Thursday, January 27, 2011

Is a DeMint candidacy Mike Huckabee's and Sarah Palin's worse nightmare?

News that South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint will travel to Iowa on March 26 to address a conservative forum organized by Rep. Steve King is sparking another round of chatter that DeMint might launch a dark horse bid for the White House in 2012........
..............several of his closest advisers and political confidantes are now telling CNN that he is at least open to a presidential bid if a suitably conservative candidate fails to emerge from the early and wide-open GOP field......
.........."He would certainly be the odds on favorite here (South Carolina)," said Terry Sullivan, a South Carolina GOP consultant and longtime DeMint adviser. "He wouldn't be slam dunk, but he is definitely the favorite."

The complete story is HERE.

If he runs, what do you think that does to the South Carolina race? PPP polled SC awhile back with DeMint's name in the mix: (Click the results below for the crosstabs)

Is a DeMint candidacy Mike Huckabee's and Sarah Palin's worse nightmare?

19 comments:

Right Wingnut said...

several of his closest advisers and political confidantes are now telling CNN that he is at least open to a presidential bid if a suitably conservative candidate fails to emerge from the early and wide-open GOP field......

Does that mean that Mitt is no longer "suitably conservative"?

I know, I know. Stalking horse argument. He's been on record almost as many times as Christie as saying he's not running.

TexasConservative said...

Hmmm, that would be two of Romney's former supporters who jumped into the race because they felt that the field was lacking.

It has been a given since February 2008 that Romney would be running again in 2012.

With Huckabee, not so much.

So by both Santorum and possibly DeMint jumping into the race, it tells me they think Romney isn't conservative enough for them. Either that or they think Romneycare will drag him down.

Anonymous said...

"Does that mean that Mitt is no longer "suitably conservative"?"

Maybe it means he feels his candidacy will help Romney?

Haven't more VP's emerged from primary candidates who lost the nomination than non-primary candidates?

Romney & DeMint in 2012!

zeke

Granny T said...

TC,
That is one possibility. Another possibility is that they don't think Romney can beat Huckabee without some assistance??? McCain won because conservatives couldn't rally around one candidate. It has been rumored that Fred was solicited to help McCain last time. Maybe someone in the Romney camp has been doing the same???

I have nothing to base this on and am merely speculating different reasons why former supporters would consider running against him. I ask questions all of the time. My dad always told me the only truly foolish questions are those that you don't ask. That advice has gotten me in a lot of trouble. But, I usually come out knowing more than I knew before going in.

Revolution 2012 said...

Great post Bos!

I think it puts the wammy on any chance of Huckabee winning South Carolina.

Also, WHO becomes the Tea Party and Far right's candidate? Palin or DeMint?

Granny T said...

Bosman,
In answer to your question. "NO! The thought of four more years of Obama is a much bigger nightmare than DeMint could be."

How does DeMint's resume compare to Huckabee's?

Experience

Businesses Owned, Past Careers, Board Memberships, Etc.:

* President, Cambridge Communications, 1992-1996
* President, KBSC-TV, 1987-1992
* President, ACTS-TV, 1983-1986
* Baptist Minister, 1980-1992
* Advertising Director, Focus, 1976-1980
* Former Chairman, Southern Governors' Association
* Former Chairman, Southern Regional Education Board
* Former Chairman, Southern Growth Policies Board
* Former Chairman, Southern Technology Council
* Former Chairman, Southern International Trade Council
* Former Chairman, Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission

Public Service / Elected Offices:

* Arkansas Governor, 1996-2007
* Arkansas Lt. Governor, 1993-1996

Granny T said...

The polling they do next week should be interesting. I fully expect DeMint to do well in his homestate - like Pawlenty does in his, and Mitt does in his. Arkansas won't be much help if Huckabee decides to run with them deciding to go back to their June date for the primary.

IF Huckabee wins Iowa, Romney wins NH and Nevada, and DeMint (or Newt) win SC wouldn't that put more emphasis on some of the Super Tuesday and/or other early states? Of course there are no guarantees that things will remain the same as the polling has shown.

Revolution 2012 said...

"IF Huckabee wins Iowa, Romney wins NH and Nevada, and DeMint (or Newt) win SC wouldn't that put more emphasis on some of the Super Tuesday and/or other early states?"

Although Iowa is the first state in the 2012 race, it's NOT a primary. If Huckabee looses SC and has ONLY IOWA under his belt, he enters super Tuesday with NO PRIMARY WIN.

Bill589 said...

Palin likes DeMint, and they are both generally liked by the TPM. Me too. A while ago, Palin said that if somebody runs that she can support, she may do just that. I think Sarah would otherwise be a ‘reluctant leader’. (The best kind.) So if DeMint runs, and he shows he’s good enough for Sarah to support, she might think of it as a godsend, and not a nightmare at all.

