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Official 2016 GOP thread: Is it really going to be Donald Trump?? (1 Viewer)

Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee announced today! That makes it, officially:

Ben Carson

Ted Cruz

Carly Fiorina

Mike Huckabee

Rand Paul

Marco Rubio

 
Ben Carson, now in the race, has some awesome quotes. He compared the Obama administration to Nazi Germany and warned that there might not be a 2016 election because Obama might declare martial law (sorry Hillary!) he also says that Obamacare is worse than slavery.

Naturally, the Tea Party loves this guy.

 
Ben Carson, now in the race, has some awesome quotes. He compared the Obama administration to Nazi Germany and warned that there might not be a 2016 election because Obama might declare martial law (sorry Hillary!) he also says that Obamacare is worse than slavery.

Naturally, the Tea Party loves this guy.
Carson has spoken publicly about his views on evolution and creationism, once telling a convention of the National Science Teachers: “Evolution and creationism both require faith. It’s just a matter of where you choose to place that faith.”
 
Ben Carson, now in the race, has some awesome quotes. He compared the Obama administration to Nazi Germany and warned that there might not be a 2016 election because Obama might declare martial law (sorry Hillary!) he also says that Obamacare is worse than slavery.

Naturally, the Tea Party loves this guy.
Just a reminder, the NYT did this too.

That being said Carson is probably just what the Democrats ordered in terms of how to paint the GOP.

 
Mike Huckabee's speech was pretty fiery last night. He said that we have lost our way as a country- 50 million babies have been "murdered" thanks to abortion. Christian beliefs are under attack, specifically by proponents of gay rights.

He then added in economic populism and almost sounded like Elizabeth Warren as he attacked the TPP, promoted raising the minimum wage (can't wait to see him sell THAT one in GOP debates!) and then raised concerns about the state of American workers "left behind by corporate America."

All the while he sounded folksy and charming. He really is a better speaker than just about any other candidate out there. Tony Orlando serenaded the crowd and Chuck Norris put in an appearance.

 
:popcorn: you guys are gonna have what, 20 candidates? Really rooting for a brokered convention with like 237 ballots - old school.

-QG

 
:popcorn: you guys are gonna have what, 20 candidates? Really rooting for a brokered convention with like 237 ballots - old school.

-QG
Reibus (head of RNC) keeps insisting the debates will be limited to 8 candidates. That's gonna be tough. My guess: Bush

Walker

Cruz

Paul

Christie

Rubio

Huckabee

Fiorina

That leaves Carson, Santorum, Jindal, Perry, Kasich et al on the outside looking in.

 
:popcorn: you guys are gonna have what, 20 candidates? Really rooting for a brokered convention with like 237 ballots - old school.

-QG
Reibus (head of RNC) keeps insisting the debates will be limited to 8 candidates. That's gonna be tough. My guess:Bush

Walker

Cruz

Paul

Christie

Rubio

Huckabee

Fiorina

That leaves Carson, Santorum, Jindal, Perry, Kasich et al on the outside looking in.
First 8 to solve these move on to the debates:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/3f/ba/2b/3fba2b3ea3fdf6b36cd3fd9c74921d5e.jpg

Btw, I wouldn't assume Christie being safe in that debate spot. Especially if it ends up decided by poles. And if it's not I could still see them giving that spot to Carson.

-QG

 
:popcorn: you guys are gonna have what, 20 candidates? Really rooting for a brokered convention with like 237 ballots - old school.

-QG
Reibus (head of RNC) keeps insisting the debates will be limited to 8 candidates. That's gonna be tough. My guess:Bush

Walker

Cruz

Paul

Christie

Rubio

Huckabee

Fiorina

That leaves Carson, Santorum, Jindal, Perry, Kasich et al on the outside looking in.
I don't see where Carly has any business on the stage other than as the token female.

 
What an insane number of candidates, let's try to get 'em all on one list...

Bush, Walker, Rubio, Paul, Huckabee, Carson, Cruz, Santorum, Graham, Snyder, Kasich, Fiorina, Jindal, Perry, Christie, Trump

That's 16 right there. And yeah, I know Trump has clowned this process a million times but I will put him on here as he apparently took the step of putting actual human beings in New Hampshire and Iowa. And I feel like I am missing a couple.

