Posted on 03/27/2015 6:49:48 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
With Ted Cruz announcing and Rand Paul and Marco Rubio soon to follow, it’s time to start handicapping the horses and making enemies.
No point in wasting time on the Democratic field. There is none. The only thing that can stop Hillary Clinton is an act of God, and he seems otherwise occupied. As does Elizabeth Warren, the only Democrat who could conceivably defeat her.
On to the GOP.
First Tier:
1. Marco Rubio. Trails badly in current polls, ranking seventh at 5 percent, but high upside potential.
Assets: Foreign policy looms uncharacteristically large in the current cycle, and Rubio is the most knowledgeable and fluent current contender on everything from Russia to Cuba to the Middle East. The son of Cuban immigrants, he can break into flawless Spanish (so can Jeb Bush) and speak passionately about the American story in a party that lost the Hispanic vote by 44 points in 2012.
Liabilities (in the primaries): His Gang of Eight immigration apostasy, though his current enforcement-first position has wide appeal. Second, after Barack Obama, will voters want another first-term senator with no executive experience? (Same for Cruz and Paul.)
Major appeal: Fresh, young, dynamic persona is a powerful counterpoint to Clinton fatigue.
Odds: 3-1.
2. Jeb Bush. The consensus favorite (though I remain a bit skeptical). Solid, soft-spoken, serious, with executive experience and significant achievements as governor. What he lacks in passion, he makes up for in substance. And he has shown backbone in sticking to his semi-heretical positions on immigration and Common Core.
Obvious liability: His name. True, it helps him raise tens of millions of dollars, but it saddles him with legacy and dynastic issues that negate the inherent GOP advantage of running a new vs. old, not-again campaign against Hillary.
Odds: 7-2.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Perhaps Kraut can give us the Megabucks numbers for this Weds while he is at it.
Pray America is waking
Ted Cruz is second tier according to Krauthhammer.
My local witch doctor has told me something different.
Every time I go out to National Review I get a virus. The latest is I need to call someone to repair my computer.
Ted will be in the White House, either President or VP. Do not under estimate his ability to make others look like fools when all they do is regurgitate talking points.
I detest Krauthammer. He’s sat on his ass for decades with his polite and not-to-vocal loyal opposition to the evils of liberaldom and masqueraded as the superior intellect.
For 6 years he’s lightly chastised Obama for having between-patriots legitimate differences of opinion with us as any legitimate President might do, all the while writing his columns, appearing on those damned Sunday shows as a fricking ‘expert’ and allowing himself to be called a conservative intellectual - all the while collecting his paycheck and feathering his bed.
Now he sits in his home or DC office and tells me what the odds are? Try getting out around this country and see what’s really what, a$$hole. Screw him.
Is that you Joe Biden. “Come on Chuck, stand up”
Got the same. Closed the browser and opened in new browser and nothing like that happened. Also, ran a quick virus scan.
That said, Rand Paul at 30-1.
DO NOT TRUST RAND PAUL!™
Ted Cruz / 2016
Based on the way the world really is instead of how we may want it to be, I would say a fair assessment from Krauthammer.
Yeah....he’s in a wheelchair. So what? That’s not supposed to affect his mind, is it?
What I criticize are his actions from a multitude of years.
He has no idea of life outside his protected media world.
Krauthammer ought to stick to what he knows best.
Mark Rubio has no better chance than a 15-1 and probably more 20-1.
Ted Cruz is correct, 15-1 as I’ve been saying for weeks. He did teeter between 15-1 and 30-1 but his well executed debut puts him in as a threat.
Jeb Bush 8-1.
Huckabee 99-1
Walker is the one to beat at 3-1.
And Hillary is not a shoe in. She might not even run.
And why are some GOP worried about Walker? Because he’ll bleed power back to the States and he will not go by the GOPe script.
A lot can happen between now and November 2016.
Hilary is now 67-years old. She will be 69-years old (born October 26, 1947) a week or two prior to election day in 2016.
She looks terrible and her health is poor, but for the greedy and the power-mad that is not a concern. However, I predict she will not run for political office because she: 1) will be dead, 2) severely incapacitated, or 3) prefer to be grandma.
kidd’s assessment:
Top Tier:
1. Jeb Bush - Can’t stand him, but he has the backing of the GOP-e and has the money. Won’t do well in the debates, but he has the money. Will not get votes from the conservative base, but he has the money. Odds: 3-1
2. Ted Cruz - Has a deeply devoted base. Will be heavily attacked by the MSM. This will be a badge of honor for conservatives, but will keep RINOs away. May pick up a lot of the Hispanic vote. Odds: 4-1
3. Scott Walker - Has a lot of good conservatives accomplishments, but hasn’t done well at translating his great state experience into a federal position. Has been heavily attacked by both the GOP-e and some conservatives, but seems to have withstood attacks by liberals. Odds: 4-1
Second Tier:
4. Rand Paul - Has a devoted libertarian base. Conservatives and GOP-e won’t touch him. Odds: 10-1
5. Marco Rubio - An otherwise fine conservative has completely blown it with his position on amnesty. Odds: 20-1
Long Shot:
6. Chris Christie - Good for New Jersey. Bad for America. “Bridgegate” will not affect conservative voters because his support for Obama during Sandy overshadows everything else. The uninformed GOP-e will believe the MSM and will give a lot of weight to “Bridgegate”. Odds: 100-1
7. Rick Perry - A great governor and a good conservative. Doesn’t do well in debates, and he’s had his chance. Odds: 100-1
8. Ben Carson - Not the conservative you might think he is. Odds: 100-1
Forget it:
Santorum, Fiorina, Huckabee, Jindal, Kasich, Pence
Krauthammer is employed by The Ministry Of Propaganda. They are in turn employed by The Cheap Labor Express.
They do not want us to elect anyone who will stop the cheap labor importation that they like to call immigration.
There is nothing broken about our immigration system except the refusal to enforce the laws against illegal aliens.
We must elect a President who will uphold the rule of law.
RE: Marco Rubio - An otherwise fine conservative has completely blown it with his position on amnesty. Odds: 20-1
I thought he changed his mind on this... I think on the issue of amnesty, he can be convinced by the border security first faction.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.