You gotta admit, it's not a real impressive group the GOP has on deck this go-round.
The ABC News/Washington Post Poll. July 18-21, 2007 finds 32% of Republicans dissatisfied with the choice of candidates for the Republican nomination for president this year. The same poll finds Democrats are happier with the quality of their choice of candidate, polling 83% satisfied / 16% dissatisfied.
And CNN reports "the leading Republican presidential candidate is ... none of the above." This same article goes on to cite one Republican's question:
Among the legions of undecided Republicans is Barbara Skogman, 72, a retired legal assistant from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She isn't at all excited about any of the prospects.
"I'm looking for a strong honest person. Do you know of any?" she joked. She had an easy time detailing why she was queasy about each of the most serious contenders. "Isn't that sad?" Then she reached a conclusion: "I just don't know."
This plaintive plea provoked my interest and got me wondering: just who actually would be a strong, honest Republican candidate?
And I was kind of drawing a blank. Maybe Hagel? I dunno.
Now, undoubtedly many will contend that "honest Republican" is nothing more than an oxymoron. Others will probably take the "who cares?" position -- the more deplorable the Republican field, the better for us.
But that's not particularly the kind of democracy I'd like to live in. Seems like a democracy would be healthier if both parties had good or excellent candidates. After all, we should have learned something from 2000.
I have a suspicion, as yet unproven, that perhaps there are "strong, honest Republican" leaders out there somewhere, maybe on the state political level or in some other field . . . probably buried or hidden or unseen because of the overwhelming power of the Noise Machine and the attention grabbing antics of the hard right.
So, I'm wondering if we could help Mrs. Skogman out in her Diogenean quest to find one good candidate.
Are there Republicans, currently not running or even contemplating a run, who you think would make a decent candidate for President? A governor? a congressman? I don't mean this necessarily in the sense of "the most formidable opponent" for us, but more along the lines of: if you had to choose a republican candidate with the understanding that he or she might well become President, who would you choose? We all want a good president. Certainly we're unlikely to find progressives in the GOP, unlikely to find women and men whose policies we would endorse, but are there good people? Who are the potential GOP leaders who would be honest, be trustworthy, be as good a choice for Republicans as the Democratic contenders are for the good guys?
Hello? Anybody out there?