Does the Republican Party have any rising stars?

[starroute]

I was thinking about Barack Obama . . . and looking at the lineup someone posted of speakers at the Republican convention . . . and it suddenly occurred to me that I couldn't think of a single prominent Republican under the age of 50. Most of the familiar names were born in the 40's -- Frist (1952) was the youngest I could find.

Well, there's Rick Santorum (1958), but he's not so much prominent as he is a bad joke.

So my question is . . . are there any up-and-coming Republicans (age 35-45, say) that I just don't know about? Governors, big-city mayors, junior Senators, anything? And if there are, could any of them even begin to pass as centrists?

I'm interested in the answers. It could say a lot about where this country might be eight years from now.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. Arnie's speech will be broadcasted on network T.V on Tuesday night....

but he's not much of a star, more of a washed up hasbeen.

[Cha]

3. Yeah! I don't think he's gonna make it past 2006.

[drumwolf]

16. Ahnöld is 57 -- he's only a year younger than Bush

n/t

[Cha]

2. You mean rising cuthroats?

[Tosca]

4. I hear Ronnie's

gonna rise up and establish his kingdom for those who can afford it.

[Grover Cleveland]

5. Norm Coleman (nt)

[AlCzervik]

8. LOL!

When Norm is defeated in next election i see a plaid jacket in his future and some used cars.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

30. Coleman is a despicable weasel.

He used to be a Democrat, after a fashion, but didn't rise quickly enough in MN politics, so, being an utterly unprincipled opportunist, he simply switched parties. Then Jesse Ventura handed him his ass when he ran for governor. And then when Wellstone was killed, Coleman slithered his way into the Senate as Cheney's hand-picked butt-boy, and he has been sucking up to the Bush Regime ever since.

Of course he's a Republican rising star. Being pond scum, he'll rise to the top.

[starroute]

34. Coleman was born in 1949

I'm looking for people born no earlier than 1955 -- preferably 1960 or later.

[ButterflyBlood]

42. LMAO

that stupid fuck has yet to lift a finger to help any residents of my great state. All he does is kiss *'s ass nonstop. Just another rubberstamper. The GOP has plenty of him. Once * gets his ass kicked he'll probably go hide under his desk and whimper since he'll have no one to tell him what to do anymore.

[Worst Username Ever]

60. I hate that dick. n/t

[qanda]

6. Michael Steele (black Lt. Gov. of Maryland)

They'll drag him out one night.

[K-W]

23. I really cant see a minority ever rising too high in thier party.

They dont just represent alot of racists, alot of them are racists.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

7. Um um um

uuuuummmmmmmm, hang on give me a minute here......uuuuuummmmmmm.

Damn, I'm here in TX and can't think of any or don't know of any. My two repuke senators are older.

Sheesh. Nope, nothing, sorry.

[physioex]

9. Jack Ryan...

Errrr....on second thought never mind... :smoke:

[CalebHayes]

12. Damn you, physioex, I was gonna say that.

[physioex]

40. Hello there fellow Washingtonian.......

:hi:

[Tweed]

10. Fitzgerald from IL would have been

But the Republicans pushed him out because he was too moderate.

[whistle]

11. Setting son is my wish!!!

...Maybe Dubya can just stay on his ranch in Crawford and sit out the campaign, YeeeeHahaaaaaaa!:bounce: :toast: :party: :hippie: :nopity: :hurts: :dem: :kick: :headbang:

[sundog]

13. Yeah, Jack Ryan or any of their other deviants or child molesters.

--

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[w13rd0]

25. "Frist is the one to watch. He's got it all."

Yeah, "good people beget good people", what "all" has he got? Tell us about his excellent "breeding". All the people you mentioned are asshats.

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Chovexani]

35. Humanitarian work?!

Like killing kittens? Are you fucking kidding me?

[GoneOffShore]

27. He's just a bit too

right wing and evangelical, despite the base. Put up someone who asks him if he's willing to outlaw contraception and watch him squirm. That'll piss off the base because even if they're against abortion, they all use birthcontrol. (Well, most of them - Oh I wish I could turn the self censor off sometimes. The rants, the diatribes, the wailings and gnashings of teeth that I could deliver would freeze your blood, make your bones melt and your hair fall out).

[liberalpragmatist]

41. Frist is probably next in line for President

Assuming Jeb's out, and he will be, esp. if Bush loses. If Bush wins, I think Jeb would have to wait till '12 if at all, b/c even the Republicans, and certainly the country, aren't going to take a THIRD Bush, and TWO consecutively when we've already had 2.

So I pretty much think that Frist will be the '08 nominee regardless. Owen's got a nasty divorce right now, he may have sorted it out by then.

