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Handicapping the Republican Presidential Hopefuls
The biggest issue with the current crop of Republican presidential candidates rests in the one characteristic they all share: that they are all politicians. Okay, so Dr. Carson is no politician, but he’s not a viable candidate, either. Let’s start with Jeb Bush. He used to be the most conservative of the Bushes, but he traded that in for what I’m sure he believes is practicality. It’s not. It’s not even compromise. It’s weakness. The media senses it, and they cheer for him. DocJay is right: Jeb is Hillary’s mark and nothing smacks more of politics than the Bush Dynasty.
Scott Walker is a fighter, no doubt, but his hands are still stained permanently with the ink of taxpayer dollars. In his short life, he’s been a politician… and nothing else. Chris Christie was a prosecutor before he immersed himself in politics. If there’s one thing nearly as disqualifying of politicians as politics, it’s the practice of law and — worse yet — the practice of law on the government payroll. Private practice is narrowly qualifying, but double-damn on those who cash a government check. And while Christie never had my vote, he earned my contempt when he wrapped his beefy arm around our President, seeking favor after disaster.
Rand Paul is an MD, an Ophthalmologist. So far, so good. His experience in politics is limited to the Senate but — in spite of his sometimes surly demeanor — his pedigree makes him yet another politician, yet another political legacy. And with this legacy comes the scent of his father’s kookiness. Ted Cruz is yet another lawyer, the former Solicitor General for the state of Texas, though he spent several years in private practice. As with Rand Paul, his first elected office is the US Senate.
Marco Rubio is yet another lawyer, but he skipped the lawyering and jumped straight into politics. Mike Huckabee — who the media likes to consider (proof, in their minds, of the evil mix of Christianity with politics that is conservatism) from time to time — is a former governor and pastor. But, really folks, can we really elevate another Arkansas Governor to the highest office in the country?
So what is a good conservative to do? The bench, we are told is deep, yet their experience seems tremendously shallow. Still, none can be labeled a rich snob — okay, maybe Jeb — or a “vulture capitalist.” I’m thinking Ted Cruz or Marco Rubio. Cruz is the more accomplished lawyer and has the intellectual chops to move the country to the right, but Rubio is more earnest and accomplished as a politician. Together they are like black beans and rice, I don’t care who leads the ticket.
I want an all Senate, all Cuban-American ticket. Maybe then the Latino vote will move to the right. In any case, Hillary will be apoplectic as she scrambles to keep her coalition of the aggrieved together.
Published in Politics
He did good things for Florida as Speaker and to be brutally superficial, he is also handsome as hell.
BTW, what’s wrong with rich snobs or venture capitalists?
EThompson
He did good things for Florida as Speaker and to be brutally superficial, he is also handsome as hell.
BTW, what’s wrong with rich snobs or venture capitalists?
VULTURE capitalists.
Rich snobs are boring. They know which water glass is theirs and where to place their napkin when leaving the table. They know you never wear thick orlon socks with a suit and how to tie a bow tie. They would never wear clip on suspenders. They eat shad roe on toast points at Lockobers. They never sniff a cork. I hate them.
I chose to use the adjective venture as I found it to be most appropriate.
Where did you go to school again, Mr. down-and-dirty populist?
Added: Snideness aside, I am all in for the all-Hispanic ticket. Rubio on top on account of he is the presentable one and the overwhelming proportion of brutally superficial voters.
An all-Senate ticket when Congress is polling at about 12% is an iffy proposition. I can see voting for Rubio in the primary, but his presence in the Senate isn’t a bonus. Beyond that, why is it OK for Rubio to have spent most of his adult life in politics, but it’s disqualifying for Walker? Not to mention that Walker has hardly become part of the “1%” on the taxpayer dime — probably has the lowest net worth of any of them. He’s “tainted with taxpayer money” because he didn’t get rich first?
I don’t get totally dismissing a candidate because he’s been in politics most of his life without even considering what he’s done in politics.
The Latinos of the southwest don’t see Cubans as one of them; they don’t share Cuban tastes or opinions, especially about politics. Rubio might win them over for the same reasons he tends to win everyone over. Cruz’s Ivy League credentials won’t count for much in Las Cruces.
The problem with Cruz is he repels as many people as he attracts.
But would he be damning as VP?
I don’t know, Severely. Good question, but I doubt he’d accept VP.
This is a very astute observation. There is a definite pecking order in the Latino world and Cubans consider themselves to be “first world” immigrants and are, to a certain extent resented by Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, and Hondurans.
I mention this only because one gets a fairly wide perspective of Hispanic cultures living in SW Florida.
Don’t overlook Kasich in Ohio, if Walker continues to stumble I’m going to give him another look.
This is true, but Obama was hardly representative of black American culture (half-white, raised in Hawaii and Indo), yet he captured an absurd percentage of the black vote. As you point out, shallow voters are a factor and I’m happy to offer them a candidate with both a dark, smoldering profile and a popular ethnicity if he’ll govern Conservatively.
