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

most polished victimhood quote, courtesy of Cruz:

“Let me be clear. The men and women on this stage have more ideas, more experience, more common sense, than every participant in the Democratic debate. That debate reflected a debate between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks.

Best part about that: Chuck Todd revealing on Twitter that he'd never heard of the Mensheviks. A real student of history, that guy.

WHAT IF bush hadn't totally miffed his attempt to grill rubio on his no-show votes, AND rubio had sputtered back incoherently with a bad answer? he would look bad, and the narrative would be "rubio can't answer to tough grilling from a newly fired-up bush" etc. obviously that's what bush was hoping for, and maybe it's inherent to bush's character that he was unable to pull that off, but something like that's not outside the realm of possibility.

I think they've all just learned to not show weakness, which is easier when the content of their responses to the grilling doesn't matter. those 'oops' moments are few and far between because you can say whatever the hell you want as long as you're confident and cocky and maybe drop a line about hillary clinton somewhere near the end.

nate silver says bush is probably toast

he likes to eat both for breakfast amirite

for real though he doesn't think bush can recover

from that lashing he just gave it w/ his tongue amirite

ok i'll stop

nate silver is skeptical that jeb bush will be the gop nominee

That silver tongued devil.

donald trump read my last few posts and offered me a job as a speechwriter. he asked me an example of a speech i might write for him and i said "i'm going to write a fantastic speech." "kid - you're hired" he replied.

I'm not saying Jeb! will be the nominee. I don't know who will be the nominee and neither do you. Writing him off, however, is foolish. He may be a terrible politician, but so were, to varying degrees, Mitt Romney, John McCain, John Kerry, arguably both 2000 candidates, Bob Dole, and George H.W. Bush. To focus on his weaknesses alone is to ignore those that infect every single other candidate in the field.

The winner of this thing is going to be the one who best transcends their weaknesses. Jeb certainly has not done that yet, and there is good reason to believe that he won't, but he has a lot of time and money with which to do so. Rubio has not done it either, but may be on his way up.

It will be interesting to see how much bounce Rubio can get out of this. He may have parried quite legitimate attacks on him - a successful attack, albeit from a position of weakness - in a way that feeds the conservative desire for blustery, apparently-confident rhetorical responses to dangerous challenges, aided by a smart strategic operation that filled the room with supporters guided to applaud on cue, but, as someone who admittedly only selectively watched the debate, I'm not sure he otherwise gave GOP voters the reassurance they are seeking from a candidate as either politician or policymaker.

As a young Cuban-American, he remains something of an odd fit, worse than his fellow and more adult-seeming (half-)Cuban-American candidate, for an old, white party, something that commentators (and bettors) of his or younger generations frequently miss. Only Democrats have made a habit of nominating young guys, and this one is not cut from those Dems' cloth - he does not have JFK/WHC/BHO's deep intellectual or emotional intelligence, great self-confidence, gravitas, or suavity. *pause for sip of water* I'd add discipline too if that didn't raise some chuckles about the Dems, but I don't see him burning the candle at both ends like Bill either. He's also comparatively short, with somewhat bad hair (imo), and though I may not be the best judge of such things I doubt he has any of the Dems' sex appeal.

P.S. http://gawker.com/5994678/here-are-the-career-ending-marco-rubio-rumors-buzzfeed-wants-to-write-about-without-writing-about

he asked me an example of a speech i might write for him and i said "i'm going to write a fantastic speech." "kid - you're hired" he replied.

Great!

Rubio's voice shakes like a college sophomore in a poli sci course. He's never grown up.

terrific jeb! content

https://twitter.com/deep_beige/status/659589465963438080

https://twitter.com/jaredbkeller/status/659552683737661440

yeah on paper he's the worst opponent for hillary- young, fresh, hispanic* - but she will eat him alive. that dude looked like dubya in the classroom at the mention of his credit card debt. complete lightweight.

alfred otm, idk how people can think "i want to hear this guy talk for two terms"

I'll admit I was wrong about Bush. It's gonna be Rubio if Trump's asshole doesn't absorb Trump.

i just remember watching his sotu response and (neverminding the water bottle even) thinking 'i'm supposed to be scared of that?'

yeah on paper he's the worst opponent for hillary- young, fresh, hispanic* - but she will eat him alive. that dude looked like dubya in the classroom at the mention of his credit card debt. complete lightweight.

I think the 'rubio can be our obama' dream lets them kinda look past a lot of that stuff. this one of the few idiot taxes republicans end up having to pay sometimes. they genuinely believe that young people/minorities have really simple voting habits, voted for obama because he looked like them and gave them stuff. of course hispanics and young people would vote for a young hispanic dude over an old lady.

plus, Rubio is Cuban American, therefore repellent to every other Hispanic group.

agree that Hillary will eat Rubio alive and his negatives with his own party will damage him, by all means plz nominate him GOPers

i think republicans need to nom trump. rubio has a higher floor but his ceiling isn't high enough to beat hillary. trump is more of a hail mary but i could actually envision a scenario where he could be competitive in the general.

"As a young Cuban-American, he remains something of an odd fit, worse than his fellow and more adult-seeming (half-)Cuban-American candidate, for an old, white party"

I should have said "as a young, urban, Cuban-American (syncretic-)Catholic (nee Mormon), he remains something of an odd fit ... for an old, rural, white protestant party"

Pop Quiz 1: Who is the oldest candidate in the adults-table field?

Pop Quiz 2: Who is the second oldest and most religious?

Helpful hint: 1 and 2 recently got into a spat over who was more mainstream-protestant

why don't you take a break from being a belligerent knowitall and just tell us

Was just in a meeting with my boss and saw one of those red "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN" Trump hats on a shelf behind him. Almost literally shuddered. Oh, well, this is the easiest and highest-paying job I've ever had, so...fuck it.

