Who do you think he has in mind? Michelle Bachmann who won the Ames Straw Poll? Ron Paul who came in second? Or Rick Perry who entered the race this weekend? The Wall Street Journal is worried about all three, and Mitt Romney too:
Michele Bachmann "has a record of errant statements (see Battle of Lexington and Concord, history of) that are forgiven by Fox Nation but won't be if she makes them as a GOP standard-bearer" and "her attempt to position herself at all times as the anti-establishment outsider has made her seem on occasion less principled than opportunistic."Karl Rove wishes the current crop of candidates were more moderate. The WSJ wants a new new crop, but doesn't have a name to go with that wish. It all comes down what we wrote here last month, there is never a generic Republican around when you need one.
Ron Paul "has no chance to win the nomination."
Rick Perry "can sound more Texas than Jerry Jones, George W. Bush and Sam Houston combined, and his muscular religiosity also may not play well at a time when the economy has eclipsed culture as the main voter concern."
Mitt Romney "is a weak front-runner" and "gives little evidence that he has convictions beyond faith in his own technocratic expertise."
And who is the magic Republican who would come into the race? Sarah Palin comes to mind, but she's got electability issues too.
At some point the Republican Party is going to have to come around to an essential truth if it wants to win this election. It doesn't have to love its candidate, it doesn't even have to like its candidate. But it does need to rally around its candidate and vote for him or her.
Republicans, particularly conservative Republican pundits like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Ann Coulter didn't do that for John McCain in 2008. All they did was complain, and that's no way to win a campaign.
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