Posted on 01/23/2014 4:50:23 PM PST by mandaladon
Don't laugh. He has built-in advantages in Iowa and New Hampshire, a party moving in his direction, and formidable fundraising potential. If Chris Christie was ever the frontrunner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, he isn’t anymore. All along, the theory behind his candidacy was that he could overcome his lack of conservative bona fides with a combination of personality, competence, electability, and money. Bridgegate undermines all four.
In the minds of many voters, Christie’s personality has morphed from brash to bully. It’s harder to look competent when your top aides egregiously abused power under your nose. Christie’s supposed electability was based partly on polls showing that he was the only potential Republican nominee running even with Hillary Clinton. But Marist and Quinnipiac, whose surveys showed Clinton and Christie virtually tied in December, now show him trailing her by 13 and 8 points, respectively. The electability argument also depended on Christie’s supposed success in bringing New Jerseyans together across party lines, a harder claim now that Democrats in the state legislature are talking impeachment. And as Christie’s electability erodes, so will his vaunted support among GOP moneymen. As a Republican insider recently told BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins, “There are definitely people jumping ship.”
So if Christie is no longer the candidate to beat in the 2016 Republican race, who is? Believe it or not, it’s Rand Paul.
To understand the Kentucky senator’s hidden strength, it’s worth remembering this basic fact about the modern GOP: It almost never nominates first-time candidates. Since 1980, George W. Bush is the only first-timer to win a Republican nomination. And since Bush used the political network his father built, he enjoyed many of the benefits of someone who had run before.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
Oh, I think he is a willing tool; he was flipped during the POW days.
RE POW:
Yeah... I’ve thought that for a while now. Beatings, torture, mental and physical. Anything is possible. Pavlovian conditioning. When that is constant, some either break completely and do whatever you have to stop it. Some folks can take it longer than others... who the hell knows, right?
Deferential and obeisant to the enemy, hostile to his allies, never fails to compromise on the things that damage us.
What other explanation is there???
There isn’t. He’s bent.
At one time, I’d have had compassion for that. No more though, when it comes to him.
He needs to be replaced, and pronto.
Agree and agree.
So... you like Newt, I take it... Haha!!
Nice post!
There isn’t any more “Yanks” and “Rebs”, guys. There’s Americans, and then there’s democrats.
And we need to find a way to stop the war on America that the democrats have initiated - by any and all means possible. And remove RINOs from positions that can damage us further. Those are the problems.
Peace, gentlemen. Cease fire. Same side - one team, one fight.
Thanks brother.
That “VA” critter started with me a couple years back. I don’t want it on my side; I roll with people that have more than one functioning brain synapse.
You know me, buddy - I hate to see us bickering amongst ourselves and giving the other side enjoyment and a helping hand.
I know buddy!
I giggle when I get the occasional “MA RINO” bullsh*t, ‘cause as you know, my political beliefs are to the right of Attila the Hun.
AttilasterinMA!!!
I like it!
:) It could work.
But...
In order to have that appellation apply, you have to be proficient in horsemanship, sword work, and the Art of Pillaging.
Can you pillage? And I’m not talking about some piddly little hit and run on some tiny unsuspecting hamlet... I’m talking SERIOUS ride-through, grab the wenches, beer kegs, chickens, and half a side of beef (all under one arm, mind you), while swinging a razor-edged Yataghan and chasing fleeing villagers, bellowing war songs at the top of your lungs in Hungarian (it’s OK if you don’t know the words... just yell a lot...it all sounds the same to the villagers).
THAT kind of pillaging...
Rand/Cruz/West//Palin
Pick two in any order...
Well...my leg’s getting better, so maybe. :)
Welll...
I’ll relent a little... You can use a Ford pickup instead of a horse... with a driver, if you prefer.
Hey, I’m easy, bro...
Then bring on the wenches and chickens!!!
You can have pork too, but that’s harder to carry...
I still have an image of Newt sitting on a couch with Pelosi.
Not just no, but hell no....
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