Would Cruz/Palin Be An Unbeatable Ticket?

[moda0306]

I don't think the republican party has quite learned this lesson yet.

Really?  It seems that they keep nominating weak-kneed moderates (McCain, Romney) and bypassing people with principles.  If anything, your take on it would seem to be the exact opposite of reality.

EDIT: I should read all the posts before replying to one!

Yes, but in order to get nominated they have to pander to the base which currently is a bunch of wing nuts. By the time they get through the primaries they have to back peddle so much to the center that they look like a flip flopper. The republican party is having an identity crisis IMHO.

Yes, and let's remember what a wingnut crew we had in the last Republican primary.  Each person got their shot and made a complete @ss out of themselves in one way or another, whether it was "Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan" or not being able to communicate what government agencies should be abolished, they all would have completely crashed and burned had they faced the general election.

I still think McCain's big problem was Sarah Palin (and Bush).

Yes, but in order to get nominated they have to pander to the base which currently is a bunch of wing nuts. By the time they get through the primaries they have to back peddle so much to the center that they look like a flip flopper. The republican party is having an identity crisis IMHO.

i think that is exactly the problem! they THINK THEY HAVE TO PANDER, telling people what they want to hear just for votes is inherently dishonest, and on some gut level far more people recognize this than they understand... Sure there will be loud mouth wing nut schmucks who "Rah Rah" over Paline types and loudmouth schmucks who "Rah Rah over using moderates like Romney cause they think it will get votes..... but choosing principles and sticking to them somehow isn't on the political radar..

[MediumTex]

So MT, are you a proponent of Obamacare?

No.

Listen to what you are saying: There is a first term Senator from Texas who most people had never heard of before a few months ago and now we want to make him President?

Just give Ted Cruz more time for people to get to know him.  Let's see what he can actually accomplish.  I would say that his recent effort to de-fund Obamacare in the Senate was a failure, in part, because he failed to rally his fellow Republicans around him.

I want to see a candidate who Republicans want to follow, not one who other Republicans want to distance themselves from.

But like I said, give the guy some time for people to get to know him and to see what he can accomplish.

[dualstow]

I was going to ask what I thought was a naive question about Cruz' being born in Canada and whether that affects his eligibility to be a presidential candidate. I looked it up instead and it looks like he *probably* can: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter ... president/

Where is that toupee-wearing windbag when you need him?

[craigr]

I want to see a candidate who Republicans want to follow, not one who other Republicans want to distance themselves from.

Devil's advocate: Any candidate that can get people like McCain, Rubio, Graham, etc. to follow them is not someone that I'd trust personally.

So the fact that those people don't really like him already raises his reputation in my eyes.

I don't think his speaking out against ObamaCare is to rally any elected republicans. He's completely playing for the wider electorate at this point...

Cruz/Paul 2016?

[Reub]

I want to see a candidate who Republicans want to follow, not one who other Republicans want to distance themselves from.

Devil's advocate: Any candidate that can get people like McCain, Rubio, Graham, etc. to follow them is not someone that I'd trust personally.

So the fact that those people don't really like him already raises his reputation in my eyes.

I don't think his speaking out against ObamaCare is to rally any elected republicans. He's completely playing for the wider electorate at this point...

Cruz/Paul 2016?

And a hush falls over the room!

[Pointedstick]

I get echoes of Obama all over again. Here's a young, highly educated, inexperienced non-white senator who gives grand speeches. He doesn't get along well with people on the other side of the aisle, and he doesn't have a lot of accomplishments under his belt. He condescends to people his senior. His career appears to be taking off for reasons relating far more to media coverage than any actual legislative successes he's had. He wasn't born in the United States and one of his parents wasn't American. His political opponents think he's the Antichrist crossed with Adolph Hitler. He's the Republican Obama, I'm telling you!

So in that sense, perhaps you're right Reub and he's highly electable.

[Benko]

Edit

"Devil's advocate: Any candidate that can get people like McCain, Rubio, Graham, etc. to follow them is not someone that I'd trust personally."

CraigR beat me to it.  If you want people that most republicans like, you are a fan of big gov't. 

Why do you think the party leaders of both parties supported NSA spying, wherase others in both parties agreed with each other and were not happy with the NSA spying?

[craigr]

And a hush falls over the room!

Well to be clear, I don't think Cruz is any Godsend. The two party system is so screwed up at this point that the problem may be intractable. D.C. is completely out of touch with reality and one person is unlikely to change the place.

[MediumTex]

I'm just saying that I don't know how a Republican is supposed to get elected President if neither Democrats nor his Republican colleagues support him or want to help him.

I don't dislike his message, but the way he is choosing to deliver it seems IMHO more likely to land him a gig at Fox News rather than the Presidency.

And remember no one had ever heard of this guy before a few months ago.

[craigr]

I'm just saying that I don't know how a Republican is supposed to get elected President if neither Democrats nor his Republican colleagues support him or want to help him.

I don't dislike his message, but the way he is choosing to deliver it seems IMHO more likely to land him a gig at Fox News rather than the Presidency.