-QG

 
:popcorn: you guys are gonna have what, 20 candidates? Really rooting for a brokered convention with like 237 ballots - old school.

-QG
Reibus (head of RNC) keeps insisting the debates will be limited to 8 candidates. That's gonna be tough. My guess:Bush

Walker

Cruz

Paul

Christie

Rubio

Huckabee

Fiorina

That leaves Carson, Santorum, Jindal, Perry, Kasich et al on the outside looking in.
I don't see where Carly has any business on the stage other than as the token female.
Hillary running to be the "first woman president" is different?

At least Fiorina made it through the corporate world, she actually cracked the glass ceiling. Hillary married her way to the top. Yes she has earned it to stay there but that's how it happened.

 
On Tuesday, as I reported, the voters in Michigan went to the polls to vote on a sales tax increase aimed in part – but only in part – at repairing the state’s disintegrating roads. The turnout was far larger than I expected. Something like one voter in four actually showed up – and the results were a sharp rebuke to Governor Rick Snyder and the Republican establishment in Michigan. Although the Republicans scheduled this vote at a time when only those guaranteed to profit from the measure were apt to be paying attention — and although the road-building lobby outspent the opposition by more than twelve-to-one — the voters rejected the initiative four-to-one. This was the most resounding defeat for a ballot initiative since the current Michigan constitution was adopted in 1963. If Snyder and his not-so-merry men were up for reelection tomorrow, they would be voted out in a landslide. That is what happens when a political party betrays its base.
 
:popcorn: you guys are gonna have what, 20 candidates? Really rooting for a brokered convention with like 237 ballots - old school.

-QG
Reibus (head of RNC) keeps insisting the debates will be limited to 8 candidates. That's gonna be tough. My guess:Bush

Walker

Cruz

Paul

Christie

Rubio

Huckabee

Fiorina

That leaves Carson, Santorum, Jindal, Perry, Kasich et al on the outside looking in.
I don't see where Carly has any business on the stage other than as the token female.
Hillary running to be the "first woman president" is different?

At least Fiorina made it through the corporate world, she actually cracked the glass ceiling. Hillary married her way to the top. Yes she has earned it to stay there but that's how it happened.
Hillary was Secretary of State and US Senator.

Fiorina was a failed head of a corporation.

-QG

 
On Tuesday, as I reported, the voters in Michigan went to the polls to vote on a sales tax increase aimed in part – but only in part – at repairing the state’s disintegrating roads. The turnout was far larger than I expected. Something like one voter in four actually showed up – and the results were a sharp rebuke to Governor Rick Snyder and the Republican establishment in Michigan. Although the Republicans scheduled this vote at a time when only those guaranteed to profit from the measure were apt to be paying attention — and although the road-building lobby outspent the opposition by more than twelve-to-one — the voters rejected the initiative four-to-one. This was the most resounding defeat for a ballot initiative since the current Michigan constitution was adopted in 1963. If Snyder and his not-so-merry men were up for reelection tomorrow, they would be voted out in a landslide. That is what happens when a political party betrays its base.
Who are you quoting?

Anyway back to :popcorn: mode - if I've missed anybody please feel free to add to the list I made.

-QG

 
:popcorn: you guys are gonna have what, 20 candidates? Really rooting for a brokered convention with like 237 ballots - old school.

-QG
Reibus (head of RNC) keeps insisting the debates will be limited to 8 candidates. That's gonna be tough. My guess:Bush

Walker

Cruz

Paul

Christie

Rubio

Huckabee

Fiorina

That leaves Carson, Santorum, Jindal, Perry, Kasich et al on the outside looking in.
I don't see where Carly has any business on the stage other than as the token female.
Hillary running to be the "first woman president" is different?

At least Fiorina made it through the corporate world, she actually cracked the glass ceiling. Hillary married her way to the top. Yes she has earned it to stay there but that's how it happened.
Hillary was Secretary of State and US Senator.

Fiorina was a failed head of a corporation.

