I am watching the US Presidential nomination campaigns with interest. Whilst the Democrats will struggle to choose between Obama, Clinton and Edwards, there would be few members of the party that would complain about a lack of talent in the field. A quick glance over at the Republican side of the house, and there is a far different scenario. Senator John McCain leads a field of nobodies, with his only real challenger at this time deemed to be former New York mayor Rudy Guiliani. Both McCain and Guiliani have little to no support within the traditional Republican voter base - Guiliani is a 'liberal' Republican and McCain's disregard of key Christian leaders is well known.
One big name is yet to enter the field - Newt Gingrich. The once polarising speaker is likely to gain significant support from the Republican base keen to have 'anyone but McCain' but unwilling to put a RINO like Guiliani up for President. Gingrich now has the ability to allow the field to fight each other, before declaring closer to the primaries and gaining the initiative and momentum over 'tired' candidates. Gingrich was always able to capture the nations headlines and attention with his 'contract with America' and other initiatives.
It will be interesting to see if the run eventuates - the biggest issue will be money. Gingrich needs to be able to hold off on declaring for as long as possible, yet still have the money available to run against McCain and Guiliania, who have been fundraising for significantly longer.
The real dream candidate for Republicans won't be throwing his hat in the ring for the 2008 election. Jeb Bush, an immensely popular former Florida Governor with true Republican pedigree and appeal to the base, will need to wait a little while until memories of George W Bush fade a little. Still, nobody should rule out seeing another Bush in the White House - especially with the current crop of potentials...
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