The Next Republican Presidential Candiate (Part 3)

The following is part three of an extended series of posts that will analyze possible candidates for the 2012 Republican Presidential nomination. These posts will take a look and who is likely to win the Republican Presidential Nomination, not the general election. While 2012 may be long ahead, I will make these predication as practical and logical as possible.Today I will talk about two dark horse candidates, these may be names you are completely unaware of. Mississippi Govonor, Haley Barbour and former Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Marco Rubio.

Haley Barbour

In all honesty, Barbour doesn't have too much going on for him at all. He does have executive experience which most successful presidential candidates have. He's also a strong conservative which the base loves. In the mid 1990s he was RNC chairman, a rather effective one too. He's from the south, which will be great in the primary election. He also comes off as charming, and he's not that old (he'll be 64 in 2012). On the flip side Barbour has a lot going against him. He's overweight and has a very thick southern accent, and while it's terrible, many Americans associate those things with a lack of intelligence. Among his party, he's unpopular. In July 2009, a Rassmussen Reports poll indicated that 34% of registered Republicans have a favorable view of him. However, 37% dislike him, which is the highest unfavorable percentage among 5 other possible Republican candidates for 2012: Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Tim Pawlenty. Also, 21% of GOP voters would least like to see Barbour win the party nomination in 2012. Seriously, when you are losing to Cheney, there's a problem, but who knows, maybe he could change his image. There are also strong allegations that Barbour has personally profited from Hurricane Katrina recovery. Barbour has also received harsh criticism for his refusal to approve a bill to increase the cigarette tax and decrease the grocery tax passed the state House of Representatives. Mississippi currently has the third-lowest cigarette tax and the highest grocery tax—while being the poorest state in the country. Also Fred Thompson's campaign finance investigation found that Barbour, as RNC chair, was involved in illegally raising money from overseas sources.

Marco Rubio

Rubio is what I like to call the Obama of the GOP. Not only because he is very attractive and a minority (Cuban decent) but because he is very charismatic. Compared to every other possible candidate I've done so far, this guy blows them out of the water when it comes to speaking, the only one who comes close is Romney. I mean when I heard this guy speak, I knew this guy could possibly be some serious trouble for Obama down the road. He's also very young (he'll be 42 in 2012), don't forget, youth represents change. He is a very strong fiscal conservative, which the base will eat up. He also doesn't have any dirt on his record, and he's popular in his state, which is a big swing state. On the negative he has no name recognition, and if he doesn't become Senator in 2010 (he's running against Crist) he basically has no chance in hell. He also has no executive experience. He's a poor fundraiser, and like Bobby Jindal, he's Cathloic which could be a problem with the Evanglical base.

Conclusion

So there you have it, two dark horse candidates. Barbour is highly unlikely, and he really doesn't have anything going on for him. While his personality may seem charming, he's known around town to be quite corrupt. Plus he's an old fat white southerner, which is an image the GOP wants to get away from. But who knows, dark horses can get elected, and even win the presidency (Look at Franklin Pierce). Rubio is a serious force to be reckoned with if he becomes Senator. In fact, if he becomes Senator, and he chooses to run, I would put all my money on Rubio. But again, that's a big if, Crist will probably win the seat anyways. It doesn't mean Rubio will be out though, just down.