- Joined
- Feb 2, 2010
- Messages
- 27,101
- Reaction score
- 12,359
- Location
- Granada, España
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Libertarian - Left
Romney - I consider him a moderate. He's traditionally been relatively liberal on social issues (although he doesn't seem to care about them), supportive of health care reform, and pro-business. On foreign policy, he echoes a lot of George Bush's ideas, although without the swagger and arrogance that would likely lead us into another ill-conceived war. He's mostly supported by upper-class, educated, urban, moderate Republicans.
Pawlenty - Ever since he waded into a possible presidential run, I think he's been trying to position himself as the generic Republican who toes the party line and doesn't piss anyone off. I think that strategy is unlikely to work, but it is what it is. Although he hasn't taken strong stances on much of anything, I would describe him as a "big government conservative." He'll probably appeal to the few people who don't like any of the other Republican candidates. Not a winning strategy IMO.
Daniels - Although not a libertarian by any means, Mitch Daniels is probably the closest thing to a small-government conservative among the serious contenders. As a governor, he has been a big proponent of busting unions and cutting spending. He's asked for a "truce" on social issues, which I interpret as an indication that he's moderate-to-liberal on them. He has shown little interest in foreign policy, indicating that he may be more supportive of a moderate approach than he lets on. I think he appeals to well-educated conservatives.
Huckabee - Mike Huckabee tends to be the most overtly religious candidate in the race, and wears his Christianity on his sleeve. He's plainly a social conservative, but has sharp disagreements with the Republican orthodoxy on foreign policy. He described Bush's foreign policy as "arrogant" way back in 2007, even before it was cool for Republicans to do that. On economic issues, I think he's a moderate populist who probably fits into the "big government conservative" category as well. I think he'll mainly appeal to evangelical Christians and rural Republicans.
Palin - She's the populist of the crowd, constantly attacking bureaucrats, bankers, and the elite. She favors an aggressive foreign policy, a conservative social agenda, and lower taxes. It's unclear if she has any plans to cut spending. I think she appeals mainly to the low-income, uneducated subset of Republicans.
Brilliant, Kandahar! Thank you so much. I'd never really heard of Pawlenty or Daniels before. I'm interested that there doesn't seem to be an all-out small-government libertarian-type. Is there one on the horizon? Or has the popular, mainstream Right kind of dispensed entirely with the idea of small government?