Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

If GOP establishment picks Jeb Bush for 2016, conservatives should bolt for another party
Absolute Rights ^ | 12/26/2014 | Jon E Dougherty

Posted on 12/26/2014 7:20:12 AM PST by SleeperCatcher

Some conservative political analysts have opined that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced recently that he was further exploring his options to run for the GOP presidential nomination as a means of pre-empting all other potential GOP candidates. Many of the same analysts say there was an additional, not-so-subtle message, and it was aimed primarily at conservatives: ‘Don’t bother running; the monied GOP interests (i.e. the donor class) have spoken and Jeb Bush is who they want.’

Over the Christmas holidays I have had a number of people ask my opinion about Bush, and what I have told them, essentially, is this: Jeb Bush, like all the Bushes, is an inherently decent man. He has been a governor of a mostly red (but sometimes purple) state. He shares lineage with a storied political family. But if the goal is to restore some semblance of constitutional government to our republic, Jeb Bush is the wrong candidate, for he – like his father and brother before him – is no conservative.

(Excerpt) Read more at absoluterights.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: 2016election; election2016; florida; gop; jebbush; rinosonparade; terrischaivo; uniparty
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 161-180181-200201-220221-223 next last
To: Alas Babylon!; SunkenCiv; All

We need Instant Runoff ballots so that if no candidate gets a majority, second choices have a better chance of winning.


181 posted on 12/27/2014 12:50:28 AM PST by gleeaikin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: HiTech RedNeck; All

Except that the same ads and messages are repeated over and over again, and the public really learns little of use about the candidates, just what focus groups indicate will sway opinion.


182 posted on 12/27/2014 12:52:38 AM PST by gleeaikin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 180 | View Replies]

To: gleeaikin

And a foolish public still rewards this stuff that is presented at the level of “Tastes great! Less filling!”

Part of this is popular stupidity and the old adage goes that you can lead a horse to water but never make him drink.


183 posted on 12/27/2014 12:56:38 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 182 | View Replies]

To: gleeaikin
Going back to the topic of the thread ...
Will agree that should Conservatives be shut out of the process, as has been being done, and 2016 turns out to be a continuation of Conservatives being shut out of the process, clear messages will have been sent. Conservatives are sensing, just as you say Gleeaikin, that influence pedaling by/from both the left and right are throwing the People's Dream in the wastebasket along with the Constitution. How long the People that are witnessing these travesties shall sit still is anyone guess. The left has become extreme in their anger and God only knows where the left's anger will go. If the anger of Conservatives rises to or beyond the anger level of the left .... The path that will be will be. Conservatives are slower to anger but a Conservatives' anger is a quantum leap should Conservatives anger. Think Conservatives are sitting on the sidelines, for the moment, observing the attempted chaos because thus far the chaos is minimal. Conservatives being shut out in 2016 and God will answer the question posed by the hand-shake of left and right.?!<---I went with .?! because am expecting .?!
184 posted on 12/27/2014 12:57:23 AM PST by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 179 | View Replies]

To: gleeaikin

it has been said that if there was a box ‘none of the above’ at the bottom on the list of candidates on a ballot ... ‘none of the above’ would average fifty percent.


185 posted on 12/27/2014 1:01:56 AM PST by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 181 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
the only reason anyone gets the nomination is that they get the most delegates during the primaries

The above is ostensibly true, but it isn't the real reason, in my opinion.

They get the nomination due to votes coming their way because of money, organization, support in the trenches.

Without getting in the old elector debate applied to a political party, we are stuck with this system that we have.

In order to win, Cruz or Lee or whomever, must be funded early, they must have able workers, and they must have grass roots support.

Without the money they are toast and we all know it.

Cruz will be buried by money painting him as everything from a neophyte, to a shyster, to a non-citizen if he doesn't have the finances to overcome the attacks.

Republicans love to attack conservatives.

186 posted on 12/27/2014 4:01:14 AM PST by xzins ( Retired Army Chaplain and Proud of It! Those who truly support our troops pray for victory!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: OneWingedShark; EternalVigilance; SleeperCatcher; DiogenesLamp; goldstategop; Dr. Sivana; Slyfox

If conservatives think that the 2016 GOP presidential nominee is too liberal, I hope many of those conservatives will vote for the Constitution Party candidate, if those conservatives know that the race won’t be close, in their state. If they live in WY, UT, ID, AL, or MS, those conservatives know that the Republican will win their state. If they live in NY, MA, CA, DE, or VT, those voters know that the Democrat will win their state. In all of states, 5%-10% could vote for a conservative presidential candidate, without changing who will win their state’s electoral votes. I hope that will cause more republican candidates to be more conservative in the 2017 and ‘18 elections.


187 posted on 12/27/2014 5:20:45 AM PST by PhilCollins
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 136 | View Replies]

To: SleeperCatcher

There is no other party

The writer is pretending and advocates conservatives to pretend to vote.

The article is drivel, balderdash, hogwash


188 posted on 12/27/2014 5:26:04 AM PST by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc.;+12, 73, ..... Obama is public enemy #1)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
The GOP establishment doesn't pick the nominee

Well, not directly. I agree wholeheartedly with your rant about getting involved with local politics, primaries etc. But the Establishment does control huge amounts of campaign money and can "starve out" candidates who don't kowtow to their demands.

Right now, for instance, Jeb Bush is hastily sopping up early Establishment campaign cash through his family's vast network of funding sources, and some think that will make it difficult for others to compete. Our opponents understand this very well. The acronym EMILY in EMILY's List means: Early Money Is Like Yeast. We need to open our wallets wider for our candidates when possible.