I’m not dismissing anyone. Walker has been a great soldier, but what I’ve seen of him has been pretty “not ready for prime time.” I think he shows great promise but needs maturity and experience. He’s too easy a target right now.
I like everything about Kasich except Medicare. He made a deal with the devil, as did my own former governor. But I like him. He could be my #2.
How about Rubio-Martinez? She’s supposed to be good.
Cruz can be dismissive, but Rubio is adorable. They offset. And I’m sure a presidential duo whose first language is Spanish will have a better chance peeling off the Hispanic vote than say, a candidate who studied Spanish at Andover and Yale and then married a nice Latina. And I like Jeb, but he’s not my first choice. He’s not my last either and I would support him if he were the candidate. I just believe he and his name hold too much baggage. He would be my Secretary of Education, if I didn’t think that department should be eliminated.
She’s gutsy, but her name is not currently in the mix. I’d like her to jump in though, just to keep her from being another “stealth” VP choice.
NM is still a union state, closed to business. She needs to push labor reforms and make NM more business friendly. She needs to push a right to work law. I’m afraid her record as a conservative is lacking evidence, other than rhetoric. Still, getting elected as a conservative in NM is laudable. Now let’s see the reform. NM is still west coast light between Texas and AZ.
Congress always polls terribly. Everyone hates every Senator and Congressman from every jurisdiction but their own. How else can you really explain the overwhelming advantage of incumbency? Anyway, polls confirm this. So being a member of Congress is more advantage than disadvantage.
Walker is a great young governor. His time has not yet come. This is his chance to shine on the national stage, learn and garner support. He’s the choice four to eight years out. Or maybe he’s a VP choice. But he will never lead the ticket. Not this time. I’m just telling you what I believe to be true.
Nice analysis. BTW, I’m not so fond of rich snobs, I don’t like poor ones either. I maintain that there’s only one likely nominee who will easily lose and that’s Jeb.
?What’s wrong with Lockobers. Great restaurant, great wine list, neat place to go. Too bad they changed the rules for the ground floor.
?No mention of Carlie Fiorina for VP. ?How’d that ticket look against the Mummy.
An odd comment for me: I like Carly although I didn’t approve of her performance at HP. I did like the way she handled her CA senatorial campaign in 2010.
I’d go for and Indian ticket–Jindal and Haley. Too bad Jindal doesn’t get some traction. He’s very impressive.
FWIW… Lincoln was a politician (generally unsuccessful) and a lawyer.
ET #21
I wasn’t saying anything more than having Carly considered for VP might be interesting. She’s smart, seems a good conservative, articulate (unlike our current dope) and would help defuse the War on Women meme.
All the Republicans are too male and too white to win. Hillary being a womyn and an honorary black by being married to the first black president Bill Clinton is a shoe in unless Obama decides to stay.
Whoever the nominee is they better put Susanna in the VP slot – she’s awesome! She’s also a true Hispanic, not like those wannabe Cubans.
Seriously, though, I think Rubio/Cruz isnt a great ticket, they’re too alike and I’m not talking about the Hispanic thing. We need at least one governor on the ticket and someone who’s not from the South East
Doug Kimball
I suspect it will stay that way as well. There’s a lot of ballast in places out of the way that hardly recognize the authority of the USG except to handle benefits. The land-grant clientele of El Patron socialism isn’t going anywhere. These folks are the Guadalupe-Hidalgo “rattle again” lost cause adherents, like so many reconstruction holdouts. Rural northern New Mexico is the perfection of government by union — it’s the richness of the old world soil.
We’ve had family (alas, in dwindling numbers) in Albuquerque since 1958; I visited in 1967, ’76, and ’77. The New Mexico of forty to fifty years ago was a fascinating place. The university, and Sandia Labs, were huge, ultra-modern facilities that wisely integrated spectacular views with a busy work setting. As a teenager I was startled to hear a lively, positive college discussion of Robert Heinlein and his political philosophy. The ’67 trip was the first time I ever fired a handgun or climbed a mountain.
But even then I vaguely heard that New Mexico, not unlike giant Texas, also had a unique attitude towards its place in the union, and fiercely resisted being lumped in with other southwestern states. Ball’s excellent and interesting comment helped me decipher a state that between the native Americans, the unionized copper miners, the bombmakers, the fliers, and the scholars is as much a federal creature as a Federation Trading Post in “Star Trek”.
I think this is because blacks are more likely to see themselves as one, at least politically. This probably has something to do with the idea that their ancestors largely came from the same part of the world, and largely against their will, and farther back than most Latinos. They have less reason than Latinos to have a sense of ethnic identity outside of the U.S., or antipathy to other “types” of blacks. So all those facts about Obama matter not when he looks black and has an African name.
“I want an all Senate, all Cuban-American ticket. Maybe then the Latino vote will move to the right. ”
I hate pandering.
Develop the right strategies and deliver a good message and they will follow. Yes, I am that naïve.