Which Dem candidate would most soundly defeat Chris Christie in 2016?

[delrem]

If that should come about, and the way the media is pushing it increases the likelihood.

This isn't a poll. Please state your reasons vis-a-vis the chances of other likely candidates.

[montanacowboy]

1. Brian Schweitzer

because he is a hard nosed Democrat and takes no shit from Republicans

We sure miss Brian in the Governor's office

[Warren DeMontague]

31. I like Schweitzer, too.

[bluestate10]

43. The branding iron veto session was classic. nt

[last1standing]

2. I think Sherrod Brown would make a great candidate.

He's progressive, personable, and practical. he's also from a large swing state that has twice elected him to a statewide office.

[delrem]

24. Notice that this discussion was immediately hijacked and ridiculed, after your (2nd) response.

That doesn't speak well for anything.

[last1standing]

28. It is interesting how few people want to talk about a presidential election on a political forum.

These are the people who complain that it's too early to discuss possibilities then cry that you're not "on board" when you disagree with the candidate that was chosen in a back room meeting in the meantime.

[longship]

3. Cthulhu?

Since there are no candidates yet it's kind of a moot point. So I say Cthulhu, or maybe Zaphod Beeblebrox. (After all, he's a former president of the galaxy.)


I think I'll go for Zaphod. Two heads. Invented the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster. Survived the Total Perspective Vortex. What's not to like about him?

[delrem]

4. Well, when I spoke about capability vs Christie, I didn't limit myself to declared candidates

That would be kinda stupid, at this stage of the game. cya

[longship]

8. Indeed, since Christie hasn't declared for an election three years from now.

Might as well suggest Zaphod Beeblebrox.

[Recursion]

6. He has a tendency to steal very expensive ships

We wouldn't want to have to keep POTUS away from Norfolk, you know? He'll need VA to win...

[longship]

14. Well, I give all these 2016 threads all the seriousness they deserve.

And Zaphod is one serious dude.

[Recursion]

15. Christie... he's just zis guy, you know? (nt)

[longship]

16. ROFL!

Love ya, man.

[Gore1FL]

18. I am not sure either of those candidates are natural born citizens. n/t

[longship]

21. It won't matter to either of them.

Cthulhu -- we'll all be eaten anyway.

Zaphod -- since when did he let rules stop him?

The game is rigged either way.

In other words... Meh!

[Recursion]

5. Scweitzer beats him on his own ground ("large gruff white guy")

I think either Clinton or O'Malley could beat him, though with a different victory map than Schweitzer.

As it stands, Schweitzer is still who I like.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

9. it is probably bad news for Scweitzer's chances that I have not heard of him

and I am far more politically active than your average Murrican.

[Recursion]

12. That's how dark horses work. The current POTUS was one

Christie, for that matter, isn't terribly famous nationally.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

13. true. I guess I'll go google him.

[JDPriestly]

30. Hillary can't beat him.

Christie's feature is that he feigns warmth because he seems like a big bumbler. He makes people think he has a heart. He doesn't, but he fools people into thinking he does.

Alan Grayson would be a good match. He projects warmth. Elizabeth Warren -- projects warmth but might seem too delicate next to Christie. If Christie is nominated, we Democrats needs someone who is as strong and looming and outspoken even brash as Christie but for all the right policies. I'd go for Alan Grayson although without Christie some others especially Elizabeth Warren would be my first choice.

[Recursion]

36. Just to be clear: if the GOP nominates Christie, you think the winning move is to the left?

Out of curiosity, is it safe to say that you always consider that the winning move for the party?

[Pretzel_Warrior]

7. DeBlasio. He's practically a communist so you know he'd win in a walk.

Because that's what presidential politics has been waiting for--a Dem party with the guts to nominate a true progressive. Not capitalist pigs like Barack Obama or Bill Clinton.

[delrem]

17. I don't know what you're on about, fella, and I don't want to know. nt

[Pretzel_Warrior]

19. I was informed earlier the Virginia race would have been a Dem coasting to victory if

the candidate was really progressive. DeBlasio is really progressive. And tall. Using the transitive property, he would make a great presidential candidate to run up against moderate/conservative short/tubby Christie.

[JI7]

10. he has no foreign policy experience, he loses to Clinton in NJ in a PRes Poll

people vote for different reasons for different people. when they are voting for Governor they mostly think about local and state issues. when they are voting for President or sometimes SEnator they consider national politics more .

[JDPriestly]

33. Most voters aren't that intellectual about it. They vote for the candidate with whom they

feel most at ease. (It's an illusion of ease, but that is how people vote.)

Reagan, Clinton, Bush II, Obama -- all people who make others feel comfortable, all people who project a lot of warmth whether they have it or not. Christie is a mean person, yet he projects warmth.

