Posted on 01/23/2014 4:50:23 PM PST by mandaladon
Don't laugh. He has built-in advantages in Iowa and New Hampshire, a party moving in his direction, and formidable fundraising potential. If Chris Christie was ever the frontrunner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, he isn’t anymore. All along, the theory behind his candidacy was that he could overcome his lack of conservative bona fides with a combination of personality, competence, electability, and money. Bridgegate undermines all four.
In the minds of many voters, Christie’s personality has morphed from brash to bully. It’s harder to look competent when your top aides egregiously abused power under your nose. Christie’s supposed electability was based partly on polls showing that he was the only potential Republican nominee running even with Hillary Clinton. But Marist and Quinnipiac, whose surveys showed Clinton and Christie virtually tied in December, now show him trailing her by 13 and 8 points, respectively. The electability argument also depended on Christie’s supposed success in bringing New Jerseyans together across party lines, a harder claim now that Democrats in the state legislature are talking impeachment. And as Christie’s electability erodes, so will his vaunted support among GOP moneymen. As a Republican insider recently told BuzzFeed’s McKay Coppins, “There are definitely people jumping ship.”
So if Christie is no longer the candidate to beat in the 2016 Republican race, who is? Believe it or not, it’s Rand Paul.
To understand the Kentucky senator’s hidden strength, it’s worth remembering this basic fact about the modern GOP: It almost never nominates first-time candidates. Since 1980, George W. Bush is the only first-timer to win a Republican nomination. And since Bush used the political network his father built, he enjoyed many of the benefits of someone who had run before.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...
I think this article is a few months out of date. For a while, Rand seemed to have convinced conservatives that he was their savior, but he was eclipsed by Ted Cruz as the Tea Party favorite a while ago. I think if the two of them went head to head now with conservative groups, Cruz would easily win. That includes on FR, too.
You're right that Rand has convinced many conservatives that he's a mainstream spokesman for conservative values, though. They're convinced that he's "different" from dear ol' dad despite the fact nobody can seem to think of a single issue where Rand has visibly parted ways with daddy. Shades of Darin LaThug and Jesse Jackson Jr. The tone and focus on issues may be different but the agenda sure isn't. This is one of the reasons I'm glad nobody drank the Liz Cheney kool-aid. If she had won a Senate seat, they'd immediately start trying to position her as a "rising star" for her daddy's old job in 2016.
>> Purely as a candidate, he doesn’t seem like a strong one. <<
Agreed. The one strength I'd give him is that he's a very effective communicator and would do well in a debate trying to convince everyone in the audience that he shares their beliefs and will fight for them. He comes across as a very articulate and reasonable southern gentleman. Aside from that, I really can't think of any strengths he'd have a Presidential candidate. Even if Rand is totally focused on mainstream America on the campaign trail, I could see one of his daddy's lunatic supporters sabotaging the campaign and getting us dragged into a debate on secession, "funding for zionists", or the 17th amendment or something.
Check out post #42 for a real blast from the past. I'm having deja vu of the bad ol' days in late 2011/early 2012 when FR was rah-rah for Newt for President. The Newt fan has Newt listed as a "N" on "Supported the global warming hoax". I guess Newt missed this memo when he sat on the couch with Nancy and had a "debate" with John Kerry where he agreed "climate change is real" and that we needed to take "immediate steps" to combat it.
Dear God! That man needs a doctor.
From your keyboard to God’s Hard drive! When someone says to me ‘Newt, he’s a has been; we can’t trust him’ it si so easy to stomp them back into reality by merely pointing out that Newt Gingrich could never be what little barry bastard boy has been and is being, that there is no lower state of dissolve to which Newt could bring America than what the democrips have brought US to, and Newt knows how to soundly defeat the progressive bastard democrips.
My take on this:
Any GOP will be better than the alternative, Hillary!. To paraphrase Rick Pitino, “Ronald Reagan isn’t walking through that door!”
If this was the country that I grew up in, I’d have to think after 8 years of this AA bozo RAT, the GOP should be a shoo-in, but, since the tipping point has been eclipsed, probably not.
Coalesce behind the person with the best chance of winning in 2016, warts and all and go. That’s about all that can be done.
I will not "coalesce" behind a RINO. it smells bad and you end up stepping in it.
Was I talking to you? No.
Dear Ignorant,
Before 1920 THERE WAS NO WELFARE STATE. That is why we could afford to let in many immigrants CONTROLLED thru Ellis Island. Get a clue.
Is this a public forum? Yes.
FOAD, reb.
How are things in socialist hell, cold? It’s cold here so it must be like the arctic up there.
I’m in a warm place. Speaking of “soialist hell”, how’s good the Old BLUE Dominion state these days?
Thanks for playing! :)
With 12 acres and 3000 sq ft house my monthly property taxes are around $300 / month. How are yours doing Yank?
Are you for real? Who gives a sh*t about your property tax bill?
Oh, who got their head handed to them in what war again? Yeah, I thought so.
You’re a joke.
Now, go have someone read what I wrote to you.
He talks about how he supports all these bipartision ideas, then votes with Ted Cruz against them all.
And he's isolationist which is the popular thing now.
I think he's been working this one very cleverly. I been watching him,
Looks like Dems knocked off Christie for him.
I was in NH and ME with the NEWT people, mostly, and the Santorum people to a lesser extent.
I find it distressing that both of them seem to be reving up for another run. I got an email today from “Newt for President” ... I did not read it ... should have. Perhaps the Iowa caucus will exterminate them. New Hampshire sure will.
I say the consistent argument is repeal the bulk of government social programs, entitlements, taxes, and a whole bunch of useless laws, and let America be free again and let those that hunger and thirst for freedom have it, just like our ancestors when they arrived here.
Somewhere along the line we on the Right have to stand up for the principles and values our founders bled and died for. I hate hearing the argument that Socialism is here to stay. That's surrender to the enemy IMO. No, I'll fight for, and I think we should fight for, our country's principles and values as long as I/we live.
the worst part of the Paulistas is they’ve soaked up all the rural grassroots populists in much of the country ... NH and ME included.
Takes a big part of the Teaparty coalition out of the ... coalition. I do not like it and ain’t got no cure.
Sorry you've surrendered to the Socialist enemy. Have fun in prison.
The hardcore cynic in me says that if the Republican candidate is going to be a straight, Caucasian, observant Christian male of any stripe than it is time to completely throw in the towel. I just think that party is way too in inept and incompetent to prepare any candidate for the Dims when they get a credit limit extension on the race card and then open up new lines of credit on the gender card, the gay card and the religious minority card.
Sure wish it wasn’t the case but tragically I think it is. That said, Rand Paul is probably the sole straight, white, Christian male candidate with more than a snowballs chance in hell at the moment.
Yep, I'd say Christie is DOA as a 2016 Presidential contender. A bunch of freepers are alarmed that the GOP establishment will foist him on us (they were absolutely convinced he was "going to run" in 2012 as well, no matter how many times he said flat out he wouldn't run). Personally, I'd be more worried about Jeb Bush as the anointed GOP establishment candidate in 2016.
All of the also rans from 2012 (Newt, Santorum, Perry, etc.) shouldn't waste their time at another attempt in 2016. I felt the same way about the 2012 contenders that were recycled from 2008 (Romney, Paul, etc.) The GOP seriously has an image problem with recycling losers.
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