Somebody asked me a while back who I believed gave the GOP the best chance to retain the White House in 2008. In the course of touting Giuliani and Pelosi\/Reid, I noted that a GOP ticket I think could gain real traction would be Giuliani \/ Thompson.\n<\/p>\n
\nMcCain, for all his laudable commitment<\/a> to seeing the Iraq campaign through, was done, I thought (and God Bless frickin’ America for that<\/i>! I mean, if we’re going to have an egomaniacal statist as President, I’d just as soon it be a Democrat, so we can blame the inevitable fall of Western Civilization on her or Obama), and Gingrich, as a potential VP choice, is so busy trying to be a politician that all he’s succeeded in doing is looking like a politician: opportunistic, calculating, and a bit robotic—though in his smaller debate appearances he has, by many accounts, been brilliant<\/a>).\n<\/p>\n \nThompson’s quick, humorous, homey, and confident video rejoinder<\/a> to Michael Moore’s debate challenge over health care (whatever the initial provocation<\/a>)– coupled with his tough stance on immigration in the wake of the “reform” bill that has reliable GOP backers threatening to leave the party and build giant, razor wire-trimmed fences in their own backyards in protest—has boosted him to number 2 in the straw polls<\/a>, and this before he has even declared.<\/i>\n<\/p>\n \nRomney, of course, remains very much in the mix—but he is too polished and plastic, it seems to me, and I don’t think many on the right, other than strict GOP loyalists with an eye toward “pragmatic” choices, respond well to that kind of candidate. Plus, I understand there’s some kind of issue with his undies.\n<\/p>\n \nAnd besides, Romney seems to talk better than he performs, if you can believe the Reason<\/i> analysis (print edition, in a handicapping of the GOP candidates; though elsewhere in Reason<\/i>, David Weigel describes<\/a> Romney as looking “like a Ken doll sculpted out of ham.” Feministe weeped). So he may not show so well under closer scrutiny of his record.\n<\/p>\n \nI think many Republicans would prefer a Thompson \/ Giuliani ticket, but I’m not sure Thompson can win over social liberals and moderates; but he would<\/i> certainly excite the GOP base—and, I predict, would absolutely destroy his VP opponent in debates (as would Gingrich, but his baggage is, let’s admit, quite hard to overcome).\n<\/p>\n \nThoughts?\n<\/p>\n \n**** \nWhich, while true, is pretty much standard fare for presidential contenders these days. I don’t think Thompson is lying; I just think he could probably find reason to reconsider, if it turned out it could help keep Hillary Care and an ostrich-like return to the days when we’d reached “end of history” at bay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Somebody asked me a while back who I believed gave the GOP the best chance to retain the White House in 2008. In the course of touting Giuliani and Pelosi\/Reid, I noted that a GOP ticket I think could gain real traction would be Giuliani \/ Thompson. McCain, for all his laudable commitment to seeing the Iraq campaign through, was done, I thought (and God Bless frickin’ America for that!<\/p>\n
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\nupdate<\/i><\/b>: Allah points out<\/a> the Thompson has already ruled out<\/a> a VP role.\n<\/p>\n