What If They Win Part 2: Republicans

What If They Win Part 2: The Republicans

A little more snarkiness today as we look at what happened if the presidential contenders become president or VP.

Unlike the Democrats, more of the GOP contenders – Rudy, Romney, the Thompson Twins, and Newt if he gets in – are out of a job.

Then there’s the ease-out scenario with ex-governor Mike Huckabee. Performing poorly in national fundraising, The Biggest Loser is being urged to instead challenge Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor in 2008. The Arkansas filing deadline is in April for a May primary.

The two sitting senators, McCain and Brownback, were both re-elected in 2004, and both would be replaced by Democratic governors for two years, with the full terms on the ballot in 2010. But in Arizona, there’s a catch: Governor Napolitano is required to name a Republican to fill the McCain vacancy. So here’s a fun parlor game: how do you appoint the weakest possible candidate for the other party? Arizona has two great contenders in former governors Evan Meacham (impeached) and Fife Symington (convicted and removed from office).

If Brownback moves up, we’d see the first Democratic Senator from Kansas since the New Deal era. This is as good a place as any to remember the Bob Dole scenario. He resigned from the Senate after clinching the `96 nomination. The GOP governor appointed Lt. Gov. Sheila Frahm to the seat and she was immediately knocked off in the primary – by Sam Brownback – in one of the early battles of the eternal Kansas GOP in-fight.

Of the GOP House members running, Duncan Hunter has already announced his retirement. Tom Tancredo has a May filing deadline for Colorado’s August primary.

The interesting one is Ron Paul. Texas lets you run for both, and that was used as recently as 1996. Phil Gramm crashed and burned early in the presidential race, but Texas has a January filing deadline, one of the earliest in the nation, for a March primary. Gramm was safely filed for the backup plan and won one last Senate term.

The really interesting part is if Paul gets the Libertarian nomination. Ballot Access News reports that the LP has already qualified for the Texas presidential ballot. But: Paul can't run for two offices using different party labels. So, barring the unlikely event that he wins the GOP nomination, he has to choose between re-election as a Republican and teh Libertarian presidential nomination.

Speaking of Barr-ing and the Libertarians, anyone think former Republican impeacher, now turned Libertarian, Bob Barr is going to run?