Willie Horton comes to mind.

Willie Horton comes to mind.

Matey, when I put down the compass and sextant and navigate by the currents and the stars in search of treasure, I have a gift for predicting landfall and booty far in advance of our arrival, even in the roughest seas.

And that is why I won’t tell ya, so that I can spare ya the anguish, who I believe is going to be the next Republican Party nominee for President. It’s a secret, and I have the only known treasure map.

And don’t worry about ‘yer Onanistic terms, matey. Here at sea, men do strange things to themselves and each other.

And that thing is….yenmor ttim.

Before he comes in 2nd or 1st, we have to pass through the Bermuda Triangle of 2010 and, yer’ right — watch the developments in the economy and the rest of the world from now to then.

Now I say this because Romney is an expert at taking credit for being on top of things as much or more than Joe Biden is. He’s a used-car salesman, but he sells Mercedes — not your ordinary guy. As much as I like Jindal I don’t think he’ll ever run for President: he’s running a state that’s so full of snakes and lizards that he’ll never make it to the White House without a fatal bite.

I don’t honestly know who else the Republicans have right now. Romney still has the best campaign expertise and the most money. He’ll win if he runs hard. He’s untouchable right now in terms of unspent momentum. Pawlenty might try to challenge him, but Sarah Palin in my estimation is still a wild card. Right now nobody knows where she’s going. It could be a Romney/Palin ticket.

Hard to predict these things in advance, that’s why it’s soooooo much fun to try.

Unless someone comes out of nowhere, Romney will be the nominee. At least that’s my belief right now. McCain is not going to run again. Huckabee will throw his hat in,

Limbaugh/Levin 2012 with Hannity as the press sect and Beck as AG…;^)

It would never happen but….wow wouldn’t that be fun to watch.

If McCain runs again he might as well stay home, and realize that he should stay home, right at this moment. We’re not going down that road again.

Romney could do a lot of interesting things depending on how the economy goes in the next few years.

Social Conservatives will probably be disappointed by whoever is the eventual nominee.

By 2011, this country is going to be very receptive to the message of someone with strong business sense who can help right the wrongs of the Obama administration. Of course there are also a million other things that could intervene between now and then, so it’s really almost screwball to try to handicap it.

But let’s say the world doesn’t end and the economy just keeps dragging along. Romney is in the catbird seat at that point. He *will* be able to make a better argument.

Of course, Mike Bloomberg might try also. Bloomberg has not completely abandoned his Presidential ambitions, trust me.

…would you have written this diary? Or is it only because Huck’s win afforded you another opportunity to bash him?

Of course this poll is meaningless, except it should help Huckabee (and Pence??) in fundraising. In Huck’s case, it might help him raise some more funds for his PAC, too, which will help some GOP candidates across the country.

My understanding is that VVS has been conducting the presidential straw poll for a number of years. Some years it has more significance than others. Huck’s a natural for this group, just as Romney would naturally win any Club for Growth presidential poll.

My take: let the Values Voters do their thing. I’m sure the entire straw poll took no more than a few minutes within a much larger conference that also dealt with the more immediate issues (such as 2010) facing conservatives.

Take a deep breath and go walk Franz.

A relatively significant portion of Hillary Clinton’s highly compartmentalized mind right now is already crunching the numbers about whether or not she should stab her President in the back by running against him in 2012.

I expect a decision from that area of her Very Grey Matter and Limbic System sometime in mid-late 2010.

There is a very very strong potential right now that Hillary will pull a Ted Kennedy vs. Carter on Obama.

I think by the time ’12 comes around, this county’s going to be in such disarray and with such economic horrifics pounding us generally into pulp, that a ‘smart’ old white guy may just be what the country wants.

‘Specially if he takes a good money man with him as VP. Absent some new newsworthy rock star with a lot of emotionally charged salesmanship coming to the fore, I see a Newt/Romney ticket as being pretty viable.

It would have been cost-effective, entertaining, and, most importantly, more credible than the brainfarts of a gaggle of VVs who are not representative of Republicans who participate in the primary, are operating at non-normal levels as a result of the context (ie, they’re basing their decisions on atmosphere of the conference in the various speeches), and who will likely not play a large role in the 2012 election relative to other years. (I don’t see gay marriage or abortion as trumping other issues in importance two years from now, anyways)

general elections by 2012 by one expedient or another, and the D’s run Hillary, our only chance will be Sarah.

It will be a replay of “The Historic First _______ elected President” meme, blah, blah, blah

In such a scenario, we will never win with another white man.

Besides, what a coup for the Repubs to elect the “First Woman President”. Remember, no one can win nationally without the women’s vote, especially if a woman is leading one of the tickets.