The 2016 Presidential Candidates Thread

[howie105]

Charlie Baker is a very reasonable man. I don't agree with most of his politics, but when the issue of medical cannabis came up he was at least receptive to hear input. He's no crusader for cannabis rights, and has shown he is very ignorant about cannabis, but he was still willing to respond to me when I wrote to him about access to medical cannabis. I think people like him represent the future of the conservative party in this country.

Its not an individual positions or thought that drive some folks, too often its just whatever rhetoric that was last waved in their face for a cut and paste.

 

[grokit]

Not necessarily presidential, but relevant to this thread in a political sense:

Sign the petition to DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Democrats in Congress that you stand with Elizabeth Warren and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in the battle over payday loans.

 

[cybrguy]

Almost however this goes this is going to be a fascinating political season. There is a very good chance it is gonna get ugly. I am hoping it won't, I was in Chicago in 68, but if the republican electorate chooses Donald Trump, and the republican establishment says they can't have him, this is very likely to go pear shaped fast...

 

[grokit]

I'm looking forward to a rumble on the floor of the gop convention!

I'm not kidding; they call it a brokered convention, or a "floor fight".
And rubio's the perfect stooge to make it happen, should be good

 

[CarolKing]

I'm looking forward to this.

(CNN)Mitt Romney will speak Thursday on "the state of the 2016 presidential race," he said in a press release.

The 2012 Republican nominee will speak at 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics Forum, the same day that the remaining GOP presidential candidates are schedule to debate in Detroit.

A source close to Romney told CNN the speech is not an endorsement or announcement. Another source close to Romney's plans said he's expected to praise Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who are both trying to be an alternative candidate to the brash billionaire.

Instead, he'll use the speech to criticize GOP front-runner Donald Trump, emphasizing that Trump is the wrong person to lead the Republican Party in November and underscoring the "choices facing the Republican Party and the country" in this election.

Another source close to Romney told CNN that he is "going after Trump" in the speech.

Trump responded late Wednesday by mocking Romney in a pair of tweets.

"Failed Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney is having a news conference tomorrow to criticize me," he tweeted. "Just another desperate move by the man who should have easily beaten Barrack (sic) Obama."

 

[howie105]

You know I think its good for the rank and file to mix it up with the party leadership, among other things it lets people know who really runs the party and if they represent shared beliefs. I think at some point, relatively soon we will see the same thing on the democratic side again which will be good too. Portions of both parties are locked into a it is us or them, take no prisoners, dogma driven approach which often ignores that we are interviewing applicants for a job.

 

[His_Highness]

Mitt Romney just did a great job of showcasing the myriad of reasons why Trump cannot and should not be elected. He spoke with eloquence and sincerity. He mentioned things like 'third grade antics' and ridiculous policies. I hope he gets through to Trump's followers. I have my doubts......

Maybe I'm jaded ... but the derogatory things Mitt mentioned seemed to be the very things Trump's constituents love about him and his detractors already know Trump's foibles.

When will this runaway train jump the rails! There's got to be a stash of stolen IQ points hidden somewhere.

Trump won't have to rebut Mitt's speech with much more than 'Mitt lost badly and is still a loser' to maintain his base

 

[howie105]

Mitt Romney just did a great job of showcasing the myriad of reasons why Trump cannot and should not be elected. He spoke with eloquence and sincerity. He mentioned things like 'third grade antics' and ridiculous policies. I hope he gets through to Trump's followers. I have my doubts......

Romney is indeed one of the better presenters at the moment and he still has a following in his party so he is a good opener for the gray beards dump Trump campaign. The problem is all the holes in the Trump boat are readily apparent to all those who wish to look but Trump is selling the Trump brand which appears to be more buoyant then the other candidates at this point. The question is will the shot callers risk setting the election on fire and perhaps their whole party to stop Trump?

Maybe I'm jaded ... but the derogatory things Mitt mentioned seemed to be the very things Trump's constituents love about him and his detractors already know Trump's foibles....In the end it really depends on if they can sell it or not. Its like the declaration that Sanders was out of it and Clinton was the chosen one. She did not win in the arena of ideas but she did win in the media presentation and DNC support, IMO.

