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Posted on 08/18/2015 12:05:17 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
A Fox News poll released on August 16th, showed Donald Trump continuing to enjoy a dominant lead in the Republican race for the 2016 presidential nomination. Trump polled at 25 percent in the 17 candidate field, well ahead of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson who was in second place with 12 percent support. Ted Cruz was in third place at 10 percent, with no other candidate in double digits.
Trump’s commanding lead is no longer surprising, given that he has been comfortably ahead in several recent national surveys, released from multiple different polling firms. What makes the Fox News poll so frightening for GOP strategists, however, is that Trump’s nearest competitors are not establishment favorites like Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Marco Rubio. Instead, if Trump falters, Ben Carson or Ted Cruz appear to be next in line to ascend to the top of the GOP pack.
Pundits have long argued that Donald Trump will eventually fade as voters take a more sober look at the Republican options and cease their reckless flirtations with candidates on the fringe. However, that “conventional wisdom” is predicated on the notion that Republican voters both want to win in 2016, and that they recognize that choosing a more moderate candidate is their path to victory.
However, the Fox News survey suggests that GOP voters are disinterested in choosing one of the Republican establishment candidates with extensive experience governing. In fact, given their preference for political outsiders like Trump and Carson, Republican voters may even see elected experience as a liability. “If you’re part of the government, you’re part of the problem”, they reason. The notable exception to that adage is Texas Senator Ted Cruz, whose main accomplishment as senator has been as an obstructionist who keeps the U.S. Senate from getting things done.
Republican party leaders have spent the better part of the last two decades stirring up their base with anti-government rhetoric. That strategy has helped them win victories over Democrats, but not without consequences for establishment GOP politicians, who are now facing the wrath of the anti-government voters they helped cultivate. With GOP voters looking at Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Ted Cruz as their potential saviors, its pretty clear that the angry mobs are not just upset with Barack Obama.
They have grabbed their pitchforks and torches to go after the Republican establishment as well. Jeb Bush and Scott Walker may not have noticed yet, but Republican voters aren’t looking for somebody with executive experience as governor. Instead, they are looking for a candidate with little or no experience, because they have been conditioned to virtually reject the idea of governing at all.
The concern trolls are out in force.
“...Texas Senator Ted Cruz, whose main accomplishment as senator has been as an obstructionist who keeps the U.S. Senate from getting things done....”
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Right, preventing “getting things done” such as the further destruction and weakening of America. Ted, we stand with you, brother.
Proud to be a Lunatic.
You have a liberal reporter who is trying to interpret the Fox News Poll.
I would offer this simple observation....better than fifty percent of the people who typically vote Republican (either being independent or Republican)....are frustrated with the party and they aren’t buying off on the same-old-tired-theme of just-get-the-Democrats-out. It doesn’t work anymore.
The Fox News folks are carrying the theme for the national guys and figured they would be able to push Cruz and Trump out by this point. Well....come Iowa primary, I think Bush will be down around number four, and by the tenth primary state....the question will be how Bush lost the race, and the answer should be that he was never in the race.
Republican voters both want to win in 2016, and that they recognize that choosing a more moderate candidate is their path to victory. “
Give me a break...... oh wait. That McCain and/or Romney was a terrific path to victory..... uh... wait a minute....
Almost as bad as being called a “low information voter” on Fox News Sunday.
Politicus? What are these, 3rd graders?
Tremble you bastard, tremble.
Never mind conservatives, never mind the Republican Party, how attractive to the general electorate does this author think this argument will be?
The Lunatics Have Taken Over The GOP As Trump, Carson And Cruz Top The Republican Field
And don’t you forget it knothead..
If you had any idea what I want to happen your head would spin off like a top..
And I am not alone.. I want to see heads roll.. pensions cancelled.. Unions SQUASHED.. illegrants shipped by train to the Rio.. AND thats not all..
If this guy knew the angst he is talking about it would scare the bejesus out of him..
Actually a big part of America would start sucking their teeth..
OBAMA opened the flood gates.. of DE-DEMOCRACY...
The democrats have stepped in “IT” its on their hands..
I am not amused.. its not cute or cuddly..
A hard rain is gonna fall.. OR I WON’T BE HAPPY(politically)....
Congratulations!
You all have been promoted from ‘crazies’ to ‘loonies’.
“choosing a more moderate candidate is their path to victory”
You’ll eat your gruel and you’ll LIKE it!
I guess we’re all loony tunes now. We should wear this is a badge of honor.
To paraphrase that song, “Maybe it’s just a lunatic we’re looking for “
If people like this are upset, things are improving
Yes, Billy Joel’s song went through my mind too!
Hey GOPe, I got your “lunatic” right here [grabs crotch]
nothing sez lunatic quite like a billionaire, a neurosurgeon and prodigy Constitutional scholar and debater.
Keith Brekhus is a progressive American who currently resides in Red Lodge, Montana. He is co-host for the Liberal Fix radio show. He holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the University of Missouri. In 2002, he ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate in the state of Missouri. In 2014, he worked as a field organizer for Democrat Ann Kirkpatrick’s successful re-election bid in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District. He can be followed on Twitter @keithbrekhus or on Facebook.
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