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

Also at this point all they have is the name. They have not bred a new generation of winners.

A fitting end (hopefully) for a truly vile family.

JENA! '24

Never say die!

Don't really get how Clinton's holding superdelegates matters.

A young up-and-coming democrat running against Hillary in 2016 would risk making some very powerful enemies. The Clintons aren't necessarily more vindictive than other politicians, but this is Hillary's final shot and they won't scruple at using all the power at their command to win this election. They do not view ANY opposition kindly and regardless of the outcome they would never ever forget you tried to stand in her way.

Not even Lucianne Goldberg was this scared.

JENA! '24

Never say die!
--Οὖτις

Actually I think the other daughter is a do gooder so BAR!

Also at this point all they have is the name. They have not bred a new generation of winners.

When Dubya was in office, wasn't there a 20-year old nephew who was supposed to be the next generation?

This guy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_P._Bush

Named after Prescott Bush, who is someone I would not want to be named after.

In May 2015, as Texas land commissioner, Bush organized fundraising for future development of the San Antonio historic site, The Alamo.[39][40] British singer Phil Collins donated various Alamo-related artifacts to the State of Texas with the stipulation that the State of Texas build a facility to hold the artifacts within a seven-year period.[40]

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/jeb-bush-president-2016-fundraisers-problems-213156

Three top Jeb Bush fundraisers abruptly parted ways with his presidential campaign on Friday, amid internal personality conflicts and questions about the strength of his candidacy, POLITICO has learned.

There are different versions of what transpired. The Florida-based fundraising consultants — Kris Money, Trey McCarley, and Debbie Aleksander — have said that they voluntarily quit the campaign and were still working with Bush's super PAC, Right to Rise Super PAC. Others said the three, who worked under the same contract, were let go because they were no longer needed for the current phase of the campaign.

...

Frontrunner Donald Trump seized on the POLITICO report Saturday morning and took a shot at his rival on Twitter: “Wow, Jeb Bush just lost three of his top fundraisers - they quit!”

Not even Lucianne Goldberg was this scared.

She had different patrons and protectors than a democratic presidential aspirant is likely to rely on for furthering their career.

Struggling to think of dem poltical opponents destroyed by the clintons tbh

vince foster

reminds me i saw clint eastwood's absolute power last night and the hillary proxy in that was amazingly vicious (judy davis played her), there's a moment where a secret service officer tells her he'd like to rip her throat out and it's clearly a fist pumping moment. i'm guessing it was written already but there's an interesting piece to be written about clinton proxies in 90s movies (i think the american president came out the same year)(absolute power easily better but i'm pretty fond of eastwood movies where he's not playing to critics).

Presidential campaigns are not conducted with kid gloves. If you play to win you make enemies not just of your opponent, but of their most ardent and committed supporters. Hillary and Bill have deep, strong connections to a lot of the big money people who back democratic campaigns and they have a lot of chits they could call in if necessary. Probably many more than GW Bush would command in his party.

Politicians are calculating. They don't need the threat of utter destruction to be dissuaded from taking on the Clintons this year. They need only calculate the risks against the likely odds of winning and decide they aren't worth it, especially if they are young enough to wait for 2020 or 2024. Obama played a long shot and it came in for him. He's exceptional that way. You kind of have to be to become the first black president.

Are you guys not following how JEB! is doing? Bushes are a spent dynasty, their support is shallow and isolated, they are in no position to whack anybody, none of them are in office, they have no voter base

― Οὖτις, Sunday, August 30, 2015 12:22 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Also at this point all they have is the name. They have not bred a new generation of winners.

― Οὖτις, Sunday, August 30, 2015 12:24 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

All they had in 1963 was a CIA dude who was running a curiously named oil company.

Jeb is still the favorite to win the nomination on the sportsbooks. Does intrade still exist?

Prescott was a force in the GOP prior to '63

Also planned parenthood lol

Or is yr point that the bushes are just in a similar fallow period? Prescott never disgraced the nation or the family in the spectacular manner of dubya, key difference there.

I dont think jeb can win the nomination at this point tbh

i'd kinda agree except walker's campaign has been surprisingly/reassuringly pathetic and i can't buy rubio. i feel like i know less about this race than i did six months ago. there are a lot of reasons to be worried if you're a dem but man the state of the gop race is one thing you can take comfort in.

mitt romney spent plenty of time behind nutcases in the polls before the inevitable happened

I dont think jeb can win the nomination at this point tbh

― Οὖτις, Sunday, August 30, 2015 5:12 AM (40 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you could just bet on the top 3 other non-trump contenders and get a guaranteed profit if it's not jeb...

tbh, nobody on either side seems like they should be able to win an election but it seems like it's too late for a dark horse to emerge in either party. Worst field since 1976?