And remember no one had ever heard of this guy before a few months ago.

Yeah I'm with you. I was a Ron Paul delegate in 2008 to the state GOP convention and they hated his guts and all his supporters. If you go against the establishment, and they decide not to support you, you're toast. They can make it very hard for you to be heard, get access to voter information, canvassing assistance, etc.

The best thing I learned from it all though is that going to a convention is completely pointless. Even the food is bad. The real decisions have been made well in advance in back room deals that nobody sees. The public party platform is just to keep the proles happy and give them something to argue about. It will never be followed.

[Benko]

1. "I'm just saying that I don't know how a Republican is supposed to get elected President if neither Democrats nor his Republican colleagues support him or want to help him."

I had a vague memory that Reagan wasn't well liked by fellow Rs and google yields:

"Reagan was despised when he challenged the sitting president, Gerald Ford for the nomination in 1976, despised. But he did lay the foundation to win the election in 1980. Every Republican loves Reagan, but he wasn’t loved at the time. He was called extreme by fellow Republicans."

http://dailycaller.com/2013/09/23/hanni ... d-extreme/

If you go against the establishment, and they decide not to support you, you're toast.

2.  The establishment is the problem and needs to be replaced.  McCain may be retiring, and the beauty of Cruz's actions is that one can see which R's are all talk and which are not.  See Erik Robertson e.g.

http://www.redstate.com/2013/09/24/fing ... -frauds-2/

Their names can and will be published and primaried.

3.  it is worth noting that the "establishment" sadly includes Drudge (who is not as easily replaced).  I forget the details, but during the last election cycle, it was obvious that Drudge was in the tank for Romney, and biasing his site in favor of Romney and against others (one can argue about the quality of the others, but that is besides the point). 

[notsheigetz]

I think the era of the moderately conservative white male Republican candidate is over and has been since Bush the first. Bush the lesser was an anomaly because he ran against two insufferable white male opponents (Gore and Kerry).

Given the changing voter demographics as evidenced by the last two elections I believe Hillary Clinton is nearly unbeatable unless the Republicans go for a Hail Mary. And the Hail Mary candidate is, in my opinion, Sarah Palin. Before you laugh, consider that they once laughed at Ronald Reagan in much the same way and for the same reasons as Sarah Palin.

Despite what I said above about the changing demographics, the most popular program in the history of cable TV is now "Duck Dynasty". I don't know how many "Duck Dynasty" voters there are out there but my guess is they break heavily for Sarah Palin if they can be motivated to come out and vote. I also think Hillary Clinton is a lousy debater and Sarah Palin would eat her lunch, not to mention she looks a lot better. And also, I believe the horrible smear tactics that liberals would resort to against Palin just as they did last time would begin to backfire big time.

So there you have it. And if you want to double down you can make it Sarah Palin with a black male conservative in the VP slot.

The real slogan should probably be "What have we got to lose" but somebody will think of something better.

[Pointedstick]

So there you have it. And if you want to double down you can make it Sarah Palin with a black male conservative in the VP slot.

From the office of "It's so crazy it might just work:" Palin / Cain 2016!

[notsheigetz]

So there you have it. And if you want to double down you can make it Sarah Palin with a black male conservative in the VP slot.

From the office of "It's so crazy it might just work:" Palin / Cain 2016!

Yeah, a real "two-fer".

I would love to see the look on Hillary's face when she comes to the realization that the first woman president thing isn't going to be working out as well as she hoped.

I'm not predicting this will happen or even that Palin would be a good president but I do think if they put another McCain, Romney, or Bush up against Clinton, the Republicans lose big time.

[Reub]

The more that I think about it the more I think that Cruz/Palin could win.

[Kshartle]

After the economy is crushed by the Obamanation as long as the elephants run someone other than another socialist like Romney they should win.

I think a majority of the electorate will be fed up with this economy strangling nonsense even though they'll be poorer.

[MediumTex]

Sarah Palin just doesn't strike me as a leader.  Like Cruz, she just seems like a gadfly.  These people tell you everything that the other guys are doing wrong, but can't point to any viable alternatives or a track record of accomplishment when it comes to the things that they support.

Take Cruz and Obamacare, for example.  When it's all said and done he will only be able to say that he fought against it and lost.  IMHO, that's not an accompishment; that's a failure.  I want to see him succeed in doing something through his elected position, like maybe sponsor a bill cutting taxes and get it through the Senate, lead public support to get it passed the House and then put enough pressure on the President to sign it into law.

Rand Paul seems like the guy who could potentially grow into a very legitimate presidential candidate two or three cycles down the road.

And when it comes to Sarah Palin facing off against Hillary Clinton, does anyone really think that Palin would be able to out-debate Clinton?  To paraphrase Frank Sinatra, I'll bet Hillary Clinton would say that she's got chunks of opponents like Palin in her stool.

[Kshartle]

I want to see him succeed in doing something through his elected position, like maybe sponsor a bill cutting taxes and get it through the Senate, lead public support to get it passed the House and then put enough pressure on the President to sign it into law.

Imagine a bill that cut spending and didn't just increase the deficit by reducing taxes. That would make me believe in miracles.

