The right candidate

On the conservative side, we have a problem.  For 2012, our potential field of candidates is, to be blunt, not doing a whole lot for the conservative movement. 

There are some good people in the field of semi-declared candidates and some that are thinking about it.  Michele Bachmann remains a favorite of the Tea Party, as does Herman Cain.   Unfortunately, neither is gaining traction.  Sarah Palin has her fan base. Allen West has a growing and vocal base.  West has said he is not running and Palin, well no one really knows at this point what she is going to do.

Fortunately, the RINOs are not doing much better.  About all that can be said for them is despite some really stupid gaffes, Mitt Romney seems to be plodding towards dominance of the RINO field. 

The only potential member of the GOP field doing anything is Donald Trump.   He has said a lot of things people wanted to hear and has shot to the top of most of the polls.  He has the media firepower so that anything he says gets attention.  The problem is, like Obama in 2008, a lot of people are blinded by what he is saying and are not looking to his track record.   The Donald’s track record is that of a liberal, and without some type of epiphany event that changed his mind, all we can assume is he is now telling us what he thinks we want to hear.

With the GOP field, especially the conservatives, failing to generate a sizzle, we need to look outside of the field.  We need to find the right, perfect candidate.  Instead of simply looking at the available field and figuring out who we like or perhaps with some of them, who we can tolerate, we need to figure out what we want in a candidate, decide who fits that bill and ask if they will run.

At TPN, we think we know who we want.

The candidate must have a long track record of supporting conservatism.   That does not have to be a legislative track record, but simply a good track record for being a conservative.  To paraphrase the old Barbara Mandrel song, we are looking for someone who was conservative, when being conservative wasn’t cool.

We need someone who can articulate conservatism to the American masses.  America is a conservative country, but many Americans still do not understand what conservatism is or what we want.   We don’t need someone who will give us massive William F. Buckley pronouncements, but someone who can communicate with the average American.   Yet this person must also have a profound understanding of conservative thought. 

We need someone who can raise a lot of money.  Team Obama is working on raising one billion or more to ensure his reelection. This race will be like nothing we have ever seen. 

We need someone who can debate liberals.  When John Kerry ran for President in 2004, one of his supporters in the drive by media assured him that support by the liberal media would be worth ten points in the polls.  We need someone who is not afraid to take on the liberal media.  We need someone who the liberal media fears.

We need someone who can debate Obama and leave him in a cloud of dust.   We need someone who will reduce him in a debate to a quivering bowl of Jell-O.   None of the declared or even undeclared Republicans can do that.

Finally we are going to need someone who has the media firepower to suck the air out of the room, like Donald Trump has been doing.   Other than Donald Trump, there is no one in the GOP field who can do that.  We need someone who can compete with Obama.  As Obama proved or perhaps even learned, an event like the killing of Bin Laden nukes the news cycle.  Almost nothing is heard above it. 

When the news of Bin Laden’s killing took place, there was one conservative who stood out.  There was one conservative with the media firepower to fight back against the message and even be heard against the noise that was out there.  Even Donald Trump was flopping around like a fish out of water.  But there was one conservative who was able to deliver a message.

There is a conservative out there who would be the right, perfect candidate.  He is dedicated to the conservative cause.  He is dedicated to freedom.  He has a long track record of supporting conservatism.   He can debate the left and destroy any liberal in a debate, including Obama.  He has the media firepower, even in excess of Donald Trump.  He is wealthy in his own right and certainly can raise money to compete with Obama.  This conservative knows conservatism and can stay on message, unlike the GOP establishment.

The only question is, Rush Limbaugh, will you run?