Posted on 01/26/2015 10:20:55 AM PST by MacNaughton
At the unofficial start of the 2016 GOP presidential campaign here in Iowa, the race is already too sprawling ... Here are a dozen keys to understand what is happening now:
1. The candidates who have run before — Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum — all think they can get their teams back together for another race. They can't.
2. Chris Christie is in better shape than you think.
3. Foreign policy has become as important as social issues, and that means people will listen to John Bolton.
4. Romney loyalists are deeply ambivalent about another run.
5. The Bush family network isn't as strong as some believe.
6. Scott Walker doesn't have to be great on the stump to do well.
7. Rick Santorum is in very bad shape.
8. Many insiders do not expect Marco Rubio to run, and if he does, they think he's doomed.
9. Rick Perry will get another chance, but it will be a very narrow one.
10. Rand Paul still has to deal with the sins of his father, or at least of his father's supporters.
11. Ben Carson is a big draw, but is viewed with disdain by political professionals.
12. You know what Bobby Jindal said about Muslim "no-go zones" in Europe, a statement that resulted in Jindal being criticized and mocked by mainstream commentators? It turns out many social conservatives in Iowa really liked it. To them, Jindal was warning about the danger of enclaves of unassimilated Muslim populations in an age of Islamic radicalism, a problem they fear could be in store for the United States. Jindal, who is himself the model of an assimilated American from an immigrant family, not only did not suffer from his remarks but instead benefited from them.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Take a look at point 6. Walker did very well at the Freedom Summit over the weekend. Right now Rush is singing his praises to the heavens. As of now, he’s my man.
I just want to know when John McCain will announce? /s
Me too...but soon the ‘he’s an amnesty lover’ or ‘he’s not conservative enough for me’ purists will come stomping in to tell us all how wrong we are.
LOL
notice the obvious absence of the name Ted Cruz!!
This is no accident.
They are scared to death of Cruz
2. Chris Christie is in better shape than you think.
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Yeah, PHYSICALLY. He had that Lapband surgery and lost over 85 lbs.
But politically? HAH! No chance.
10. Rand Paul still has to deal with the sins of his father, or at least of his father’s supporters.
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Psshh. Rand Paul has enough “sins” of his own to deal with. Never mind the sins of his father.
Scott Walker would be quite the contrast to that 70 year old hag on a stage in presidential debate. That kind of stuff matters.
I just want a conservative, including a social conservative. Cruz, Palin, Jindal, Santorum, or Pence will do. I’ll be fine if any one of them is the nominee.
Don’t like (trust) that guy
4. Romney loyalists are deeply ambivalent about another run.
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Say what? Is that the same as saying I don’t care if he does or does not run. And I feel very strongly about this.
Again, You can tell who scares the establishment the MOST, TED is mentioned only once, Not worthy of a Bullet point, apparently.
Some of his comments caused me to think Bryon has been reading many of the FR threads.
Too bad he IS an amnesty lover!
Which is true...And that's enough to knock him out of the game for me...
Walker is good, but he’s got to come around on amnesty.
Republican voters (not those establishment Republicans running the party and their consultant parasites) view amnesty as a go-no-go issue. Walker is for amnesty and citizenship.
Yeah, he is an amnesty lover, and that kills it right there.
Any Republican wanting amnesty shows that he puts illegal aliens and the Chamber of Commerce above Republican voters and their wishes.
It’s time to end that “conservatives have nowhere else to go, so screw them”.
They can stay home.
So we got Obama. Well, we wouldn’t had the elite Republicans not put up John McCain and his big amnesty push.
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