Adele Ferguson - GOP listings as presidential race begins

“NEW NAME in GOP Mix” headlined the Wall Street Journal.

Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana led a straw poll of conservatives in the mix to become the GOP presidential nominee in 2012 taken at the Family Research Council summit the other day.

Rep. who?

He’s the third ranking Republican in the House, said WSJ reporters, although they neglected to mention what position that was, or where the summit took place. I had to look in the Washington Times to learn that the summit was in Washington, D.C. In fact, the Times ran a list of 17 hopefuls whose names were to be offered up to summit delegates to see who they thought was their best choice to convince the voters that Republicans have learned their lesson. That they will not screw up this time the way they did in 1994 when they ended the 40-year reign of the Democrats in Congress and went hog wild ear marking stuff the D’s kept them from getting in the past.

That was the beginning of the end for the popularity of President George W. Bush who signed everything that was sent to him until stem cell research came along. I said then Jeb was the smarter brother and it was too bad he wasn’t elected prez instead because he wouldn’t have allowed the greed to prevail.

ANYWAY, the presidential nominee selection process is in full swing. The Democrats have their nominee unless Hillary Clinton takes another run at it although I don’t think she’d have a prayer. Obama gets nearly all the votes of the black community and most of the Hispanics, and they wouldn’t switch to her regardless of what a lousy job he’s doing as long as he stays black.

Here are the current Republican presidential possibilities according to the Family Research Council: Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Rep. Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

The WSJ doesn’t say how many delegates were at the summit but 24 percent of them picked Pence as their No. I choice. He’s 51, a lawyer and was elected to Congress in 2000. He opposes abortion and gay marriage, fought against Bush’s federal prescription drug benefits program and opposed the Wall Street bailout bill.

CLOSE ON HIS HEELS was Huckabee with 22 percent, followed by Romney, 13 percent; Gingrich, 10 percent; Palin, 7 percent; Santorum and DeMint, 5 percent each. There were a dozen contenders in 2008. Can you name them?

I can recall about half of them, Romney, Huckabee and Paul, who are taking another shot at it this time. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, my favorite until he answered a phone call from his wife while he was on stage delivering a speech; Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson.

The other six: Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, California Rep. Duncan Hunter and former Ambassador Alan Keyes. History lesson over.

(Adele Ferguson can be reached at P.O. Box 69, Hansville, Wa., 98340.)