yeah i don't really see an inevitable in the gop field though and if perry hadn't been somehow too stupid to run for president and too liberal on immigration i think he would've been a very serious challenger to romney (and that's w/ perry being a late entrant). i don't think the gop field is esp weak - you have a popular two term governor of a large swing state, you have a conservative hero governor who managed to beat a high profile recall effort and win reelection in a blue state despite governing as an extreme conservative, you have a young senator from an important demographic and import swing state, you have two other senators that are well known and beloved by the grass roots, you have an evangelical that managed a remarkably successful campaign eight years ago and has hosted a tv show in the interim, you have the runner up from four years ago, you have two former governors of large states that were once routinely mentioned as possible candidates, and you have an extremely famous billionaire running as an outsider. on paper that's an incredible field, the problem is except for trump and maybe kasich (who i didn't even mention up there) everyone is underperforming and i don't think it's something you can just chalk up to the size of the field though that could mean this mess doesn't change anytime soon since some of those losers will keep hanging around if they can just find one billionaire believer to foot the bill.

I wonder if this is the new normal for open seats with no heirs apparent, as Citizens United continues to sink in. 17, 18 individually sponsored candidates, with no wooden hook reaching from offstage and yanking 'em no matter how complete their failure has become. I dunno, it's still early. At the stage in 1999, Liddy Dole and Gary Bauer got to appear in the same pancake-flipping photo ops as Bush and McCain.

remember lamar alexander and the flannel

i don't think the gop field is esp weak - you have a popular two term governor of a large swing state, you have a conservative hero governor who managed to beat a high profile recall effort and win reelection in a blue state despite governing as an extreme conservative, you have a young senator from an important demographic and important swing state, you have two other senators that are well known and beloved by the grass roots, you have an evangelical that managed a remarkably successful campaign eight years ago and has hosted a tv show in the interim, you have the runner up from four years ago, you have two former governors of large states that were once routinely mentioned as possible candidates, and you have an extremely famous billionaire running as an outsider.

Yeah, but when you describe them in such bland terms it takes away the fact that they're all idiots and repellent freaks. Also:

• Kasich is popular in Ohio because his policies have benefited the people of Ohio. National Rs hate him because he says Jesus-y things about taking care of the poor.
• Obama fucked Rubio, and Cuban voters, hard by normalizing relations with Cuba. That used to be an important demographic, but who gives a shit what they think/say or how they vote now?
• Walker is almost as loathed as Christie at this point, both at home and nationally.
• I don't know which senators you're talking about but Lindsey Graham is hardly "beloved." He's John McCain's lapdog, and most Rs hate McCain. Graham's entire base is political journalists, and they don't even vote.

A poll I saw yesterday has Trump at #1 and the one mutant you didn't mention, Ben Carson, at #2.

Wisconsin is not a blue state.

Assume beloved Senator 1 is Cruz. Beats me who 2 could possibly be.

I dont think jeb can win the nomination at this point tbh
--Οὖτις

I think Jeb will still be recipient of the "it's gotta be somebody" award which is basically the way the last two GOP primaries got decided.

There are powerful people still waiting to cash in from another Clinton in office, that's for sure.

Scott Walker says wall between U.S., Canada worth reviewing

sure, sure

like the countless miles of rugged and inhospitable prairie don't cut it

If Walker gets his wall built, I think I'd like to work as a greeter there, like they have in Walmart.

don't you mean an ungreeter

turning away lumberjacks and potential islamic terrorists seeking a northern passage

i was in knoxville recently, in the foothills mall, and as i walked out of a department store (i think it was belk; either that or j.c. penney) the greeter said "have a blessed day!" and i stopped myself just in time from exhorting "praise be!!"

a couple of days later i got "have a blessed day" from the guy selling newspapers at the airport. i never heard this growing up, is this a thing now???

Very much so.

Down here in Dixieland, anyway.

I like when ppl tell me to have a blessed day. It makes me feel blessed.

I'm not sure it's a thing "now" I think it's just a thing

I don't remember hearing it constantly until maybe, idk, 8-10 years ago? But this is very hazy. I have this possibly misplaced sense that it emerged out of some kinda resistance to the secularization of daily life in the South, the whole "they're taking prayer out of the schools!" well. I would assume that 99+% of people who say it have no allegiance to some passive-aggressive CLICK SHARE AND WE'LL SHOW THEM WHO'S GOD AROUND HERE mentality but I'm convinced that kind of thing helped spread and popularize it.

Did they say "blessed" in one or two syllables?

One syllable = ah, it's all good.

Two syllables = arouses suspicion of intent.

Or is it the other way around, dang i'm no good at this.

i think it's kind of cunty

thought i would have aged out of this mindset by now, but alas. i guess that's on me though. i could always move.

my side job brings me into contact w/ many ppl that i have been socially isolated from, yer lumpen proles of the nation basically, and their love for signing off 'have a blessed day' is def. localized to the south but not restricted to there