[Kshartle]

i don't get the Sara Palin love myself, to me she is all sound bites, colorful sayings and a pretty face. if you had to go into a lab and build a character to appeal to the duck dynasty bumper-sticker slogan, low information male conservative voter you couldn't do better, but are those really leadership quality's? are they representative of deeply held or understood principals? or a measure how she would preform in office? my guess is she would be a puppet of the establishment GOP in office and would end up being Bush, McCain, Romney, Obama, part 3 4 5

Has anyne seen the pic of her in the American flag bikini with a shotgun? Is that legit?

It was a while back but she should go for that look during the campaign.

[Pointedstick]

Has anyne seen the pic of her in the American flag bikini with a shotgun? Is that legit?

I believe that one turned out to be a fake.

[Libertarian666]

i don't get the Sara Palin love myself, to me she is all sound bites, colorful sayings and a pretty face. if you had to go into a lab and build a character to appeal to the duck dynasty bumper-sticker slogan, low information male conservative voter you couldn't do better, but are those really leadership quality's? are they representative of deeply held or understood principals? or a measure how she would preform in office? my guess is she would be a puppet of the establishment GOP in office and would end up being Bush, McCain, Romney, Obama, part 3 4 5

I'm not a big Palin fan, but I think she would be a lot better than any of those. She actually seems to have conservative convictions.

I'm not a conservative either, but that is still better than the run of fascists we've had recently.

[Kshartle]

Has anyne seen the pic of her in the American flag bikini with a shotgun? Is that legit?

I believe that one turned out to be a fake.

Can anyone confirm this? I can't research this one on my work computer.

Man, if it's fake then I have absolutely no reason to vote. 

[moda0306]

i don't get the Sara Palin love myself, to me she is all sound bites, colorful sayings and a pretty face. if you had to go into a lab and build a character to appeal to the duck dynasty bumper-sticker slogan, low information male conservative voter you couldn't do better, but are those really leadership quality's? are they representative of deeply held or understood principals? or a measure how she would preform in office? my guess is she would be a puppet of the establishment GOP in office and would end up being Bush, McCain, Romney, Obama, part 3 4 5

I'm not a big Palin fan, but I think she would be a lot better than any of those. She actually seems to have conservative convictions.

I'm not a conservative either, but that is still better than the run of fascists we've had recently.

Tech,

Sorry but you lost about 1,000 "libertarian" points with this post.

Her words on Iraq alone wreak of Fascist excuses for military engagement and occupation.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2008/09/02 ... gods-plan/

Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's will.

I don't trust Mrs. Palin for a second to keep out of my life.  She'll obviously do whatever a combination of her jingoistic and corporate supporters will ask her to.  I'm amazed that someone so obsessed with perfect liberty would even consider her tolerable.  She might get taxes lowered and reduce industry regulations, as well as possibly dismantle a few pieces of our social safety net, but she'll also likely expand our military and I highly doubt she'll be an enemy of government snoopery, and she'll say it's God's will, when that voice in her ear is not actually God, but the lobbyists she'd let make her opinion up for her.

[Libertarian666]

i don't get the Sara Palin love myself, to me she is all sound bites, colorful sayings and a pretty face. if you had to go into a lab and build a character to appeal to the duck dynasty bumper-sticker slogan, low information male conservative voter you couldn't do better, but are those really leadership quality's? are they representative of deeply held or understood principals? or a measure how she would preform in office? my guess is she would be a puppet of the establishment GOP in office and would end up being Bush, McCain, Romney, Obama, part 3 4 5

I'm not a big Palin fan, but I think she would be a lot better than any of those. She actually seems to have conservative convictions.

I'm not a conservative either, but that is still better than the run of fascists we've had recently.

Tech,

Sorry but you lost about 1,000 "libertarian" points with this post.

Her words on Iraq alone wreak of Fascist excuses for military engagement and occupation.

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2008/09/02 ... gods-plan/

Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's will.

I don't trust Mrs. Palin for a second to keep out of my life.  She'll obviously do whatever a combination of her jingoistic and corporate supporters will ask her to.  I'm amazed that someone so obsessed with perfect liberty would even consider her tolerable.  She might get taxes lowered and reduce industry regulations, as well as possibly dismantle a few pieces of our social safety net, but she'll also likely expand our military and I highly doubt she'll be an enemy of government snoopery, and she'll say it's God's will, when that voice in her ear is not actually God, but the lobbyists she'd let make her opinion up for her.

When did I say she was tolerable? I said that I think she's less awful than the last few presidents. That's a very low bar to get over.

[Reub]

Cruz did what most of the fatcat Senate Republicans refuse to do. He went out front and center, stated his case eloquently and forcefully against Obamacare, focused attention on why it is a trainwreck, and showed he is a gutsy, reasoned, able fighter. This will only help him in his future endeavors and might actually create the possibility for some short term gain in the Obamacare trainwreck.

MT, I really don't care that he is a freshman and hasn't passed a bill yet, to be honest. He is 100% correct about Obamacare. The Republican Party needs a Ted Cruz type now.