Posted on 02/06/2014 6:42:40 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
There's been a lot of blathering about who the front-runner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination is, and so far I've resisted taking part. But I guess I'm kind of curious: Is there much of a case to be made for anyone other than Paul Ryan?
On the substantive side, Ryan sure seems like he's setting himself up for a run. There's his steady series of "unheralded" anti-poverty outreach trips that always manage to be just heralded enough to get sympathetic press coverage. He brokered a budget deal with Patty Murray that was businesslike and low-drama but didn't alienate the tea party crowd too badly. Today, in a hearing about the CBO's report on Obamacare, he acknowledged that the report didn't say that employers would be cutting jobs—points for intellectual honesty!—while also calling Obamacare a "poverty trap"—points for demagoguery! This is all stuff that seems very delicately calculated to stay in the good graces of the tea party base while building up plenty of policy substance cred that will keep him attractive to moderate voters.
On the flip side, who are his big competitors? Chris Christie is toast. Marco Rubio is inexperienced to begin with, and then muffed his chance for statesmanlike glory when he staked his reputation on immigration reform and came up empty. Jeb Bush can't even get his mother's endorsement. Scott Walker is getting buzz, but he strikes me as having too much baggage. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are novelty candidates, not to be taken seriously. And although I used to think Bobby Jindal might have a chance, he's had a rough past couple of years.
Maybe I'm dismissing all these guys a little too glibly. Walker and Bush are certainly serious possibilities. And I admit that Ryan doesn't always give off a vibe that says he's running for president. And of course, we're still a couple of years away from 2016, anything can happen, blah blah blah.
Still, ol' blue eyes sure looks like the favorite to me right now. Anyone want to make a case for one of the others?
mother jones = moonbat mecca.
I believe that Barack Obama loves America and will have the most open, transparent administration in the history of the USofA.
And I believe in Santa Claus.
And the Easter Bunny!
I’m not seeing it.
I’d be A-OKay with that!
Why not Sarah Palin...
Hillary will get 110% of the vote anyway..
120% if she selects Krispy Cream as VeeP...
In some precincts she will get 150% of the vote.. AND
in Detroit, L.A. and NYC... 200%..
1860.
“Mr. Amnesty” doesn’t have a prayer.
But in AR she may be held to 49 percent.
I think the GOP did something interesting with their Immigration Principles statement. A lot of people here illegally don’t want citizenship; they want to work, and they’d rather work legally than illegally. Sure, if you poll them on a path to citizenship, they’ll be for it, but it’s not their main issue which is jobs.
The GOP put forth principles that would enable them to work here legally, and there’s no way the Senate will go for anything but citizenship, preferably instant citizenship. Some Hispanic groups even came out in support of the GOP proposal.
Now, with the Senate clearly going nowhere on the issue, the GOP states that immigration reform isn’t going to happen this year. Handled correctly during the campaign, the GOP might just be able to convince many Hispanic voters that a GOP senate could finally tackle the issue in a way they can live with.
I hope he doesn’t get the nom, ‘cause I will never support him.
James Garfield, 1880.
Schumer/Ryan 2016
Some wacky trial balloons being floated by all sides re: the R nominee for 2016. Oh well, it’s better than hearing about Hillary the Inevitable all the time.
So long as Ryan don’t invade Hillary’s space in a debate he might stand a chance. Want a fighting chance, find a candidate who isn’t white to run on the Republican ticket or a young female with name recognition. Who cares about experience, its a crap shoot anyway. Today’s voters don’t think like the ones 3/4 of a century ago. They vote like its for an American Idol contestant.
Ryan won’t be the nominee.
Not true. You'd have to worry if the new White House Lawn Rifle Range should have pop-up or stationary targets.
I don’t count him because (A) he was a major general in the Union Army and (B) he had been elected by his legislature for a Senate seat when he instead became president.
This was written by Kevin Drum.
In 2004 as blogger Calpundit he “proved” that George Bush was AWOL based on his expert analysis of the Bush records.
On every item of “proof” he was proved wrong. Turned out he knew squat about military stuff.
Hard to believe he could still be earning a living writing, but I guess for a liberal there is always some unread magazine or blog willing to hire people like him.
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