November 2, 2013

"[T]here is a growing sense within the Republican political intelligentsia that Christie and only Christie is positioned to solve the major problems that will face the party in 2016."

And: "Christie is increasingly seen as the one candidate who might be able to bridge the divide between the establishment and the tea party that is in the process of ripping the party apart."

Chris Cillizza says as he ranks Christie first among the GOP's possible candidates for 2016.

I interpret those 2 quoted sentences to mean the same thing, which is making 2 inferences:

1. "increasingly seen" = increasingly seen by the Republican political intelligentsia. (It's the intelligentsia that do all the seeing and sensing that matters to pundits like Cillizza.)

2. "the major problems that will face the party in 2016" = "the divide between the establishment and the tea party that is in the process of ripping the party apart." (The tea party is the problem from the perspective of the intelligentsia, right?)

(Also in the ranking: Wisconsin's Scott Walker comes in at #4, up from #7, and the other Wisconsinite, Paul Ryan has fallen from #4 to #9.)

125 comments:

chickelit said...

What about 2014? It's more important and closer in time.

Don't get stuck on saviors.

Hagar said...

Christie may run as a Democrat or Unity Party candidate in 2016, but not as a Republican.

Big Mike said...

Considering all the help he gave the Democrat candidate in 2012, I see him winning that party's nomination before I see him winning the Republican nomination.

David Davenport said...

That fat man might emulate Charlie Crist in Flor-da and switch to the Dems. to run for Prez. Christie has zero appeal in so-called red states.

Hillary is a weak candidate. She'd look quite elderly alonside Ted C. or Rand-y P.

There must be some current Dem.s thinking about being the Dem. candidate for Prezzy. I repeat, Hillary's a worn out old car unless Juan McSenile gets the Repub. nomination again.


Can anybody suggest some names of other possible Democrat contenders?

chickelit said...

El Pollo Raylan said...
Has Christie ever set foot west of New Jersey? One of his weaknesses that I see is his lack of nationwide appeal. There's a lot of selling to do. The same could be said of Walker. Tremendous local support which must resonate nationwide.

The Godfather said...

I'm a conservative Republican who keeps getting suckered into supporting "moderates" because they are "electable" -- Dole, McCain, Romney. In 1980, I even supported Howard Baker and George Bush for the nomination over Reagan! I ain't gonna be suckered anymore.

And who the Hell thinks the Tea Party will embrace Christie? Yeah, he talks tough to the Dems and unions in NJ, so we loved to hear that in 2012, but that's just style. Where's the conservative substance?

Sayyid said...

The fact that the establishment still thinks Christie is a thing among the tea party is yet more proof that we need a tea party.

YoungHegelian said...

Because, of course, Chris Cillizza is really plugged in to the Republican establishment, right?

Note to northeastern corridor intelligentsia: the rest of the country hates the northeast & northeasterners. That you love yourselves so much doesn't change this fact.

These are the same clowns that in 2008 thought that Giuliani was the sure "front-runner". Then, the Republican establishment anoints an ex "Tassachusetts" governor, the only guy in the fucking country who can't criticize ObamaCare, as their choice for candidate in 2012, and 5 million white Republicans who voted for McCain stay home rather than vote for him.

Regional differences shaped this country from colonial times through the Revolution through the making of the Constitution to the Civil War. These differences are still very real in politics. In this case, it means northeastern Republicans are dead in the water as national standard bearers for the party.

augustus said...

If he is the nominee Hillary will probably end up being president. If the establishment Republicans want to lose another presidential election they should do this.

Dr Weevil said...

They left out a few words. Read "within the Republican political [self-described] intelligentsia [which is actually a pseudo-intelligentsia]".

David Davenport said...

If he is the nominee Hillary will probably end up being president

How could Hillary become Prez if she is not the Dem. nominee? Are you suggesting tha Ms. Clinton switch to the Establishment Repub. Party*?


* A.k.a the 2nd American Whig party

augustus said...

Christie GOP
Hillary Dem

Bob B said...

Proving yet again that "intelligentsia" does not equal intelligence.

David said...

Go ahead. Nominate Ron Paul. They you will have Hillary and Bill to kick around for 8 more years.

And again. Hillary is not too old. That's an insult. Only white Republican males can be too old to be president.

Steven said...

If Christie is nominated, it's time to stop voting Republican.

David Davenport said...

If he is the nominee Hillary will probably end up being president

(a) Christie would have a much better chance at the Prezdencee if he ran as a Dem.

(b) Would one of you Hillary supporters pleez summarize Hillary's strong points as a candidate?

Lyle said...

I actually think the person that can do this is Ted Cruz. He's smart enough and his wife works for Goldman Sachs.

I don't dislike Christie, and his obesity could be used to great advantage against a progressive candidate in a national election, but he's the establishment's guy. America wants an Andrew Jackson type and Christie isn't Andrew Jackson, Ted Cruz is.

