Brace yourself. The 2016 Republican field is going to be HUGE.

Washington Post ^ | 10-20-2014 | Chris Cillizza

[Citizen Zed]

Even though this poll isn't predictive, it is telling.  Two of the top three candidates -- Bush and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- are, at best, 50-50 shots at running. (Bush is entirely unreadable; Huckabee seems smart enough to understand that he had his presidential moment in 2008.) The only other person pulling double digits is Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a status due, at least in part, to voters' familiarity with his last name because of his father's two presidential bids in 2008 and 2012.

Even though this poll isn't predictive, it is telling.  Two of the top three candidates -- Bush and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- are, at best, 50-50 shots at running. (Bush is entirely unreadable; Huckabee seems smart enough to understand that he had his presidential moment in 2008.) The only other person pulling double digits is Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a status due, at least in part, to voters' familiarity with his last name because of his father's two presidential bids in 2008 and 2012.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

I am with Cruz—he is smart and can do the job—VP Slot? Gordy? Newt? Romney?

[plain talk]

I don’t view Cruz as a populist. He is a conventional conservative politician and vice chairman of the NRSC. He is a republican and not an independent. I like the fact he has infiltrated the establishment. :-).

[csivils]

I think this thread is worth a Ted Cruz ping.

[skeeter]

I say populist because it seems he is guided by his conscience and not party fealty, as most republicans seem to be.

[Pollster1]

Unacceptable: Christie, Bush, Rubio, Romney.

Acceptable to great: Paul, Cruz, Jindal.

I would love to see conservatives unite behind a great conservative and sit back to watch the RINOs split their votes in the primaries. Governor Palin would make a fabulous president, but I don’t think she’s running, and I won’t wait to find out. I hope FR will unite behind Cruz (or speak up and convince people of your choice before too many conservatives get into the race) and push him into the race officially. He is a true conservative, and he can win. Demanding perfection risks getting stuck with Christie or some other big government enemy of freedom.

[Sam Gamgee]

I'd say Huckabee is also not acceptable. He is a social conservative but very much a weak kneed candidate when it comes fiscal issues.

[SoConPubbie]

Ted Cruz Ping!

If you want on/off this ping list, please let me know.

Please beware, this is a high-volume ping list!

[NorthMountain]

No, No, No, No, No, No, Maybe, No, Yes, No, Yes, No, Yes.

[Gator113]

Washington Post be damned.

I will vote for Cruz, period.

[upsdriver]

If Sarah Palin runs, I’ll care. If not, I won’t.

[SoConPubbie]

Precisely one name on the list - Rand Paul - can potentially appeal to enough young, white voters to peel them away from the "Strong! Smart! Capable! First Female President!". Even for him it would be an uphill struggle.

Other than that, every single name on the list lacks the credibility on liberty issues to overcome the Left's complete takeover of the culture. See Mark Steyn's latest column for a full explanation of why. If the GOP doesn't play a totally different hand this time, they are done as a force in US politics.

You have got to be kidding!?

You'd be willing to give the POTUS Chair to the guy with the following list of non-Conservative actions and Policy Positions Failures???

Hat tip to SunkenCiv for compiling this list.

• Sec. of State Kerry: U.S. Not Responsible for Chaos in Iraq, Libya
• NANCY PELOSI: IRAQ IS NOT OUR RESPONSIBILITY
• Paul Blames Iraq Crisis on Bush Administration
• Rand Paul Defends Obama Against Dick Cheney

Rand Slams Congress for Funding Egypt's Generals: 'How Does Your Conscience Feel Now?'

Sen. Rand Paul is hammering his fellow senators for keeping billions in financial aid flowing to Egypt's military -- even as Cairo's security forces massacre anti-government activists. [by "anti-government activists" is meant church-burning Christian-murdering jihadists]

[Posted on 08/15/2013 5:44:10 PM PDT by Hoodat]

• Paul: We probably can't get rid of 'Obamacare'
• Paul: We probably can't get rid of 'Obamacare' - [Sep. 21, 2013 9:56 PM EDT ]
• Paul: 'Difficult to turn the clock back' on O-Care
• Rand Paul: GOP 'probably can't defeat' Obamacare
• Rand Paul on abortion: "We're not changing any of the laws until the country is persuaded otherwise"
• Sen. Paul: 'We're Not Changing Any' Abortion 'Laws Until the Country is Persuaded Otherwise'

Rand Paul On Shutdown: "Even Though It Appeared I Was Participating In It, It Was A Dumb Idea"

I said throughout the whole battle that shutting down the government was a dumb idea. Even though it did appear as if I was participating in it, I said it was a dumb idea. And the reason I voted for it, though, is that it's a conundrum. Here's the conundrum. We have a $17 trillion debt and people at home tell me you can't give the president a blank check. We just can't keep raising the debt ceiling without conditions. So unconditionally raising the debt ceiling, nobody at home wants me to vote for that and I can't vote for that. But the conundrum is if I don't we do approach these deadlines. So there is an impasse. In 2011, though, we had this impasse and the president did negotiate. We got the sequester. If we were to extend the sequester from discretionary spending to all the entitlements we would actually fix our problem within a few years.