-QG
I said "Yes she has earned it to stay there" - but she got there by marrying Bill, and that's the polite version, no two ways about it.

Like I said, Fiorina got there herself. I'm not vouching for her, but she is what being a modern woman is supposed to be about. Hillary talks about cracking the glass ceiling, Fiorina crashed right through it.

 
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I don't see where Carly has any business on the stage other than as the token female.
Hillary running to be the "first woman president" is different?

At least Fiorina made it through the corporate world, she actually cracked the glass ceiling. Hillary married her way to the top. Yes she has earned it to stay there but that's how it happened.
Hillary was Secretary of State and US Senator.Fiorina was a failed head of a corporation.

-QG
Hillary's also polling at more than 0%.

 
I don't see where Carly has any business on the stage other than as the token female.
Hillary running to be the "first woman president" is different?

At least Fiorina made it through the corporate world, she actually cracked the glass ceiling. Hillary married her way to the top. Yes she has earned it to stay there but that's how it happened.
Hillary was Secretary of State and US Senator.Fiorina was a failed head of a corporation.

-QG
Hillary's also polling at more than 0%.
Well she kind of has that on everybody. She has max name recognition, and outside of Bush it's mostly people who follow politics who know the names.

Sanders and O'Malley might be around 10% also (an that's in IA and NH), but they also have very low negatives compared to Hillary. To know her is to love/dislike her and everyone knows her.

 
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QG, I predict Fiorina will be in the 8 because she's a girl. That's the only reason.
When Hillary says, "vote for me because I will be the first woman president," that's different, right?
Has she ever said that?
"Dont you suppose that one day, youll want to see a woman run for president?
First speech out the gate.
And she still hasn't said that. :lol:

 
BTW, Saints, what I wrote was not meant to be an attack against Fiorina. I actually kind of like her. I don't agree with her all the time but she makes a lot of sense to me about business issues and especially about the pension problems so many states have. I voted for her for Senator for that reason, BTW.

I'm just stating some political reality here. There's been a lot of talk about Rubio, Jindal, Fiorina, and Carson, how diverse the GOP field is going to be. But when the 8 guys take the stage for the debates, 6 of them are going to be old white men. Rubio is a lock for #7, so that leaves one person for the GOP to "prove" diversity. Carson's a wacko and his platform is word for word the same as Cruz. Jindal is Jindal: boring as hell. And they're running against a woman this time out. So Carly becomes, IMO, a no-brainer despite her numbers. I think she'll be on that stage.

 
QG, I predict Fiorina will be in the 8 because she's a girl. That's the only reason.
When Hillary says, "vote for me because I will be the first woman president," that's different, right?
Has she ever said that?
"Dont you suppose that one day, youll want to see a woman run for president?
First speech out the gate.
And she still hasn't said that. :lol:
Same speech:

"Don't you someday want to see a woman president of the United States?"
Right, she's just saying you really want to see a woman president.... but don't vote for her. Got it.

 
QG, I predict Fiorina will be in the 8 because she's a girl. That's the only reason.
When Hillary says, "vote for me because I will be the first woman president," that's different, right?
Has she ever said that?
"Don’t you suppose that one day, you’ll want to see a woman run for president?”
First speech out the gate.
That's not the same thing.

 
BTW, Saints, what I wrote was not meant to be an attack against Fiorina. I actually kind of like her. I don't agree with her all the time but she makes a lot of sense to me about business issues and especially about the pension problems so many states have. I voted for her for Senator for that reason, BTW.

I'm just stating some political reality here. There's been a lot of talk about Rubio, Jindal, Fiorina, and Carson, how diverse the GOP field is going to be. But when the 8 guys take the stage for the debates, 6 of them are going to be old white men. Rubio is a lock for #7, so that leaves one person for the GOP to "prove" diversity. Carson's a wacko and his platform is word for word the same as Cruz. Jindal is Jindal: boring as hell. And they're running against a woman this time out. So Carly becomes, IMO, a no-brainer despite her numbers. I think she'll be on that stage.
Look I can't vouch for her, I defer to Californians because she ran for Senate there.

But: old white men? Hillary and Sanders are ~70. Who are the old white men in the GOP? Bush maybe?