Rand Paul I hope remains in the Senate where he can continue to make a big impact intellectually, if not legislativelly.

Ambrose said...

There is a Republican political intelligentsia?

David Davenport said...

Hillary is not too old. That's an insult. Only white Republican males can be too old to be president.

American voters, as well as most other people, do tend to judge books by looking at their covers.

Christie's too fat and Hillary's too stopped and wrinkly compared to Cruz or Paul. The Repubs. may be able to change their image to the party of comparative youth.

...Hillary making campaign appearances with Nancy P. Harry R., Chuck U. Schumer, and Charley Wrangel or Jesse Jackson ... the youthful faces of the Democrat Party USA.

somefeller said...

Judging by the comments here, it looks like it's time for a RINO hunt and Christie makes a fine target. And it helps that he's fat, like a real rhino. Fatty McFat-Fat! Anyway, happy hunting, conservatives. Keep up the good work.

There is a Republican political intelligentsia?

Stop stealing my lines, Ambrose. Actually, there is such an intelligentsia, though it's increasingly embattled and isolated these days. Which is good for my team, so I shouldn't complain.

David Davenport said...

There is a Republican political intelligentsia?

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Mary Beth said...

I'm more likely to support the politicians who represent the "strain of libertarianism" that Christie finds so dangerous.

David Davenport said...

Oops, "stooped" not "stopped."

I'm waiting for some Hillary fan to say that if Ronnie Raygun could do it, then Hillary can do it.

Carl said...

There is a Republican political intelligentsia?

Sure. I doubt they speak for many Republicans, though, still less for sympathetic independents. Those kinds of people are instinctively anti-party, independent-minded, don't take marching orders from anybody.

You have to look at the Democrats, who are currently the party of statists and aristocrats, to find a genuine intelligentsia. The Russian word is remarkably appropriate in this case. Particularly with its slightly contemptuous implication that these people think they're smart, but aren't so much in fact. Think of Kennedy's "Best And Brightest" or FDR's "Brain Trust." Book-smart.

David said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
mccullough said...

Walker, Christie and Pence seem like the only realistic possibilities on this list. Cruz and Paul are senators. They have the same experience as Obama. Cruz especially since he's a lawyer from Harvard who likes to hear the sound of his voice. Ryan is double cursed. He's a congressman and a failed VP candidate.

I think Walker might be a good President. None of these others, and certainly Hillary and Biden, are ineffective poseurs.

Carol said...

"there is a growing sense"

I used that phrase in a philosophy essay and boy did the prof whack me for the weaseley language!

It still burns.

Steven said...

RINOs make good Senators and Governors in NE corridor states. They only get elected President if Nader splits the Dems and they can squeak in without winning the popular vote.

(Ford lost, Reagan won. Continuation of Reagan won, tax-compromiser lost. The tax collector for the welfare state lost. The compassionate conservative didn't get the plurality, the polarizing war leader won. The maverick lost, the "electable" guy who invented Obamacare lost. Walker can win, Christie will lose.)

Uncle Pavian said...

On November 9, 2016, Mr. Cillizza will be channeling the ghost of Pauline Kael when he says, "But everyone I know voted for Christie."
On the other hand, that sort of assumes that Team Zero will actually leave quietly when their term is up.

Carl said...

Imagine Hillary Clinton running on a platform not unlike her husband's in 1992. The era of Big Obama is over. We tried that, and while well-intentioned it went too far. It's time to get back to thoroughly American values. Let's start by reforming Obamacare... That would be hard to beat.

Unfortunately, she's actually just as much a fascist as Obama. Can she subordinate her instincts to her ambition? You'd think if anyone could, it would be Hillary Clinton.

David Davenport said...

Cruz and Paul are senators. They have the same experience as Obama.


To cite O.'s lack of experience as a reason for his revealed failures is to make excuses for him.

Carl said...

there is a growing sense...

That's how you say "I think such-and-such, and so do a couple of other people I talked to, some of whom I didn't originally think would agree with me, but if pressed I'd have to admit most people laughed. But someday they won't! You'll see! There is a growing sense, I tell you. Growing. It will be big. Real soon now."

Strelnikov said...

Well, as long as the GOP does whatever the liberal opinion writers at WaPo say is best for them they'll do okay.

Anonymous said...

Yes please, nominate Cruz.

Bob Boyd said...

The Republicans might not need the Tea Party wing so much in 2016.
If the Dems run Hillary or another proggy candidate, all the moderates having been purged, a centrist guy like Christie could get all the independents and a good chunk of Democrat voters who don't like the slow economy, the division, the scandals, and where Obama has taken the country.
Obama has moved the center to the left pretty far in America.

Heartless Aztec said...

But does Christie support the Articles of Confederation?

JRoberts said...

