Why the GOP's unhappiness with its candidates is a 'myth'
The media thinks GOP voters are dissatisfied with their 2012 presidential options, says The Washington Examiner's Byron York. The media's wrong
The movement to coax New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie into the Republican presidential race, says Byron York in The Washington Examiner, has only enforced a bit of Beltway conventional wisdom: That Republicans are deeply unhappy with their current choices . And while that's undoubtedly true of "some GOP elites" — commentators and money men — when you talk to "the people who will actually decide the next GOP presidential nominee," says York, you quickly discover that this conventional wisdom is a "myth." Here's an excerpt:
I have been in Iowa, South Carolina, and Florida in recent weeks and talked with a lot of voters. While a few are unhappy with their choices — there are always some voters who feel that way — there just does not seem to be much overall dissatisfaction with the field. Voters realize there is no perfect candidate in the race — that might be an understatement this time around — but that doesn't mean they believe there is some perfect candidate out there over the horizon, waiting to enter the race. ...
There is a difference between an electorate that is undecided and an electorate that is unhappy with its choices. It may turn out that GOP voters would welcome a new candidate — few voters will ever tell a pollster that they don't want any more choices — but that does not mean they are dissatisfied with what they have now.
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