Thursday, May 14, 2009

Rep. John Shadegg: Mark Sanford Could Lead GOP, Romney remains the frontrunner

(Politics Daily)."I don't believe Rush Limbaugh was elected," Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz., said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" this morning when someone referenced Limbaugh as the "party leader." "Rush Limbaugh is a television personality. I don't think he's head of the Republican Party, last I looked," Shadegg added.

"I'm not sure there is a clear leader of the Republican Party" party at the moment, he continued, adding that "we're in the process of trying to find out who the Republican Party really is." What the party is not is the "party of no," he insisted. As for the party prince he likes South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford for the job.He's "young energetic, has new ideas and he's the fresh face of the Republican Party," Shadegg said.

Sanford is young, fairly attractive,has already served in Congress, and is a rising star in the GOP. U.S. News and World Report's "Washington Whispers" blog today names him among four of their "dark horse" Republicans who may throw their hat into the 2012 White House ring. Sanford also made headlines when he became the first governor to reject some of the federal stimulus money for his state.

And what about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin?

"I think Sarah Palin has to step forward onto the national stage much more than she has so far and we have to look at that issue" again, Shadegg said. "I'd love to see some more women ... I wanted the Republican Party to nominate a woman the last time!"

From Washington Whispers:
You already know the names of the Republican stars expected to run for the 2012 presidential nomination: Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, and Sarah Palin. But with the party divided over the direction it wants to go and a slew of others eager to get in the presidential race, we've come up with a list of dark horses who could pull off an upset ,Whispers over the past month polled some of them for their top 2012 presidential dark-horse picks.

Four topped our list: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, and Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia.

Could an upstart shove the likes of Newt and Mitt—the expected front-runners—aside? Right now, the insiders say that's unlikely.

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"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" (Churchill)