All the real prospective candidates right now:
Herman Cain
Donald Trump
Michele Bachmann
Ron Paul
Mitt Romney
Rick Santorum
Tim Pawlenty
Mike Huckabee
Newt Gingrich
Haley Barbour
All the potential Vice Presidential candidates:
Marco Rubio
Eric Cantor
Chris Christie
Bob McDonnell
Nikki Haley
Bobby Jindal
Pretty much you can limit the race down the 4 potential powerhouses each having power from their own group of the party.
Mitt Romney - Pro-business, Moderates, Liberals, & Establishment
Ron Paul - Grass roots, Libertarians, anti-war & Tea Party
Newt Gingrich - Neoconservatives & Social conservatives
Mike Huckabee - Social conservatives & Tea Party
In the end I see the power struggle will be between the 'Populist' candidate Mike Huckabee and the 'Affluent' candidate Mitt Romney, just like the
Democratic primaries of 2008 between 'Populist' candidate Hillary Clinton and 'Affluent' candidate Obama.
I think the important aspect of winning the election will be who offers the best program of creating jobs, stimulating the economy, refraining from
too many social issues, and about what America's role in the world should be, also to a lesser extent the Afghan War.
In the end I see it as Mitt Romney v. Barack Obama. Problem then becomes Romney's religion and the power structure of the GOP based in the South.
Obama could silently manipulate this issue, raise the awareness of his Christian religion (many Evangelicals do not consider Mormons as Christians)
and swing many Evangelical voters to his side as a protest type of vote. Romney could steal many of the Rockefeller Republicans from the Northeast,
use his family ties to the Great lakes for his benefit, and use his Mormonism as a tool in the West.
Pretty much I would predict Obama extend his power south into states such as Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas,
Louisiana, Alabama, Virginia, and Missouri to move many Republicans to his side in this region (does not mean he would win many of those states just
increase his vote there). Romney could extend his power to the Northeast states such as Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and
Pennsylvania (also add Michigan as his father was prominent there) and the inter-mountain West states such as Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming,
Montana, Idaho, and Nevada.
Who wins the election? I don't know. But I do expect to see, if Romney is nominated as GOP candidate, many Northeast and Southeast "solid blue" and
"solid red" states become competitive
only if the campaign refrains from many social issues.
GOP VP candidates to run with Romney would either be Bob McDonnell or Marco Rubio.
Just the opinion of someone who accurately predicted the 2008 Presidential election results map (except Colorado and Indiana).
edit on
3/16/2011 by Misoir because: (no reason given)