The "diversity" of the GOP field is interesting just on paper, it's fun to look at and talk about: 2 Hispanics, at least 3 children of immigrants (if you include Jindal), a woman who actually earned her way through the glass ceiling, an African American, they hail from all over the country.

Meanwhile the Demos have Hillary and Sanders who look like a version of Maw & Paw Kettle. All 3 announced candidates are from New England.

It's just you know, fun, but I don't know that it means much, except that it's the kind of thing that Demos love to extol. Of course they've gone from criticizing the GOP for being undiverse to mocking them for being too diverse.

 
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QG, I predict Fiorina will be in the 8 because she's a girl. That's the only reason.
When Hillary says, "vote for me because I will be the first woman president," that's different, right?
Has she ever said that?
"Don’t you suppose that one day, you’ll want to see a woman run for president?”
First speech out the gate.
That's not the same thing.
"Don't you someday want to see a woman president of the United States?"
Same speech.

 
But it's still not the same thing as saying "Vote for me because I'm a woman." She's saying it's an added bonus, like the extra set of steak knives you get on late night tv if you're willing to purchase the cheese slicer tonight.

Anyhow, let's not argue about Hillary in this thread. We've got 2 other threads for that.

 
I think the number of candidates running is the most interesting thing.

The last time I saw a field this big in any race was the NO's mayoral race after Katrina. We had around 20 candidates, some very minor but many pretty well known, with all kinds of platforms. Obviously it was a real crisis, and I think that had something to do with it, but also people saw a chance to make a change, to make a difference, to change old ways, come up with new ideas and propose them with the chance they might be listened to.

Of course Ray Nagin won reelection via largely racial appeal, which is sad but that's what happened. He beat Mitch Landrieu who was perceived (painted) to be the "white" candidate even though his father's mayoralty had been a hallmark of integration and liberal advances. When given the chance for reform people backed into old familiar ways. Landrieu himself is just a scion of an old political family, there were much more innovative and progressive (for me, locally) reform minded candidates and yet they were rejected. In the end it was just a classic old racial election, with one faction from an old machine and on the other side an incumbent drilling the usual racial alphabet groups for support. Same old, same old.

 
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But it's still not the same thing as saying "Vote for me because I'm a woman." She's saying it's an added bonus, like the extra set of steak knives you get on late night tv if you're willing to purchase the cheese slicer tonight.

Anyhow, let's not argue about Hillary in this thread. We've got 2 other threads for that.
Ok I agree on about leaving Hillary out of it but goppers voting for Fiorina because she's "a girl" is no different from Demos who will do the same. Fiorina has much more bona fides on the issue of being a modern American woman btw, just my opinion.

 
I think the number of candidates running is the most interesting thing.

The last time I saw a field this big in any race was the NO's mayoral race after Katrina. We had around 20 candidates, some very minor but many pretty well known, with all kinds of platforms. Obviously it was a real crisis, and I think that had something to do with it, but also people saw a chance to make a change, to make a difference, to change old ways, come up with new ideas and propose them with the chance they might be listened to.

Of course Ray Nagin won reelection via largely racial appeal, which is sad but that's what happened. He beat Mitch Landrieu who was perceived to be the "white" candidate even though his father's mayoralty had been a hallmark of integration and liberal advances. When given the chance for reform people backed into old familiar ways. Landrieu himself is just a scion of an old political family, there were much more innovative and progressive (for me, locally) reform minded candidates and yet they were rejected. In the end it was just a classic old racial election, with one faction from an old machine and an incumbent drilling racial alphabet groups for support. Same old, same old.
I've never seen this many "serious" candidates.

Somewhat like your example, when Gray Davis was recalled from office there were something like 25 people running to take his place, but only 3 "serious" candidates, including Arnold who won. But this is a little different because the field is so big with "serious" candidates.

 
But it's still not the same thing as saying "Vote for me because I'm a woman." She's saying it's an added bonus, like the extra set of steak knives you get on late night tv if you're willing to purchase the cheese slicer tonight.

