It is campaign season, and the parties are in full swing. For the Democrats, this means making Hillary look good, while she prays that Biden doesn’t enter the race. For Biden, this means weighing the opportunity to grope and grab more unsuspecting women vs not. The rest of the Democrat candidates sure are looking like witless foils to Hillary, propping her up as the voice of experience and moderation. Sad.
Sadder still is the Republican Clown Show. Every Republican (and Trump) that can form a PAC or committee enters the race in January, then engages in media-encouraged red-on-red sniping to wear everyone down, especially the electorate, thus ensuring that the money class’ candidate emerges as the nominee, but can’t win after having to slog through the Clown Show. Plus, for the Dems, free oppo research.
The process is so amazingly broken it is almost physically painful. I started blogging in 2003 because of the blatant lies of the Kerry campaign – political blogging is something I used to like to do. I never had even a measurable fraction of the numbers of an Ace of Spades or Allahpundit, but enjoyed the game. I don’t anymore. I want to like the Republicans, but I am finding that my conservatism and their version are wildly divergent.
Republicans
Jeb! Bush
Why? I mean, why, really? Honestly, he isn’t the best candidate, and isn’t electable even if he was. No one, not the Republican base, not the Democrats, not anyone wants this guy. Who wants this guy? The money. The Republican establishment who has become dangerously disconnected from the base. Unelectable in the best of circumstances.
Ben Carson
I like Ben. I like a candidate that can admit he doesn’t know everything, especially when the question is a trap. He learns, he improves, he knows he doesn’t know it all. This is amazingly attractive. Yes, I disagree with some of his statements, but overall I think he is the best choice in the current Clown Show. He doesn’t have a chance against the Machine. They have made it clear Jeb! is the man. But in a better world, he would be the nominee.
Chris Christie
He missed his one shot. Connected to him or not, the bridge thing kills him. Being a politician hurts too. I get him running, but don’t see him making it out of Super Tuesday, and wouldn’t be shocked if he never made it to then.
Ted Cruz
Not Marco Rubio. Cruz is too Tea Party for the money class, and too establishment for the Tea Party. He can’t win. He is another one I like in theory, but not in execution.
Carly Fiorina
Interesting that she is still in it. Her results in California suggest that she will not be able to seal the deal. But if you are looking for an outsider, business-world vet, and can’t deal with the Trump Show, then she is the only game in town. Sadly, her positions on too many issues make her a target, and an easy one at that.
Jim Gilmore
Who? No, really. Who is he, and why is he wasting money on this? National name recognition is needed, and unless people think he is the guy from Pink Floyd, he has no chance to make it out of Iowa. Don’t be shocked if he doesn’t make it out of 2015.
Lindsey Graham
Not the guitarist for Fleetwood Mac. I like the idea of ending the ACA exemption for Congress. If you pass a law, you damn sure ought to be expected to live under it. If you don’t, can you really be considered as a representative of the people? No. No you cannot.
Mike Huckabee
No. I know the religious right loves this guy, but that alone is a reason to dump him. The Republicans need to return to conservative bases, and divorce the religious right. The simple reality is that the two don’t always mix, and the idea of this nation is to not be a de facto theocracy. So Mike has to go.
Bobby Jindal
I want to like him, and do, but don’t think he has it yet. His fiscal record and achievements are great, and I also support a uniformity in things the government mandates, even while supporting fewer overall mandates. But his experience is limited to Louisiana, which hurts some. I like him as a Vice President, or cabinet member.
John Kasich
Also-ran. His positions are exactly middle of the road, with nothing to stand out. Sorry, but why is he even running?
George Pataki
Former New York governor. Another one that makes no sense, unless it is all ego-stroking. Never had a chance against Jeb!, and his run makes no sense.
Rand Paul
I want to like him more than I do. But in the end, he is just not there yet. Won’t be for a long time. His positions are good, he has ideas I like, but he just cannot sell them. At all. He is tainted by his father’s insanity, and it just isn’t going to be.
Marco Rubio
Needs to bow out right now, and get clear of the clown show. He has one of the best narratives in the Republican party, and if he comes back with more seasoning, in 4-8 years, he has a real shot. Right now, I have a better shot. Please, bow out, keep as much dignity as possible, and stay above the fray.
Rick Santorum
No.
Donald Trump
Trump is, if you think about it, exactly the candidate that America deserves. He is more flash than substance, immune to any level of criticism, and incapable of seeing himself as less than the center of everything. He is the reality TV candidate for the disaffected. And it works. His success is directly attributable to being the most outside of the outsider candidates in a climate of disgust with the career politicians. There is word that he doesn’t want to win – which I can see. I suspect Trump wants to be just serious enough to make it into the convention as a power player, and then be able to say he was forced out by the insiders, giving him another four years of media attention. It is interesting to note that despite being expected to be nothing but a fad, and dismissed by the media, he is still the one they go to for sound bites about the campaign.
Democrats
Lincoln Chafee
Didn’t he used to write for MAD Magazine? No, that was Al Jaffee. You can see why it’s confusing. If he changed his name, he might get better recognition. If he didn’t support tax hikes, he might last longer before loosing to the likely nominee…
Hillary Clinton
Teflon. More so than Reagan. Benghazi? Who cares. Email server open to all and sundry? Pure political attack. Total disconnect from the way anyone lives? Yeah, and? She ignores likely illegalities, dismisses concerns about a legacy of lying to the people she wants to hire her, and simply behaves as if above it all. And yes the ignorance and magical thinking of the American electorate means she is likely the nominee. And the Democrat-aligned mass media means they are likely to win. Only if their nominee is caught with, as the cliche says, a live boy or dead girl, do they have to worry much.
Lawrence Lessig
Who? Looking him up, he is the ultimate single issue candidate. If he passes one thing, he plans to quit. Not the sort of candidate that makes it out of 2015, much less Iowa.
Martin O’Malley
With a name like this, he needs to open a tavern in Chicago. But he was the mayor of Baltimore, which should disqualify anyone.
Bernie Sanders
Have we proven he is not actually a Muppet yet? Because he really looks like one. And his commitment to Socialism, which has been proven unworkable across the world, will prevent his being anything more than a foil for Clinton. The ‘extremist’ to make her look centrist. Clever play, he is my pick for Vice President or a similarly high posting.
Jim Webb
Sadly, not the actor from Dragnet. Him I would vote for, if only to hear Joe Friday deliver the State of the Union address. Think about it. Other than that, he is too smirky. Which is rather disconcerting.