Then again, she might still think she’s needed, and run. Either way, I pray for what’s best for our country.

Right Wingnut said...

I get a kick out of all of this talk about Huckabee winning this, or Hucakbee losing that. Exactly what evidence can you provide that he's running for president? Perhaps you can cling to a couple comments about how he's not closing the door, or his book tour stops (designed to sell more books, no doubt), but the evidence pointing to him not running is overwhelming.

Right Wingnut said...

Bill,

Demint doesn't meet two of Palin's stated requirements - Executive experience and electability.

Granny T said...

Revolution 2010,

As I stated above - I ask a lot of questions.

How many primary states (not caucus) did Romney win last time compared to Huckabee? How well did each of them do in "primary" rather than "caucus" states they didn't win that we should have any reasonable hope of winning against Obama?

ConMan said...

Right Wingnut,

Demint doesn't meet two of Palin's stated requirements - Executive experience and electability."

You're wrong. Before entering Politics, DeMint was CEO of a Consulting/Public Relations firm. His own.

As to electability, that seems to be Palin's problem.

Granny T said...

Romney came in 1st in primary states of: Michigan (early life home-state)
MA (home-state - not much chance of turning red)
UT (strong Mormon "home-state")

Romney came in 2nd in primary states of: NH (5 points behind McCain)
FL (5 points behind McCain)
AZ (12 points behind homeboy McCain)
CA (7 points behind McCain and - not much chance of turning red)
CT (19 points behind McCain and another deep blue state)
DE (12 points behind McCain
IL (18 points behind McCain and Obamaland)
NJ (27 points behind McCain)
NY (24 points behind McCain)
(for what it's worth: average of 14.3% behind McCain)

Huckabee came in 1st in primary states of:
AL
AR (home-state)
GA
TN

Huckabee came in 2nd in primary states of:
South Carolina (3 points behind McCain)
MO (1 point behind McCain)
OK (4 points behind McCain)
(for what it's worth: average of 3 points behind McCain)

Romney was much better funded and much better known than Huckabee was last time around. But, in all reality Romney didn't win a single state that didn't have some type of "home-state" title. Huckabee was known as the "unelectable/regional candidate". His recent polling has proven that wrong. If Romney wouldn't have "stolen" so many conservative votes from Huckabee last time - Huckabee could have either been elected President or been the sacrificial lamb. (Sorry - I was getting flashbacks of all the comments I read in '08 saying that Huckabee stole the nomination from Romney.)

Right Wingnut said...

Last night....

Wolf Blitzer: "Are you going to run for the Republican nominatio?"

DeMint: "No. No I'm not."

http://hotair.com/archives/2011/01/27/demint-advisors-he-might-run-in-2012-if-theres-no-suitably-conservative-candidate-in-the-race/

Bill589 said...

Right Wingnut,
Everything points to Sarah running. A while ago it seemed she was hoping someone else would rise to the occasion and at the time some thought it might be DeMint.

Palin is the best we have as far as beating Obama. In the top tier, she is the one that has been consistently the opposite of Obama. She will dominate debates. With less than two months of national experience, she beat Biden with his decades of national experience. In 2012, when she will have been on the national scene for three years, Obama doesn’t have a chance.

OhioJOE said...

Let's just say, it is no longer a sure thing that Mr. DeMint will endorse Romney 3.0. Mr. Limbaugh certainly is not the only person who jumped from the Romney ship.

BOSMAN said...

OJ,

Nothing is for sure in life. That goes for DeMint endorsing Romney in 2012!

However, if I was a betting man, I would say he will. Until he endorses someone, I would look at the following clues:

1. He was Chairman of Romney's exploratory committee in 2007.
2. Every time he's asked about who he thinks would be a good President, Mitt Romney's name STILL comes up on the top of his list in interviews.
3. Romney hasn't done anything since 2008 to change his opinion of him.
4. Romney endorsed DeMint's run this year.

OhioJOE said...

Well Bosman, I will not debate your 2nd and 4th point. However the fact that he was chairman way back in 2007 do not mean a whole lot to me today. I know many 2008 Romneyites who will not likely back him this time. By the same token, many people who back him now, did not do so last time. So in short, circumstances change and people support different candidates.

As for point 3, Mr. Romney may not in deed do anything to change Mr. DeMint's opinion of him, but that is not the point per se. The field of candidates have changed and the country has change. One cannot necessarily stand still when the world around them changes. True Mr. DeMint may not in deed change camps, but it certainly is no guarenteed that he won't either especially in view of the fact that circumstances are different.