When will this runaway train jump the rails! There's got to be a stash of stolen IQ points hidden somewhere....I want the train to pile into the election train yard at the highest speed possible and hopefully it will be pulling lots of gasoline cars too. The Republican party needs to look at its values and actions from the ground up and rebuilding is one way to do that.

Trump won't have to rebut Mitt's speech with much more than 'Mitt lost badly and is still a loser' to maintain his base ...Myths don't always die easily and Trump is good at the dance, Romney not so much.

 

[grokit]

If this trend holds up,
trump has a very good chance of challenging hillary in the generals,
or bernie could grab some real momentum soon:

Blue states tend to side with Bernie, Red states with Hillary

This race keeps getting more and more interesting. I just changed my registration from undeclared* to democrat so I can caucus for bernie on the 26th. Afterwards back to undeclared.

edit: *Oh yeah, I forgot I was registered as a republican(!) so I could vote against the tea-party challengers to our senate seats. Maybe I'll go back to that, or be an independent again...
I just noticed -- I think they're wrong about alaska!

 

[CarolKing]

It looks like the Republicans are willing to take the voices of their people away. I can't stand Trump but if that's what the Republicans citizens want, that's their choice. Taking away the votes of Donald Trump? I think they are just going to piss off the Republican people more. This might just bite the establishment in the ass.

WTF, it will definitely get interesting. So glad to be able to share all this with you guys. The Republican Convention will be a lot of fun - can't wait.

Edit
Thanks for telling us @lwien I didn't realize about the Fox Debate tonight. i see Chris Wallace and Megyn Kelly are the moderators. This will be good. I'm hoping Trump gets all mad and has a melt down. Maybe he will call Megyn Kelly a derogatory name.

 

[lwien]

Repub Debate tonight on Fox...........9:00pm eastern..

 

[macbill]

Who will Rubio be? The Mudslingin' Monstro or the Robotic Animatron?
Will Cruz continue to sound like an Evangelical Preacher on crack?
The Donald will be the Donald.

When they are bad, its very very good. I blame it all on Married with Children.

I'm trying Parmesan Cheese Pop Corn tonight, Any other pop corn recipe folks can recommend?

 

[grokit]

Repub Debate tonight on Fox...........9:00pm eastern..

This should be a good one, trump vs. kelly ftw!

Otoh there's a basketball game on


edit:

I'm trying Parmesan Cheese Pop Corn tonight, Any other pop corn recipe folks can recommend?

Add a little italian seasoning when you toss it around, maybe just a hint of garlic powder

 

[Gunky]

Will Cruz continue to sound like an Evangelical Preacher on crack?

Actually only about 35% of repubs are voting for Trump. Repubs voting for other candidates form a majority. The other candidates are caught in a South Indian monkey trap. If they let go of the food in the gourd they can escape, but if they hold onto the food they are unable to pull their hand out of the gourd. They can be delivered from Trump only if someone relinquishes the prize.

Of course the flaw in last ditch attempts to dislodge Trump is that the other candidates are pretty much the same as Trump.

Here's a link for debate audio 9 eastern: http://tunein.com/search/?query=republican debate

 

[KimDracula]

It's too late for the GOP to stop Trump.

I hope he is as toxic to down-ticket Republicans as they fear he is. I'd love to see this party pay for creating Trump's opportunity with their messaging and fear-mongering, for their unprecedented obstruction including refusing to entertain Scalia's replacement, and their attack on the rights of people of (almost) all kinds.

The Democrats are far from perfect but the problems in that party are much different despite the way people often equate them. Just look at the twin anomalies this cycle: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. When those on the Left get frustrated they get behind a radical good guy while those on the Right look for a villainous bully.

(Just caught myself yelling at Jan Brewer on Chris Hayes' show. Yuck. Hate that woman.)

EDIT: Oh, and thanks, Gunky. That guy has haunted my dreams since I was small. I can hear and see him in my head saying "Because I'm smart..."

 

[CarolKing]

Fox Republican Debate
Trump Universary got a D- from the Better Business Bureau - thank you Fox News! Trump said, "I thought it was elevated to an A."