The GOP keeps claiming the "states are the laboratory of democracy", but most of the 2016 talk revolves around GOP Senators - Cruz, Paul, etc. I believe the Senate is the wrong place to be looking for a GOP headliner. As much as I like Paul Ryan, the House as a proving ground is worse than the Senate.

The GOP needs to turn its back on the beltway and be looking at the qualified pool of Governors outside the Northeast. I still wish Mitch Daniels would step forward to be a 21st century Calvin Coolidge.

However, for now the GOP needs to focus on nominating the best candidates for the Senate and House for 2014.

Strelnikov said...

"Republican intelligentsia" is an oxymoron.

Wilbur said...

I don't think Christie could win a primary in either party, yet he might be able to win a general election.

Republican conservatives will NEVER forgive nor forget Christie's embrace of Obama just before the 2012 election.

Christie's successful battles with the unions and government factions in NJ make him unpalatable to Democratic primary voters.

Wince said...

I think all the demonization of Cruz essentially backfires when people actually listen to him.

somefeller said...

I still wish Mitch Daniels would step forward to be a 21st century Calvin Coolidge.

Damn, that's an inspiring prospect. I can see the TV ads already: "Mitch Daniels: Feel the Passion!"

oneredquilt said...

It's way too early to really be thinking about this but...

Walker/Cruz 2016

Sam vfm #111 said...

Ted Cruz is not a natural-born American; we can't have two of those in a row.

JRoberts said...

"Damn, that's an inspiring prospect. I can see the TV ads already: "Mitch Daniels: Feel the Passion!""

Actually, I thinking more along the lines of "Mitch Daniels: Competence in Action!"

Dr Weevil said...

"Yes please, nominate Cruz."
Some of us are old enough to remember the Democrats practically begging Republicans to nominate Reagan, because an old wrinkly actor who had appeared in a movie with a chimpanzee would be SO easy to beat. I suspect a Cruz nomination would work out much the same way.

Anonymous said...

Reagan was no Cruz. But by all means, please proceed.

somefeller said...

Some of us are old enough to remember the Democrats practically begging Republicans to nominate Reagan, because an old wrinkly actor who had appeared in a movie with a chimpanzee would be SO easy to beat. I suspect a Cruz nomination would work out much the same way.

Some of us are old enough to remember hearing Republicans making the Reagan comparison to any Republican that was the well-deserved butt of Democratic ridicule, like Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin or Rick Perry. Actually, you don't have to be very old to remember hearing such comments, since the "they mocked Reagan too" is a hardy perennial in GOP circles. But please, nominate Cruz. What could go wrong?


Mitch H. said...

I'd be worried if this wasn't an ignorant beltway turd like Cillizza.

Stop stealing my lines, Ambrose. Actually, there is such an intelligentsia, though it's increasingly embattled and isolated these days. Which is good for my team, so I shouldn't complain.

Speaking of ignorant worthless turds, here comes somefeller to demonstrate how self-identification as "intelligentsia" is almost always an unconscious demonstration that the speaker has no ideas, no learning, and nothing of worth to express. Posturing jackasses bray the loudest, after all.

Dr Weevil said...

Anything that could go wrong with nominating Cruz is trivial compared to what went wrong in electing and reelecting a malignant narcissist, a criminal, and a fool.

And anyone who thinks that Gingrich, Palin, and Perry (or any one of them) deserved even one-quarter of the abuse and ridicule heaped upon them by the lying morons of the left is truly a butt, and not just of ridicule.

somefeller said...

Aw, Mitch, u mad bro? Sorry to ruin your afternoon. Incidentally, I don't recall ever referring to myself with the term "intelligentsia". Got any links to that? But if you want to refer to me as such, feel free to do so, but that's really too kind.

wildswan said...

I think the values voters should separate from the Republican party and form a new party which promises to support and pass immigration reform. Then we would be able to attract the Hispanics who are already good Americans and just want to be legal. And by opposing Obamacare and saying we should balance the budget we could get other voters. If we aren't going to be supported by other Republicans -if it's shut up and vote for us - I say we leave. Fast off a cliff or slow off a cliff - what is the difference? What we need is leader who would take the chance with his supporters and to hell with the Northeast.

Anonymous said...

Actually, you don't have to be very old to remember hearing such comments, since the "they mocked Reagan too" is a hardy perennial in GOP circles.

Though you do have to be just a bit older to remember that the reason "they mocked Reagan too" got to be a hardy perennial is that they did, in fact, mock Reagan. (The point being, not that anyone mocked by liberals is automatically good; but that the mockery of the people who failed to mock John Edwards is no guide one way or the other to who is or is not mockworthy.)

Titus said...

He will never ever win the pube teabagger primaries so this is a mute point.

tits.

Dr Weevil said...

PZ: Good point about failing to mock John Edwards. Somehow being the kind of lawyer who makes millions manipulating juries and even ventriloquizing the thoughts of fetuses is not mockworthy. Having over a billion dollars of other people's money disappear while in your possession and not being able to say where it went: also not mockworthy.