Hillary would lose against Christie. She does not project warmth. Intelligence, capacity to do the job, those she projects. But people don't vote for those attributes. They vote for warmth.

But Christie dominates, so we would need a candidate just as capable of dominating. I would go for may be Alan Grayson. De Blasio might be good too.

It should be a woman's year, but a lot of Democrats helped Christie win re-election. They are fools. That was a huge mistake.

[cali]

11. Hard to say. the obvious answer is Hillary

but it's way too early to know.

[delrem]

23. Why is Hillary "obvious"?

That she will *be* the Dem candidate in the end has been pre-written. It isn't true, yet.

I don't necessarily accept what the heavily paid media has been and is promoting. I may be a fukken shmuck who gets sucked in time and again, and have had my nose rubbed in it just as many times, but I still can't figure anyone can decide about Hillary Clinton without judging "baggage". I mean political baggage owned by Bill and Hillary in office and out, including on the money circuit.

Can I forget those glossy photo-ops of Bill and W. or H. playing golf and glad handing. Or lectures before a captured audience in Columbia about the benefits of US/Columbia free trade?

[cali]

25. uh, I made it clear that it's too early to make this kind of prediction

but yeah, as of now Hillary is the one who out polls christie. That's just fact.

I didn't say shit about her being the nominee now and you know it.

I've been crystal clear for years and years that I oppose Hillary. I also live in reality. she has the money, the endorsements and the organization. guess what? those are factors. big ones.

I've said I think there's a strong current of Hillary/Clinton fatigue in the country. I've pointed to 2008 as "being Hillary's time"- until it wasn't.

gad.

[JDPriestly]

34. Hillary outpolls Christie because she is a Democrat and the people being polled recognize

her name. But she doesn't have much warmth. I think she would make a terrible candidate. She projects coldness. Christie is really mean but he projects warmth. That's just the chemistry there. Hillary would be a dangerous candidate in any event but especially against Christie.

The only way Hillary would win is if there is a Democratic tide. That could happen.

[joshcryer]

20. Hillary Clinton, obviously.

Foreign policy experience would be where she would shine. Benghazi won't be anything.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

22. Chris Christie can see Canada from his house.

[cali]

26. comparing christie to Palin is absurd.

He's a formidable politician. I find him loathsome but then I found reagan loathsome. that doesn't mean that I couldn't see that he was a good politician.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

29. you need to stand on a really tall chair and get some perspective

it was a joke in reference to Christie's lack of foreign policy experience. Nothing more. Nothing less. I am one of the first in line saying Christie is a masterful politician of our time and would be a formidable opponent if runs and if he makes it through a grueling GOP primary.

[cali]

38. you need to learn how to tell a joke, pretz.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

27. Which potential Democratic candidate talks about traditional Democratic values?

Grayson does.

Warren does as well.

The 3rd-Way types who rely upon the Republican-candidate-is-worse will not turn out as many votes.

[JDPriestly]

35. And their ideas won't contrast much with those of Christie to uninformed voters.

A Christie v. Hillary contest would be decided on personality and warmth. Christie is mean and a bully (so was George W. Bush) but he projects warmth and humanness, and he would win. Hillary is very intelligent and a capable administrator. She is the A+ honors student incarnate but she doesn't project warmth. She can win in New York, but not in the swing states.

[Warren DeMontague]

32. Okay, we all know the obvious choice.

but she's not the only one.

[TeamPooka]

37. 1. Christie will not be his party's nominee 2. Christie would lose in a general to almost any Dem.

He's a mean bastard and that will show itself in many more ugly ways be fore 2016.
The majority of the US population do not want a mean bastard as president.
If they did John McCain would be POTUS.
And he isn't.

[Chan790]

39. Most soundly?

Who knows. I think O'Malley can (He's my favorite) and I'm very impressed with the current governor of KY, Steve Beshear...I don't hear anything about him as a Presidential candidate but perhaps we should. He's had one of the most effective ACA rollouts in the country, he's written a barn-burning OP-Ed for the NYT on the ACA and how it's great for KY, he says the right things, he's sufficiently liberal to energize the base, he's likable.

[bluestate10]

41. Beshear would be good as the VEEP candidate, if he agrees not to run for President.

Beshear is kind of old and a little frail looking. That works against him topping a ticket. I don't like O'Malley leading the ticket, I would prefer Warren or Clinton.

[bluestate10]

40. Either Clinton or Warren. Christie has a lot of skeletons in his closet.

The democratic nominee must go after Christie on his shortcomings. There will be more shortcomings for Christie, Sandy rebuilding being the largest of them. On Sandy rebuilding, New York is handing New Jersey it's head, even though New Jersey is smaller and less complex to rebuild. Clinton must get back to her mid 90s fight, Warren is a natural fighter who can adjust on the fly.

[FSogol]

42. Martin O'Malley. n/t