Bill O'Reilly was like the Grinch that swooped into interview Trump after the debate. He had that evil grin on his face.

I thought that Fox asked excellent questions and Trump had a difficult time answering many, he would dance around the issue and divert the attention elsewhere.

 

[Magic9]

It was amusing watching all the pundits on Tuesday question whether Sanders was really trying to win. They were just flabbergasted that he didn't try to challenge Clinton in the conservative stronghold of the southern states. They have a sizable amount of cash on hand, 35 states that reflect the demographics better than the deep south, and more time to get his message out.

The more Clinton is in the spotlight as the (media) presumptive nominee, the worse it will be for her. She's not gaining new supporters, her poll numbers keep dropping, she'll take heat from the Trump machine, and more articles about her neoliberal/New Democrat hawkish policies will be coming to light. A subject widely ignored by the media for the most part. After all, Trump/Rubio did talk about his dick. Apparently better for ratings than actual policy examination.

I've stayed neutral on the Clinton email "shenanigans", but with the staffer that set up the server receiving immunity from the DOJ, this is going to be bigger than it is now. They usually don't grant immunity unless there is cause to do so.

Also, it looks like Romney may step in as a nominee to block Trump. Clinton was already rejected. Romney was already rejected. All three have praised each other in the past. Political zombies with desperation so thick you can fucking feel it.

It's a shit show. A shit show that will lead to Sanders just walking into the White House. I love it.


EDIT* Mittens has said the he will not be running.

 

[Gunky]

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/04/opinion/clash-of-republican-con-artists.html

So Republicans are going to nominate a candidate who talks complete nonsense on domestic policy; who believes that foreign policy can be conducted via bullying and belligerence; who cynically exploits racial and ethnic hatred for political gain.
But that was always going to happen, however the primary season turned out. The only news is that the candidate in question is probably going to be Donald Trump. Establishment Republicans denounce Mr. Trump as a fraud, which he is. But is he more fraudulent than the establishment trying to stop him? Not really.
Actually, when you look at the people making those denunciations, you have to wonder: Can they really be that lacking in self-awareness?
Donald Trump is a “con artist,” says Marco Rubio — who has promised to enact giant tax cuts, undertake a huge military buildup and balance the budget without any cuts in benefits to Americans over 55.

“There can be no evasion and no games,” thunders Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House — whose much-hyped budgets are completely reliant on “mystery meat,” that is, it claims trillions of dollars in revenue can be collected by closing unspecified tax loopholes and trillions more saved through unspecified spending cuts.
Mr. Ryan also declares that the “party of Lincoln” must “reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry.” Has he ever heard of Nixon’s “Southern strategy”; of Ronald Reagan’s invocations of welfare queens and “strapping young bucks” using food stamps; of Willie Horton?
Put it this way: There’s a reason whites in the Deep South vote something like 90 percent Republican, and it’s not their philosophical attachment to libertarian principles.
Then there’s foreign policy, where Mr. Trump is, if anything, more reasonable — or more accurately, less unreasonable — than his rivals. He’s fine with torture, but who on that side of the aisle isn’t? He’s belligerent, but unlike Mr. Rubio, he isn’t the favorite of the neoconservatives, a.k.a. the people responsible for the Iraq debacle. He’s even said what everyone knows but nobody on the right is supposed to admit, that the Bush administration deliberately misled America into that disastrous war.
Oh, and it’s Ted Cruz, not Mr. Trump, who seems eager to “carpet bomb” people, without appearing to know what that means.
In fact, you have to wonder why, exactly, the Republican establishment is really so horrified by Mr. Trump. Yes, he’s a con man, but they all are. So why is this con job different from any other?
The answer, I’d suggest, is that the establishment’s problem with Mr. Trump isn’t the con he brings; it’s the cons he disrupts.
First, there’s the con Republicans usually manage to pull off in national elections — the one where they pose as a serious, grown-up party honestly trying to grapple with America’s problems. The truth is that that party died a long time ago, that these days it’s voodoo economics and neocon fantasies all the way down. But the establishment wants to preserve the facade, which will be hard if the nominee is someone who refuses to play his part.
By the way, I predict that even if Mr. Trump is the nominee, pundits and others who claim to be thoughtful conservatives will stroke their chins and declare, after a great show of careful deliberation, that he’s the better choice given Hillary’s character flaws, or something. And self-proclaimed centrists will still find a way to claim that the sides are equally bad. But both acts will look especially strained.
Equally important, the Trump phenomenon threatens the con the G.O.P. establishment has been playing on its own base. I’m talking about the bait and switch in which white voters are induced to hate big government by dog whistles about Those People, but actual policies are all about rewarding the donor class.
What Donald Trump has done is tell the base that it doesn’t have to accept the whole package. He promises to make America white again — surely everyone knows that’s the real slogan, right? — while simultaneously promising to protect Social Security and Medicare, and hinting at (though not actually proposing) higher taxes on the rich. Outraged establishment Republicans splutter that he’s not a real conservative, but neither, it turns out, are many of their own voters.
Just to be clear, I find the prospect of a Trump administration terrifying, and so should you. But you should also be terrified by the prospect of a President Rubio, sitting in the White House with his circle of warmongers, or a President Cruz, whom one suspects would love to bring back the Spanish Inquisition.
As I see it, then, we should actually welcome Mr. Trump’s ascent. Yes, he’s a con man, but he is also effectively acting as a whistle-blower on other people’s cons. That is, believe it or not, a step forward in these weird, troubled times.

