MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Some of the Republican Party's presumed presidential hopefuls will be in Memphis this March to meet with party activists and try to gain momentum for their campaigns.
The Southern Republican Leadership Conference will meet March 9-12 at the Peabody Hotel.
A number of presumed candidates, including Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, are scheduled to attend and speak.
Also confirmed are Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, another possible presidential candidate, and Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee.
Two dozen others have been invited, including party heavyweights John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Karl Rove, and many will attend.
Political experts say the event can boost the chances of success for some candidates, or put a damper on the hopes of others.
"I think the leadership conference will be the first major cattle show before the 2008 election, and it should be pretty much mandatory attendance for any candidate seeking election in 2008," said Charlie Cook, author of the Cook Political Report.
You know, it doesn't surprise me that the first, big, pre-presidential-election pageant is starting off in a southern state. I'd say the Republicans are going to use the same "southern strategy" that they've used in the last two presidential elections--elect a supposedly moderate Republican, then negatively campaign in southern and western "red states" on hot-buttoned social issues, such as abortion and gay marriage. Of course, toss in some glowing praise at how their Republican candidate will take the fight to the terrorists (while the Democrats will surrender to the terrorists), and you pretty much have their campaign strategy for 2008. The big question is, which of these Republican hopefuls have the money, and organizational resources to survive the 2008 primaries?
2 comments:
Romney is going to come out of this meeting looking like a star.
He probably will--which is why I'm not going to vote for him or any other Republican candidate in 2008. I'm sorry, but with all the criminality and scandals that I've seen for the past five years, I don't trust any Republican--no matter how much they say they're moderate or honest or whatever.
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