Find a good spot for this one in your futures file: Newsweek‘s Andrew Romano buys into the argument that Republicans are unlikely to unseat President Obama next year. But the GOP shouldn’t fret, Romano writes in a new column, for the party has plenty of top-notch candidates for 2016.
Consider the party’s 2016 farm team. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is young, conservative, and a minority. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal boasts some of the same qualities, with the added bonus of actual policy chops. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is already a conservative folk hero; by 2015 he might have some real accomplishments under his belt. Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, meanwhile, is flirting with a 2012 run, but as a moderate, his plan may have less to do with winning over this year’s hyperpartisan base than with laying the groundwork for 2016. And then there’s Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, along with other lesser-known names.
Consider the party’s 2016 farm team. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is young, conservative, and a minority. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal boasts some of the same qualities, with the added bonus of actual policy chops. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is already a conservative folk hero; by 2015 he might have some real accomplishments under his belt. Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, meanwhile, is flirting with a 2012 run, but as a moderate, his plan may have less to do with winning over this year’s hyperpartisan base than with laying the groundwork for 2016. And then there’s Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, along with other lesser-known names.
If President Obama wins re-election, if Newsweek still exists in 2015, and if Andrew Romano still writes for the publication, it will be interesting to see whether he still offers Republicans such ringing endorsements.
