Where are the 2008 dark horses? (hint: look South)
We're now officially in the homestretch for the 2008 presidential races, last week marking the one-year mark until Election Day.
The Clinton/Obama/Romney/Giuliani/Thompson juggernauts are wrapping up endorsements, donors and media time -- and if there's a dark horse candidate out there, now might be a good time to come out of a slow trot and start galloping into the primaries.
So where are the dark horses, and how could they break through? Our friend David Sirota looks to Iowa and sees potential in two candidates who are talking the language of Huey Long populism -- former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and former North Carolina senator John Edwards:
Sirota leaves out another GOP candidate who's making waves campaining on another hot issue -- Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Iraq. Paul shocked the establishment last month with the announcement that his renegade libertarian campaign had landed $5 million in third-quarter contributions -- about the same as (and in some cases, more than) his marquee rivals.
All seem like long shots for the nomination -- but all are already helping set the terms for the debate, one of the reasons for a long-shot campaign.
And one common denominator of all the 2008 dark horses? They all come from the South.
The Clinton/Obama/Romney/Giuliani/Thompson juggernauts are wrapping up endorsements, donors and media time -- and if there's a dark horse candidate out there, now might be a good time to come out of a slow trot and start galloping into the primaries.
So where are the dark horses, and how could they break through? Our friend David Sirota looks to Iowa and sees potential in two candidates who are talking the language of Huey Long populism -- former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee and former North Carolina senator John Edwards:
Huckabee gained 11 points in the latest University of Iowa survey, pulling himself into a statistical tie for second place with Giuliani, despite Giuliani's national fame and huge fundraising totals. Similarly, Edwards remains within striking distance of first place in Iowa despite his rivals spending 300 times what he's spent on television ads as of the end of September (Edwards launched his first ad last week).For evidence, Sirota points to the stump speeches and platforms of both candidates. First Huckabee:
What explains the unlikely rise of these two dark horses? It's the populism, stupid.
"The most important thing a president needs to do is to make it clear that we're not going to continue to see jobs shipped overseas, jobs that are lost by American workers, many in their 50s who, for 20 and 30 years, have worked to make a company rich and then watch as a CEO takes a $100 million bonus to jettison those American jobs somewhere else," Huckabee said at a recent Republican debate. "That's criminal — it's wrong."And then there's Edwards, who, Sirota notes, "presents arguably the boldest challenge to the political Establishment of any major presidential candidate in contemporary history":
Proposing sweeping health care, tax, trade and labor law reform, he says the only way "people who are powerful in Washington" are "going to give away their power is if we take it away from them." The system, he says, is "controlled by big corporations, the lobbyists they hire to protect their bottom line and the politicians who curry their favor and carry their water."
Sirota leaves out another GOP candidate who's making waves campaining on another hot issue -- Texas Rep. Ron Paul and Iraq. Paul shocked the establishment last month with the announcement that his renegade libertarian campaign had landed $5 million in third-quarter contributions -- about the same as (and in some cases, more than) his marquee rivals.All seem like long shots for the nomination -- but all are already helping set the terms for the debate, one of the reasons for a long-shot campaign.
And one common denominator of all the 2008 dark horses? They all come from the South.
Labels: Election 2008
5 Comments:
Ron Paul is the only realistic "darkhorse" that has any kind of chance against the establishment candidates. I mean come on, lets be honest here Huckabee does not have the funds to compete in a state by state scenario. He may do alright in Iowa, but he's in for a rude awakening in New Hampshire and after those two states the race speeds up with the big super Tuesday. Only Ron Paul has the financial means to run a decent campaign in all of those states and that's because he has the money unlike Huckabee. As for Edwards he has about the same amount of money as Paul, but him being on the democrat side is going to have to match the megafunds that Hillary and Obama have. That's not going to happen. I like the guy and hope he does win the dem. nomination, but it'll be tough. So, realistically Ron Paul is the only darkhorse that has a chance to win and he just may do it, because his supporters are planning another "money bomb" on December 16th to conincide with the Boston Tea Party.
www.teaparty07.com
Ron Paul can no longer be labeled a "long shot" candidate. He has clearly surpassed John McCain and is now a "top tier" candidate. I have created a website to support this statement.
Please visit www.thecaseforronpaul.com and judge for yourself.
Ron Paul is the only Republican candidate who will end the war! Support the troops!
Perhaps many of you don't care, but Ron Paul wants to privitize almost everything (police, roads, firefighters) and ABOLISH SOCIAL SECURITY!!!!!! I am an older Baby Boomer a few short years away and this is very scary. I am so tired of being jerked around about Social Security like it doesn't affect real people. The Baby Boomers have been here since 1946 and we are not going away anytime soon. I find it hard to believe that all those small donors really want to abolish Social Security. We have low paying jobs, no pensions, no health care and now no Social Security???????
Wake up folks!
There is a wonderful candidate running but the media will not tell you about him. Alan Keyes is a wonderful "dark horse" if you will pardon the expression, and his credentials cannot be equalled by anybody now running on the Republican ticket! He served as Under Secretary of State under Ronnie Reagan and more. Read his resume! and he does have one. The best part of Mr. Keyes is NOBODY OWNS HIM!!! Not the Republicans, the Democrats, the Liberals or the Independents. He would make an excellent Third Party candidate.
webite is: www.AlanKeyes.com
Carolyn Widmer, Jefferson, Georgia
cwidmer@alltel.net
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