08' Republicans

Jonathan Singer over at MyDD writes about The Sorry Slate of Republican Presidential Candidates.

Regardless of John McCain moves further and further to the right, his campaign to woo the conservative base of the Republican Party (many of whom do not, cannot and will not trust the Arizona Senator) may ultimately prove futile, leaving a rather gaping opening in the race for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination. Can Rudy Giuliani, who has yet to face real scrutiny for his positions, his lifestyle choices and his post-9/11 business deals, actually emerge as the party nominee? Can Mitt Romney, who was until recently pro-choice and who is running as a non-Protestant in a party that has never nominated a non-Protestant, win? How about Newt Gingrich, who still maintains negative ratings far in excess of his positive ratings? Perhaps Mike Huckabee, who has come under ethics scrutiny of late as a result of his online gift registry, or Sam Brownback, who appears to be even more conservative than Rick Santorum (as if such a thing were possible)? Condi? Come on.

The current slate of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination is among the sorriest of American history. In fact it's difficult for me to think of a weaker group of candidates for either of the major party's nomination (I think you may have to go back to the race for the Democratic nomination in 1904 to find such a lackluster list -- and that was caused, at least in part, by the strength of then-incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt). The apparent addition of Tommy Thompson to the list does not do much, if anything, to mitigate this situation.

Go read the rest.

If it wasn't for his younger brother, Jeb Bush the Governor of Florida would have been the Republican candidate for President in 2008. He is the only heavy hitter left for the GOP. All of the sorry '08 Republicans would want Jeb Bush as their running mate, but I do not see it happening.

First off, the '08 Republican candidates are going to run away from George W. Bush and it is going to be ugly. I do not think Jeb Bush would want to run with a '08 Republican who spent most of the primary bashing his brother. Second, the 'Bush' family name is going to trash by the year 2008. The Democratic Party is going to strengthen their hold on Congress in the next election. Their is a possibility Democrats in the Senate would have a 56+ majority after 2008. It is better off for Jeb Bush sits out this election and be crowned as the GOP savior in 2012 running against a Democratic controlled Presidency and Congress.

But, I'm not in the business of giving advice to the Grand Old Party or to the Bush family.