The 2016 Republican Candidates

[Thundercrack85]

So, that clown car is getting mighty full. The Republicans now have 8 declared candidates. That's a lot, considering there are several viable and likely candidates still waiting to jump in.

What I find most interesting, is that none of these current candidates are easily dismissible, at least if you're a Republican. Even the Fox News polls (which leave out Rand Paul), put most of them at 10%, or close.

So far we have: Dr. Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Rick Santorum.

Pretty much everyone agrees that Jeb Bush will throw his hat in the ring. Unless Scott Walker is planning to run for governor in Iowa, his frequent trips probably mean that he'll be running soon too.

Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal have been picking fights with Rand Paul, and opining on national policy, so they may jump in too. Rick Perry is clearly toying with the idea. And then there's Lindsey Graham. I think that's a Daily Show pipe dream, but at this point, why not?

How is this going to work with so damn many people?

 

[SV Fan]

How is this going to work with so damn many people?

Personally for the first couple debates I would just randomly divide them into 2 groups and have 2 separate debates. From what I hear Fox news is just going to pick the top 10 based on current polling(although I am guessing their will be some funny business in order to get certain people in), CNN is going to split the candidates into Teir 1, Teir 2.

 

[Decepticonus]

Haven't they had alot in the past as well? Maybe just not this many people.

 

[SV Fan]

Haven't they had alot in the past as well? Maybe just not this many people.

In 2012, they had something like 22 debates. I think the higher ups thought that was a problem because it almost became a sideshow(and hurt the eventual candidate Romney in the process) so they cut it down to something like 12 debates this time around.

As I said I look at the amount of candidates this time around and don't think it would hurt the party to randomly divide them into 2 groups for the first 2-3 debates(then you can shrink it down to 10 guys for remaining ones)

 

[BatmanVSuperman]

So, that clown car is getting mighty full. The Republicans now have 8 declared candidates. That's a lot, considering there are several viable and likely candidates still waiting to jump in.

What I find most interesting, is that none of these current candidates are easily dismissible, at least if you're a Republican. Even the Fox News polls (which leave out Rand Paul), put most of them at 10%, or close.

So far we have: Dr. Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Rick Santorum.

Pretty much everyone agrees that Jeb Bush will throw his hat in the ring. Unless Scott Walker is planning to run for governor in Iowa, his frequent trips probably mean that he'll be running soon too.

Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal have been picking fights with Rand Paul, and opining on national policy, so they may jump in too. Rick Perry is clearly toying with the idea. And then there's Lindsey Graham. I think that's a Daily Show pipe dream, but at this point, why not?

How is this going to work with so damn many people?

Well, considering that the democrats have had Presidency for last 8 years and have a front runner in Hillary... it makes sense that the republican field would have a ton of people getting into the race.

 

[Decepticonus]

It doesn't matter who gets the nomination but more matters if they can change their campaign style this time instead of running it more like a campaign from the 80's.

 

[SV Fan]

It doesn't matter who gets the nomination but more matters if they can change their campaign style this time instead of running it more like a campaign from the 80's.

Running a campaign from the 80s would be a 30 year improvement on running it like it was from the 50s.

Maybe they can use this as the RNC theme song

[YT]g4uGkLRjR1I[/YT]

 

[CaptainWagner]

I still say stick them all on an island and pick the candidate Survivor style

 

[Taarna]

So, that clown car is getting mighty full. The Republicans now have 8 declared candidates. That's a lot, considering there are several viable and likely candidates still waiting to jump in.

What I find most interesting, is that none of these current candidates are easily dismissible, at least if you're a Republican. Even the Fox News polls (which leave out Rand Paul), put most of them at 10%, or close.

So far we have: Dr. Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Mike Huckabee, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, and Rick Santorum.

Pretty much everyone agrees that Jeb Bush will throw his hat in the ring. Unless Scott Walker is planning to run for governor in Iowa, his frequent trips probably mean that he'll be running soon too.

Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal have been picking fights with Rand Paul, and opining on national policy, so they may jump in too. Rick Perry is clearly toying with the idea. And then there's Lindsey Graham. I think that's a Daily Show pipe dream, but at this point, why not?

How is this going to work with so damn many people?

Santorum and Huckabee at their best were 3rd to 4th in a presidential race.

Chrisite is yesterdays news.

Cross them off the list.

