Dem: It'll be fun running against this GOP field
Democrat Dee Dee Myers, who was press secretary under the Clinton administration, says the current Republican presidential field provides Democrats with a "wealth of opportunity" to "have some fun" in the 2012 election - but that Mitt Romney would be the "toughest candidate" for President Obama to beat.
Myers, speaking in a political roundtable on Sunday's "Face the Nation," said Democrats would be happy if "the most unelectable candidate" got the GOP nomination.
"We'd be thrilled to have Newt Gingrich be the nominee," Myers offered to CBS' Bob Schieffer. "Not only is he a misanthrope, he's mercurial and not particularly disciplined. A good proportion of his ideas are way out there. He'd be fun to run against."
Democrats would be "excited," too, to see Rick Perry get the nod, she said.
"The general consensus is he's too far right for most of the country," Myers told Schieffer.
"There's a wealth of opportunity in the Republican primary field for Democrats to have some fun," Myers said, but added that "probably the one that people think is most... looks like the toughest candidate is Mitt Romney."
Also appearing on the program, Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker said that Herman Cain, who has come under fire after a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him came to light, may be able to weather his recent troubles if he can convince voters that the media is "out to get him."
"I think he's counting on it blowing over," Parker said, of the controversy. "There's a precedent for that. Americans have a very short attention span. He's hoping that as he just continues to blow reporters off and focus on the things that he wants to talk about - essentially 9-9-9 - you know, that eventually people will just forget.
"He's also playing kind of the victim card," Parker added. "He's suggesting that all of these people are out to get him. That resonates with a certain part of the Republican Party. They're very happy to say, 'Look, don't pick on our man!' The more you pick on him, the more they're going to support him. He's feeding on that."
Still, Myers said she thinks Cain will start to see increased scrutiny in light of the allegations.
"I think this is the kind of thing that starts to sow doubt about who Herman Cain is and whether he's really the best candidate to be the Republican nominee for president," she said. "I think we'll start to see more scrutiny of him on other issues. Last night he looked uncomfortable talking about foreign policy. He didn't want to be there. This is not his strong suit."
And Parker thinks Gingrich may pick up some momentum in the aftermath of Cain's struggles.
"He's certainly the flavor of the week," Parker said, of the former House speaker. "Newt Gingrich does very, very well in debate. He's not really much of a campaigner ... that would be interesting, to have a misanthrope as president. He does very well on the debate format. He's rather refreshing, I have to say, because he'll cut through all the garbage and say what is clear and succinct and obviously true in many cases."
