| AP |
Worst fears
According to two men who have run past presidential campaigns on either side of the aisle (unsuccessful ones at that), Barack Obama and John McCain are the two contenders who would put the most fear in the other side.
“If John McCain’s the nominee, he’s the one we’d fear the most,” said Tad Devine, a former top campaign aide to Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.
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“I’m more afraid of Obama,” said Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole’s 1996 campaign.
Speaking at a luncheon panel sponsored by National Journal, Reed also noted major obstacles for the other candidates.
“Republicans aren’t going to want a Huckabee nation,” he said.
And he criticized Rudy Giuliani’s strategy to wait until Florida to compete in a primary. “By the time it gets to Florida, it will be like sand slipping through his fingers,” Reed said.
The panel agreed that the GOP race was a four-way tossup among John McCain, Mitt Romney, Giuliani and Mike Huckabee, with Fred Thompson on the outside looking in. What would it take for Thompson to have a chance? “A four-way bus crash,” Congress Daily’s David Morris said, jokingly.
