Call it confidence or arrogance, but Valley Republicans expect the next president to be Sen. John McCain, regardless of whom the Democrats put up this fall.

“I don’t think either of the candidates are quality,” Mark Harris, Republican Party chairman in Snyder County, said of Democratic candidates Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. “Mr. Obama is the most inspiring, but he’s an empty suit.”

When asked about Clinton, he laughed, and said: “I don’t believe she’s quality, either, and we’ll leave it at that. ... My question is, What has she truly done? (John) McCain, compared to these two, is overqualified.”

Union County’s Republican Party chairwoman, Yvonne Morgan, was equally ambivalent.

“I’m not too intimidated by either prospect,” she said. “I think we win hands-down. They’re neutralizing each other.”

Morgan said she believes the constant back-and-forth sniping between Obama and Clinton is not only hurting the Democrats, it’s also helping McCain.

“I used to be amused by the infighting between the Democrats, but now it’s just embarrassing,” Morgan said.

Rick Ulrich, Republican Party chairman in Northumberland County, said he believes both Democratic candidates would put up a good fight in the fall, but gives the edge to Clinton on the question of who’s easier to defeat.

“I don’t know if the country wants to go Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton,” he said, referring to the fact that the White House will have been controlled by the same two families for the past 20 years. “The country might be looking for new and fresh ideas.”

He gave credit to Obama for being a “thorough, aggressive campaigner” and a “well-rounded speaker.” But ultimately, Ulrich said, McCain has more experience than both candidates, especially when it comes to the military.

Harris agreed.

“Since we do have troops in harm’s way ... (McCain’s military experience) would be the most qualifying factor, if you will,” Harris said.

Obama holds an advantage over Clinton in pledged delegates and in the primaries’ popular vote totals, but Harris said it would be a mistake for Republicans to let their guard down against the former first lady.

“Hillary Clinton is an incredibly viable candidate,” he said. “She’s a tenacious campaigner, and you do not underestimate her for a second.”

None of the local party representatives thought the negative perception of the Bush administration would really hurt the Republican Party as a whole, but Harris did concede: “It’s very difficult for a party with a president in power for eight years to have the same party re-elected.”