Jeb Bush has the best record as a two time successful govenor, a good team around him, and the best funding by far. He'll win unless he can't regain his political sea legs. Bush has the ability to win a must have state for the GOP in Florida, and should do much better with Latino's. Both are needed for a GOP victory in 2016. His stance on immigration will be tough for the left to target, and he's famous.

If Jeb slips, I think Marco Rubio could end up the winner. Rubio can re-energize the conservative base, rates well with the disenfranchised religious right, and speaks common sense. At this point he seems very authentic as a person, a polar opposite of Hillary Clinton.

Paul won't rate well with Women.

Walker speaks well, but his track record in Wisconsin is easy to pick apart.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Santorum and Huckabee at their best were 3rd to 4th in a presidential race.

Huckabee and Santorum at their best actually came in second in 2008 and 2012. Huckabee won the second most delegates in 2008 and would have most likely passed Romney in the popular vote if he stayed in for just a few more contests (he probably would have won Mississippi, Kentucky, and Nebraska had he not dropped out). Santorum was a genuine threat to Romney thanks to the perfect combination of luck (he was the only not-Romney candidate who was not knocked overboard due to scandal or stupidity) and genuine skills as a candidate.

I think you're also seriously overlooking as to why they were able to get traction in the first place. Unlike McCain, Romney, and in this case Bush, Santorum and Huckabee were able to connect to the Average Joe far more effectively than the Republican elites ever could. Huckabee was an evangelical populist governor from Arkansas and Santorum gave off a sense of genuineness on the campaign trail.

I think the problem with Huckabee today is that he's been out of the game for far too long. He's no longer the populist with firm roots in the middle class back when he was governor of Arkansas. After 2008, he became a part of the media elite with his Huckabee show doing things like building mansions in Florida. He no longer represents the populist faction of the Republican Party anymore and has essentially become exclusively an evangelical and even his God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy comes off as phoney now.

Santorum just might be a bit more viable in this aspect because he didn't follow the Huckabee route. I think he has the potential to still be attractive to the lower class voters that he appealed to in 2012 unlike the Huckabee of today.

That said, I think that with the combination of Huckabee, Santorum, Carson, and Cruz, the evangelical vote that these candidates have become so reliant on, just might cannibalize each other.

Chrisite is yesterdays news.

Cross them off the list.

Yeah, Christie's done for already. He moved far too slowly to start a campaign and allowed Bush to siphon his support away. His best chance would have been 2012, not 2016.

Jeb Bush has the best record as a two time successful govenor, a good team around him, and the best funding by far. He'll win unless he can't regain his political sea legs. Bush has the ability to win a must have state for the GOP in Florida, and should do much better with Latino's. Both are needed for a GOP victory in 2016. His stance on immigration will be tough for the left to target, and he's famous.

I think Bush is the favorite at this point.

If Jeb slips, I think Marco Rubio could end up the winner. Rubio can re-energize the conservative base, rates well with the disenfranchised religious right, and speaks common sense. At this point he seems very authentic as a person, a polar opposite of Hillary Clinton.

Rubio's problem is that he's everyone's second choice. He can be a very potent national candidate but I think that the audience that he's trying to attract have already been gobbled up.

Paul won't rate well with Women.

Paul has money problems. His attempts to get a mega-donor to back him from the Kochs to libertarian Silicon Valley have ended in failure.

Walker speaks well, but his track record in Wisconsin is easy to pick apart.

I think Walker is the favorite to become the Vice Presidential candidate.

 

[DJ_KiDDvIcIOUs]

Santorum and Huckabee at their best were 3rd to 4th in a presidential race.

Chrisite is yesterdays news.

Cross them off the list.

Jeb Bush has the best record as a two time successful govenor, a good team around him, and the best funding by far. He'll win unless he can't regain his political sea legs. Bush has the ability to win a must have state for the GOP in Florida, and should do much better with Latino's. Both are needed for a GOP victory in 2016. His stance on immigration will be tough for the left to target, and he's famous.

If Jeb slips, I think Marco Rubio could end up the winner. Rubio can re-energize the conservative base, rates well with the disenfranchised religious right, and speaks common sense. At this point he seems very authentic as a person, a polar opposite of Hillary Clinton.

Paul won't rate well with Women.

Walker speaks well, but his track record in Wisconsin is easy to pick apart.

