I Have A Dream

Kathryn Jean Lopez posted this e-mail from an NRO reader:

"I have a crazy idea I'd like to float by you.

The two candidates most acceptable to conservatives, Thompson and Romney, are in not so good shape. The three least acceptable, Huckabee, McCain, and Giuliani, are in relatively good shape. It's entirely possible that the two conservatives will be knocked out early and the eventual nominee will be unacceptable to a large segment of the base.

Fred has chances to win SC; Mitt has chances to win MI. I want both to win and I think there is a way to make it happen.

Two months ago, in a WSJ interview, Mitt opined that the federal government should have a Chief Operating Officer. He himself would be the perfect choice. He "loves data" - he loves working with details.

My crazy idea is that Thompson and Romney join forces now. Thompson would be the President and CEO, Romney would be the COO. Each would play to his strengths. Fred would work on broad principles and policies (many have commented that he has the most complete set of positions on taxes, entitlements, etc.); Mitt would actually run the government on a day-to-day basis. He would tear into the Washington bureaucracy, reorganize it, and fix it - exactly what he wants to do and has done so well before.

I think this ticket might very well sweep the primaries. They could even invite McCain to join them as SecDef. And maybe Giuliani could be Sec of Homeland Security.

If they announced this "merger" they could avoid months of potentially acrimonious campaigning with tens of millions of dollars of expenses. They could get a head start on campaigning against the Democrats instead of against other Republicans. If the team declared they would stop earmarks and other wasteful spending they might put some spine into Congressional Republicans and thus develop a campaign issue for them.

I believe that this ticket is the best possible ticket for Republicans and could be the best ever administration in terms of restructuring and downsizing Washington."

The only problem with this scenario is that the guys with the biggest egos in the room all want the same job. And it makes waaaaay too much sense.