Buttload of Faith: the 2016 Presidential Primary Thread (Pt 2)

Upon mature consideration, I don't gaf whether Jeb! has any close friends. It has only a very tangential relevance to the job of being a U.S. president. I very much gaf that he'd push a very conservative agenda.

the current New Yorker? Is the story on the site? I know they ran a Jeb! profile in October.

upon immature consideration, haw haw!

you impugn my display name!

New Dexter Filkins story:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/04/swamped-the-political-scene-dexter-filkins

Maybe they were assuming he would be the frontrunner, or near it, by now.

you know what decisive events are most likely to happen in these "races" in January?

correct, nothing

http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2015/12/saying_nice_things_about_hillary_clinton_has_become_a_subversive_act.html

pretty smart tbh:

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/264328-bush-challenges-trump-to-one-on-one-debate

I agree with the basic premise of that Slate article, which is that there is absolutely no version of HRC in the public eye that will not be twisted around and jeered at. She just hasn't got the warm, schmoozy, comfortable personality that voters adore. She's a natural policy wonk, not a natural politician.

She and Paul Ryan will hit it off very well.

i like hillary a lot. she seems like a good, warm person to me. ppl are just jerks.

i don't even believe that you believe that

i'm kind of sympathetic to the article b/c there's clearly a hefty dose of misogyny in the way a lot of ppl talk about HRC, and i find myself wondering how anyone could stand to be under the kind of scrutiny (or "scrutiny" over basically made-up scandals like whitewater, vince foster, and benghazi) she's been under for years without cracking up. i think she handles it about as well as anyone could. otoh it's a little bewildering to see ppl like sady doyle write as if the presidency is just some honorary title of awesomeness and HRC's actual politics are beside the point.

i also like hillary and find her genuine and relatable. dngaff what anyone might think of that. politically i'm more in line with bernie.

her politics aren't the exact same as mine but they're close enough (and i like her intangibles enough) that she's my first choice for potus 2016

http://i.imgur.com/OfIc2i3.jpg

the ascent of Cruz appears to have come at the expense of Carson, not Trump (as I would have guessed)

was walker seriously polling at #2 for a minute?

I think it's more like Cruz was the logical second choice for evangelicals jumping off the Carson train after it became clear it had wandered, Tootles-like, far from the tracks and never to return. Cruz's own activities in the same period may have helped cement this connection, but I still think it's more "fall of Carson" than "rise of Cruz."

bush deflating like a flat tire you try to pump once or twice before giving up

poor Tootles Carson, all those red flags and all he wanted to do was be president and smell the daisies.

all he wanted to do was sell more copies of his book

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

all i know for sure is that trump is DEFINITELY about to flame out

I assume Bush's cratering began as soon as he opened his stupid mouth about 'supporting' his bro re iraq

all i know for sure is that trump is DEFINITELY about to flame out

― Karl Malone, Monday, December 28, 2015 3:11 PM (55 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I think I'm the last conspiracy theorist standing on Trump's candidacy but I am STILL convinced he has no intention of being president and will get out soon. It makes more sense that he is there to make Cruz look relatively moderate than that he is a HRC plant to decimate the competition and divert press attention away from her race.

one of the most fun parts of 2016 will be when Trump loses to Clinton and 44% of the country believes in a conspiracy theory about how the presidency was stolen from him

They seemed to be making a big deal out of Christie on the Sunday shows yesterday--that he'd win or come close in NH, and that he could go from there to be the Trump alternative. I can't really see it. Maybe he'll do well in NH (I assume there's more to that reasoning than the newspaper endorsement--surely such things count for next to nothing this year, if they ever did), but I can't see him ever overcoming his Obama problem, not to mention the other scandal.

xpost (i know, i know, it's early, no one's paying attention, he has no path to electoral victory, the RNC will conspire (teehee) to keep the delegates out of his hands if necessary, and he's definitely about to flame out any second now. but it's fun to think about)

it's hilarious that Chris Christie's great sin is that he hugged the president right after hurricane sandy when they were working together to help people together, rather than that he's a dumb asshole with an approval rating in the high 30s who has surrounded himself with people being investigated by the feds for being dumb assholes

