "cool" factor especially among younger voters since John Thune is such a social conservative, which would mean Obama would still hold and probably strengthen his hold on younger voters because of the social issues.

I don't think young people vote exclusively on social issues. Why would they?

[useful idiot]

He's hot. That's about the only thing he has going for him.

Obama would still win in terms of the "cool" factor especially among younger voters since John Thune is such a social conservative, which would mean Obama would still hold and probably strengthen his hold on younger voters because of the social issues.

I don't think young people vote exclusively on social issues. Why would they?

Because by and large they're incredibly stupid. Most younger people only really care about image. There are a few smart ones out there, but frankly I think most people need to get into their 30's before finding out what they actually believe, if they ever do.

[HAnnA MArin County]

He's hot. That's about the only thing he has going for him.

Obama would still win in terms of the "cool" factor especially among younger voters since John Thune is such a social conservative, which would mean Obama would still hold and probably strengthen his hold on younger voters because of the social issues.

I don't think young people vote exclusively on social issues. Why would they?

Because by and large they're incredibly stupid. Most younger people only really care about image. There are a few smart ones out there, but frankly I think most people need to get into their 30's before finding out what they actually believe, if they ever do.

Agree. I think younger voters tend to prefer style over substance (as was evident during the Democratic primaries), but in the case of a Thune-Obama matchup, they would both have style so then it would go down to substance.

I just made the assumption that younger voters would feel closer to Obama on the social issues because most younger people engage in "liberal" lifestyles since most of them are in college (being indoctrinated by the radical left-wing liberal agenda), you know, the drinking and the partying and rampant sexcapades and lighting up a doobie here and there. You don't find that the younger generation today is defined by church-going, abstinence-only, alcohol-is-bad-for-you moral crusaders like our parents and grandparents, so I would say there would be a generational divide between Thune and Obama, and Republicans and Democrats in general.

But I agree about how most younger voters don't really form their true political beliefs/ideologies/partisan leanings whatever you want to call it until their late 20s/early 30s, save for the lower- to mid-20s political junkies like myself. And after watching Obama as President and the Democratic leadership in Congress, I wouldn't be surprised if younger voters make a radical shift rightwards soon, maybe not on social issues, but on fiscal issues for sure, so who knows, maybe Thune could do well among younger voters.

[evan bayh]

i don't think he will run in 2012.i suppose that his ambition is to become senate majority leader when gop will take the senate.he can be a very good choice as v.p. above all with a candidate like romney;i think he can run in 2016

[AndrewTX]

If he ran for President, I'd vote for him in the primary, and the general.

[ConservativeIllini]

I could definitely see him being a factor if he decides to run.  If Romney wins the nomination, I would imagine he would either pick Thune or Demint as a running mate in order to bring the evangelical vote towards him.  I haven't heard him speak, but if he sounds intelligent & confident, he can probably win a lot of votes. 

That's basically my ideas, although I think that DeMint would never be picked.

Didn't he endorse Romney in the last election?  I think he did (not positive on that one), and it would look excellent to shore up Mitt's evangelical credentials.  Just my opinion!

You do realize that, just over five years ago, DeMint said that single mothers shouldn't be allowed to teach in public schools?:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=10209.0

That alone probably makes him too politically radioactive for Romney to consider him.  Why would Romney take that kind of a gamble, when there are other choices who have not made such controversial statements?

Definitely didn't realize that, as I started following politics right after the '06 midterms. 

[rebeltarian]

Yawn.  Thune has a cookie-cutter neoconservative voting record.  He's a party-line ideologue who brings nothing new to the country whatsoever.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Thune might be a good VP choice for someone like Romney, but I doubt that Romney will win the GOP primary anyway, so that doesn't matter.