Karl ‘The Architect” Rove had an op-ed in today’s Wall Street Journal titled, Don’t Get Cocky, GOP.
In the article, Rove points out the difficulty in unseating a sitting President who decides to seek a second term. He points out that Since World War II, three have been defeated for re-election and two decided not to run again. But five sought and won second terms.
He offers the following advice and predicts that whoever wins the GOP nomination in 2012 will be the candidate that does the better of the following 3 tasks:
- Create a compelling narrative for why Mr. Obama deserves to be replaced, why voters should pick him or her as the replacement, and where he or she seeks to lead the country.
- Demonstrate the strength, values, decision-making capacity and leadership to take on the responsibilities of the world’s most powerful and important job. Voters need to be able to visualize someone in the Oval Office before they will give them their support.
- Finally, the candidate who ultimately wins the nomination is likely to be the one who shows the greatest ability to unite the party and draw others into the GOP fold.
I thought it might be interesting to have our readers comment on where you feel your favorite or least favorite candidate STACKS UP in his/her ability to best Rove’s 3 suggestions. Give examples in their pasts that could indicate the ability and skills of achieving these goals.
I’ve only included the BIG 4′s pictures in this post for the sake of space. Feel free to discuss any potential candidate and his/her strengths, weaknesses, and/or experience they may have to achieve Rove’s tasks.
Suggest the Nation now understands we need a leader who can manage the country as a business. Mitt is the only qualified leader of the group you have selected. One of the others may be a good number two.
As a businessman Mitt will know there are two ways to turn around the troubled economy (Nation’s business)…increase revenue or reduce costs…we need both. There is a method to develop this solution that will optimize the recovery. It is called Strategic Planning. Newt would be a good partner in this business activity because he also understands this management methodology since he used it to develop his “Contract With America”.
This is the level of detail and the truth Americans are looking for in our next President…because we all know time is of the essence.
Cheers, Gary
At this time I see Mitt Romney as the best potential candidate. I believe that he has the best resume of the group having been a very successful businessman and having been a governor. I believe that Mr. Reinhold described the approach very well.
Mitt will face problems because of his religion and he will have to deal with the Christian community on this one. He will also need to garner the support of the new generation of Christians, many of whom supported Barak Obama.
He will need to walk a thin line on policy. The only way to get things on track is to cut the size of government and turn more over to states. It is one thing to say this needs to be done, it is enough to have a plan. Cutting the US government payroll by 20% will anger a huge union. Getting rid of or merging duplicate or similar agencies will be a tough sell. The problem is I want to know he will do that! Simply saying he’ll cut the size of government won’t work. He will also need to pull other like minded Republicans into Congress. He will need the House and the Senate to accomplish what needs to be done.
I really like Sarah Palin. I think she can govern better that our current president. I do not see her as presidential or as a proven executive. Newt has personal issues that will be a problem and I am not comfortable with Huckabee. Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubio should be saved for another time although they will both be forces to deal with. VP is a key slot. Michelle Bachmann has experience? Carley Fiorina and Meg Whitman certainly have the business savvy. Connie Rice?
JMHO, Jerry