First, the Republicans, who have an unpopular war and an unpopular President to contend with:
- Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor The GOP frontrunner is still basking in the afterglow of being "America's Mayor" six years after the 9/11 attacks, to the point of being Johnny One-Note. But to longtime residents of New York City, Giuliani is anything but a hero (just ask the firefighters). His abrasive manner in running the city, coupled with his multiple marriages, leave doubts among conservatives (and others) about how morally capable he is in running the country. Plus it sounds like Giuliani would continue President George W. Bush's policies, at least in national security.
- John McCain, Senator from Arizona Being the former Vietnam POW that he is, it comes as no surprise that he supports the troop increase in Iraq. For a supposed moderate everyone fell for back in 2000, he's been bending over backwards trying to appeal to conservatives. But they don't seem to care for him either. Here's a question people really should be asking: Does anyone out there think McCain is too old to be president?
- Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor Now here's someone conservatives can really get behind, except he flip-flops when it comes to hot-button issues such as abortion and stem cell research (he's against both right now). The fact that Romney is Mormon might hurt his chances with the religious right, mainly because to those of us who live outside Utah, Mormons are a mystery.
- Fred Thompson, former Senator from Tennessee The conservatives' other knight in shining armor, best known to the rest of us for playing a district attorney on TV's "Law & Order". Recent media accounts paint Thompson, who didn't announce his candidacy until September, as less than gung-ho about this star-making role than his wife is. Still, if it can work for another actor turned President . . .
- The longshot is Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor who has two claims to fame: (1)He was born in Hope, the same place Bill Clinton came from, and (2)he lost 110 pounds. Other than that, he's a complete unknown.
Now for the Democrats, one year removed from winning majorities in both the House and Senate, only to shamefully squander it by kowtowing to President Bush.
- Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator from New York As the Democratic frontrunner, Clinton has the best resume and name recognition of all the candidates, having once been First Lady. She's also the one with the biggest target on her back: Her husband, former President Bill Clinton, is both an asset and a liability. And she'll never live down her original vote to authorize the war in Iraq, then refusing to denounce it.
- Barack Obama, Senator from Illinois What we know about him so far is that he's younger than most of the other candidates, has a biracial background, and that he's opposed the war in Iraq from day one. That's pretty much it. He has yet to distinguish himself on the issues, or to convince others that he can overcome his lack of political experience. Is Obama too bland to be president?
- John Edwards, former Senator from North Carolina He's back for another shot after being John Kerry's running mate in 2004. This time, besides dusting off his "Two Americas" campaign speech, Edwards is so far the only candidate to apologize for approving the Iraq war. One wonders how committed Edwards is to campaigning when his wife Elizabeth is dying of cancer.
- Longshots Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware, New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, former vice-president Al Gore (if he decides to run) and Ohio representative Dennis Kucinich (who introduced a bill to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney. Good luck with that one.).
Of course, if you don't like any of these choices, there's always Michael Bloomberg. The current mayor of New York City declared himself an independent (he used to be a Republican), and might decide to run on a third-party ticket.
Let the winnowing process begin.
No comments:
Post a Comment