But working as a wrestling coach or an exterminator before going into politics? That's ridiculous and contemptible.

MayBee said...

Is there any better evidence that Obama is a a failure than the constant attention to the presidential election that is 3 years away?

Michael said...

He's a sure winner fat guy in a nation of fatties. Has a sense of humor. Is not overly self regarding. Plainspoken. Many things our current "chief executive" is not. Including experienced as a chief executive.

somefeller said...

Is there any better evidence that Obama is a a failure than the constant attention to the presidential election that is 3 years away?

No, because that attention is coming from Republicans and it's standard operating procedure for the opposition party to dream of what may be in the next Presidential election. See e.g.: Democrats circa 2005-2006. Better come up with some other evidence.

Oh, and just a reminder: Obama isn't a failure, will be remembered well in history and one or more of your offspring or descendants may go to a school named after him. Where the principal will be married to a person of the same gender. The future beckons!

Lydia said...

It'll be Christie-Rubio in 2016.

Because they're both very likeable, very smart, and very articulate. Emphasis on the likeable, because that's what wins elections. Assuming Republicans really want to win.

Mitch H. said...

somefeller, if in your sinner's heart, you *don't* peacock about bragging to your self-impressed self-image about your intellectual superiority and status as one of the smart ones, one of the educated ones, one of those who knows, than yes, you have my apologies for misunderstanding you. But, mind you, you bear the brunt of guilt for the way you present yourself to the world, you sneering and self-satisfied cunt. And if there's a devil or a hell, you will burn in it, you miserable sniveling shit, because you know, and I know, that you are as full of shit as the oceans are full of fish, salt and water.

Dr Weevil said...

Someone who is a total failure, an utter disaster, but has party-line historians busily pretending that he was a success, is still a failure. See for instance Woodrow Wilson. The best Obama can hope for is that historians will cover up his crimes and blunders as they have (most of them) Wilson's.

somefeller said...

Somebody needs a hug.

Oso Negro said...

I can't bear it when the press begins to gin itself up for the "inevitable" Republican candidate.

Guildofcannonballs said...

The Shaquille endorsement matters. I would very much like Christie as POTUS with, at minimum to start, a Tea Party-tinged congress.

I hate prosecutors though, in general.

Bob R said...

All you guys interested in nominating a "true conservative," keep your eyes open on Tuesday night. If a true conservative can't beat the truly execrable Terry McAuliffe in Virginia...(I'm voting for Sarvis.)

Dr Weevil said...

If you're voting for Sarvis, you're a damned fool.

chickelit said...

Terry McAwful's potential loss in VA will be a real canary in the coal mine for Libs. If he looses, Dems can rightly blame Obama. The Clintons will get even.

chickelit said...

Also, I second what Mitch H said at 6:46, but w/o the c-word.

Dr Weevil said...

To put it simply, it's not particularly important that Cuccinelli be governor: it won't make a lot of difference either way. It is extremely important that a total crook like McAuliffe not be governor, particularly when we already have a bigger crook in the White House.

Rich Vail said...

WE can't afford to nominate another RINO...the last 2 lost...badly.

mtrobertsattorney said...

Somefeller is way to modest about his intellectual acumen.

He studied political science under Chris Matthews and Nancy Pelosi who are without doubt the two most profound thinkers in the democrat party today.

Anonymous said...

NO MORE RINOs! You folks need Cruz!

Guildofcannonballs said...

Let us compare Palin pre-Veep nom. with Christie now, the fictional background a BBQ at Shaq's house.

Bring on the Puffy videos denouncing Christie: We got Shaq yo.

We got Shaq.

chickelit said...

NO MORE RINOs! You folks need Cruz!

What we need are more Tea Party Congressmen, Governors, Senators, and a weakened POTUS of either party.

Guildofcannonballs said...

I feel quite relieved I don't get to single-nor-doubly handed get to choose our next POTUS.

I trust in the system now, after the Double Obama, than before.

I don't know hence cannot explain why 'cept 'Merica.

somefeller said...

Terry McAwful's potential loss in VA will be a real canary in the coal mine for Libs. If he looses, Dems can rightly blame Obama. The Clintons will get even.

Potential loss is an interesting way to describe a big lead in all recent polls and a highly likely victory for McAuliffe. And if (when) he wins, is that a canary for conservatives?

And it's no surprise you don't want to use the c-word. I'm sure that body part frightens you and your few experiences with it have been most traumatic.

chickelit said...

@Somefeller: I was barely interested in politics then and I think I voted for Clinton in '96, but even I remember what a sleazebag Terry McAwful was.

Paul said...

Christie is a NJ RINO.

He is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

So hell no, I won't vote for him.

Paul said...

Look gang, it's not 'who can beat whom' in the political races.

If you vote n a RINO you will still get the same leftist crap you would from a progressive democrat.

