Who Will Be The Republican Obama?

Posted on 11/08/2008 at 8:58 pm by admin

by Lee Stranahan
With all the recent speculation about who’s going to come to rescue the Republicans (Palin? Newt? Jindal? Mitt?) I would like to make my nomination early; it’s not going to be anyone we’ve heard of yet.


The problem that the GOP has right now is frankly the same problem some Democrats are going to have in the next few years; they haven’t figured Obama out yet. I think Barack Obama represents something really new and different from both a tactical and policy approach. He made Hillary look old school and McCain look like something from the 1950s.But someone new on the right will figure out appealing counterpoint to Obama in the next few years. Here are some random hunches – get back to me in eight years and see how I did.My bet is that they will be young and not a white guy.Someone Latino is possible given the conservative cultural background and given the sociological shifts in U.S. culture a bilingual candidate would have big advantages. Could be someone whose parents came to US illegally but worked their asses off – a real heartwarming story. Bonus points if your parents were boat people!Could be a woman. Palin almost sorta worked on that level.Look for a big dose of the libertarianism that gave Ron Paul an appeal to many young and tech savvy people this past election and that lends itself to some big ideas that may catch on with many; like a return to the Gold Standard or a technological push to cut down on government red tape.Falwell is dead and Pat Robertson is irrelevant so watch for someone who’s religious in a more modern Rick Warren or Dave Ramsey mode.

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  • http://obamaproject.windonwater.net QueenTiye

    “Who Will The Obama For the GOP?” I can’t make any sense of that. Lee – any chance you can clue us in on what word is missing there, or are you channeling your inner Palin?QT

  • http://obamaproject.windonwater.net QueenTiye

    Ah! Faster than I could post! Thanks Lee!QT

  • Stranahan

    You people read too quick! Give a diabetic brother with really effed up eyesight a minute to fix the typos!Love, Lee

  • gallery

    I think they must have started some kind of “The boys from brazil” laboratory down in Bushs’ hideaway in Paraguay.Maybe they’re thinking they can give Pierce Bush a new identity, and a face transplant, and then run him in 8 years. Hell, he’s as annoying as his uncle, and twice as stupid.He’d be perfect.http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1674295

  • http://www.broadwaycarl.blogspot.com Broadway Carl

    Hmmm… latino woman whose parents came here illegally. I didn’t know Shakira was a Republican!

  • PackyJ

    Carl,Let’s see… Shakira in 2012… hmmm… I might have to question my Democratic party loyalty.I doubt Shakira is a Republican… but she could be. She endorsed Obama. Just like many Republicans.She’s way hotter than Palin, and about ten times as smart.Ok, she’s got my vote. But the Columbian-born thing could be problematic.

  • Tanya42

    Whoever they pick, it should be someone as eloquent as this: “Barack Obama has been elected president,” Ms. Palin said. “Let us, let us — let him — be able to kind of savor this moment, one, and not let the pettiness of maybe internal workings of the campaign erode any of the recognition of this historic moment that we’re in. And God bless Barack Obama and his beautiful family.”

  • PackyJ

    Gawd, she’s like a female version of Bush.Palin in 2012!

  • josh dobbin

    The problem for them, I think, isn’t that this killer-marketable-person doesn’t exist, somewhere.Their problem is that they are fractured enough and prone to faction-power struggles that they will be cannibalizing one another, jockeying for position for the next 3 years.Everyone subscribes to the old trope of republicans being so message-disciplined, and so lock-step. Which they ARE, *when they’ve got a leader to follow*… UNTIL such a time as that leader slips or shows weakness, at which point the most dominant-needy of the submissive followers tries to destroy them, to claw their way to the top.I mean, look at the republican primaries. People made a big deal (and rightly so) about Hillary’s tactics and strategies against Obama in the primaries, with the concern that TOO horrible of a primary fight would leave whoever won too wounded and the party too fractured in the general.But did you SEE the republicans? In the absence of a direct descendant VP to take the mantle, they were willing to club each other to death with the skulls of their children if they thought it might get them ahead.That kind of gang warfare is now what the republican internal struggle is all about. They do not, as a matter of identity, meet together to formulate mutually cooperative, everyone-wins game theory plans.In game theory terms, when presented with a “Prisoners Dilemma,” their belief system (and pathology) leads them to choose “betray” EVERY time.If a leader is to arise from their ranks currently, it would have to be the one who is most successful at destroying the other potentials. They don’t believe in “farm teaming” talent.Which is why it WILL be Newt, because they defer to percieved power and believe their own mythology. NEWT believes he’s as important as he says he is and had not accurately or honestly assessed his public liabilities, or even his likability.The fact is, hopefully, that that Magic Republican who WOULD be able to sell ugliness in a pretty, feel-good package would be crushed/poisoned early on by oppo from other scheming, more entrenched but less likely-to-succeed factions.

  • josh dobbin

    I realized the perfect metaphor after hitting “POST.”The current republicans are the Skeksis from DARK CRYSTAL.

  • http://www.osborneink.com Matt Osborne

    IMHO, Palin will be the frontrunner when the GOP primaries kick off in 2012. But in the long run, the problem for the GOP is that they can’t counter Obama with a minority candidate because their base won’t vote for a minority candidate.

  • Groobiecat

    Whoever it is, you can almost be rest assured that it’ll be non-stop lojinks and hilarious guff-aws, if s/he’s anything like McCain. That jester, hoo boy. Pugnacious!”Once at a press availability in Kentucky he spotted a large woman, who was wearing a black T shirt embroidered with two bedazzling martini glasses, standing behind the photographers. He asked her to stand by him at the podium, where she might have a better view. “Is this OK?” he asked. “This is fi-ine!” the lady replied, but as she saw a sea of cameras and smirking reporters, she looked stunned and slightly embarrassed. She started to sidle away, and McCain asked, with mock forlornness, ‘You leaving me?’” – Newsweek Behind the Scenes piece (Thanks Bob!)

  • rixxk

    Lance Armstrong

  • J M Ashby

    I think Prop8 killed romney’s chances.

  • ceu

    If they want any part of New England back, it will have to be someone like Warren Rudman. If they go with Palin, I can see the GOP splitting into two groups: the traditional folks like Lincoln Chaffee (now an independent), Jodi Rell, and Olympia Snowe; and the people farther to the right, like Gingrich or Delay. I’m NOT saying a new leader(s) would be any of those people just that share their various philosophies.The GOP is fractured right now. It is perceived (by the Northeast) as being the party of the south and west (frontier west) and having very little relevance in our area. The Republicans in office here are mostly fiscal conservatives and social liberals. I don’t think they hold a majority in any of the the legislatures in New England. They need to regroup and figure out if they want to stay one party or split into two. And they need to figure it out quick or they will have very little impact on the nation’s politics for the foreseeable future.