 

[His_Highness]

It looked to me like the cards were pre-stacked against Trump during the debate last night. From the other debaters to the moderators, it all felt like a set up to try and take Trump down. The moderators even seemed to have prepared a series of lead in questions with the purpose of bringing up a secondary question showing what a lying, cheating schmuck Trump was. Good preparation I thought.

There were a few times where I thought they had caught him but even when he got caught in a lie or flip flopped a policy stance or looked ready to lose it .......he never went deer in the headlights. He just explained it away or stepped up his childish vitriol. There were cracks in the Trump armor but IMO he never came close to imploding. Let's face it folks if his normal delivery came from one of the other candidates we'd be saying they lost their f'n mind. A loss of decorum with Trump is impossible....he never had any.

I thought comments like 'Little Marco' were a new high in lows....I also thought....he won't be held accountable by his constituents because they love his shtick no matter how far he takes it and those that don't like it never did. IMO he didn't gain anything nor did he lose anything.

I keep thinking I'll wake up from this embarrassing nightmare and the only one on the stage will be Kasich.

 

[lwien]

Soooo many dumb fucks here in the US. They would rather nominate someone who entertains them than someone who can actually run the country.

Pandering, lies, racism, bigotry, etc etc takes a back seat to being entertained.

These GOP debates are no different than watching the Jerry Springer show and I have no doubts that fans of both are the same.

 

[cybrguy]

Don't ever expect Donald Trump to give you the "deer in the headlights" look. Donald is a Professional asshole, not an amateur. In his business dealings around the world he has dealt with much more impressive opposition than those on the stage with him, and those questioning him. He may be a monster, but he is no fool. Taking him down will not be easy, even if possible. It will take concerted cooperative efforts, and I'm not confident his republican opposition has the chops to do it. It may just be too late.

I now think Donald will be the repub nominee and it will be up to the democrats to bring him down...

 

[His_Highness]

Next Democratic Debate: Sunday, March 6th
Sunday, March 6

 

[howie105]

Trump is getting the Republicans to battle him in his own ring. The media attacks from the old name guys are for the most part things that Trump has dealt with already and turning the survivors of the campaign trail into attack dogs is just too obvious and too weak a change to work. They have to either come up with a bigger bombs, tougher dogs or perhaps a deal of some sort to buy the guy off would be best.

 

[CarolKing]

Interesting that Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz said they would support Trump if he gets the nomination for prez. Others in the Republican Party are saying they wouldn't support Trump. I think Rubio and Cruz don't want to piss off any voters. They said they would honor the votes of the American people.

 

[gangababa]

Yes! Interesting that the republicans who say Trump is a danger to America, are willing to throw America under the bus for party unity.