Don't fall for the 'we must get Christie to beat whomever..' stuff.

Push to elect someone who really can help this nation.

Dr Weevil said...

What somefeller calls "a big lead in all recent polls" is in fact a 2% lead in at least one recent poll. So much for somefeller's knowledge or honesty or both. I wonder if he's being paid to depress the conservative vote.

Can he really be so disingenuous as to ask whether a Cuccinelli loss would be "a canary for conservatives"? Of course it would. If the liars in the White House and their lapdogs in the press can impose such an obvious crook as McAuliffe on the state of Virginia by deluging the electorate with baldfaced lies, maybe Constitutional government in this country really is dead, or as good as dead.

That prospect doesn't seem to bother somefeller. I wonder why.

somefeller said...

Congrats on finding an outlier, Doc. Real Clear Politics polling average has McAuliffe up by 7.5%. But as they say, the only poll that matters is on Election Day.

I do look forward to seeing McAuliffe win the governorship, though. He is a fun guy to have around. And if he does win while being so supposedly awful, you conservatives might want to do a little self-reflection. Or is that too nuanced and liberal-y? Hey, once again, just trying to help here.

David Davenport said...

He's a sure winner fat guy in a nation of fatties.

A large percentage, perhaps the majority, of fatties residing in America are black or Mexican. It's a Thorsten Veblen conspicuous consumption thing: they're showing off that they're prosperous enough to afford extra calories! ...

Although a lot of the calories are purchased with welfare food stamps.

They'll continue to vote for the welfare party.

In contrast, a large percentage of "independent voters" are white people who are greatly concerned with looking slim and trim. Those joggers, Zumba girls, unisex Boot Camp enthusiasts, and so on won't be loving a geezer who looks like he time traveled from the era of William Howard Taft.

If these independents switch from voting D. to R., then the R.'s can win.

I think the values voters should separate from the Republican party and form a new party which promises to support and pass immigration reform.

That is superfluous and redundant, since both the Dems. and the 2nd American Whig Party support amnesty,uh, immigration ree-form.

Then we would be able to attract the Hispanics who are already good Americans and just want to be legal.

If they were good Americans, then they wouldn't be here while breaking the law.

If a true conservative can't beat the truly execrable Terry McAuliffe in Virginia...(I'm voting for Sarvis.)

Sarvis is the 3td party Lib Lib Libertarian Party candidate, correct?

Lib Lib Libertarian: definition: a cultural Lefty who also wants tax cuts. ... not that all that different from Establishment Republicans such as the Bush family.

chickelit said...

That prospect doesn't seem to bother somefeller. I wonder why.

Somefeller is an arch-sullivanist; they share a de tokeville-fueled vision of America: free healthcare for all; disenfranchisement of flyover states; massive carbon taxes; punitive reparations paid for by whites; a normalization and acceptance of HIV in the life blood of America; a collapse of American military strength, etc.

OK, I exaggerate, but you get the picture.

somefeller said...

The little glimpses into your inner life that you share are always fascinating, Chickie.

chickelit said...

Tonight, somefeller, you're giving off an odor of ritmo.

Just sayin'

somefeller said...

Maybe you can put us both on one of your little lists, which you always check twice! Unless we are already on one, of course.

Dr Weevil said...

'somefeller' doesn't bother to answer the question whether he's being paid to post here, and makes it clear that McAuliffe's obvious corruption doesn't bother him in the least. Neither of those is at all surprising: after all, he could have written "all but one recent poll" show McAuliffe winning or "all recent polls except one outlier", but no, he just had to write "all recent polls", which was in fact the kind of obvious lie that only an asshole and a fool would tell.

What kind of reflection does 'somefeller' want conservatives to do? Does he think we should start telling baldfaced filthy lies about our opponents, as they do about us? Because that's how McAuliffe is (probably) winning. I live in Virginia, and get his flyers. I deeply resent being asked to choose between sinking to the Democrats' level and always losing. It's a disgusting choice to offer, and only a disgusting person like 'somefeller' or his puppet-master Obama would offer it. But hey, if the next governor is "fun", who cares if he's corrupt? Not somefeller, that's for sure.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
chickelit said...

The little glimpses into your inner life that you share are always fascinating, Chickie.

If you mean that I am opposed to that agenda then you are correct, sir.

Tom said...

I don't think Christie can make it through the election process. He may play well in NJ where being aggressive and am asshole is prized. But the novelty of that schtick will wear off quickly with most of the country.

The next candidate, Rand Paul is a Senator. I mean, he's a Senator and that's the best place for him. I think over time he will be an extraordinary Senator. As president, he's John Quincy Adams. So that doesn't work (though I'd vote for him over most of the field and Christie).

Cruz is an egomaniac. Seriously, he may be useful to the Tea Party but he ain't going to be President.

But, that's a while off. 2014 is the key to stopping the slide.

Dr Weevil said...

