Petraeus No Longer a Threat

Despite all that's happened, I remain confident that Barack Obama will be reelected in 2012. That's because I still can't see who on earth the Republicans have who can beat him. I was kind of worried about David Petraeus, but his ability to win a Republican primary are clearly compromised. A couple of times in the last couple of weeks, he's come out against Republican orthodoxy. Yglesias notes that Petraeus told the Senate that tensions between Israel and Palestine is a major problem for American foreign policy in the Middle East. While this might make perfect sense to you and me, and even for moderate Republicans, because it's not completely insane, it dooms Petraeus in the Republican primaries.

I still have trouble seeing anyone but Mitt Romney winning the nomination in 2012. No one really likes him, but in the upcoming Republican civil war, I don't see another legitimate candidate that all sides might agree on. I am at least curious about what former New Mexico governor might do, but since he's an actual libertarian who supports drug legalization instead of a fake one like most Republicans, I don't see him taking the nomination. Then there's Palin, Huckabee, Pawlenty, and the other expected customers, none of which seem to have much of a chance to garner enough delegates.