Published on 29 December 2014, by M. Tomazy.
The more the merrier, so bless me God!
Our love can thrive in company great;
our honour more and never less.
—from “Pearl,” late 14th century
The Republican presidential nominee is likely to win the White House in 2016. Since 1952, with the only exception being “Reagan’s third term” in 1988, voters have ousted the incumbent party after eight years. Indeed, the candidate of the eight-year incumbent party always does considerably worse in his election than the incumbent running for reelection four years before. Obama won with only 51 percent of the vote in 2012. That’s a bad sign for the 2016 Democratic nominee, who, if history is a guide, is likely to end up with about 45 percent of the vote. So the 2016 GOP nominee has a good shot to be president.
But who, you might ask, should that be?
Good question. And we don’t have an answer. With Friedrich Hayek, we believe in the limits of central planning and foreknowledge. With Adam Smith, we believe in the merits of wide-open competition. With Joseph Schumpeter, we believe in the utility of some creative destruction. With Peter Thiel, we believe that it’s very hard to know ahead of time who can make the leap from zero to one.So our holiday message to Republican primary voters is simple: Take your time before making your choice. Take a good look at all the candidates. Don’t rule individuals in or out because of your own or others’ preconceptions, or because pundits say this or donors say that or the media say God-knows-what. Give each of the candidates a chance to make his or her case, and don’t rush to make up your mind either about who has the best chance to win or who would do best at governing.
Source: The Weekly Standard