By the way, third-party candidates almost always shrivel on election day. As I recall (I'm not going to look it up), John Anderson in 1980 and Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996 got not much more than half the votes on Election Day that they had gotten in polls quite close to the elections. When it comes down to actual voting, a lot of people who would like to vote third party, who told pollsters they were going to vote third party, decide not to throw away their votes and end up picking one or the other of the top two.

If half or close to half of Sarvis' votes switch to one of the other two (likely), and if those votes go more to Cuccinelli than to McAuliffe (hard to tell, since the so-called 'libertarian' doesn't seem to have a lot of actual libertarian ideas), then Cuccinelli could easily pick up 2-4% on McAuliffe. Whether that, a possible last-minute surge, and pollster error or wishful thinking will be enough for Cuccinelli to pull ahead, and whether any such hypothetical pulling ahead will be canceled out by election fraud in northern Virginia, remains to be seen. We'll know in about 72 hours.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Any conservative that uses the term RINO, in terms of thinking "they should think more like me since they share the label 'Republican'" is an idiot. It is a perfectly fine term in and of itself.

Republicans have the money to accept.

Conservatives have other-than-Republicans, unless they are idiots, or think different than facist Jobs.

Saint Croix said...

I saw Rand Paul on one of the Sunday morning talk shows and I was blown away with how good he was. Everything he said was right on the money, smart, quick.

This was in the middle of the shutdown fight. Paul was not a fan of the shutdown and yet his focus was on the right issue (i.e. our $17 trillion in debt). Very smart, very good on his feet.

And his personality is very even-keeled and easy-going. He's principled without being dogmatic like Cruz, or obnoxious like Christie.

I think he's more libertarian than Cruz, nicer, and picks better fights. For instance Paul's fight against drone strikes and his filibuster was brilliant.

Rand Paul can both excite the tea party and pick up young people with his attacks on American hegemony. With our debts I think we will be shrinking our military footprint going forward.

And I like that he thinks outside the box, and thinks for himself. I used to make fun of his dad but I really, really like Rand Paul.

Guildofcannonballs said...

The most is Jesus.

Dr Weevil said...

If anyone suggests that Rand Paul shouldn't win because Ron Paul's an extremist and kind of a jerk, all he has to do is point out that Joe Kennedy was an appeaser and Nazi sympathizer and Al Gore Sr voted against the Civil Rights Act. Neither of their sons seems to have been held back by their fathers' opinions.

Joe said...

Christie is a liberal democrat and would be soundly defeated in the primaries. Cruz talks a lot and doesn't actually do anything--he's yet another talking head/empty suit, just like Obama was. Walker is the only possible candidate who's actually proven himself in office.

Lydia said...

Come on, Dr Weevil, you know the same standards don't apply to Republicans. The Democrats would have a field day with Papa Paul were Rand the nominee. Just the prospect is probably giving Chris Matthews tingles all over the place.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

From the comments on this thread, the nation apparently needs to appreciate that it is further to the hard right than the moderate Republicans will allow anyone else to know.

David Davenport said...

Rand Paul can both excite the tea party and pick up young people with his attacks on American hegemony.

I think Tea Party sentiment is more isolationist than Bush Jr./Juan McAmnesty/Linda Graham, but "American hegemony" -- whazat? Something you hire a Mexcun to trim? ... And pay him off the books, in cash.

"Down with American hegemony!!!" Oh yeah, a Tea Party audience sure would cheer for that line in a speech. ... No, they wouldn't.

With our debts I think we will be shrinking our military footprint going forward.

With our debts, I am sure you agree that we will be shrinking food stamps and Section 8 housing benefits going forward.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Farther than merely my proclamations, Shaq and 50 be wit me.

Our ... !

America will be/has been but that's all I got.

More than enoughs.

And Tupac is as American as every non-Tupac hasn't been.

Lydia said...

Name the governor who did the following:

He’s pro-life and defunded Planned Parenthood, forcing them to close two abortion mills, [he] used line-item vetoes to cut more than a billion dollars in spending, reformed public pensions ending collective bargaining for health benefits, balanced the budget without raising taxes, vetoed gay marriage, put a cap on property taxes, created a “Pension Fraud Unit” to tackle government waste, and increased charter school enrollment.

Sounds like a pretty conservative guy to me.

test said...

somefeller said...
And it's no surprise you don't want to use the c-word. I'm sure that body part frightens you and your few experiences with it have been most traumatic.

11/2/13, 8:25 PM


Amazing that in somefeller's mind having standards of decency is a reason to impugn others' sexuality.

Dr Weevil said...

Don't worry, Marshal, somefeller's just projecting, as usual. After all, someone who states that not wanting "to use the c-word" is a sign of sexual perversion and/or inadequacy, simultaneously going to the trouble of not using it himself by calling it "the c-word", seems to be calling himself a sexual pervert or incompetent. He certainly speaks feelingly on the subject. Hoist by his own petard!

