In something of a surprise (given that few Republicans have taken a pass), former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton has declared that he won't run for president, begging the question: Which Michael Bolton song best describes this courtship that won't be?
- "A Time for Letting Go"
- "I'm Not Ready"
- "Nowhere to Run"
- "You Don't Want Me Bad Enough"
At least the late Tom Dewey can rest in peace—he's the last GOP presidential nominee to have sported a mustache, as does Bolton. Dewey's last run was in 1948; there hasn't been a presidential nominee with facial hair since then.
Bolton's announcement continues what has amounted to "foreign policy week" for the Republican hopefuls. It included Marco Rubio outlining an approach that at least one conservative writer likened to the Truman Doctrine, Jeb Bush continuing to clarify his 20/20 hindsight answer on the Iraq invasion, plus Chris Christie, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul all piling on Bush.
If that sounds like a lot of bodies in motion...well, it is. About enough to fill a 40-man baseball roster.
Earlier this week, the Republican National Committee launched a straw poll on its website that asked this simple question: "Who would you like to see as the Republican nominee in the 2016 presidential election?"
The choices (brace yourself; it'll take a while to get through this):
- Kelly Ayotte
- Haley Barbour
- John Bolton
- Jeb Bush
- Herman Cain
- Ben Carson
- Chris Christie
- Ted Cruz
- Mitch Daniels
- Mark Everson
- Carly Fiorina
- Newt Gingrich
- Lindsey Graham
- Nikki Haley
- Mike Huckabee
- Bobby Jindal
- John Kasich
- Peter King
- Susana Martinez
- Sarah Palin
- George Pataki
- Rand Paul
- Ron Paul
- Tim Pawlenty
- Mike Pence
- Rick Perry
- Condoleezza Rice
- Mitt Romney
- Marco Rubio
- Brian Sandoval
- Rick Santorum
- Tim Scott
- John Thune
- Donald Trump
- Scott Walker
- Alan West
Two things to note about this list: (a) It's a compilation meant to avoid offense, which explains a lot of folks listed who aren't interested in running; (b) What, no Paul Ryan (or, for that matter, Greg Abbott)?
Meanwhile, there's the question of how the GOP is going to pull off the televised spectacle of a dozen-or-so candidates crowding one debate stage in Cleveland this August for the first gathering. Does the party exclude all candidates polling at 1 percent or less? Or, as some back-in-the-pack candidates would prefer, does it split the field in half and hold not one but two debates over consecutive nights?
There's also the question of format, which The New York Times examines here:
It is not entirely clear who will be in charge of devising or enforcing the debate criteria—that is, if there are criteria. One member of the national committee panel charged with overseeing the debates said its members had discussed ceding the decision entirely to Fox News.
At issue is how to stage a substantive discussion that is fair to viewers and the campaigns. The party has little appetite for a forum so thick with candidates that it allows for not much more than an extended 'lightning round' of questions. One Republican involved in the process said a 90-minute forum with 10 candidates would offer each candidate only four to five minutes, after subtracting commercials and moderator time.
Sounds like there's a good debate awaiting Republicans...in advance of that first Republican debate.
Bill Whalen is a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. This article first appeared on his blog, A Day at the Races.
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