2008 Woodie Awards
Odds are long as the G.O.P. warily eyes 2008
Jonahan Wolinsky '10
Issue date: 2/7/07 Section: Commentary
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has thrown his name into the slowly but surely expanding pool of 2008 presidential candidates. The Republican announced he was officially opening up a presidential exploratory committee last week.
It was his first step, the same one taken by politicians such as Mitt Romney and John McCain, as well as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. And while it is not an official bid for the presidency, it has become all but required for those who want to hold office.
Along with the above superstars who have announced, relative unknowns like Republicans Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, and Democrats Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, have thrown their hats in as well.
Together these politicians fall all over the political spectrum. Of course more will announce their bids in the coming months, and in the end only one from each party will get the nomination and actually run.
But the question I find myself asking as each new Republican enters the race is this: do they even stand a chance?
The midterm elections held three months ago by far favored the Democrats, with not a single new Republican seat gained in Congress. While there were many reasons for this, it was widely seen as voters taking out their frustration at a party who had controlled Congress for nearly all of the past 14 years and the White House for six - as well as for bungling the war in Iraq.
With people such as Virginia's Sen. George Allen, who was considered to be the Republicans' 2008 front-runner, losing their seats, it is clear the party is in trouble. And with the president's new plan to increase troop levels in Baghdad by over 21,000 soldiers, it is clear that he did not get the message. If the Republican Party is to have any hope of regaining Congress, or what's more, retaining the White House, some changes are required.
To start with, bipartisanship must become more than a word used by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House Press Secretary Tony Snow to hide their mutual animosity. It must become a tool used by both sides of the aisle when it is apparent that the country's needs are at stake.
It was his first step, the same one taken by politicians such as Mitt Romney and John McCain, as well as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. And while it is not an official bid for the presidency, it has become all but required for those who want to hold office.
Along with the above superstars who have announced, relative unknowns like Republicans Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, and Democrats Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa and Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut, have thrown their hats in as well.
Together these politicians fall all over the political spectrum. Of course more will announce their bids in the coming months, and in the end only one from each party will get the nomination and actually run.
But the question I find myself asking as each new Republican enters the race is this: do they even stand a chance?
The midterm elections held three months ago by far favored the Democrats, with not a single new Republican seat gained in Congress. While there were many reasons for this, it was widely seen as voters taking out their frustration at a party who had controlled Congress for nearly all of the past 14 years and the White House for six - as well as for bungling the war in Iraq.
With people such as Virginia's Sen. George Allen, who was considered to be the Republicans' 2008 front-runner, losing their seats, it is clear the party is in trouble. And with the president's new plan to increase troop levels in Baghdad by over 21,000 soldiers, it is clear that he did not get the message. If the Republican Party is to have any hope of regaining Congress, or what's more, retaining the White House, some changes are required.
To start with, bipartisanship must become more than a word used by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House Press Secretary Tony Snow to hide their mutual animosity. It must become a tool used by both sides of the aisle when it is apparent that the country's needs are at stake.
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