Fred Thompson 28%, Guiliani 27%. For the first time all year, someone other than Rudy Guiliani is in the top slot of GOP contenders for the 2008 presidential nomination, according to Rasmussen Reports.
McCain and Romney are both down a point each from last week, tied for third with 10%. However, McCain's unfavorable rating has been steadily increasing, mostly due to the immigration bill that the solid majority of America pretty much hates at this point. Romney's 10% has been a steady one, as he has wavered between 9-12% for quite a while now.
The Hunt for Red State November continues...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Being that Thompson hasn't officially become a candidate (look for a patriotic announcment on Independence Day), I think these polls say more about the incredibly weak Republican field. It also gives Thompson a lot of expectations to live up to. He's an idea at this point, and only relatively so.
The July 4th announcement has been played down by several people close to Thompson, and Thompson himself...but he needs to announce by then, IMO. Otherwise he'll start to lose this momentum.
As for the incredibly weak Republican field...that's a matter of preference between GOP and Dems. I personally think any field that has Dennis Kucinich and Chris Dodd in it is weaker than what the GOP has thrown out there.
Part of what drags down the GOP is the lower-rung candidates (Gilmore, Tommy Thompson), and the sheer numbers of nominees (10 + Fred Thompson)
Comparing "mid-card" candidates, the GOP has a stronger bunch. Biden/Richardson/Kucinich against Hunter/Huckabee/Brownback. I'd take the 3 GOP candidates, anyday...but that's just me.
What makes Fred Thompson a viable candidate is the fact that his positions encompass a lot of the conservative and moderate conservative base support...and he communicates it clearly.
Honestly, zen, if you had to pick a Republican candidate to vote for...who would it be?
At this point I've really not put forward any effort to learn a lot about the GOP candidates. And coming from my perspective, I often only can see the flaws. So it's essentially a "lesser of ten plus evils."
That being said, I think Ron Paul stands out as the best guy for his willingness to buck convention and the party line, in exchange for rational approaches and solutions.
I'm not surprised you said Ron Paul, since he is bucking traditional conservatism for a more libertarian approach.
Ron Paul wouldn't be my choice for President, not by a long shot. However, there are a few issues that he raises good points about (especially about fiscal conservatism) that many conservatives can agree with him on.
However, his stances on national security and Iraq exit strategy differ quite a bit from mine. Also, I think that in some aspects of the economy, he tends to be too fiscally conservative for American-style capitalism.
When I said of the Rep field being weak, that was not intended to be in relation to the Dem candidates. Whom I view as quite strong. I just see very little spark in the GOP that says leadership. Other than Ron Paul, and possibly Fred Thompson.
But a huge part of the president's job is to inspire the people to lift the nation. I see a couple of people on the Dem side that may be able to refresh the spirit we lack. And that seems recognized by the GOP as well. They know they need to distance themselves from the Bush disaster.
So the same question to you. If you had to pick a Democratic candidate to vote for...who would it be?
If I had to vote Dem, I'd probably choose Barack Obama, because the more that I watch him develop actual policies instead of just talk rhetoric about "hope and promise", the more I see someone who is sensible.
Out of all of the Dem health care reforms that have been laid out, his is the closest to what I would prefer to see. Obama also has outlined where and how he would get the funding for this, and it's not too bad of a deal...at least, in comparison to the other plans I've seen proposed/outlined.
Plus, the man is smart in seeking advice from people like Colin Powell on foreign policy.
I think that in terms of inspirational abilities...I'd agree that Ron Paul can inspire people, but he also inspires a very rabid, but small, base of the Republican Party. Fred Thompson, on the other hand, has appealed to people on both sides of the aisle...while I don't think he could create a 100 percent unison among American citizens, he could probably bring the Red States and the Blue States closer together than any other candidate other than Guiliani, or possibly Mitt Romney.
I like some of the other candidates, too. I'm a fan of Duncan Hunter...but I'm not sold on him as a "salesman" of policy to the American public (which has been Bush's weakness all along, he can't sell policy). However, Hunter would be a strong cabinet member or VP, IMO.
Post a Comment