David Davenport said...

hard right

Please give some examples of Tea Party political sentiments which are "hard right."

Is opposition to amnesty for illegal aliens "hard right"? Opposition to Obamacare? Objecting to the IRS harrassing Tea Party organizers? Wanting voters to show some identification before voting?

Are those "hard right" positions?

sunsong said...

In my view there is the adolescent wing of the GOP - lead by Cruz. They want freedom without responsibility. Let's shut down the government - yeah that'll show 'em.

And you have the more grown up but less courageous wing, who, hopefully have learned a valuable lesson.

I think it is too soon to know who would be a good 2016 candidate. Cruz could take the whole party over a cliff and it won't matter how wonderful any other republican might be.

Ctmom4 said...

@ Tom " Tom said...
I don't think Christie can make it through the election process. He may play well in NJ where being aggressive and am asshole is prized. But the novelty of that schtick will wear off quickly with most of the country." You should check out the clip - I think it's on Youtube, from the NJ debate. At the close the moderator asked them to say one nice thing about their opponent. She went first, and took a cheap shot with a snarl ; something about him being good on late night TV. He then did a nice, sincere sounding little riff about appreciating her 16 years of public service. It was pitch perfect, and made her look like a fool. I sort of pictured him doing something similar to Hillary. When he can tamp down his inner asshole, he is a very skilled politician.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Rush Limbaugh would applaud Steve Jobs for being worth over 1 billion mere human beings.

Steve Jobs created, hence deserves, over what 1 billion human beings deserve, based on their limited creations.

Rush's pimping Apple-rape is what Steve Jobs is.

Dennis Miller, while certainly late to the show, has shown himself a leader not so used to fame it's scary when it can't, at this hour, be so. Dennis said "fuck Jobs" the asshole elitist suggest-fuck-ever-cause-YEAHGENIUS-still-be-asshole thing.

Fuck Steve Jobs and his bitch-boy Limbaugh. Like fuckin Jonah talkin' 'bout how great AssholeBaldwiin is on 30 stone.

F U C K

Dr Weevil said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Dr Weevil said...

I think spending a trillion or so a year more than you have coming in, year after year, is a Hell of a lot more adolescent, and a far better example of expecting "freedom without responsibility", than anything Cruz is in favor of. It cannot possibly end well, and the longer we go without cutting spending, the more drastic those cuts will inevitably be. Will we make it to the end of Obama's second term without hyperinflation or some other form of economic collapse? It seems unlikely.

Ctmom4 said...

I would also note that Christie has about 30% of the black vote in the polls, which is very interesting. I am not a fan of his, just saying.

Gospace said...

Haley Barbour
Sarah Palin
Scott Walker
Bobby Jindal
Nikki Haley
Rick Perry

Lot's of choices. The nominee depends on who jumps in. And if Christie faces ANY oppositiion, he won't be the next Republican nominee. The so called intelligentsia is out of touch with actual Republican primary voters.

Gospace said...

And while looking up Haley Barbour, ran across this website. I think I'll send some friends to it. I suspect their quiz answers will match them with candidates they voted against.

http://www.ontheissues.org/default.htm

eddie willers said...

Christie lost me before his loving, long walks on the beach with Obama.

Since Ann Coulter had kept singing his praises, I looked forward to hearing his speech at the Republican Convention.

Not only was it boring and lackluster, but consisted of "Me....me....me....me...oh yeah, Romney....me....me....me, and me"

bbkingfish said...

Translation:

"The Republican political intelligentsia has been instructed by Bush family operatives that only Christie is positioned to rescue the GOP. And if Christie can't do it, then, darn it, maybe Jeb will have to step in and save the day after all."

sdharms said...

Chris Cilliza has been too long inside the beltway. A Christi nomination will assure a Dem victory.

sdharms said...

Chris Cilliza has been too long inside the beltway. A Christi nomination will assure a Dem victory.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Chris Cillizza is founder and editor of The Fix, a leading blog on state and national politics. He is the author of The Gospel According to the Fix: An Insider’s Guide to a Less than Holy World of Politics and an MSNBC contributor and political analyst. He also regularly appears on NBC and NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show. He joined The Post in 2005 and was named one of the top 50 journalists by Washingtonian in 2009.

The left want Chris Christie to face Hillary because they think, and are right, that Christie will help Hillary win.
This is, again, the democrat picking out the R candidate. I full on expect the old guard idiots like Karl Rove and Company to comply. The media are manipulating this for Hillary from now on. Oh look - radical leftwing progressive socialist chuck Schumer is endorsing Hillary. Why now? The Hillary manipulation is under way.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Does Christie know he's the fat prop that will help the old Hillary win?

Or is Christie so deluded, he actually thinks he can win?