Anyhow, let's not argue about Hillary in this thread. We've got 2 other threads for that.
Ok I agree on about leaving Hillary out of it but goppers voting for Fiorina because she's "a girl" is no different from Demos who will do the same. Fiorina has much more bona fides on the issue of being a modern American woman btw, just my opinion.
Ignoring Hillary's career prior to becoming FLOTUS is beyond silly.

 
It will be interesting to see who comes out of this and how battered they are once they do. There certainly has not been a Presidential nomination this since as long as I have paid attention to politics. I think this will put even more emphasis on New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina to help figure out the leader board versus in the past it has been more about jumping minor candidates into the upper tier of respectability.

 
But it's still not the same thing as saying "Vote for me because I'm a woman." She's saying it's an added bonus, like the extra set of steak knives you get on late night tv if you're willing to purchase the cheese slicer tonight.

Anyhow, let's not argue about Hillary in this thread. We've got 2 other threads for that.
Ok I agree on about leaving Hillary out of it but goppers voting for Fiorina because she's "a girl" is no different from Demos who will do the same. Fiorina has much more bona fides on the issue of being a modern American woman btw, just my opinion.
Ignoring Hillary's career prior to becoming FLOTUS is beyond silly.
Bill Clinton was elected as Attorney General for the state of Arkansas in 1976.

Hillary was hired by the Rose Law Firm in 1977.

Bill was elected Governor of the state of Arkansas in 1978.

Hillary became a partner at the Rose law firm in 1979.

Whereupon she was later invited to join Wal-Mart's board and you know otherwise representing people and corporations generally constantly seeking favors from the state. Which Bill kinda does the flipside now.

Do the math.

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
tommyGunZ said:
SaintsInDome2006 said:
timschochet said:
But it's still not the same thing as saying "Vote for me because I'm a woman." She's saying it's an added bonus, like the extra set of steak knives you get on late night tv if you're willing to purchase the cheese slicer tonight.

Anyhow, let's not argue about Hillary in this thread. We've got 2 other threads for that.
Ok I agree on about leaving Hillary out of it but goppers voting for Fiorina because she's "a girl" is no different from Demos who will do the same. Fiorina has much more bona fides on the issue of being a modern American woman btw, just my opinion.
Ignoring Hillary's career prior to becoming FLOTUS is beyond silly.
Bill Clinton was elected as Attorney General for the state of Arkansas in 1976.

Hillary was hired by the Rose Law Firm in 1977.

Bill was elected Governor of the state of Arkansas in 1978.

Hillary became a partner at the Rose law firm in 1979.

Whereupon she was later invited to join Wal-Mart's board and you know otherwise representing people and corporations generally constantly seeking favors from the state. Which Bill kinda does the flipside now.

Do the math.
She's a Yale Law School grad. Stop acting like she's a '40s housewife who went from the kitchen to Senator of NY.

 
I didn't say she wouldn't or couldn't have had a successful career without Bill. I'm saying she wouldn't be where she is without Bill. Fiorina actually did it, she broke the glass ceiling, Hillary married an uber successful husband and that's it.

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
tommyGunZ said:
SaintsInDome2006 said:
timschochet said:
But it's still not the same thing as saying "Vote for me because I'm a woman." She's saying it's an added bonus, like the extra set of steak knives you get on late night tv if you're willing to purchase the cheese slicer tonight.

Anyhow, let's not argue about Hillary in this thread. We've got 2 other threads for that.
Ok I agree on about leaving Hillary out of it but goppers voting for Fiorina because she's "a girl" is no different from Demos who will do the same. Fiorina has much more bona fides on the issue of being a modern American woman btw, just my opinion.
Ignoring Hillary's career prior to becoming FLOTUS is beyond silly.
Bill Clinton was elected as Attorney General for the state of Arkansas in 1976.

Hillary was hired by the Rose Law Firm in 1977.

Bill was elected Governor of the state of Arkansas in 1978.

Hillary became a partner at the Rose law firm in 1979.

Whereupon she was later invited to join Wal-Mart's board and you know otherwise representing people and corporations generally constantly seeking favors from the state. Which Bill kinda does the flipside now.

