Okay, GOP Candidates, Time to Put Your Game-Faces On
Someone might want to consider throwing Ed Driscoll some political consultant cash. He is has it exactly right in this post.
Whoever is the Republican nominee in 2012, he will be a target for ridicule — that’s simply what the left does. But will he be prepared for it? The indecision shown by the last two losers in the presidential election highlight the importance of assuming the worst and wargaming solutions.
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If the next GOP candidate is prepared for the perfect storm he’ll receive — and prepared to fight back (possibly with a little Alinskyite jujitsu of his own) — he’s got a shot. If not, he needs to count on a weakened incumbent, and and a lot of luck. Will that be enough to win?Ask President Dole.
The current crop of semi-likely candidates (who could really be a likely candidate at this point?) — Romney, Pawlenty, Jindal, Gingrich, DeMint, Huckabee — haven’t really waded into the fray against the Democrats various fiscally-insane schemes with anything approaching the sort of fervor voters like to see. At best, Gingrich and DeMint have come out with their Wonk Guns, firing a few white papers at the Stimulus Bill and Obamacare, but they really haven’t mustered anything approaching passion and they certainly haven’t caused the kind of commotion that would put them on the left’s hit list.
If any of them aspire to the Presidency, they’re going to have to get their pads on and start hitting now so they have a feel for it when January 2012 comes around. Any NFL coach can tell you that one of the most valuable things about training camp is that it gets their players used to getting hit so that when the regular season starts, they’re used to it. Ask John McCain what happens when it’s game time and you start shying away from contact.
But if none of the often-mentioned names are doing their full-contact drills, who does that leave? Surely someone has weathered withering personal attacks, has given back as good as they’ve gotten, and has decided to lead the charge to kill the incumbent President’s signature issue with a clever combination of political hyperbole and meaty substance?
Gosh, I can’t think of anyone like that. Can you?
Other Posts of Interest:
- Can Conservatives Conflict with the Republican Party? Yes, We Can!
- Who in 2012?
- Dissembling or Ephiphany? Jim DeMint Wants to Know.
Category: The 2012 Horse Race, The Republican Minority
