Republicans tickets that could challenge Hillary

[Pointedstick]

Completely irrational. They know on the day of the election how it's going to go if they even have a single brainwave. If they don't this just shows why having people vote for their masters is a terrible idea. That's another thread topic so let me not derail from the republican ticket speculation.

Voting is completely irrational. You can't try to examine some inherently irrational with rationality.

[moda0306]

Completely irrational. They know on the day of the election how it's going to go if they even have a single brainwave. If they don't this just shows why having people vote for their masters is a terrible idea. That's another thread topic so let me not derail from the republican ticket speculation.

Voting is completely irrational. You can't try to examine some inherently irrational with rationality.

+1

[Kshartle]

Completely irrational. They know on the day of the election how it's going to go if they even have a single brainwave. If they don't this just shows why having people vote for their masters is a terrible idea. That's another thread topic so let me not derail from the republican ticket speculation.

Voting is completely irrational. You can't try to examine some inherently irrational with rationality.

+1

Agreed but that's probably another thread

[Libertarian666]

Rand Paul/Gary Johnson,  its waaaay to libertarian to get past the GOP or the MSM but if by some miracle it did, they would have appeal for fiscal conservatives, they would win enough votes in the middle and have enough ability to steal votes from the left to beat Hillery

Correct, especially considering the total lack of concern shown by the Democratic party for the anti-war faction of the population.

[RuralEngineer]

Chris Christie is a giant tub of awful.  If it were him running against Hillary with Satan as her Veep, I'm not saying I'd vote for a Hillary/Satan ticket, but I'd stay home.


But enough of that, for a more mainstream GOP pick, I'd say Mitch Daniels, who won't run because his wife is apparently seriously damaged goods and doesn't want to have any kind of light shone on the dark corner she's hiding in.  But, he did some pretty impressive things from a budget perspective in my home state.  Got us back into the black.  He's the one that proposed the "social issues truce" during the 2012 campaign, back before his wife squashed his dream of running.

Daniels has repeatedly voiced opposition to using social issues for political gain in the next election. Most recently he told radio host Laura Ingraham he wanted to “mute”? topics like abortion and gay marriage for awhile while the country confronts the economic crisis.

In Thursday’s video Daniels said the country needs to make the kind of changes that will “restore America’s greatness.”?

“All I was saying was we’re going to need to unify all kinds of people and we’re going to need, freedom’s going to need very friend it can get.”?

A Mitch Daniels / Ron or Rand Paul ticket would get my vote, regardless of which direction the P/VP selection went.

[Ad Orientem]

Chris Christie is hugely popular nationally. He is the only prominent Republican not beholden to the lunatic fringe that seems to have taken over the GOP which means he might have a shot at moderates and independents. Off the top of my head I can't think of any other Republican who could stand up to Hillary.

Caveat: I am approaching this from a purely political perspective. This is not an ideological endorsement.

[MediumTex]

Chris Christie is hugely popular nationally. He is the only prominent Republican not beholden to the lunatic fringe that seems to have taken over the GOP which means he might have a shot at moderates and independents. Off the top of my head I can't think of any other Republican who could stand up to Hillary.

Caveat: I am approaching this from a purely political perspective. This is not an ideological endorsement.

It's going to be tough for a guy like Christie to get through the primaries.

Ask Rudy Giuliani.

[Pointedstick]

from a purely political perspective, Chris Christie has several major things going against him:

1. He's fat and ugly. No way around this.
2. He has no natural base. Conservative support for him is extremely tepid. Liberals hate his guts. Independents aren't convinced.
3. He can't carry his home state in a presidential election. Huge red flags there. Mitt Romney had the same problem…

[Kshartle]

from a purely political perspective, Chris Christie has several major things going against him:

1. He's fat and ugly. No way around this.
2. He has no natural base. Conservative support for him is extremely tepid. Liberals hate his guts. Independents aren't convinced.
3. He can't carry his home state in a presidential election. Huge red flags there. Mitt Romney had the same problem…

Running a certain loser didn't stop the republicans last year, and didn't stop the dems with Kerry. These elections look like WWE.

