Fox News and the South Carolina GOP had originally set a minimum threshold which they determined had to be met before a Republican presidential candidate would be allowed to participate in the May 15 debate. As CNS News reported yesterday:
“Rep. Ron Paul of Texas … may be excluded from a forthcoming GOP candidate debate. The same could apply to Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, the ranking Republican and past chairman of the House Armed Services Committee during most of the war on terror.
“Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, one of the strongest voices in the House on border security; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; former national GOP chairman and Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore; and former cabinet secretary and Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson may also be left out. Even Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, a leading voice for social conservatives, could be on the fence.”
Fortunately, grassroots conservative activists and bloggers lit up the phones and the Internet yesterday and all 10 declared GOP candidates will now be allowed to participate…not just McCain, Giuliani and Romney.
But at this early point in the presidential selection process, why was such an effort even necessary in the first place? You’d think the party would have learned its lesson about trying to shove an anointed candidate down the rank-and-file’s throat after what has turned out, for conservatives anyway, to be a disaster of a presidency since 2000.
And considering who’s running Congress these days, things aren’t much better for Republicans either.
Posted on May 3rd, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: National
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