Over at the American Conservative, which is not entirely All Pat Buchanan, All the Time—and Pat, as the only living American Falangist, deserves more respect than he gets—Daniel Larison has a chuckle over George Will’s discomfiture over the “circus” known as the Ames straw poll. Last March, George announced, in the sort of neo-Burkean harumph that is his trademark,
Let us not mince words. There are at most five plausible Republican presidents on the horizon – Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, former Utah governor and departing ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, former Massachusetts governor Romney and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty.
So the Republican winnowing process is far advanced. But the nominee may emerge much diminished by involvement in a process cluttered with careless, delusional, egomaniacal, spotlight-chasing candidates to whom the sensible American majority would never entrust a lemonade stand, much less nuclear weapons.
How’s that list holding up, George? As Dan points out, the only member of George’s fabulous five who appears fully ambulatory at this point is Mitt, if he doesn’t fall prey to Rick “Hang ‘em High” Perry, hovering in the wings and ready to swoop. That ain’t lemonade they’re selling, George, it’s Kool-Aid, and I hope you like the taste.
Afterwords
Dan is still picking Mitt to win, which is reasonable. Despite his defects, he’s got the cash and he’s got the folks, and he’s obviously capable of a long run. Perry, at this stage, needs to prove that he’s more than Fred Thompson with a super weave.
