Republican choices have been plentiful as people have looked ahead to the 2012 presidential election, but the field is starting to narrow. Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee have both removed themselves from consideration.
Donald Trump had no chance anyway. He was destined to be 2012’s version of Rudy Giuliani–a guy that the media was obsessed with who had too much baggage to ever win the love of social conservatives. Trump’s departure just turns down the volume on the noise surrounding the campaign.
Huckabee was a different story. Unlike in 2008 he has high name recognition, and opposing candidates say nice things about him, social conservatives love him, and he thinks fast on his feet. He simply decided he didn’t want the job. Of course, this just makes him that much more alluring to voters–he’s the rare politician who isn’t so obsessed with being personally validated by winning the presidency that he would do anything. Ya know, it wouldn’t be shocking if Huckabee ended up being the vice presidential candidate for the Republicans in 2012.
Hey, as long as we are throwing around names of guys who have no chance of getting elected in 2012, let’s add one more: Newt Gingrich. The media has been building him up like a southern fried version of Trump. He’s got the star power, he’s got the charisma, oooh!
Give me a break. He divorced wife number two, so he could marry his girlfriend, who became wife number three. Social conservatives might have a problem with that, and good for them.
You know who makes Gingrich look even worse here? Arnold Schwarzenegger. Stories of that guy’s womanizing came out as he was running for governor. This was awkward for Republicans who had made a big deal out of Bill Clinton’s serial adulteries. But some Republicans looked the other way. Now there are new allegations coming out of California. The moral of the story? Maybe old dogs (who commit adultery a lot) aren’t so good at learning new tricks. Womanizing politicians are generally distracted, untrustworthy, and vulnerable to political pressure from people who learn their dirty little secrets.
Newt Gingrich will not win his party’s nomination for President in 2012 or ever. Republicans need to look elsewhere.