Posted on 02/10/2014 5:10:07 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
I was planning to write about this before Ed beat me to the punch so let me ask my two questions belatedly. One: Would this be a bona fide run to try to win the nomination or a niche candidacy a la John Bolton or Peter King? King and/or Bolton wont run because they think they can win but because they want someone to answer Rand Paul on foreign policy and dont trust any of the big-name candidates to do it effectively. Scarborough may feel the same way about Ted Cruzs brand of tea-party conservatism. He wont do any better than Huntsman did with No Labels style Republicanism, but he can land some shots on the right at the debates and maybe serve as a lightning rod to draw conservative attacks away from a more plausible centrist nominee. Hed be in it to win it not for himself, but for the centrist wing of the party.
Two: If he is in it to win it for himself, how does that happen, exactly? There are no fewer than five major candidates thinking of running who could plausibly serve as a centrist champion in 2016 Christie, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, and Scott Walker. Walker is slightly different from the other four in that he still enjoys enormous credibility among conservatives for winning his fight with the public-employee unions in Wisconsin, but as a low-key governor and midwesterner whos agreeable on immigration, hed have no problem getting the GOP establishment to line up behind him if the alternative is Rand Paul or Ted Cruz. Scarborough is basically the sixth man off the bench here. I can imagine Christie blowing up before the primary campaign gets going (it may be happening already, in fact); I can imagine Jeb deciding the Bush name is too high a hurdle; I can imagine Rubio concluding its smarter to protect his Senate seat right now than to roll the dice on the presidency; I can imagine Ryan passing because hed rather set Americas fiscal agenda as chairman of Ways and Means; and I can imagine Walker losing his gubernatorial reelection bid in a massive push by Wisconsins left. What I cant imagine is all five of those things happening, leaving a giant hole in the center that no one more prominent than Joe Scarborough is tempted to try to fill. Even Bobby Jindal, whose brand is conservative, would probably tack left to become the centrist candidate if a vacuum that big opened up. Any one of those guys would be a natural pick over a guy who served six years in the House and is now known for being the most conservative host on the most over-the-top liberal media organ in America. And of course, if Scarborough ran anyway, its as likely that hed siphon off key votes from the centrist/establishment champion as hed help that guy bloody the nose of the right. (New Hampshire 2016: Rand Paul 40%, Jeb Bush 35%, Scarborough 10%?) Why run to win if youre the sixth man?
Oh well. Heres a clip via Politico that raised an eyebrow this morning after I saw the Scarborough 2016? item at the Caller Citizen Joe nudging his pal Chris Christie towards the exit at the RGA, knowing full well that if Christie quits that group, it means hes all but done as a presidential candidate. Hmmmm.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
H!
Maybe Mika could be the White House trollop
Absolutely.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3121434/posts
Scarborough is even lower than Richard Petty thinks Danica Patrick is. Danica at least has a real chance. Scarborough is as big a joke as Abortion Barbie, Barack Hussein Obama, Al Franken, and . . . what if Scarborough wins?
not a big fan of morning Joe.
Hillary.
Zombie Apocalypse + The Stand = Scarborough 50-50 against a wombat.
Is Ted Cruz a natural-born citizen eligible to serve as president? [Yes! And I support him! JimRob]
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3084490/posts
Everybody including the dead I would think.
If her father wasn’t a powerful man she’d be a waitress in a Waffle House or pole dancing.
sophie the rubber giraffe is more viable and pliable
Wombat 2016.
Everybody wouldn’t be enough.
What about Haley?
It's been done.
You beat me to it.
. . . in terms of saying “everybody” that is.
This one's my favorite.
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