John Hawkins conducted a straw poll of 68 of the most-influential right-of-center bloggers plus me, asking who we would vote for if the 2012 GOP Presidential primary was held today. I was tempted to take the Shoebox approach and ask for a “none of the above”, but since that wasn’t on the menu, I decided to make a selection. Let’s review what we as a group chose:
12) Mike Huckabee: 0% (0 votes)
I would have thought that the guy who finished third in the 2008 primaries, who has almost all of the social conservative values one could want, and who was the biggest advocate for the “Fair”Tax would have picked up at least a couple votes. However, the message from him that government needs to be bigger and from us that government is just too damn big is an overriding one.
11) Ron Paul: 1% (1 votes)
The fifteen minutes of fame is over.
T-9) Newt Gingrich: 3% (2 votes)
Gingrich is the poster child of a double-talking politician (see his endorsements of Gorebal “Warming” with SanFranNan and of Dede Scozzafava)
T-9) Haley Barbour: 3% (2 votes)
Barbour is proof that a blind elephant finding a nut (his response to Katrina) is not enough to overcome a love of big government.
8) Rick Perry: 4% (3 votes)
That had to be the Lonestar Sympathy Vote.
T-6) John Thune: 7% (5 votes)
The last good thing I remember out of Thune was his removal of Tom Daschle from the Senate Majority Leader’s office.
T-6) Jeb Bush: 7% (5 votes)
If there’s one thing more damaged than the GOP brand, it’s the Bush brand. It is, in this case, very unfortunate.
5) Tim Pawlenty: 9% (6 votes)
The middle of the road is a great place to get high-lowed.
4) Mitch Daniels: 10% (7 votes)
It truly is a shame that Daniels is not more well-known outside Indiana. Of note, he is the highest current executive office-holder (of course, there’s only 3 on the list).
3) Mitt Romney: 12% (8 votes)
Next In Line™ lives.
2) Mike Pence: 14% (10 votes)
Pence is proof that making the right call on TARP is a winning play (full disclosure – I voted for Pence)
1) Sarah Palin: 29% (20 votes)
I have to wonder how much was knocked off by the fact that Palin will be stumping for her former running mate in his Arizona Senate primary.
I’m sorry but Sarah Palin is not ready for this. Her getting the #1 spot is exactly why I wanted “none of the above, yet”. We’ve got a long ways to go. Hell, Obama wasn’t even a gleam in Soros’ eye at this point in 2006.
Where is Meghan McCain?
I understand loyalty, but Palin’s loyalty here is sadly misplaced. John McCain has done as much to damage the conservative movement as anyone out there. He spent 10 years selling out Reagan conservatism. He deserves to lose.