The 2012 U.S. Presidential Election: The Republican Slow Race
Published in Le Monde
(France) on 12 February 2011
by Corine Lesnes (link to original)
(France) on 12 February 2011
by Corine Lesnes (link to original)
Translated from
by Hannah Keet.
Edited by Michelle Harris.
With exactly one year to go until the New Hampshire primaries, which are set to launch the presidential election campaign in November 2012, there are still no Republican nominees volunteering to face Barack Obama, the very likely nominee for the Democrats.
At this stage in the countdown back in 2008, 15 nominees for the Democrats and Republicans, including the current president and his vice president, had already declared their intention to stand for the election. The Republican nomination race, which should have seen nominees begin to step forward from the day after the midterm elections in November, has turned into a slow race this year.
Even though there is no doubt that Mitt Romney — a Mormon and the former governor of Massachusetts who was unsuccessful in 2008 — is intending to run, no announcement has yet been made. John Boehner, speaker of the House of Representatives, has said that he has never seen a more “wide-open” race than this year.
19 Potential Nominees Listed
The nominees are waiting for the right time to make their announcement, despite the fact that it has been featured heavily in the news. In order to come forward, they are also waiting to see which way the wind will blow in the arm-wrestle against the president on the budget, and which faction of the party will gain the upper hand: the “responsible” tendency, which believes that voters demand compromise, or the tendency that believes that the intransigence of 2009-10 has paid off and that it would be political suicide to change tactics.
Instead of announcing their nomination, potential nominees are setting up a series of fundraisers, going on a promotional book tour, like Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota, and touring around the states where the vote is decisive during the nomination race. Larry Sabato, political scientist at the University of Virginia, calls this “the invisible primary.”
Sabato has made a list of 19 potential nominees, from Mike Huckabee — the former pastor, who knew how to reach his audience in the evangelical chapels with his electric guitar — to Newt Gingrich, who made a name for himself in 1994 with his anti-Clinton policies, to superhawk John Bolton, former U.N. ambassador, not to mention Donald Trump, the businessman, who came “to sell” his nomination to the CPAC last week in Washington.
Sarah Palin Is Leaning Toward Public Relations
Mitch Daniels, governor of Indiana, is in favor with the press. He welcomed them to discuss the role of government. It is rumored that John Huntsman, Republican, who is also a Mormon, has just resigned from his post as the U.S. ambassador to China in order to prepare himself for his nomination. He supposedly has the advantage of being on the same wavelength as a country that is obsessed with the Middle Kingdom, but the major disadvantage of having worked in cooperation with the Obama administration.
Sarah Palin seems to be leaning more and more toward public relations. She lost ground after her comments about the mass shooting in Tuscon, Arizona, on Jan. 8, which resulted in six deaths and 12 injuries — one of whom was Gabrielle Giffords, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, who was shot in the head. The polls show that Palin is far behind Obama in the general election.
That just leaves Jeb Bush, “little” brother of George W., the 43rd president of the United States, who, in turn, is the son of the 41st president. Many believe that Jeb, who is the former governor of Florida and married to a Mexican, is in the best position to represent the pro-life and pro-business factions. His name already condemns him, but some of his followers have recently started to put out feelers again.
At this stage in the countdown back in 2008, 15 nominees for the Democrats and Republicans, including the current president and his vice president, had already declared their intention to stand for the election. The Republican nomination race, which should have seen nominees begin to step forward from the day after the midterm elections in November, has turned into a slow race this year.
Even though there is no doubt that Mitt Romney — a Mormon and the former governor of Massachusetts who was unsuccessful in 2008 — is intending to run, no announcement has yet been made. John Boehner, speaker of the House of Representatives, has said that he has never seen a more “wide-open” race than this year.
19 Potential Nominees Listed
The nominees are waiting for the right time to make their announcement, despite the fact that it has been featured heavily in the news. In order to come forward, they are also waiting to see which way the wind will blow in the arm-wrestle against the president on the budget, and which faction of the party will gain the upper hand: the “responsible” tendency, which believes that voters demand compromise, or the tendency that believes that the intransigence of 2009-10 has paid off and that it would be political suicide to change tactics.
Instead of announcing their nomination, potential nominees are setting up a series of fundraisers, going on a promotional book tour, like Tim Pawlenty, former governor of Minnesota, and touring around the states where the vote is decisive during the nomination race. Larry Sabato, political scientist at the University of Virginia, calls this “the invisible primary.”
Sabato has made a list of 19 potential nominees, from Mike Huckabee — the former pastor, who knew how to reach his audience in the evangelical chapels with his electric guitar — to Newt Gingrich, who made a name for himself in 1994 with his anti-Clinton policies, to superhawk John Bolton, former U.N. ambassador, not to mention Donald Trump, the businessman, who came “to sell” his nomination to the CPAC last week in Washington.
Sarah Palin Is Leaning Toward Public Relations
Mitch Daniels, governor of Indiana, is in favor with the press. He welcomed them to discuss the role of government. It is rumored that John Huntsman, Republican, who is also a Mormon, has just resigned from his post as the U.S. ambassador to China in order to prepare himself for his nomination. He supposedly has the advantage of being on the same wavelength as a country that is obsessed with the Middle Kingdom, but the major disadvantage of having worked in cooperation with the Obama administration.
Sarah Palin seems to be leaning more and more toward public relations. She lost ground after her comments about the mass shooting in Tuscon, Arizona, on Jan. 8, which resulted in six deaths and 12 injuries — one of whom was Gabrielle Giffords, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives, who was shot in the head. The polls show that Palin is far behind Obama in the general election.
That just leaves Jeb Bush, “little” brother of George W., the 43rd president of the United States, who, in turn, is the son of the 41st president. Many believe that Jeb, who is the former governor of Florida and married to a Mexican, is in the best position to represent the pro-life and pro-business factions. His name already condemns him, but some of his followers have recently started to put out feelers again.
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