Are governors just waiting to move up for ‘08?

When shopping for a president, American voters traditionally favor governors over members of Congress — four of the past five commanders in chief came to the White House via a Statehouse. Governors haven’t fared so well this time, though, presumably because of the post-Sept. 11 need to know a lot about foreign policy. Gov. Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner and former Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh didn’t run. Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack bailed after just three months. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (in photo) is still in it, as is former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and a couple more candidates even less well-known, but the front-runners so far are the senators past and present. And the strongest in the field, Romney, stumbled badly recently by inadvertently using a Fidel Castro phrase to try to reflect South Florida Republicans’ fervent desire for a free Cuba. But “if I were an investor, I’d invest in governors,” said Barry C. Burden, a political-science professor at the University of Wisconsin. “During these next few months, they’re going to begin to introduce themselves.”
Or jump into the race? (Paging Jeb Bush. . . .)
Posted by Rhonda Holman

8 Comments

  1. Ken
    Posted March 27, 2007 at 5:34 am | Permalink

    Bloomberg for President?

    Why does this sound like a good idea? Seems New Yorkers like him more than Guliani. He seems to do a decent job of bringing parties together to work copperatively. A billionaire, he’s not beholding to campaign contributors.

  2. outlander
    Posted March 27, 2007 at 7:31 am | Permalink

    I hope for our country’s sake that the Dems wake up and nominate someone who is qualified, such as Bill Richardson, and deep six the Obama-Hillary show.

    The stakes are too high to take the chance that either of these one term senators could somehow develop executive skills. How those two could be the leading Democratic contenders is beyond me.

  3. Econ101
    Posted March 27, 2007 at 10:14 am | Permalink

    A long while back, I said on this Blog (under my real name) that McCain would NOT be the nominee.

    I said pretty much what was said on this opening thread.

    I don’t know who will be the nominnee in either party, but I sure too some garbage off of lots of folks, here, when I said that Governors have an advantage!

  4. heartlander
    Posted March 27, 2007 at 10:49 am | Permalink

    Bill Richardson was our ambassador to the UN. That’s a pretty strong foreign-policy credential. He was also Energy Secretary. Energy is going to be a pretty important issue. He’s governing a border state which puts him on the frontline of immigration issues.

    He’s somebody to keep an eye on for 08.

  5. mrbill
    Posted March 27, 2007 at 12:46 pm | Permalink

    The one that has them all looking over their shoulder is Fred Thompson. Every campaign out there has people watching him since he has been meeting with money folks in DC and around the country.

    He is pulling 12% from Giulani when he is included in the polls. Being pushed big time by the Repubs to run. He was a Senator and gets weekly screen time on Law and Order as the wise old lawyer.

    And he has stepped up his writings in several recent articles.

    Looks like he is likely in the mix.

    Gonna be fun. With YouTube artists in the mix now going after Hillary or anyone else, it should be an interesting election 2 years.

  6. JWink
    Posted March 27, 2007 at 1:32 pm | Permalink

    Why do mid-term U.S. Senators run for President? Could it be they like to continue to receive their atrocious senatorial salaries, insurance/retirement benefits and the best snacks money can buy … while out preaching to the people.

    And congratulationos to former U.S. Senator, Robert J. Dole, a great Kansan, for resigning from the U.S. Senate when he ran for President. Too bad he didn’t establish a precedent.

  7. Ben Huie
    Posted March 27, 2007 at 1:45 pm | Permalink

    I am in agreement that governors should be looked at. Richarson, Napolitano and others are intriguing. I still think that if Kerry had gone with a MidWest governor history would be very different.

  8. JWink
    Posted March 27, 2007 at 3:40 pm | Permalink

    For me, its all about resumes showing successful presidential level experience. For that reason, I am watching Rudy Giuliani, former New York governor. Never mind his problems with ex-wives.

    But I just googled New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for a refresher on his background. He also has a major league presidential resume with lots of executive experience.