I'll be 37 for the next one. I'm gonna legally change my name to "none of the above" and see if I can get on the ballot.

[Ad Orientem]

from a purely political perspective, Chris Christie has several major things going against him:

1. He's fat and ugly. No way around this.
2. He has no natural base. Conservative support for him is extremely tepid. Liberals hate his guts. Independents aren't convinced.
3. He can't carry his home state in a presidential election. Huge red flags there. Mitt Romney had the same problem…

I'm not sure I agree. His weight problem gives him an ordinary guy image. He has public approval ratings near 70% in New Jersey. If he is the nominee NJ will likely go Republican for the first time since forever. His great weakness is that the far right hates his guts. While the Tea Party types constitute only about 30% of the GOP they vote as a block and they are dominant in some key Republican states. They are a minority but they have effectively hijacked the GOP. So yeah, that is going to be a problem.

But if he somehow manages to get the nomination (unlikely) he is the only one I think who can go toe to toe with Hillary and the Clinton machine.

[Pointedstick]

I'm not sure I agree. His weight problem gives him an ordinary guy image. He has public approval ratings near 70% in New Jersey. If he is the nominee NJ will likely go Republican for the first time since forever. His great weakness is that the far right hates his guts. While the Tea Party types constitute only about 30% of the GOP they vote as a block and they are dominant in some key Republican states. They are a minority but they have effectively hijacked the GOP. So yeah, that is going to be a problem.

But if he somehow manages to get the nomination (unlikely) he is the only one I think who can go toe to toe with Hillary and the Clinton machine.

That he has almost 70% support in a very blue state should ring some alarm bells. It's not just the far right; the less-far and only slightly far right hate his guts too. They think he's a total RINO. He's another east coast liberal in conservative's shoes, in their estimation. They think of him as Mitt Romney II with a weight problem and a "union thug" attitude.

[Mdraf]

If the Tea Party "hijacked" the GOP how in the world did Romney win the nomination?

[Ad Orientem]

If the Tea Party "hijacked" the GOP how in the world did Romney win the nomination?

They couldn't agree on an anti-Romney candidate. It was a very weak field.

[Libertarian666]

If the Tea Party "hijacked" the GOP how in the world did Romney win the nomination?

They couldn't agree on an anti-Romney candidate. It was a very weak field.

Indeed.  The Tea Party types loved, at various times:

Michele Bachman
Herman Cain
Rick Perry
Newt Gingrich

Oddly, though Ron Paul could arguably be viewed as the godfather of the whole Tea Party movement, and he won the 2011 CPAC poll, and nearly won the Iowa straw poll (won by Bachman), he never seemed to get serious attention from even the Republican media (Fox News, Wall Street Journal), and was treated like crap by the Republican party.  I wonder why that was?

Hint: it wasn't his views on the gold standard.

No, it was because he was opposed to unlimited spending on the military industrial complex. No candidate like that can ever win the R nomination as long as the current scumbags are in charge.

[Benko]

Christie does have one important quality (IMHO):  he can more than hold his own when questioned by media/others trying hard to make him look bad (there are you great fun you tube videos of such). CHristie is too much a RHINO to be my preferred candidate.  I believe Cruz can handle himself.  Anyone seen enough of Paul to know if he can?  From the last group, the only one that could handle the media was Newt. 

Put another way, both CHristie and Cruz are alphaish (as in alpha male) and that quality (I suspect) will be helpful in getting elected.  Or perhaps I am nuts.

[Libertarian666]

Christie does have one important quality (IMHO):  he can more than hold his own when questioned by media/others trying hard to make him look bad (there are you great fun you tube videos of such). CHristie is too much a RHINO to be my preferred candidate.  I believe Cruz can handle himself.  Anyone seen enough of Paul to know if he can?  From the last group, the only one that could handle the media was Newt. 

