The truth is, the Republican Party has one of its strongest lineups ever. Yet one would think from polls showing that a third of Republicans are dissatisfied with their choices that they were stuck with a roster of has-beens and also-rans [bold mine-DL]. Spoiled and well fed, they’re the party of Goldilocks in search of the perfect porridge. ~Kathleen Parker

Give me strength.  Republicans largely are stuck with has-beens and also-rans.  Giuliani, McCain and Tommy Thompson fit the former category (sorry, Tommy), and I’m sorry to say that the other candidates generally seem to fit the latter.  If Fred Thompson joins the race, there will be one more has-been in the mix. 

Did Ms. Parker watch the debate last week?  That was one of the strongest GOP line-ups ever?  Well, in a frightening way, she may still have something of a point when you consider that the “credible” and “viable” alternatives to George Bush in 2000 were such giants as Steve Forbes and John McCain (with a field rounded out in the end by Gary Bauer, John Kasich and Alan Keyes).  Even so, supposing for a moment that this is one of the strongest Republican presidential fields of all time, the obvious question has to be: how have the Republicans ever won the Presidency?  The real answer has to be that there actually have been much stronger Republican fields in the past, and also that there have been more propitious times for the GOP than there are right now.  Even if this were a very strong field, which I don’t believe, the eventual nominee has everything going against him.