[SharonAnn]

54. The Frist Family Business, HCA, was fined $1.2 BILLION in 2001

for defrauding Medicare. That was the amount they "settled" for.

There have been several smaller settlements since.

The Frist family is the Halliburton of Health Care.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

15. Well now I'm really interested to know

come on guys, someone anyone in your state who is repuke, youngish and has the capability of really rising through the ranks of the party in the next several years?

I'll try to do some research on my state.

[RodneyCK2]

17. Well according to the Repubs, the second coming...

is scheduled to happen during their convention, so Christ should be a show stopper.

I will be watching with a bowl of popcorn in hand.

[Robbien]

18. They have that new batch of up coming Enron boys

But those guys are busy starting up the logging, offshore drilling, and foreign trading companies to waste any time at a convention.

[tritsofme]

19. I hear Bill Owens named floated around (Colorado gov)

Mitt Romney (Mass Gov) seems pretty moderate by repug standards, and fairly young.

Mark Sanford (NC Gov) is a fairly young man.

I've heard Norm Coleman's name mentioned.

Of course you hear about Condi Rice and Colin Powell, but both of them are getting up there in age.

The only way Jeb could run would be if Dumbya wins in November, otherwise I think the Bush legacy will be finally over.

I personally think that John McCain will be the Republican nominee in 2008.

Unless they maintain the tradition of only nominating a Bush or a Dole, and someone like Liddy Dole gets a spot on the ticket. hehe

But I assure you that you will see at least the first four listed in a Republican primary in the next 10-20 years.

[starroute]

37. Sanford (1960) is the only youngish one of the bunch

Owens - 1950
Romney - 1947
Coleman - 1949

I'm not asking about people who will still be young enough to run for president 4 or 8 years from now. I'm looking for up-and-comers -- people whose personalities outline the future of the Republican Party.

[liberalpragmatist]

38. Mark Sanford's SC

NC governor is Mike Easley - a Democrat. But, I looked Mark Sanford up, gov. of SC - potentially a "rising star".

Mitt may be too, but he's too liberal for the party, methinks. Possibly in 12 years or something, if a period of Democratic/Progressive dominance occurs, then the Republicans will go through a "New Republican" phase like the DLC and there will be a moderate/liberal Republican as the nominee. But Mitt will probably be long gone.

Most of the others from the NE are too liberal. Arnold's foreign-born, and I honestly don't think he would run for President even if he could - he seems perfectly content to just be governor and then go off and make more money. He's not a statesman, nor does he look like he wants to be.

[milkyway]

20. Dick Cheney.

[LTR]

21. Strom Thurmond

[Aftershock]

33. LOL.

That's sick...yet funny!

[eleny]

59. Heh...heh...yeah - he's more percolating than rising!

[LSdemocrat]

22. Dubya has nowhere to go but up

[GoneOffShore]

24. Santorum?

He's a bad joke except in Pennsylbama.

I'd watch out for Jeb. But I'm sure because of that Florida connection there's some serious weirdness going on.

[goclark]

26. Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars

where are you, come out, come out!

I don't know of any, Aaarnold is a has been movie star.

They can round up all the Media Whores and put stretch them across the stage. They could make it like a Line Up and we could have call in votes for the Media Whore Of The Republican Party.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

28. I think they were trying to groom Frist for the "top spot in the

corporation" (credits to Apocalypse now). Because on paper, his credentials look good.

But his complete and utter lack of charisma/personality is very apparent on the slightest inspection. He is truly a soulless ghoul.

I really think that playing up the cult of the Bush family has really hurt the Repubs. By definition when you run things this way, there really is no room for any other meaningful "stars" in the politburo, because no one is really running anything except shrubco/Roveco.

[samplegirl]

31. Thats Entertainment

For entertainment........i guess we can count on Toby Keith
and Wayne Newton.........oh boy i can hardly wait!!!!!!!!!!

[newyawker99]

51. Hi samplegirl!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[samplegirl]

53. hello N.Y.

Thanks Newyawker,
Nice to finally be able to post instead of just
read. I love D.U. so many intelligent comments.

[Must_B_Free]

32. Ted Nugent

;)

[JSJ]

36. hitler youth n/t

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

43. The 'Boys From Brazil' Hitler clones should now be maturing

[liberalpragmatist]

39. Melissa Hart, Patrick Fitzgerald, Bobby Jindal

I agree. There really aren't that many that we can point to and say that these are big rising stars. Then again, I'm ignorant of most Republican politics on a lower-level - you know, the House, or lower state offices/state legislatures.

Mitt Romney's too old and probably too liberal for the natl' party. Someone said Mark Sanford of SC - maybe, I don't know enough about him.

