Republican Party may need sacrificial lamb

Even as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was widely expected to officially announce Wednesday that he is running, it’s a measure of Republican dissatisfaction with the field of likely contenders — Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, and so on — that so many politicos are talking up the possibility of a dark horse candidate.

Newt did declare his candidacy: "I believe we can return America to home and opportunity." At least he avoided speaking of morality and family values. “I want your help, because no one person in the Oval Office can get this done,” Gingrich said in a YouTube video after announcing his candidacy on Twitter. “We Americans are going to have to talk together, work together, find solutions together and insist on opposing… those forces that don’t want to change.”

Look at that: time for a change.

Among those mentioned are New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. They are considered dark horses at the moment because, with the exception of Bachmann, they have all definitively ruled out a run for president, at least this time around.

DeMint makes Gingrich seem socialist; Ryan makes DeMint look moderate; Bachmann makes Genghis Khan look communist. Christie? Rubio? If that is the best the GOP can do, let' get ready to rumble.

Rubio, who just turns 40 this month, thinks he needs a little more seasoning before running for president. That’s unquestionably true, though a contest pitting the Cuban-American Rubio against President Barack Obama would mark the definitive entry of this country into the 21st century.

True. But it ain't happening any time soon.

Christie has already faded from media stardom as he faces a political backlash in his own state for his bullying tactics, and nobody’s talking about Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker any more as a candidate for anything except recall. 

How quickly they have become yesterday's news.

This is the bind the Republicans have put themselves in: They’ve been so busy catering to a narrow conservative base, to single-issue voters who blindly vote for gun control or against abortion, while pursuing an ideological agenda that does not command a majority, that they’ve lost any way to appeal to independents, swing Democrats or even many moderate Republicans. 

Run, Michelle, run.

Perhaps, as with the Palin phenomenon, the tea party syndrome and the ideological purity of DeMint will play itself out in time for Romney to get the full backing of his party. Then, if the economy tanks again or some other mishap strikes the nation, a Republican ticket might have a chance in 2012. In the meantime, though, the betting seems to be on a dark horse with no name. Understandably, nobody seems to be in a hurry to be the Bob Dole or Walter Mondale of this generation and face a sure loss in the 2012 general election. The Republicans may settle on a dark horse, but whoever they pick is likely to be a sacrificial lamb.

Run, Sarah, run.