At the end of a post on the current presidential race, John Hinderaker speculates about future Republican races:
For what it's worth, if McCain gets the nomination this year and loses, in 2012 Mitt Romney will be the presumed candidate, assuming that he keeps himself busy with party activities over the next few years. Romney is relatively young and in excellent health; 2008 could turn out to be a tune-up for him, somewhat as 1976 was for Ronald Reagan.
Personally, I'd like to see John Thune fight Romney for the nomination on 2012, and position himself for 2016 and beyond.
For what it's worth, of all the explanations of McCain's resurgence, the idea the Republican's naturally reward the "next in line," is among the weakest. It is true that the party tends to nominate those who have paid their dues, but let me speculate that that is happenstance, not some conscious decision on the part of voters. Can you really imagine a significant number of Republican voters are saying, "Well, I think [insert non-McCain candidate here] is our best bet, but golly, McCain's paid his dues"?
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