The left need Christie to be the candidate.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Note: The pro-dem media will not vet Christie. Christie is the fat prop they need, and real vetting only counts against those R's that must be destroyed with lies. Look to whatever the ultimate hack, MSNBC's radical leftwinger Rachel Maddow, is saying about the person _____ the radial left fears most.
They don't fear Christie.

Team Romney vetted Christie and said no thanks. Here's some of it:

"The vetters were stunned by the garish controversies lurking in the shadows of his record. There was a 2010 Department of Justice inspector general’s investigation of Christie’s spending patterns in his job prior to the governorship, which criticized him for being “the U.S. attorney who most often exceeded the government [travel expense] rate without adequate justification” and for offering “insufficient, inaccurate, or no justification” for stays at swank hotels like the Four Seasons. There was the fact that Christie worked as a lobbyist on behalf of the Securities Industry Association at a time when Bernie Madoff was a senior SIA official—and sought an exemption from New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act. There was Christie’s decision to steer hefty government contracts to donors and political allies like former Attorney General John Ashcroft, which sparked a congressional hearing. There was a defamation lawsuit brought against Christie arising out of his successful 1994 run to oust an incumbent in a local Garden State race. Then there was Todd Christie, the Governor’s brother, who in 2008 agreed to a settlement of civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission in which he acknowledged making “hundreds of trades in which customers had been systematically overcharged.” (Todd also oversaw a family foundation whose activities and purpose raised eyebrows among the vetters.) And all that was on top of a litany of glaring matters that sparked concern on Myers’ team: Christie’s other lobbying clients, his investments overseas, the YouTube clips that helped make him a star but might call into doubt his presidential temperament, and the status of his health."

But the left insist bear hug fat prop Christie is da man!

grackle said...

5 million white Republicans who voted for McCain stay home rather than vote for him.

And shame on them for staying home. I'm not a Republican. I hold too many views on issues that are not GOP party-line. I'm an independent who usually votes for a GOP candidate. My candidate of choice was NOT McCain. But after he won the nomination I sent him money, talked him up enthusiastically on blogs and eagerly voted for him on election day. The same for Romney.

Right now I'm liking Cruz. I don't much like Christie – one too many unnecessarily wet kisses for Obama turned my stomach. You don't put your tongue down a Progressive Prez's throat during his second run as a reward for him showing up after a hurricane – it's unseemly at best, traitorous at worse. But Christie did it and with relish, heavy breathing and a boner to boot. Then bragged about it. So I very much do not like Christie.

BUT, if Christie wins the nomination I will send him money, talk him up enthusiastically on blogs and proudly push the lever for him on election day. I like Cruz but not to the point that I'll stay home during the election.

a psychiatrist who learned from veterans said...

He went to a Hispanic area in NJ and said he would be for allowing the children of illegal immigrants instate tuition. The current candidates for lieutenant governor in Texas have all said, as opposed to current law, after the Perry debacle they are against it. Christie said, the interview is in the Atlantic, that New Jersey sees he listens to people and, by inference, may change or bend a position but like most everybody the only person he always agrees with is himself. There is a large part of the R party that feels things are changing too much and will say 'No way;' that culture is inevitably diminishing in reach.

Unknowable said...

GOP "leadership" desperately wants to make the party more "progressive".

They want to "Be Like Barack!".

Out: Conservative main-stream, middle-class values, fiscal responsibility (actually been out for a while...), etc., etc.

In: Si se puede nigga!

Immigration reform is the big lever the GOP leaders truly believe will give them an electorally-significant number of minority votes.. at least that's what Chuck Schumer promised them would happen...

They are purposefully ignoring the 900 lb gorilla-issue: The 'minorities' they are ostensibly attracting with amnesty will not support, nor vote for a moderate/conservative GOP platform or candidates.

So the party must become more progressive and to that, center-right and right conservatives must take their places under the bus.

rcommal said...

I second those who say he's a non-starter as likely nominee due to his weakness as a candidate in the context of primaries and caucuses. If by some miracle or eccentric accident of fate he gains strength during the early part of that process, maybe I'll revisit my assumptions. Until then, I won't and don't bother to consider seriously the notion of Christie as Republican nominee.

And I'm no Christie despiser.

David Davenport said...

From Newsmax.com: Mitt Romney's Code Name for Christie: 'Pufferfish'

...

"Romney marveled at Christie’s girth, his difficulties in making his way down the narrow aisle of the campaign bus," say the book's authors. "Watching a video of Christie without his suit jacket on, Romney cackled to his aides, 'Guys! Look at that!'"

Christie, who is viewed as a potential presidential candidate for 2016, underwent lap band surgery in February to help him win his longtime battle with weight which has dogged his political career. But he recently released a report from his doctor that says he "has no medical limitations and is fit to serve as the governor." ...

C R Krieger said...

Please, not Gov Christie.

Regards  —  Cliff

30yearProf said...

I'm a Republican. I'll stay home rather than vote for Christie. He's a first-class RINO.