Do the math.
She's a Yale Law School grad. Stop acting like she's a '40s housewife who went from the kitchen to Senator of NY.
Bush went to Yale and Harvard.... but that never impressed you. Why does it impress you with Hillary that she went to Yale Law School?

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
timschochet said:
But it's still not the same thing as saying "Vote for me because I'm a woman." She's saying it's an added bonus, like the extra set of steak knives you get on late night tv if you're willing to purchase the cheese slicer tonight.

Anyhow, let's not argue about Hillary in this thread. We've got 2 other threads for that.
Ok I agree on about leaving Hillary out of it but goppers voting for Fiorina because she's "a girl" is no different from Demos who will do the same. Fiorina has much more bona fides on the issue of being a modern American woman btw, just my opinion.
Again. Hillary was Secretary of State. That's legit bona fides regardless of career path.

Who would be more qualified - Elizabeth Dole or Fiorina? Not close.

She's not even the most qualified female CEO that party could come up with.

Anyway sorry to jump in again.

I do think it'd be interesting to share who you think the 8 will be if they enforce it :)

If they cut the field to 8 (and don't swap any of the 8 for other debates) I think 6 locks (absent an objective measure like polling be used) would be:

Bush

Walker

Paul

Rubio

Fiorina

Carson

And then Huckabee and probably Cruz, but maybe Kasich

I do not consider Christie a lock based on where he is polling. Same with Cruz.

If it's state specific I would venture to say Christie definitely would not be part of an Iowa debate field.

-QG

 
And it is a field long on conventional presidential candidate job titles (Less Herman Cain/Pat Robertson types).

That's usually the starting point for serious candidates. I'll give 'em that (even if they are awful).

Governors/Former Governors: Bush, Walker, Kasich, Snyder, Perry, Jindal, Huckabee, Christie, Pataki (we forgot him, which is understandable)

Senators/Former Senators: Rubio, Paul, Cruz, Graham, Santorum

In terms of volume it really does blow away pretty much every other year. Most I can really recall is 7. While it's possible they won't all make the starting gate it seems like the environment with independent PACs and plentiful alternative media will keep nearly all of them in there. Lieberman's "three-way split decision for third place" back in '04 will seem mighty by comparison to the results some of these folks will get.

No real far west candidate (sorry Fiorina has zero shot) which is interesting.

The fun would come if you have say Walker win Iowa, Bush with New Hampshire, Paul win Nevada and Rubio win South Carolina - with the other 3 amongst them doing various degrees of poorly. It really has the makings of a fractured race.

Brokered convention please :yes:

-QG

 
SaintsInDome2006 said:
timschochet said:
But it's still not the same thing as saying "Vote for me because I'm a woman." She's saying it's an added bonus, like the extra set of steak knives you get on late night tv if you're willing to purchase the cheese slicer tonight.

Anyhow, let's not argue about Hillary in this thread. We've got 2 other threads for that.
Ok I agree on about leaving Hillary out of it but goppers voting for Fiorina because she's "a girl" is no different from Demos who will do the same. Fiorina has much more bona fides on the issue of being a modern American woman btw, just my opinion.
Again. Hillary was Secretary of State. That's legit bona fides regardless of career path.

Who would be more qualified - Elizabeth Dole or Fiorina? Not close.

She's not even the most qualified female CEO that party could come up with.

Anyway sorry to jump in again.

I do think it'd be interesting to share who you think the 8 will be if they enforce it :)

If they cut the field to 8 (and don't swap any of the 8 for other debates) I think 6 locks (absent an objective measure like polling be used) would be:

Bush

Walker

Paul

Rubio

Fiorina

Carson

And then Huckabee and probably Cruz, but maybe Kasich

I do not consider Christie a lock based on where he is polling. Same with Cruz.

If it's state specific I would venture to say Christie definitely would not be part of an Iowa debate field.

-QG
I agree on Hillary/Fiorina, it's just semantics to me. Obviously Senator + SOS is strong no matter how you look at it.

I have to admit the "pick 8" thing has been going :whoosh: my head, sorry about that.

It's a good list above.

Seem like locks:

Rubio

Cruz

Bush

Walker

Paul

I think the final three will be wild cards, we will just have to see how they all fall out. I'm throwing Cruz into the above because he is raising money very well. Someone or more than one will do better than expected and several more will likely declare.

