November 16, 2002
THE DEEP BENCH:
Move Over Miss Cleo!: Have we gone from a political tie-game to a blowout? (Dick Meyer, Nov. 15, 2002, CBSNews.com)[I]f you keep putting theory aside and simply look at the two parties' stables with a cold handicapper's eye, the Republicans have the better horses for the races ahead.First off, the Republicans have a stud, George W. Bush. The Democrats, simply put, don't. They don't have anything like a pack leader.
And if, for the sake of argument, Mr. Bush were to lose a battle with a pretzel, think about the horses the Repubs could run in '04 - not counting Dick Cheney. From the Cabinet, there's Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld and Tom Ridge. (I'm not including the hungriest of them all, John Ashcroft.) And there's John McCain.
The bench is deep too. Even though senators never become presidents, a few of them have potential, including Bill Frist and Chuck Hagel. Governors are better candidates. George Pataki and Mitt Romney, the handsome Olympic savior just elected in Democratic Massachusetts, will be nicely groomed. And for fun, toss in Condy Rice and Rudy Giuliani.
Few owners would trade that stable for the '04 Democrats. Dick Gephardt and Tom Daschle look pretty tarnished right now. John Kerry is cursed with being a senator, among other things. John Edwards is handsome and 'a natural', but he's a senator too, and an unknown one. Howard Dean is unknown and, well, unknown. Gore and Lieberman have been adequately dissected. And Hillary, I suppose, should be listed.
How about the back bench? The Clinton Cabinet produced more convicts than contenders. The most attractive are Republicans or ersatz-Republicans, Bill Cohen and George Tenet. The current corporate crime wave has taken Bob Rubin out of the game.
Among sitting governors, Mark Warner and Tom Vilsack are the most buzz-worthy and that's not saying much. The consensus best new face of '02 is Jennifer Granholm, elected governor in Michigan. But she's Canadian, aye.
Of course, among the governors on the GOP bench he left out the 800 pound gorilla: Jeb.
Posted by Orrin Judd at November 16, 2002 6:09 AM
My only problem with Jeb is I the Kennedy principle. I have always disliked how people in this country, of all countries, always imparted an aura about the decendents carrying that name. I mean, the caterwauling over JFK Jr. and how we lost a great future president. And I don't mean to disrespect him or belittle the tragedy that befell him, his wife and sister-in-law, but the guy wasn't even a contender for POTUS at the time of his death. And how Kathleen KENNEDY Townsend always seemed to have that maiden name shouted, like that automatically made her a great politician. But, having said all that, if it comes down to Hillary versus Jeb, Jeb's got my vote. Hey, if it comes down to Chelsea vs. Jenna, I'll order a margarita in Ms. Bush's honor after I vote for her. Well, having typed that I guess I lose some credibility, don't I?
Posted by: Buttercup at November 16, 2002 7:14 AMIn the early days, before the current President Bush became the front runner, I liked Jeb better. I also think that Jeb is borrowing less from the aura and more from his success as governor of Florida. Given the beating he delivered to McBride after the 2000 election, he'd be a serious contender even without the Bush name.
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at November 16, 2002 8:53 AMRecall that in '94 it was widely expected that Jeb would win and George lose. Jeb was considered the more natural pol.
Posted by: oj at November 16, 2002 10:17 AMThe thing about Bush surrounding himself with Presidential candidates in his cabinet versus Clinton who surrounded himself with extremely low quality minions...well, what choice did Clinton have? Can you imagine becoming President and knowing that not only are you just trash from the South and your wife is of the fairly despicable sort, but that when you go about the process of trying to surround yourself with a class such as Bush's cabinet you realize the only available peole are just as mediocre as you.
Posted by: Neil at November 16, 2002 10:21 AMOf course, it was a slam against GW that his little brother was smarter and more politically talented than he. I wonder how they'd slam Jeb if he ran?
Posted by: Buttercup at November 16, 2002 11:13 AMCan somebody write a serious piece on why Ms. Granholm is so awesome a candidate. I don't know much about her, other than she is beautiful and is Canadian -- the latter, supposedly the only thing between her and the WH. (If she is so strong, how come she could not cover the spread in a state that leans Dem and had a Rep Governor for so long that change must have been in everybody's mind?)
Posted by: MG at November 16, 2002 11:58 AM