Republican Presidential Candidates Scooting Out of the Mainstream

It is always a challenge for Presidential candidates of both parties to maneuver successfully through their primary and remain viable for the general. At this point the Democratic candidates are doing much better than the Republicans. Democratic candidates’ positions are in large part consistent with public opinion on Iraq, comprehensive immigration reform, health care, education, and Scooter Libby.

On the other hand, Republican candidates are seemingly fighting public opinion on all the important issues in order to satisfy the reactionary slice of their base. Winning the Republican primary now requires candidates to take unpopular positions on issues the public deems very important. The latest installment of such has occurred with Republican candidates praising President Bush’s commute of Scooter’s prison sentence. Some, however, are expressing a slight bit of displeasure over his not receiving a full pardon. Nevertheless, what is clear is that they are all scrambling to be the biggest supporter of a convicted felon to gain some props from the base.

To my knowledge, no poll numbers exist on the publics’ opinion of Scooter’s plight or how they feel about his sentence being commuted. Regardless, I do view this primary maneuver as a huge gamble that could end up being an additional albatross the Republican nominee will have to wear throughout the general election. Scooter just might end up being one more issue that scoots Republican presidential candidates further from the mainstream.