GOP voter discontent allows new entrants for '08

The Republican field swells to 13 presidential candidates, official and potential.

By Linda Feldmann | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

from the March 13, 2007 edition

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WASHINGTON - Ron Paul, the libertarian congressman from Texas, announced Monday on a C-SPAN call-in show that he is running for president.

Chuck Hagel, the senator and Iraq war critic from Nebraska, also captured national TV time Monday to announce that he may announce a presidential campaign later this year.

Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee senator who now plays a district attorney on "Law & Order," told Fox News on Sunday he might jump in. (Don't confuse him with the other Thompson, Tommy, former governor of Wisconsin who is already a GOP contender.)

Then there's Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker who recently came clean on the adultery in his past in a presumed attempt to clear the air in advance of a presidential run he may announce in the fall.

All four newbies are Republicans, and all four have made headlines in recent days, inserting themselves into an already turbulent race for the GOP nomination. If all four men run and none of the current Republican contenders drop out, that would bring the party's list to 13 candidates.

Why is this happening?

"It's like in physics: nature abhors a vacuum," says Amy Walter, an analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "You have a Republican primary electorate that is not particularly happy with the current crop of candidates, which gives an opening to other folks."

When asked, Republican voters have told pollsters lately that former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is their top pick for the nomination, but many have also shown a lack of awareness of Mr. Giuliani's issue positions – in particular his support of abortion rights, gay rights, and gun control. Supporters of Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the establishment favorite who led the polls for months, argue that when GOP voters learn the details, they will come home to the man whose positions most nearly match their own, even if he sometimes goes maverick on issues such as campaign finance.

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