Final 3 I will throw out are:

Fiorina - I think she does this on her own.

Kasich - He's better than you may think, plus OhHiOh.

Graham - if for some reason Ryan jumps in, add him instead.

 
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By the looks of things in NJ I'm not sure Christie will have the breathing space to run. The latest round of pleas doesn't bode well for him, methinks.

 
Carly Fiorina on Seth Meyers.

Carly Fiorina gives a media tutorialIn appearances with Seth Meyers and CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Carly Fiorina demonstrated there is no one better in the GOP in a TV interview, whatever the venue. With Meyers she was fully in tune with the spirit of late-night comedy, telling Meyers she’d just bought his domain name. (And she thereby in a witty way showed how easy it was to capture her own domain before her campaign could snag it.):

And in dealing with climate change, she did not feel compelled to deny science; instead she made the policy argument that it makes no sense for us to destroy jobs when other countries continue with their unabated emissions.

In a more serious setting she easily conversed on CNBC with a panel of business reporters. She gave one of the better descriptions of crony capitalism and embraced the notion of empowering all individuals to achieve their own dreams. When asked to differentiate herself from Jeb Bush, she objected to comprehensive immigration reform but made clear how vital legal immigration is to our economy. She also took issue with Common Core, which she characterized as more big bureaucracy. (To be more accurate, it has been used within the No Child Left Behind bureaucracy as a condition for federal aid.) She knows the base’s hot buttons, but rather than dumb down her message and appeal to a reactionary strain of populism, she is offering a sleek, technology-driven version.

In response to a question as to whether a chief executive whose word was the final say could work in government with other branches, a bureaucracy, and other obstructions she gave a superb answer: She had to persuade and enlist a board, shareholders, suppliers, employees and others. It was a solid point that reminds us that the sort of dysfunctional squabbling we see in government isn’t tolerated in fields where you must get things done.

For those who have not seen her or even heard of her, she could well be a pleasant surprise. She has figured out that being conservative doesn’t mean being stodgy. And she learned along the way as a CEO, party surrogate and board member on various advisory commissions how to make her point forcefully, but congenially. She is able to communicate by her mere presence that being anti-Hillary Clinton does not mean you are anti-woman. For the MSM, which became used to mocking Sarah Palin and former congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), she will not be easily dismissed. In contrast with both lifelong politicians pretending to be “outsiders” and inexperienced pols pretending to be prepared, she makes the case that relevant experience and leadership might better come from those who have been out in the world, in the corporate and philanthropic realms and learning international relations and global economics by doing it. To be blunt, she is going to make a number of her opponents look boring, uninteresting and under-prepared.
 
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Put all the candidates in a 4x4 Hollywood Squares set and make them buzz in to answer panelists' questions.

 
As an employee of HP I can say the Fiorina is not hated (that's reserved for Mark Hurd). Still nobody can manage to talk about her candidacy around here with a straight face.She doesn't merely play the gender card, she absolutely trades on it while pretending she doesn't.

 
Cool little site where you can see how either party gets to 270 electoral votes.

http://pathto270.gop/

Based on this the GOP is fairly skrewed because they essentially have to go something like 7-for-7 or flip some pretty blue states.

Absent that really their only hopes are:

  • The happenstance that the Obama demo was a fluke tied to him. This means black turnout goes down or youth turnout goes down, or any other demo credited to Obama's turnout magic goes down. Basically this would mean BO carried voters who were only interested in him and thus they don't show 2016.
  • Hispanic vote goes 10% back their way. This basically requires Rubio as VP at a minimum IMO.
  • Overall progressive turnout goes down, like it did with McCain and conservatives in 2008. This could happen with Hillary.
  • A maybe 10% turn in the white vote, especially in leaning blue states.
  • No matter what, win Florida. - Again see Rubio.
There are also a couple tabs which show that if the GOP does what they did on the state level, in two different scenarios they would win. But obviously the presidential race has issues and organizational problems that are not posed on the state by state level which the GOP does not seem able to cross yet.

 
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