[Posted on 11/19/2013 12:16:51 PM by Third Person]

• Rand Paul: I think Republicans may have over-emphasized voter fraud
• Rand Paul: Republicans Need to Soften on Social Issues

Rand Paul: Time for GOP to soften war stance

...by softening its edge on some volatile social issues and altering its image as the party always seemingly "eager to go to war... We do need to expand the party and grow the party and that does mean that we don't always all agree on every issue" ... the party needs to become more welcoming to individuals who disagree with basic Republican doctrine on emotional social issues such as gay marriage... "We're going to have to be a little hands off on some of these issues ... and get people into the party," Paul said.

[Posted on 01/31/2013 5:08:50 PM PST by xzins]

• Rand Paul Wants Bigger GOP: 'You Go to a Republican Event and It's All White People'
• (Rand) Paul: GOP Needs to 'Look Like the Rest of America' to Win Again (again)
• Rand Paul slams Cliven Bundy's racist rant
• Rand Paul: Bundy's racist remarks are 'offensive'
• Rand Paul: I'm Open to Voting for Immigration Bill
• Paul: Still hope for immigration reform this year

Rand Paul's immigration speech

...The Republican Party must embrace more legal immigration.

Unfortunately, like many of the major debates in Washington, immigration has become a stalemate-where both sides are imprisoned by their own rhetoric or attachment to sacred cows that prevent the possibility of a balanced solution.

Immigration Reform will not occur until Conservative Republicans, like myself, become part of the solution. I am here today to begin that conversation.

Let's start that conversation by acknowledging we aren't going to deport 12 million illegal immigrants.

If you wish to work, if you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you...

This is where prudence, compassion and thrift all point us toward the same goal: bringing these workers out of the shadows and into being taxpaying members of society.

Imagine 12 million people who are already here coming out of the shadows to become new taxpayers.12 million more people assimilating into society. 12 million more people being productive contributors.

[Posted on 03/19/2013 7:04:07 AM PDT by Perdogg]

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Rand Paul calls on conservatives to embrace immigration reform

Latinos, should be a natural constituency for the party, Paul argued, but "Republicans have pushed them away with harsh rhetoric over immigration." ...he would create a bipartisan panel to determine how many visas should be granted for workers already in the United States and those who might follow... [and the buried lead] "Imagine 12 million people who are already here coming out of the shadows to become new taxpayers...

[Posted on 04/21/2013 1:52:42 PM PDT by SoConPubbie]

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[but he's not in favor of amnesty, snicker, definition of is is]

[x]

That's the follow-up question. Did you really think they'd start the poll off with "If Romney does not run for president ..."?

You can find the original question (which included Romney) and the results here.

Before we say the poll is flawed, consider that only 3 or 4 percent say that Ted Cruz would be their choice. Even if the real figure were double or triple that, it falls short of what most of us would expect. Of course the campaign hasn't even really started and he'll do better if he runs, but isn't this a reality check?

Maybe it's the circles we move in online and the people we talk to on the Internet that aren't representative of typical Republican voters, the 47% of the population that voted Republican last time, or the 50% that would have to go that way again for the GOP to win.

[SoConPubbie]

Maybe it's the circles we move in online and the people we talk to on the Internet that aren't representative of typical Republican voters, the 47% of the population that voted Republican last time, or the 50% that would have to go that way again for the GOP to win.

Or maybe it's the 100 million plus of American Citizens eligible to vote who did not in the last two elections????

You know the ones... The ones not really given a choice when a Socialist (Obama) and a Progressive Liberal(Mitt Romney) were running against each other.

[plain talk]

I would say conservative republican and not populist. Populists say what they think the average guy is thinking - thus get tagged the term “populist”. Cruz is not that popular. As you say Cruz does what he thinks is right based on his conscience. he is quite conventional and knows and works the system. He is an old school politician and conservative in a party that has devolved into RINOS and establishment hacks.

[Tennessee Nana]

Hopefully Sen Rand Paul can make it all the way to the end of the primary period and not be destroyed by the liberal Democrat in GOP clothing Willard..

as more Conservatives join the field Id consider them..

Sen Ted Cruz, Gov Sarah Palin Col Allen West etc..

but they haven’t said anything as yet..

and it will depend who is left standing by the time they get to Tennessee...

BTW that poll needs to be “I do not intend to vote for Willard Mitt Romney but I would vote for

1 Gov Sarah Palin
2 Sen Ted Cruz
3 Col Allen West
4 Sen Rand Paul
etc

[Qwackertoo]

Ted Cruz!

[Eddie01]

Cruz

[x]

And everybody who didn't vote was a conservative?

From the data I've seen nonvoters don't break down much differently from voters, except that they're less committed to politics in general.

For every person who didn't vote because Romney wasn't conservative enough, there must have been many more for whom that wouldn't have made a difference.

[stephenjohnbanker]

” Or maybe it’s the 100 million plus of American Citizens eligible to vote who did not in the last two elections????

You know the ones... The ones not really given a choice when a Socialist (Obama) and a Progressive Liberal(Mitt Romney) were running against each other. “

The GOPe, establishment Republicans don’t want to win. Otherwise, why did they back McCain & Romney, who couldn’t possibly win, because too many conservatives would not vote for them? If Cruz somehow manages to make it to the top, the Chamber of Amnesty/GOPe will try to destroy him. I’m for Cruz, or nobody.

[laplata]

No one else possesses the stones necessary to fix all of obungholes messes, foreign and domestic.

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Not even Cruz-West have the ability to fix this mess but the would be the best team to tackle it.