In the first part of an exclusive interview with the Charlottesville Libertarian Examiner, former House Majority Leader Dick Armey expressed his view that Members of Congress and the Obama administration are “economic illiterates.”
In the same conversation, on the eve of the second 9/12 Taxpayer March on Washington, Armey made some predictions about upcoming congressional and presidential elections.
“First of all,” he said, if conservative Republicans “don’t take the Senate this year, we’ll take the Senate in 2012.”
Armey asserted that he could name “at least three current Republican Senators who are very likely to not be renominated by their own party in 2012, due to actions primarily of the small government, grassroots activists in their states.”
‘Obama has already lost’
As for the presidency, Armey stated flatly, “there’s no doubt about it, President Obama has already lost the White House for the Democrats, so the question that we address for 2012 is, it’s not whether or not a Republican wins the White House, but whether or not a conservative wins the White House.”
Grassroots groups like the Tea Party, he said, are “going to have a very active role in examining the Republican selection process and guiding it in the direction of a bona fide, reliable conservative.”
Lamenting past disappointments, Armey added, “We’re a little bit tired of conservatives who get unreliable the day they get sworn in. They really need to hold their conviction beyond that.”
Asked whether the GOP nominee in 2012 will be someone from the lists currently making the rounds of pundits and political consultants, Armey suggested a dark horse candidate might be as likely as any.
‘Old news’ names
“I think it’s very possible it’s somebody we don’t know or don’t really think of in terms of presidential politics right now,” he said, adding, “It seems to me that there’s a whole stable of names you’d come up with that fall under the category of ‘old news.’ They’re not going to be there when the dust settles.”
Two names he mentioned were Mitch Daniels, the governor of Indiana, and South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint.
“If I have my way, Jim will run,” Armey said. “We’ll be talking to him and others.”
Rubio and Christie
He offered other names, as well, including Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio, whom Armey described as “a rock star,” and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who “is making such a great impact on the fiscal front, setting an example” for other political leaders.
All in all, Armey concluded, “we’re going to have a wonderfully intriguing stable of young horses in the race” for 2012.
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