Conor Rogers, Editor
Ideology: Republican| Writing from: New Jersey
The next President or Vice President could be running for Governor right now.
Should Bob McDonnell or Chris Christie win their respective Governor’s races in Virginia or New Jersey, they each will find themselves unlikely (and possibly unwilling) leaders of the yet-to-occur Republican renaissance. Though they both chose to run only for Governor of their home states, their off-year election in 2009, specifically one that follows back-to-back-to-back drubbings of the GOP, suddenly turns mundane races about New Jersey property taxes and the Virginia job market in Hampton Roads into high profile national contests, with high profile, national, stakes.
Make no doubt about it, as election season heats up, our televisions, newspapers and blogs will be covered by Obama, Christie/Corzine and McDonnell/Deeds through November 2009. The media will be sure to paint the elections as some sort of ‘referendum’ on the Obama Presidency – setting up a Christie/McDonnell vs. Obama showdown for the whole nation to watch, adding to their already heightened profile.
Though McDonnell’s specter is a bit higher due to the swing state battle for Virginia, if either of these two men gets to the Governor’s mansion, they will immediately rocket to a national profile as a face of the new, revived, GOP – and the Republicans should be appreciative for it. Neither Christie nor McDonnell held national office during the Bush years and can’t be tied to the former President. (Apparently, still the Democrats favorite campaign issue) Christie, a former US Attorney and McDonnell, a former Virginia Attorney General both have non-partisan records that are long on substance and short on political controversy. McDonnell, a ‘family-values’ conservative and Christie, a northeastern moderate, are each uniquely suited to take up whatever mantle the Republican Party decides on. Should the party shift back to the right, that’s all the better for McDonnell, but if the GOP needs to put someone moderate on a ticket – look for Vice President Christie.
Should either of them be on the ticket, team Obama would be hard-pressed to argue that their term as Governor isn’t enough experience, given the current President served only two years in the Senate before announcing his run for the White House.
Do I advocate either of this men for President or Vice President? No, not yet at least. Do I believe they are qualified to serve as President or Vice President? Of course not yet, they haven’t even governed yet. This article serves only to speculate about Christie, who currently leads Corzine 50-40% in New Jersey, and McDonnell, tied with Deeds in Virginia – and how their unique situation may propel them above Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Charlie Crist, Tim Pawlenty and whoever else may have their eye on the GOP nomination in 2012.
Conor, I disagree that the media will turn the races into a challenge to Obama’s policies, because they all are tainted with liberal bias.
You should, however, count on the fact that if these men happen to fail in their respective bids the media will happily trumpet the Democratic victories as proof positive that people favor Obama’s policies.
Even though McDonnell is tied with Deeds right now in VA, I honestly think that McDonnell will win the election. True, they may be tying in the polls right now, but once the Republican (attack) ads come out that expose Deeds for the spineless flip-flopper he is, those numbers will drop. Plus, another great thing about Bob McDonnell: he’s a true Republican but he’s not rabidly, threateningly conservative. His record speaks for itself. Deeds, on the other hand, has to speak against his record. It will certainly be interesting.
Sir: I respect your thoughts and you are entitled to say or blog as you choose while our Nation is barely holding on to threads of the constitutional protections free speech loosely protected for a few more years- Radical Socialism on the rise- your talk about fresh on the scene GOP CEO’s and not elected even yet to the post- as Presidential timber is smack man. Lets move on and talk about the 2010 state legislature races in key states that will re draw U.S. house districts; New Federalism; States’ Rights; and the Freedom Fighters in Iran God Help Them- I think you are a Jersey guy so you get a pass on the GOP nominee- Christi?- To many lawyers I think some times they are the problem. Thanks- R.Sea
Ryn -
I believe you missed this part of the article:
Do I advocate either of this men for President or Vice President? No, not yet at least. Do I believe they are qualified to serve as President or Vice President? Of course not yet, they haven’t even governed yet. This article serves only to speculate about Christie, who currently leads Corzine 50-40% in New Jersey, and McDonnell, tied with Deeds in Virginia.
You requested we talk about Iran?
My last post on this website was about exactly that: http://thepoliticizer.com/2009/06/17/mr-president-tear-down-this-silence/
You can find my article about capitalism vs socialism here:
http://thepoliticizer.com/2009/06/16/in-defense-of-business-corporations-create-jobs-employ-americans-and-keep-this-country-moving/
I meant only to speculate on these men, not to promote or advance.
I hope you’ll find those other worthy topics are being mentioned all over the blog.
-Conor
Pretty cool post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say
that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your posts. Any way
I’ll be subscribing to your blog and I hope you write again soon!
I just saw our new governor-elect on John King’s program on CNN, Sunday PM. He’s very impressive and I would certainly support him in a bid for the presidency in 2012.