By TIM MAK | 3/2/12 8:33 AM EST Columnist George Will says the 2012 presidential race looks like it might be a lost cause for Republicans and believes that the primary goal of conservatives should be to retain control of the House and win the Senate so Congress can restrain President Barack Obama while the GOP grooms its talent for 2016.
“Romney and Rick Santorum… are conservatives, although of strikingly different stripes. Neither, however, seems likely to be elected… If either is nominated, conservatives should vote for him,” Will writes in his upcoming Sunday column, obtained in advance by POLITICO Playbook by Mike Allen. Continue Reading
However, Will argues, that control of both house of Congress is more attainable and more important.
“[T]here would come a point when… conservatives turn their energies to a goal much more attainable than… electing Romney or Santorum president. It is the goal of retaining control of the House and winning control of the Senate.. [C]onservatives this year should have as their primary goal making sure Republicans wield all the gavels in Congress in 2013,” writes Will.
Will argues that a Republican-controlled Congress would be able to strongly oppose the president’s agenda.
“If Republicans do, their committee majorities will serve as fine-mesh filters, removing President Obama’s initiatives from the stream of legislation … [A] re-elected Obama — a lame duck at noon next Jan. 20 — would have a substantially reduced capacity to do harm,” he says.
Will asserts that the GOP has a group of capable candidates waiting in the wings.
“From Louisiana’s Gov. Bobby Jindal to Wisconsin’s Rep. Paul Ryan, Republicans have a rising generation of potential 2016 candidates. … [T]he presidency is not everything, and there will be another election in the next year divisible by four,” he says.
