It will be remarkable if Lou Dobbs does not shortly start a career as a Republican politician. With both major parties in ill repute, and a vast, unrepresented electorate of "independent voters, neo Republicans without a home, one would have to go to central casting to find a candidate whose image better suited the needs of that political diaspora.
Dobbs' resume, before 9/ll, describes a Walter Cronkite of capitalism, a man whose business acumen is legendary. His demeanor, cranky as it may seem on occasion lately, is in the main characterized by a paternal gravitas, perfect for the "stern father figure traditionally favored by Republicans. He exudes the competence dramatically absent from Sarah Palin. He has no identification with the theologically "pure religious right of Mike Huckabee. And he doesn't offend with the elitist aristocratic bearing of Mitt Romney.
Further, as a social conservative, there is no one better, currently, to, as Rosalynn Carter once said of the iconic Ronald Reagan, "make people comfortable with their prejudicies. Dobbs may just be the man to put a stake in the heart of Rahm Emanuel's dream of a triangulated Democratic Party.