Haha Rubio is a bumbling moron and most of FL hates him for his dumbassery. Not sure where you get your news on him but he couldn't even handle giving the state of the union rebuttal

 

[hippie_hunter]

Most politicians have negative approval ratings, but even Democrats see Rubio as a potential serious threat as opposed to the rest of the clown car.

 

[NYR94]

At this point, I like Rubio and Walker. I think Paul is a bit too far to the right along with Ted Cruz. Huckabee, Bush, Christie, Santorum and Graham represent more of the same failed policies that's gotten this country into the mess it's in currently.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Well, Rubio does seem downright sane compared to some of these characters. But he's still a lightweight. And this cynical Republican Latino ploy isn't going to work.

I am actually surprised that Lindsey Graham declared his candidacy. I can't wait to see how that's going to play out.

I am bummed that Herman Cain isn't coming back. He was the highlight of 2012 for me.

 

[SV Fan]

Well, Rubio does seem downright sane compared to some of these characters. But he's still a lightweight. And this cynical Republican Latino ploy isn't going to work.

I think Rubio made a huge blunder coming up with immigration reform(along with 7 other senators) then turning his back on it a couple days later when the base hated it.

If he could have used his influence to get that bill passed in the House(it passed in the Senate) it would have showed he was a big boy who can get stuff done and doesn't cave into pressure. Instead he looks like a spineless coward who caves into pressure, and also lost of huge chunk of potential latino vote he might have gotten otherwise.

I said this above but I think Jeb is a much bigger threat eating into the Latino vote then Rubio

 

[Bathead]

Are they kidding with this current lineup? The comics are gonna have a field day with these clowns. (deservedly so, IMO)

 

[Thundercrack85]

You know, for years I have been saying that the Republican Party has become more and more extreme in its views and policies.

Seems like an uncontroversial opinion to me. But people here said I was wrong.

Surely now, no one is going to dispute that.

Right?

 

[Schlosser85]

Ted Cruz mocks Joe Biden, then quickly apologizes

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/ted-cruz-mocks-joe-biden-then-rapidly-apologizes-118620.html?cmpid=sf

“Joe Biden … You know what the nice thing is? You don’t even need a punch line. I promise you it works. At the next party you’re at, just walk up to someone and say, ‘Vice President Joe Biden,’ and just close your mouth. They will crack up laughing,”

The insult had been a winner in the past for the Texas Republican — Biden jokes are a staple of his standard stump speeches — but this time the joke drew immediate criticism on social media from people who noted that the vice president is grieving for his son Beau, who died of brain cancer on Saturday at the age of 46.
Cruz subsequently issued an apology on Facebook: “It was a mistake to use an old joke about Joe Biden during his time of grief, and I sincerely apologize. The loss of his son is heartbreaking and tragic, and our prayers are very much with the Vice President and his family.”

He might have made it before, but the timing was....ill-considered.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Rick Perry has announced his candidacy.

 

[Schlosser85]

Ugh.

 

[chaseter]

Ted Cruz mocks Joe Biden, then quickly apologizes

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/ted-cruz-mocks-joe-biden-then-rapidly-apologizes-118620.html?cmpid=sf





He might have made it before, but the timing was....ill-considered.

Politicians that have to attack opponents have no leg to stand on...including the current President.

 

[BatmanVSuperman]

Politicians that have to attack opponents have no leg to stand on...including the current President.

Are you referring to Obama referencing George Bush through his Presidency?

 

[Schlosser85]

Mike Huckabee's two cents about Caitlyn Jenner:

"Now I wish that someone told me that when I was in high school that I could have felt like a woman when it came time to take showers in PE," Huckabee said.

"I'm pretty sure that I would have found my feminine side and said, 'Coach, I think I'd rather shower with the girls today.' You're laughing because it sounds so ridiculous doesn't it?"

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/02/politics/mike-huckabee-transgender-caitlyn-jenner/

 

[NYR94]

Are you referring to Obama referencing George Bush through his Presidency?

Ha HA! Perfect!

 

[chaseter]

Are you referring to Obama referencing George Bush through his Presidency?

Referencing? Obama's entire campaign was Bush bashing. It didn't stop for 6 years and still occurred in his second term. Obama didn't have a leg to stand on with his next to no experience what's so ever. That coupled with him being Bush 2.0 is the highest level of irony achieved. Both sides do it but Obama won on it. Attacking others means you have no substance...which Obama didn't have.