Posted on 08/18/2013 9:26:55 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Earlier this week, CNN asked me to write an op-ed on Ted Cruz, and whether he’s a realistic contender for the presidency. My reaction: Of course he is — but probably not in 2016. And for that matter, neither are the Republicans who seem to get the most mention for that position:
No one doubts that Cruz has a bright future in the Republican Party, but that doesn’t mean the future is now.
Cruz, like Rubio and Rand Paul, have only barely arrived on the national stage and are many years younger than their sell-by date. None of the three has held executive office yet. Both Paul and Cruz have only won one election in their career. All three have made an extraordinary impact as freshmen senators, but they are still mainly untested outside of a single electoral cycle.
Additionally, Republicans have more options: By the time 2015 rolls around and candidates have to commit to a run, a number of GOP governors will be staking out their ground as well.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will almost certainly use his considerable media presence and blunt style to launch the next phase of his career. Scott Walker has to win a re-election bid in Wisconsin in 2014; a win will re-establish his fighting credentials on budgets and reform.
Mike Pence got some attention early in the 2012 cycle as a potential presidential contender, but decided to go home to Indiana to add executive office to his already-impressive conservative credentials. Susana Martinez, who like Cruz was given a featured-speaker slot at the national GOP convention last year, should sail to a 2014 re-election in New Mexico, with approval ratings that have never dropped below 60%.
We can add a couple of other names to that list, too. Nikki Haley might be a popular choice, and Rick Perry will almost certainly give it another go. Don’t count out Bobby Jindal, either, who has built a great track record of reform in Louisiana, a state that has infamously resisted it.
Allahpundit posted Larry Sabato’s prediction that Walker would emerge as the front-runner, and I think that’s a relatively safe bet, although not even odds. I’d guess it will be Walker and Martinez, assuming both win their re-election bids next year. I very much doubt that the GOP are going to go for a Beltway figure in 2016, or for any Republican from the Northeast again, either. With the plethora of executive-office holders outside of Washington ready to enter the mix, the Senate freshmen will need to get a little more seasoning before preparing for a presidential bid.
Please..............
No more RINOS!!!!
I will support the one who promises to be the Anti-Obama. The first person who declares that they will cancel ALL of Obama’s Executive Orders on their first day in office. That they will restore the military to its former greatness (first step - get rid of all the homosexuals). And with dismantle ObamaCare.
As you can see, my demands are very simple.
Jindal supports increasing legal immigration, which is another way of saying he supports increasing the flow of future Democrats. Most Americans oppose increasing legal immigration, so it’s a safe bet that conservatives and Republicans are overwhelmingly opposed to increasing legal immigration.
This should disqualify him, but unfortunately support for never-ending and increased legal immigration is much more common with Republican leaders than Republican voters. Who knows if any of the other contenders mentioned are any better. I would guess that Martinez is not.
Good old conventional wisdom...again. LOL
I’ll take Palin unless someone can come up with a better Govenor or former Govenor.
Thanks. Ted Cruz it is.
“Earlier this week, CNN asked me to write an op-ed on Ted Cruz, and whether he’s a realistic contender for the presidency”:
That’s our problem: we are told what to believe and who to support by professional (conservative/republican-and even lib dems) pundits rather than letting US the real voters decide for ourselves!!
Sure Enough Obama wasn’t ready for the national stage but he’s now been foisted on us by the same political class!
Let’s not forget Jimmy Carter was the governor of Georgia. So much for the wisdom that governors make better presidents.
Nixon was both Senator and Governor. Clinton - impeached. Open-checkbook George.
Yeah. Governors aren’t all that great either.
RE: Jindal supports increasing legal immigration, which is another way of saying he supports increasing the flow of future Democrats.
How does supporting LEGAL immigration translate to future Democrats?
I know of MANY LEGAL immigrants who have good jobs or start businesses who would NEVER vote for Democrats.
RE: No senator has ever defeated a sitting president for reelection
There is no sitting president up for re-election in 2016.
While I tend to be in agreement with the basic contention, owing to executive experience on the part of governors, I have a notion that the only reason this line is so noticeably being pushed of late is due to the GOP-E’s desires to put a damper on the burgeoning groundswells of support towards Cruz and Paul.
Personally, the only two candidates that would motivate me to even bother voting at this point are Palin and Cruz. Otherwise, I’m pretty much through with the GOP. I really don’t even look to the Party for much of anything anymore.
Depends on where the legal immigrants come from. My wife is an immigrant from Canada, and she was in the past an officer in the Constitution Party. There are places from which the immigrants are not likely to be welfare addicts.
Rand Paul’s immigration speech
03.19.13 | Hon Sen Rand Paul (KY)
Posted on 03/19/2013 7:04:07 AM PDT by Perdogg
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2998395/posts
...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.
[but he’s not against amnesty, snicker, definition of is is ping]
It’s true that immigrants from some places are less likely to go on the public dole, but that still doesn’t mean they won’t (on net) favor the Democrats. If we are talking more educated and productive immigrants, then we are mostly talking parts of Asia and Europe. Pretty much all Asian American groups favor the Democrats, and there is no reason to expect that to change. And it’s hardly worth considering Europeans since there isn’t any reason to expect their numbers to increase.
Even in your example I’d argue that your wife is probably in the minority of Canadians. Which is to say, if Canada were suddenly absorbed into the US, how do you think most of them would vote?
It’s true that immigrants from some places are less likely to go on the public dole, but that still doesn’t mean they won’t (on net) favor the Democrats. If we are talking more educated and productive immigrants, then we are mostly talking parts of Asia and Europe. Pretty much all Asian American groups favor the Democrats, and there is no reason to expect that to change. And it’s hardly worth considering Europeans since there isn’t any reason to expect their numbers to increase.
Even in your example I’d argue that your wife is probably in the minority of Canadians. Which is to say, if Canada were suddenly absorbed into the US, how do you think most of them would vote?
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