I don't know why the press is attached to Christie. I think maybe off-camera they enjoy forwarding and laughing at the same photos of him in that nauseatingly tight baseball uniform as everybody else, so they're trying to keep his campaign afloat for the lolz? Either that or there are still enough reporters stupid enough to believe that his middle-school-bully schtick is "refreshing" and will appeal to voters? Either way, a depressing prospect. But he's not gonna get any farther nationally than Giuliani got.

he's still defensive about The Hug:

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/12/nj_politics_roundup_christie_defends_obama_embrace.html

watch that video

"the hug" criticism is so incredibly stupid that it allows him to appear like a reasonable man of integrity whenever he's asked about it. i don't know someone in his position wouldn't go insane, being asked about it over and over for the past few years. it's maybe the one thing he can talk about at length where i don't disagree. i don't think he's being defensive in that video. if the clip was someone in the audience asking "governor, why did you hug barack hussein obama just before the elec-" before Christie interjected with "FUCK! fuuuuuuuck! you're all monsters! ALL OF YOU" i would totally understand and support him

I think the press has trouble letting go of GOP governors from blue states and Dem governors from red states (like probably only journalists were interested in Mark Warner's presidential explorations)

^^^

christie makes sense on paper, if he stole nh he could exist as a good overlap between 'not an actually insane person' for the party elite and 'total asshole' for the trump supporters. there is no evidence that he has any real support or much to offer beyond being not insane + a total asshole though.

was walker seriously polling at #2 for a minute?

He was leading (by a few fractions) for pretty much all of March - hippie-punching + beating a recall election is a popular combination to those that are paying attention that far out.

don't worry even if he's not a presidential front-runner anymore he's got plenty of time to dismantle the University of Wisconsin system

was walker seriously polling at #2 for a minute?

Thought you meant the WR for a sec.

the creation of Clinton's genuine warmth:

http://www.moviepopquiz.com/2011/Nov/Nov4/fembot4.jpg

seems like there's never a bad time to post this - http://www.splicetoday.com/politics-and-media/the-man-who-wasn-t-there

http://i.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/hillary-clinton-nae-nae-ellen.gif

http://www.schnittberichte.com/pics/SBs/100/27805/metro218.jpg

His father answered on the 17th ring. Jeb upset their usual exchange of patrician greetings with a long, tearful monologue about the campaign that wasn’t. Dad listened compassionately before sharing an anecdote from his earliest campaigns that calmed Jeb’s rum-soaked nerves, putting him at ease.

“Thanks, Dad,” Jeb gasped. “That story really placed things into perspective for me. This race is far from over. Thanks for listening, for lending your ear.”

“Anytime, Junior,” Dad chuckled. “And never, ever forget that you’re my favorite son, and I don’t give a damn what anyone says: you were a fantastic president, and you’ll make an even finer chair of the Crawford Arts Council. Give Laura and the girls our love.”

There were voicemails waiting. Danny had a line on a secret War Room. Reince offered a pathetic joke about “the 1 percent,” pealing into maniacal laughter before hanging up. Columba told him she loved him, that she was praying for the campaign. Drudge apologetically withdrew a longstanding interview offer; he’d be breaking bread with Santorum instead. A rookie Politico blogger wondered, earnestly, “What’s it like to be lower than a flaming sack of dogshit?” Jeb fought and overcame the urge to hurl his iPhone into morning traffic. The rabid Doberman he’d have sworn was trailing him for blocks was actually his stomach.

One person shows up to O'Malley event in Iowa, remains uncommitted

lol that was the headline on drudge report today, great photo

saw my first hillary ad tonight (and bernie)

Pataki out

this was the lede on NPR hourly news

kennedy shot
challenger
9/11
pataki out

Was he a democrat or a republican

he's a pro-abortion, climate change-believing Republican

hence 0% in the polls