by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
While there seem to be several political prognosticators predicting doom and gloom for Democrats in 2014 - particularly with regard to congressional and senate races - those same nattering nabobs of negativism (who said that?) haven't been nearly as vocal about the looming big political kahuna - the 2016 presidential race. I haven't given up on the 2014 midterms - and feel that several good things could yet come to pass - and that's just in Kansas! But the 2016 presidential race will definitely soothe any Democratic hurts that come out of this November's elections.
The Republicans have been trying to get themselves in better order this time around. The national party has made moves to limit the number of debates that their candidates will engage in during the primaries - as well as limit the amount of time between the close of primary season and the opening of their convention. All that is in response to their awful debacle of 2012 in which Mitt Romney could never break free of the guppies that continued to feed on him as he was desperately trying to claim his crown and go after President Obama. The Republican Party of 2012 literally ate itself on the way to the general election. What a damned shame that was!
But despite all of the planning to limit the in-house brawls, it looks very much like things in 2016 will not be any better for the venerable old white man's party. The party may have drafted a new message with new safeguards - but most of the potential candidates appear to have not read the memo. It looks like another slug fest is in the making - one that will not be the least bit presidential.
Politico ran a front page story this morning discussing the wild and woolly Republican presidential field of candidates. The story featured pictures of twelve contenders - and said their might be as many as fifteen serious candidates. Those pictured in the Politico piece were: Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, perennial candidate Mitt Romney, Governor Bobbie Jindal of Louisiana, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Governor Rick Perry of Texas, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, and Governor Mike Pence of Indiana.
A few others who failed to get their pictures in the Politico article but are likely to wade into the race are retiring Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, pizza czar Herman Cain, brain surgeon Ben Carson, Fox commentator and former Arknasas governor Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Ambassador to China John Huntsman, reality television personality Donald Trump, and Little Ricky Santorum, formerly a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. Over the past few days there has also been a smattering of talk that John MCCain's BFF in the senate, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, might also offer his services to save the republic.
The odds of the Grand Old Party managing to make it through that minefield of candidates without inflicting serious or even mortal damage onto itself along the way are almost non-existent - particularly since the Democrats seem to be focused on only one serious candidate for their party's nomination.
The election of 2016 will be Mrs. Bill Clinton's to lose - and with several clown cars full of Republican candidates crashing into each other and causing ribald mayhem under the Big Top, it's hard to imagine a scenario in which Hillary doesn't win - handily!
But first we have 2014 to deal with. Vote early and vote often!
Citizen Journalist
While there seem to be several political prognosticators predicting doom and gloom for Democrats in 2014 - particularly with regard to congressional and senate races - those same nattering nabobs of negativism (who said that?) haven't been nearly as vocal about the looming big political kahuna - the 2016 presidential race. I haven't given up on the 2014 midterms - and feel that several good things could yet come to pass - and that's just in Kansas! But the 2016 presidential race will definitely soothe any Democratic hurts that come out of this November's elections.
The Republicans have been trying to get themselves in better order this time around. The national party has made moves to limit the number of debates that their candidates will engage in during the primaries - as well as limit the amount of time between the close of primary season and the opening of their convention. All that is in response to their awful debacle of 2012 in which Mitt Romney could never break free of the guppies that continued to feed on him as he was desperately trying to claim his crown and go after President Obama. The Republican Party of 2012 literally ate itself on the way to the general election. What a damned shame that was!
But despite all of the planning to limit the in-house brawls, it looks very much like things in 2016 will not be any better for the venerable old white man's party. The party may have drafted a new message with new safeguards - but most of the potential candidates appear to have not read the memo. It looks like another slug fest is in the making - one that will not be the least bit presidential.
Politico ran a front page story this morning discussing the wild and woolly Republican presidential field of candidates. The story featured pictures of twelve contenders - and said their might be as many as fifteen serious candidates. Those pictured in the Politico piece were: Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, perennial candidate Mitt Romney, Governor Bobbie Jindal of Louisiana, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Governor Rick Perry of Texas, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, and Governor Mike Pence of Indiana.
A few others who failed to get their pictures in the Politico article but are likely to wade into the race are retiring Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, pizza czar Herman Cain, brain surgeon Ben Carson, Fox commentator and former Arknasas governor Mike Huckabee, former U.S. Ambassador to China John Huntsman, reality television personality Donald Trump, and Little Ricky Santorum, formerly a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. Over the past few days there has also been a smattering of talk that John MCCain's BFF in the senate, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, might also offer his services to save the republic.
The odds of the Grand Old Party managing to make it through that minefield of candidates without inflicting serious or even mortal damage onto itself along the way are almost non-existent - particularly since the Democrats seem to be focused on only one serious candidate for their party's nomination.
The election of 2016 will be Mrs. Bill Clinton's to lose - and with several clown cars full of Republican candidates crashing into each other and causing ribald mayhem under the Big Top, it's hard to imagine a scenario in which Hillary doesn't win - handily!
But first we have 2014 to deal with. Vote early and vote often!
2 comments:
Spiro T. Agnew.
Right you are, Grasshopper - and your age is showing!
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