a clown car full of millionaires: the 2016 presidential primary thread

lol

I may have missed it, but I don't think Gilmore's announcement even made the news this morning on CBS. Maybe it came after Cecil the Lion and Deflategate coverage.

51 more candidates and they can dispense with primaries and borrow the NCAA's basketball set-up.

this won't hurt Trump at all but

http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2015/07/donald-trumps-kids-are-also-big-game-hunters

with a dad like that it's lucky they aren't hunting humans so there's that

with a dad like that it's lucky they aren't hunting humans so there's that

lmao are they trying to re-launch or something?

i hear that someone named "Jim Gilmore," who exists, is running for president as a republican

― goole, Tuesday, July 7, 2015 5:33 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I was 1 when this was going on but does the ascendancy of Reagan have any parallel to Trump? I guess Reagan was seen as a kook but at least he held office..

Reagan is a totally different animal

a New Deal Democrat, former Union head, switches to the GOP to support Goldwater, serves two terms as Governor, a gifted "communicator" with serious backing from the religious right, deep pocketed old Hollywood types, etc. He was rooted in a very specific kind of Californian right-wing culture.

Trump is none of these things

Reagan was always seen as a kook by the left and some on the liberal end of the GOP (it existed once) who had no chance of holding public office until he handily won the governorship of California twice and almost got the '76 nomination. Although he was a malevolent force as governor when the student protests broke out, he flashed that smile and said a few good zingers and always survived.

Trump seems more like Perot, rich dude surfing a wave of populist dislike of establishment politicians.

^^^

plus, Reagan "paid his dues" by writing and broadcasting during the sixties and seventies back when such things mattered. By 1980 he was the unquestioned leader of the GOP conservative wing

no scare quotes needed for communicator. The guy was good.

he was, it's just a term I don't particularly like but was at a loss for something more accurate

this Trumpmania is like "the season of the shark" in summer 2001 (immortalized by Yo La Tengo)

Whoever decided to have the enormous lunchroom in our new office playing CNN nonstop will pay karmically.

Perot once led an effort to free two EDS employees trapped in Iran.

Trump once landed his helicopter on the 18th hole to be closer to the clubhouse, angering members of his own golf course.

Trump is def more venal and self-absorbed than Perot

too bad Leona Helmsley's dead, maybe Chump can reanimate her corpse for a running mate

idk if trump is really illustrative of anything, except that all you have to do to get 25% of the party in these early days is a) be on tv a lot and b) say some racist shit about mexicans

to switch gears to the Dem side of things, seems the Bernie/Hillary split is at an interesting point. Historical precedent and established wisdom make this look like yr usual underdog challenger rallying the base prior to a flameout and a "come to Jesus" moment wherein the establishment candidate reasserts their dominance, a narrative Hillary is surely well aware of and is probably furiously gaming out options for. But Hillary seems to be reacting in totally the wrong way - hanging back, holding low-key events, keeping her head down through potential scandals, etc. - her aloofness contributes to the impression that she's right back where she was in '08: waiting to be anointed, carefully triangulating her positions, carefully stage-managing everything, oblivious to how wooden and stiff she is on the stump. I find myself thinking "sure I agree with Bernie, but is this really a person I want to have as President? Is that actually a good idea?" (Don't get me wrong I don't think Hillary's a v good idea either) On some level Hillary's inanimate nature make me think if she doesn't get off her ass and figure out how to recalibrate her image - show some emotion, display equal parts humor and anger, do something unpredictable - that Bernie may actually have a chance. Her support is very soft, I don't know anyone who is excited about her, it seems like everyone understands that voting for her is something most people are only going to do begrudgingly.

Granted this is all still very early, odds are Bernie won't be able to muster the resources necessary or Team Hillary will find some underhanded way to undercut his support or crush him financially but man, I dunno. It's not like she's got a genius media team in place or the natural political skills to put her back on top, these are just not things she has adequately cultivated.

I mean, all the young liberals I know (incl women) are for Bernie. The historical weight of being able to vote for a woman does not (for some reasons which are quite obvious) translate into the same kind of momentum that propelled Obama.

I know the internet's accelerated cycles, but, as you pointed out, let's remember it's July 2015.

which is weird cuz even back in '08 there were splits in my younger, active liberal circle between Obama and Hillary. I don't know anyone arguing for Hillary these days.

xp

my impression has been kinda that ppl i know are getting their left bona fides out there by saying positive shit about bernie but they're not even really inclined to voice much distaste for eventually casting their vote for a dynast? or someone with her past etc? which to me is reading like, sort of, an acceptance of hillary's inevitability?

i think the doubly historic nature of the 08 contest freed people up to vote for a variety of reasons of their preference/principle. but now? like… yeah who thinks this goofy old coot is gonna have the clout that grandma clinton does?

but her "clout" seems increasingly like that of a paper tiger - just like it was before

trump is a fun distraction and nothing more; this guy has 0.00% chance of the Republican nomination and will carry no states and guarantee a Dem win if he runs independent

The first Republican debate is a week tonight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_debates,_2016#Announced_debates

The Republican National Committee announced the 2015-2016 debate schedule on January 16, 2015. It revealed that only 12 debates would be held, in a stark contrast to the 27 debates and forums that were held from 2011 to 2012.

So they actually did learn something from 2012.

Bernie sucks so bad on Israel i dont think i can cast a protest vote for him

27 is amazing but I still think 12 debates give them plenty of time for all kinds of nonsense.

totally tivoing this

waiting for Rifftrax to do it

No-one thinks that Trump has a chance at the nomination, there's just a fascination while he powers through multiple events that would each kill another candidate, coupled with the fact that his diseased corpse of a campaign is still hitting poll numbers that no-one else can - nobody is going to ask it, but "if you're the natural choice, why couldn't you outpoll Donald Trump?" is a decent question.

it's a dopey question.

as anecdotal as it is, the NY Times quoted some Carolina GOP state chair saying he just asked some 'service class' peeps at a gathering who was running for president, and they could only name Clinton, Bush and Trump.

The campaign has not yet begun FOR NORMAL PEOPLE.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/fullpage/2016-gop-presidential-candidates-slide-back-time-31466466

worthy of ilxor karl malone

i like how they all look two-faced at first

Michael Gerson: Donald Trump’s politics by hammer

Eugene Robinson: Donald Trump: A farce to be reckoned with

Dana Milbank: Donald Trump is the monster the GOP created

Ruth Marcus: Donald Trump and the anger of conservatives

Ann Telnaes cartoon: #WhenTrumpIsElected

Can't believe I'm saying this, but it's like as if Iggy and Bowie had had a son together.

http://i.imgur.com/ihxz1zU.jpg

imagine what a disappointment he'd be to his dear ol dads

I can't help it, every time I see Jeb!'s exclamation point I laugh

"hmm, how can we make this more exciting... I've got it!"

it's like an over eager answer to a question no one asked

but who's gonna—

JEB!

it's like an over eager answer to a question no one asked

Feel like an ellipse would be more honest, given the current state of his campaign.

Jeb...

I like to pretend that jeb is a threatening verbal command like "stop or I will JEB!"

Jeb?

If only he had an "i" for an initial he could do the P!nk thing

)3b1

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v296/WilliamCrump63/JEB.jpg

“We all have to get real about the clown car of Republican candidates that could very well be the limousine the next president is riding around in,” said Damian O'Doherty, who heads up the super PAC helping Democratic candidate Martin O'Malley.

immortality is mine

https://cdn0.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/tBuvhGTwwRJgqsIdV4gRUlSmF8I=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn0.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/3923910/trump-immigration.0.png