This article about Rudy got me thinking. Who will we be facing in the general election?
According to the article it will be very difficult for Rudy to get out of the primaries, because of his life prior to 9.11 and his views on, well, every social issue there is.
McCain will face a similar fight, because of people who fought him in 2000 and still dont like him, and because most primary voters are those who are pissed at him over his totrure "stand".
Romney is going to face the same problems as Rudy for his stand on social issues. Also, he is a Mormon. With a large majority of the Republican base saying they would never vote for a Mormon its not gonna be easy for him.
So.... Who does that leave?
With all the rumblings that we have been hearing about a conservative backlash aimed at Bush I think that we are looking at another Goldwater moment. The reactionary, relgious right still controls the Republican Party. It might piss off a lot of "true conservatives" but those "true believers" seem less likely to be primary voters, and more importantly, they dont seem to control the purse strings. I am not sure if Brownback fits the qualifications of psycho wingnut who will "govern" to the "right" of Bush or not, but I truly believe that Republican primary voters are going to be choosing someone so outside the mainstream beliefs of most Americans that we will cruise to victory.
Unless of course their frontloaded primary schedule leads them to nominate a big name and make all of this punditry useless.