I guess there are some though:
1. Melissa Hart, PA Congresswoman
2. Patrick Fitzgerald - Illinois State Attorney - very popular and anti-corruption (no relation to Sen. Peter Fitzgerald)
3. Bobby Jindal - running for Congress after barely losing Governor's race in Louisiana.

* As an Indian-American I must say that we HAVE to counter this guy. There are some fine Democratic Indian-American state legislators that have intentions of running for Congress. Hopefully if these guys can become prominent the Democrats can solidify Indian-American support. Indian-Americans have tended to be Democrats by a wide margin, but haven't been the most politically aware until recently. They have LOTS of money, and the party could use them as a good fundraising base and as a source of good pols, like how Jewish-Americans fit well within the Democratic Party. But if Jindal goes too far too quickly, I fear too many Indian-Americans will go Republican.

But you're right, I don't think any of them have the promise that Obama has.

[starroute]

45. Fitzgerald is the Plame case investigator?

That does put him in a strange position. Still, if the Republican Party comes out of all this looking really dirty, they might be willing to embrace someone as squeaky-clean as Fitzgerald to clean up their image.

I couldn't find much about Hart except anti-abortion stories. Does she have any other issues?

And I recall now hearing Jindal's name before. He does seem to be making an impression on people. What are his politics like?

[liberalpragmatist]

47. Jindal is VERY conservative

He's running as a Republican in Louisiana. He's also not Hindu, but a Catholic convert. I mean no disrespect by that - I just worry if he has the zeal of a convert. Certainly he preaches religious fundamentalism.

On the other hand, he does see himself as a reformer, who likes to shake things up, and I read his platform when he was running for governor - there were reasonable things in there. For instance, the establishment of a Louisiana Community College system and some other reforms that sounded reasonable.

But I probably still wouldn't vote for him. Too much in bed with big business and, while VERY smart (graduated many years early, prodigy, went to Brown (figure that one out!), Rhodes Scholar), he's WAY too far right for me and most Dems. But of all that I've mentioned, I see him as probably the closest thing the Republicans have to an Obama. We should watch out. (http://www.bobbyjindal.com/jindal_for_congress/about_bobby.html)

[starroute]

44. Steele, Ryan, Fitzgerald, Santorum, Hannity, Sanford (all 1958-61)

These are the only names of people under 50 that have been tossed out so far. The others are all significantly older -- even Frist (1952) and Jebbie (1953). (And McCain was born in 1936 -- he's almost 70.)

Of those half dozen, Ryan has already discredited himself, Santorum isn't worth taking seriously, Steele doesn't sound very plausible, and whoever mentioned Fitzgerald said the party had already rejected him. Sanford is the only one who looks promising.

I'm starting to get the uneasy feeling that the Republicans may be forced to continue on the path of resorting to celebrity candidates and ambitious businessmen. They certainly aren't developing a lot of home-grown talent.

I'm a strong believer in a two-party system. I would love to see the Republican Party clean house and remake itself on a basis of genuine conservative values. But at this point, I can't see that as being very likely to happen.

[Selwynn]

46. Satan. (nt)

[pstokely]

48. Matt Blunt

son of Roy Blunt

[ThePhilosopher04]

49. Bobby Jindal, (Louisiana) nm.

nm

[newyawker99]

52. Hi ThePhilosopher04!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[neverborn]

50. Erin Zweigart

http://www.erinzweigart.com/

12th Congressional District, IL.

She's freakin nuts!

[fob]

55. Katherine Harris

You may have heard of her, outta Florida.

:evilgrin:

On Edit: I apologize profusely. I was just checking "My Posts" and caught that the thread asked if anyone knew of repuke rising STARS, I swore it said WHORES when I posted originally. Please disregard my suggested person above for the STARS category. :evilgrin::evilgrin:

[smirkymonkey]

56. What? No Bush Twins?

:puke: :puke: :puke:

Just kidding. That would be a nightmare come true. "The Bush Dynasty reigned for 200 years" ARRaaagggghhhhhhh....:nuke:

[lastliberalintexas]

57. Actually,

I was expecting someone to name them. Or George P. Bush, who the Bush family uses to try to attract the Hispanic vote.

I think George P. is more likely, since his youthful escapades haven't gotten the media the twins' have. And of course, he's a man- all the better for the sexists on the right.

[ancillaryidealist]

58. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)

Being from WI and in Ryan's district it seems to me that they are grooming him for perhaps a run at Sen. Kohl's spot in the very near future.

http://www.house.gov/ryan/

[RowWellandLive]

61. Eric Cantor, Rep from VA

He's Jewish, telegenic, and looks young.

[Worthless Teen]

62. Bill Owens

Governor of CO