SC Gov Mark Sanford

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Don't be too hard on Sanford.  I would be very skeptical of ANYTHING that Begala says or quotes anyone else as saying.

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SuperSoulty,

The only problem with you reasoning, is that it is difficult to find someone from categories 1 and 2 that meets the criteria of category 4.  The only one I can think of is Santorum.  Is that where you are trying to steer this?

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Of those you have mentioned, only Romney and Santorum have realisitic chances, and by realistic, I don't necessarily mean good chances.

You're painting yourself into a corner 3 1/2 years before the election by being so narrow-minded.

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Yes, we Catholics are a minority, but at 24%, we rank just under white males, who come in at 35%.  Hmmm... That means that Southern white males probably come in at 10-15% of the population.   That sounds suspiciously like a minority to me, doesn't it to you Soulty.


By the way, if Frist get the nomination, I, too, will take a long hard look at the Democrat candidate.   

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If you're a Red, and also a member of the ELCA, then you are a minority of a minority.

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I like Romney, as well as Santorum.  I also like J.C Watts, though he probably needs to run for Gov of OK before he is ready to run for Pres.  I'm also a huge fan of Jeb, but '08 is going to be too soon for another Bush in the White House.

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If it goes to the guys that have 'paid their dues,' then it's probably McCain's or Rudy's turn. 

Since we didn't have any sort of challenge in '04, I'd say that it is wide open in '08.  I really do'nt think that McCain will even run.  I saw him on TV tonight and he didn't look well.

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Jfern,

We're all partisan her, but you're a total hack.

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The last time an unknown and undistinguished Governor from a small Southern state ran for President, he was elected as the 42nd President of the United States.  Don't underestimate Governors from small Southern states.  You do so at your peril.  Trust me, I know.

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I know of the controversy that surrounded HCA, but I've never heard of any direct connection to Frist concerning wrongdoing in the company.  Wasn't Gov Bredesen also involved in HCA?

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Oops!  My bad.  I guess I'm just linking the two due to their business similarities. 

Not bashing Bredesen in any way.  In fact, I kinda like him!

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No, the ticket to the White House is thru the State House.  Besides,Harold Ford wants to run for Senate on the Dem side.  He can't win, but he is determined to run.

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Bredesen held out against raising taxes, especially creating an income tax, when everyone in his party--and our former GOP Gov were clammoring for it.  

Two years later, we are back in the black, the State is once again in surplus, and he is determined to solve our TNCare (medicaid) problem.

He promised to run the state much more like a business than a slush fund for politicians, and he has delivered so far.  Can't knock that!

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That attitude makes no sense whatsoever.  That's like anti-NAFTA GOPers voting for Buchanan, a thouroughly wasted vote.

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Sen Sam,

 48% of the people voted for a conservative Jew in 2000 (at least as a Veep candidate).  Who would have ever thought that that would happen?  

I won't vote for Romney if he shows signs that he wants to be President of Mormon America.  I won't vote for Santorum if he show signs that he wants to be President of Catholic America.  However, If they want to be President of all America, then I see no problem with their religion.

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Neither party cares to be a national party anymore.  Both are looking to be a party of 270 EV and some change.  Oh yeah, adn getting a few million more polular votes to make it appear to be a mandate.  

I'm not knocking the strategy.   That's just the way it is.

So far, it has worked in our favor.

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Are there any countries that do have true "national parties" that aren't one party dominated states anyway?

I have to agree with akota on this one.

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Good gracious!  This thread has become unrecognizable.

Let's suffice to say that some anti-Catholic bias exists.  It exists on the GOP side among SOME evangelicals.  It exists on the left among SOME irreligious.

I happen to be a consevative Catholic who voted against the Catholic candidate because I found him to be Catholic in name only, or Christian in name only for that matter.

As for finding a candidate that can win more than 55% of the popular vote, forget it.   I believe that Bush could have, if he had been given even-handed treatment my the mainstream media.   Considering how they bashed him, or even concocted stories to derail his campaign, getting 52% was pretty damn impressive.

I don't believe that a Democrat candidate is going to break 50%, much less 55%, unless they move to the center and nominate---yes you guessed it, a Southern Governor.  That's just my opinion.

As for the GOP nominating a non-Southern candidate, it doesn't look good in the near term.  Most of the well know Northeastern GOP candidates are TOO moderate for the base.  That's why Santorum has a possible shot at it.

As for Sanford, the reason this thread exists, I don't know the slightest thing about him.

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By the late 30's the US economy was once again beginning to flounder, even though we were employing millions through the WPA and the CCC.  Don't kid yourself.  World War II is what ENDED the Great Depression.

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Super,

I don't think that anyone is saying that we shouldn't try to pick off a few more states from the Dems, thoush some like VT, MA, and NY are a waste of time and efort.  However, you don't throw away your base of support (West and South) in order to pick up PA (maybe), or MN (maybe) .  The GOP has been getting much closer to winning those two states with the strategy we currently have.  Why change what works? 

As for alsways nominating Southerners, I agree with you we should try to look for some candidates from other regions.  The problem is that very few Northeasterners or West-coasters are conservative enough to survive the primaries.  Hell, don't blame the South for that, since most of the early primaries are decide by northern and Midwestern states.   By the time the primaries get down here, most of the field of candidates has already dropped out of the race.  In fact, most drop out after just the first to contests.

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Gerrymandering has nearly killed the Democrat Party in the South.  By concentrating black voters into super majority districts, they have increased the number of black Congressional seats, while at the same time, virtually guaranteed that any white majority district will vote Republican.  There are exceptions, of course, but the trend has been that fewer and fewer white Democrats can get elected anywhere in the South. 

Black Democrats would much rather vote for blsack Democrat to represent them rather than a white Democrat, which is understandable--I suppose.

The  majority white district's Democrat base is considerably weakended in the process. 

So, while gerrymandering has greatly increased the number of black representatives in Congress, it has also served to bolster the GOP majority in Congress as a whole.

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The Dems were all in favor of race-based districts, the thinking being that a grateful black population would continue to vote Democrat, which it did.  However, they didn't vote for just any Democrat, only black ones.

The GOP, who initially opposed the idea, found that it worked in their favor as well.  It concentrated Democrat voters in majority black districts.

You can say it wasn't racial gerrymandering, but since much of it was designed to increase black representationin Congress, how can you claim it was anything but.

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okay, I see where you're coming from.