189 posted on 12/27/2014 8:29:32 AM PST by Bernard Marx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: no-to-illegals
Going back to the topic of the thread...
Will agree that should Conservatives be shut out of the process, as has been being done, and 2016 turns out to be a continuation of Conservatives being shut out of the process, clear messages will have been sent. Conservatives are sensing, just as you say Gleeaikin, that influence pedaling by/from both the left and right are throwing the People's Dream in the wastebasket along with the Constitution. How long the People that are witnessing these travesties shall sit still is anyone guess.

On that note, this article explains these dynamics quite well:
America’s Ruling Class — And the Perils of Revolution

As to how long the people will sit still, I think we've been close to the spark for a long while; something big like another Boston-like martial law, or another Bundy ranch showdown certainly could do it, but it's equally possible that it will be a [comparatively] small thing that snowballs. (I wonder if proof came out that the US was arming terrorists if that would do it; the revelation of the NSA's domestic espionage operations seemed to come very close.)

190 posted on 12/27/2014 8:31:17 AM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 184 | View Replies]

To: OneWingedShark

don’t know OneWing ... where the spark is but no doubt the powder supply is growing. It may well come from the useful (useless) idiots but I, like you, believe the useless idiots are useless. Something has changed .... NY’s finest are saying much without saying anything today.


191 posted on 12/27/2014 8:48:29 AM PST by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 190 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
Don't show up for the primaries? Stop bitching. Do show up, but your candidate loses? Stop bitching.

Do show up but the candidate has already been determined by other states earlier primaries without you ever getting a chance to vote? Hold your nose and vote R again? Who died and made Iowa king? I'm sick of it and that has taken decades to reach this point. Don't know what I'll do if Jeb gets the nod but I still hate having voted for McCain.

192 posted on 12/27/2014 9:07:56 AM PST by eartrumpet
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: PhilCollins

I debated the 2012 CP nominee at great length (a total of 9 hours over three separate sessions) as we competed for the CA AIP ballot line.

Sadly, he supports the centerpiece programs of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society.

Took me quite a while to finally get him to admit that those programs were unconstitutional to begin with.

But even then he continued to express support for those unconstitutional programs, just like you would expect of a former Democrat congressman.

To be quite frank about it, I was the only actual conservative running in 2012. Which the delegates recognized when they voted unanimously to give me the ballot line.


193 posted on 12/27/2014 9:17:12 AM PST by EternalVigilance
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 187 | View Replies]

To: HiTech RedNeck
Well it kind of looks like it is headed that way.

In my particular post, or in-general?
Because if it's due to my miscommunication I'd love to learn how to clean it up to make it more conducive to accurately expressing my thoughts.

194 posted on 12/27/2014 9:18:43 AM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 171 | View Replies]

To: matthew fuller
‘” If we really want a viable third party, we need to plan and organize. “
Way too late for that now, as far as 2016. But it needs to be done anyway.’

After Obama was elected, the Tea Party formed pretty quickly. The crowd in the first DC protest march was huge. Now, we can't seem to get anything together. I think the party was hijacked, but with the right leadership, it could come back.

195 posted on 12/27/2014 10:04:27 AM PST by FR_addict ( Boehner needs to go!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: don-o
‘Terri Schiavo impels us to nip this in the bud. Jeb had his testing time and failed the test when he allowed her judical murder in HIS state on HIS watch.”’

He pretended to care and called out the National Guard, then stopped them. All for show. I won't vote for this guy either.

I heard on Fox today Peter Doocy refer to Terri Schiavo as brain dead. This is how they think they can sweep this under a rug. She was never brain dead at least not till Florida starved and dehydrated her to death.

196 posted on 12/27/2014 10:16:35 AM PST by FR_addict ( Boehner needs to go!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies]

To: LS

“West lost his House seat. You can say he was gerrymandered, but whatever.”

Wasn’t the GOP still in charge of Florida when he was gerrymandered out of his seat. I didn’t watch the Republican convention, but I don’t believe Romney allowed him to speak at the convention. The Republicans turned their back on West first. If he had been allowed to make a speech at the convention, he may have won the new district he had to run in.

I thoroughly enjoy listening to Col. West. He’s a great speaker. He didn’t always vote the way I liked (Pigsford, for instance), but he is genuine.


197 posted on 12/27/2014 10:40:40 AM PST by FR_addict ( Boehner needs to go!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 152 | View Replies]

To: Bernard Marx

“Right now, for instance, Jeb Bush is hastily sopping up early Establishment campaign cash through his family’s vast network of funding sources, and some think that will make it difficult for others to compete. “

That’s how they locked up the nomination for Dubya in 2000. It seemed like a done deal before the primaries even began.


198 posted on 12/27/2014 11:02:04 AM PST by Pelham (Treason, not just for Democrats anymore)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 189 | View Replies]

To: OneWingedShark

More in general than, at this time, you. For all I know, it might be me in some unguarded moment. This place is buzzing thick with devils today. Let’s every one of us be careful not to get coaxed down the wrong garden path, or if we are to recover as soon as possible.

This is not our grandfather’s GOP and expectations have been lowered. But this is also not our grandfathers’ Democrats. They have God-booed themselves into an unholy odor; the GOP is merely worldly. Good sense says head for the best door you can see, even if you’d never put up a door like that yourself if you had a choice..


199 posted on 12/27/2014 11:34:25 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (Embrace the Lion of Judah and He will roar for you and teach you to roar too. See my page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 194 | View Replies]

To: HiTech RedNeck
Good sense says head for the best door you can see, even if you’d never put up a door like that yourself if you had a choice.

If that's an argument for the lesser of two evils I'd recommend using a window… we need not compromise good with evil, for such always are to evil's advantage.

200 posted on 12/27/2014 11:47:53 AM PST by OneWingedShark (Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 199 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 161-180181-200201-220221-223 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson