Poll: GOP Pick Is ‘None of the Above’
Why do you think GOP voters are not happy with the top tier candidates?
TOWNHALL-And the leading Republican presidential candidate is … none of the above.
The latest Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that nearly a quarter of Republicans are unwilling to back top-tier hopefuls Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain or Mitt Romney, and no one candidate has emerged as the clear front-runner among Christian evangelicals. Such dissatisfaction underscores the volatility of the 2008 GOP nomination fight.
More Republicans have become apathetic about their options over the past month.
A hefty 23 percent can’t or won’t say which candidate they would back, a jump from the 14 percent who took a pass in June.
Giuliani’s popularity continued to decline steadily as he faced a spate of headline headaches, came under increased scrutiny and saw the potential entry of Thompson in the mix; his support is at 21 percent compared with 27 percent in June and 35 percent in March.
Not surprising. Does that mean Thompson is the favorite? Nope!
We have a GOP membership that is so split on what they believe is needed that no candidate can please most of them at any given time.
The strategy of the Democrats has been fantastic. Divide and conquer. Yet, their own party membership is divided as well because of their strategy.
Neither party can “lead” a divided nation. They won’t be led. Who was it that said, “divided they fall?” Or, who said, “Hang together or hang separately?”
As long as our nation is so divided, there is little chance of getting the reforms it needs to be an economic leader like it used to be. There is little chance of balancing the budget when entitlement loans from trust funds are included in the budget.
The hype now, just as it was during Clinton is just that, hype. When payroll revenues rise, payroll taxes to trust funds rise. Since they don’t count the loans from trust funds they don’t fully report “deficit spending.” Thus, with the job growth under Clinton and now under Bush, you get the impression the deficit is being reduced when in fact it is worse or at least as bad.
This is a little old but shows the trend. Remember these revenues above what is paid out immediately is loaned to the government but not reported as a loan in the budget deficit report.
Quote:
When Social Security was created 70 years ago, payroll taxes accounted for between 1 and 2 percent of federal revenues, but today the payroll tax is dangerously close to overtaking the personal income tax as the largest source of federal revenues. In 2004, payroll taxes accounted for 40 percent of federal revenues, up sharply from 2000, when they accounted for 32 percent of federal.
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Some things others are doing?
Quote:
America is increasing reliant on payroll taxes, but other nations are creating jobs by reducing their reliance on payroll taxes. Between 2000 and 2003, payroll tax rates declined in a dozen European nations, including Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, and Holland. Russia in 2004, following the lead of these European nations, reduced its payroll tax rate from 35.6 to 26 percent and offset the revenue loss by increasing taxes on oil. Last year, the World Bank urged the eight newest members of the European Union [the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia] to boost employment by reducing their payroll taxes. Earlier this year, Angela Merkel, the new German Chancellor, pledged to increase the nation’s value-added tax so that the German payroll tax rate could be cut by two percentage points.
http://www.getamericaworking.org/
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Whatever is done, should be done soon. Other nations are moving to be more competitive and the more they reform and we don’t, the less competitive we will be.
I believe Ben Franklin said the second, Jan. I just checked – it is. If interested, here’s the exact quote:
http://tinyurl.com/2ndfkh
I like all of our front runner candidates except John McCain and I like Mike Huckabee and Duncan Hunter in the 2nd tier. I am waiting to see who emerges in future debates, public speeches, media interviews, etc. and will decide who presents the best plan and policy for our future government. Republicans are not ready to commit and I think that’s a good thing. Republicans will rally when the time comes.
I honestly believe that Romney has all of the intangibles that America wants in a leader. I also trust his way of thinking. More importantly, I would trust him with the economy.
The only complaints I’ve ever heard against him are the fact that he’s Mormon and his stance on abortion. I don’t think that abortion will ever be a practical issue for a President and no one that I know gives a rat spit about his being a Mormon.
I just want to remind everyone of who called “Jeb” about six months ago or more…
Still think I’m crazy?
Aubrey – Romney doesn’t really believe in anything he says.
Al,
I’ll be happy to listen to criticism on any candidate, but you gotta give me more than that!
If I’m to believe that Mitt is a nihilist, you really shouldn’t hold back the details.
Aubrey,
I would say that Romney has all the things the GOP wants. As far as a national candidate-well, he’s toast. But then you could argue that most the candidates will lose. Might as well put forth someone who makes the neocons and fundies happy.