I get the impression that had he lived 100 years ago gabbneb would've been deep into phrenology

why don't you take a break from being a belligerent knowitall and just tell us

― goole, Thursday, October 29, 2015 11:50 AM (21 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"belligerent"? lol.

The info is easily-accessible on Wikipedia, so you know it all already per previous comments.

Helpful hint 2: They are the two national poll leaders.

I get the impression that had he lived 100 years ago gabbneb would've been deep into phrenology

― Οὖτις, Thursday, October 29, 2015 11:59 AM (15 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The ! connotes excitement.

come on man for once take a hint

how exhausting is it, being you? just ease up, it's ok

benbbag how do you measure religiousness?

whoever can most easily translate Proust into tongues

gabbs should just stop delaying the inevitable and say something racist so we can all ban him (again)

clearly that doesn't work anymore otherwise a couple of current posters would currently be banned

I assume I missed something

Speaking of which I've asked the mods to delete my post above about body-slamming cops. It's racist and is not really the joke I wanted to make.

Sanders calls for full decriminalization of marijuana at the federal level

my basic breakdown is this:

1. I agree the most with Sanders. I would vote for Sanders in a primary.
2. I agree with both Sanders and Clinton enough that I could vote eagerly and enthusiastically for either of them in a general election.
3. Every Republican who has come forward so far seems to be fucking insane except maybe Kasich, with whom I profoundly disagree and would not vote for, and mmmmmmmmaybe Rubio on a good day if I don't listen to what he is actually saying?

xpost Psssh, Jack Tanner was proposing decriminalization across the board back in '88.

my basic breakdown is this:

1. I agree the most with Sanders. I would vote for Sanders in a primary.
2. I agree with both Sanders and Clinton enough that I could vote eagerly and enthusiastically for either of them in a general election.
3. Every Republican who has come forward so far seems to be fucking insane except maybe Kasich, with whom I profoundly disagree and would not vote for, and mmmmmmmmaybe Rubio on a good day if I don't listen to what he is actually saying?

This is exactly where I am except for the part about Rubio, who strikes me as an imbecile desperately in need of a punch in the throat.

yup, terrific breakdown. i guess i would subtract the eagerness, esp in HRC's case. but RBG doesn't get to pick her own replacement, does she (morbs come at me)

Are the republicans genuinely unaware that there's a sizeable number of people on the fence who aren't crazy about the idea of Hillary being president and who could possibly be persuaded to vote republican under other circumstances but who will either sit this election out or bite the democratic bullet because this year's entire crop of republicans range from useless to outright dangerous? I know any move towards centrism is paramount to treason, but why are they seemingly so unconcerned with persuading anyone who isn't already under their spell?

Like, I can't think of a better campaign ad than just showing an assortment of clips of the republican nominees and capping it off with 'Clinton '16: Because No'.

xpost Psssh, Jack Tanner was proposing decriminalization across the board back in '88.

Man, you are some old lunch.

The thing is, when dealing with an intractable Congress that is unwilling to govern, I see a lot of positives in having a ruthless, well-informed pragmatist who is more than willing to call people on their shit and, more importantly, has a few policy positions close enough to her detractors that she can pull some concessions from them on things that will upset me to make headway on things that will make me happy. To me, knowing that life will not give you everything you want is part of being a functioning adult in modern society and active disengagement because I'm not 100% getting my way is not an option this society allows to black people, ergo I will take the situation as it is and triangulate as best as I can to make the best possible life for myself, my family, the people I care about and society at large, in that order of priority, based on the policies of governance put forward by the leaders I hope to elect. This is why I am enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton as President of the United States; I see a way forward that can improve my family's prospects under her policies. I also see a way forward under Bernie Sanders. For most (if not all) of the Republicans, I make slightly under the amount of money I would need to make to benefit under their policies, and the amount of harm I forsee them causing others is great enough that I don't think I could consider myself a good person for profiting off of them.

re: conservative voters with Clinton antipathy who are planning on voting for her, I know at least 10 fiscal conservatives, some of whom who have never, ever voted for a Democrat in their lives, who have announced that they are supporting Hillary if the Republican Clown Show continues. They aren't even pleased with Rubio; they want Kasich or Paul. I am wondering if they are indicative of a trend in overeducated fiscal conservatives who are suddenly noticing that the Republican party is sacrificing the social liberalism they don't actually object to in order to embrace a frothing, blatant racism that they find unconscionable but could sweep under the rug when it wasn't being expressed by Republican frontrunners.

watching the cnbc republican debate right now

does ted cruz give off a serial killer vibe to anyone else?

Like, I can't think of a better campaign ad than just showing an assortment of clips of the republican nominees and capping it off with 'Clinton '16: Because No'.

Clinton's campaign is already giving away bumper stickers that say "We cannot afford a Republican in the White House" (in exchange for contact info, obviously).

Also, again, I'm pretty much 100% in agreement with DJP about this:

I will take the situation as it is and triangulate as best as I can to make the best possible life for myself, my family, the people I care about and society at large, in that order of priority, based on the policies of governance put forward by the leaders I hope to elect. This is why I am enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton as President of the United States; I see a way forward that can improve my family's prospects under her policies. I also see a way forward under Bernie Sanders. For most (if not all) of the Republicans, I make slightly under the amount of money I would need to make to benefit under their policies, and the amount of harm I forsee them causing others is great enough that I don't think I could consider myself a good person for profiting off of them.

Ted Cruz would eat Trump's face if it would make him President.

― rap is dad (it's a boy!), Thursday, September 17, 2015