Put another way, both CHristie and Cruz are alphaish (as in alpha male) and that quality (I suspect) will be helpful in getting elected.  Or perhaps I am nuts.

Paul is very smart and can handle himself very well.

[Benko]

Paul is very smart and can handle himself very well.

Agreed. I just watched an interview of him and I was impressed. Perhaps sanity without charisma is sufficient to get elected at this point in time.

[Coffee]

Brian Sandoval: Young, good looking, Latino and smart enough to get elected in a state divided by Conservatives and Libertarians in the north and Dems in the south.

The "Coffee" theory is that: Americans vote for the candidate that comes across as most genuine and who they would like to have over for a bbq to hang out with.  Reflect back on every candidacy since Kennedy/Nixon and you'll see it's true, issues be damned.

[RuralEngineer]

I'm not sure I agree. His weight problem gives him an ordinary guy image. He has public approval ratings near 70% in New Jersey. If he is the nominee NJ will likely go Republican for the first time since forever. His great weakness is that the far right hates his guts. While the Tea Party types constitute only about 30% of the GOP they vote as a block and they are dominant in some key Republican states. They are a minority but they have effectively hijacked the GOP. So yeah, that is going to be a problem.

But if he somehow manages to get the nomination (unlikely) he is the only one I think who can go toe to toe with Hillary and the Clinton machine.

That he has almost 70% support in a very blue state should ring some alarm bells. It's not just the far right; the less-far and only slightly far right hate his guts too. They think he's a total RINO. He's another east coast liberal in conservative's shoes, in their estimation. They think of him as Mitt Romney II with a weight problem and a "union thug" attitude.

+ 1

I've was pitched firmly off the crazy train to right wing land long ago and I still can't stand this guy.  There are plenty of moderate to right leaning independents and GOP voters who won't support Christie for his various Democrat policies and the lingering stench of B.O. (that's Barack Obama, not body odor...although I'm sure a double dose of Old Spice Deodorant wouldn't hurt either).

Any GOP politician who doesn't completely energize his base AND capture independents is guaranteed to not only fail, but fail spectacularly.

[Pointedstick]

Brian Sandoval: Young, good looking, Latino and smart enough to get elected in a state divided by Conservatives and Libertarians in the north and Dems in the south.

Brian Sandoval is a great up-and-comer but he has a major problem: he's virtually unknown on the national political stage. Same with NM governor Susana Martinez. Both of them are genuine, down-to-earth moderately conservative hispanics popular on their home turf who haven't done a lot outside of their state borders to build a national profile.

I think Nikki Haley has the possibility to be very strong VP material in 2016 and possibly presidential candidate material after that.

[Coffee]

I disagree about Nikki Haley.  She strikes me as goofy and un-presidential for some reason.

As for Sandoval being an unknown outside of his home state: That's true, but so was Obama. 

[Edit: ... and Bill Clinton, for that matter.]

[dualstow]

Chris Christie?

How could he possibly? He is disgusting for women to look at and he's a big socialist gangster right? How is he going to appeal to anyone? Who would he appeal to?

That would basically be the elephant people giving up in my opinion. They would just be hoping enough people would vote against Hillary.

There are only 3-4 states that decide the election: Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio & Indiana I think. Maybe there are one or two others....Iowa?

She will crush him in PA, OH and IN.

What say you now? ;-)
http://www.talkradionews.com/top-storie ... -neck.html

[dualstow]

Rand Paul would wipe the floor with either of them, so I don't really care.

Oh, you mean Christie as a Republican candidate? I don't see how that is possible, since he is the very definition of RINO (Republican In Name Only). He's much better qualified as a Democrat.

We're talking about the (ugly) reality on the ground here, not whom you like best.

[moda0306]

Tech,

You think (Ayn) Rand Paul would have a chance of getting elected? With the baby-boomers collecting on retirement/healthcare programs that he has equated to slavery?

[dualstow]

Tech,

You think (Ayn) Rand Paul would have a chance of getting elected?

I guess that's what I should have asked. Mr Paul won't be wiping the floor with anyone.