now that Jeb! is gone, who is next to drop out?

[CTyankee]

THe rest of the pack just bob around in the polls. I thought that by now most of them would say "no mas!" and drop out, but I guess hope springs eternal...they ought to give it up, it's getting embarrassing for them...

[MFM008]

1. Carson or Kasich.

They just wont have the money.

[CTyankee]

2. I thought Carson was already gone...that's how much he impresses me...

[Warpy]

18. He's got the same messiah complex that Cruz has

but his soporific personality doesn't manage to project it sufficiently. He'll stay in, though.

Kasich is the wild care. His campaign has been lackluster and run on the cheap. He might stay in and hope for a brokered convention.

The ones who drop out are the ones who burn through millions of dollars and get nowhere.

(I should mention that Carson bought a mailing list from National Financial Services and has been sending out some very expensive mailers. I should also mention I am very unimpressed. I would like to know what the cutoff point was since I'm a pretty small fish)

[CTyankee]

19. yeah, he's soporific all right...and unintelligible...I think he's nuts...

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. My money is on Carson.

Kasich will be the last "No, really, I'm not a raving looney" Republican in the race, smiling and happy and pretending to be kind and fatherly, while still planning to enact really godsawful policies if he gets the nod.

[Mass]

5. Yes, but the establishment has decided their candidate would be Rubio and are already starting to

push Kasich out.

After all, he will be easier to manipulate than Kasich.

[CTyankee]

20. well, I can see Rubio in a debate against HRC...as he keeps repeating the same thing

on and on. It's just embarrassing...Hillary would decimate him...

[LiberalElite]

21. and I as a Sanders supporter would cheer her on nt

[CTyankee]

22. same here...sigh, are we already giving up?

[LiberalElite]

23. HELL NO! nt

[CTyankee]

24. yep. it ain't over til it's over...may Bernie's message prevail!

[LiberalElite]

25. I "attended" a live streamed Slack volunteer meeting on YouTube

around 3pm and it was very motivating. Among other things, the meeting leader said there were 100 "barn storm" organizing meetings countrywide yesterday that brought in LOTS of new volunteers. We're just getting cranked up.

[liberalhistorian]

36. No, I'm definitely not giving up as

a Sanders supporter, no way. But, as upset as I am at my lifelong party for trying to shove this coronation down our throats with little choice or debate, I have every intention of voting for Hillary should she become the nominee. She is light-years better than Trump or any of the other extremely dangerous GOP clowns in the car. And, as a former Ohioan, I can guaran-damn-tee you that you do NOT want Kasich in the WH any more than you want the theocratic authoritarian Dominionist Cruz or fascist Trump/Rubio/Carson.

[Hortensis]

31. Mass, if there were still a powerful GOP "establishment"

they wouldn't be in this mess. There are lots of power centers making their own decisions. The Donald is a one-man power center, the Kochtopus" is a coalition of fabulously wealthy families, corporations, organizations, etc headed by an anti-government extremist who tops almost all others, that is perhaps as powerful as the GOP. Etc.

I'm with Erich. Kaisich's extreme, not the moderate he pretends to be, and he has been involved with the Kochs and other ultra right wingers for decades, literally since the inception of ALEC. ALEC! I believe he is dangerous. Many of these groups are acting clandestinely, and he could be playing a waiting game with all the money he needs, and a great deal of influence, secretly ready to step in to back him.

[Mass]

4. Kasich. The media and the establishment have anointed Rubio as THEIR candidate.

Not sure he has what it takes to beat Trump, but he is certainly the opposite of the Donald. A man who says whatever gets through his mind vs somebody who cannot stray from his stump speech (a real robot).

[AlinPA]

10. Kasich will be the VP candidate on the GOP ticket. They need Ohio badly.

[Freddie]

35. I think you're right

That scenario scares me more than any of them. They both can appear moderate (we know better but the average voter does not) and they're from swing states.
Having said that...Go Donald!!

[MADem]

6. Carson?

I think Kasich will stick for a bit if he can afford it. He wants to be VP....

[CTyankee]

9. yep, should be carson. Rubio is still hoping and Cruz is too full ofhimself to go...

but it depends on the money, I guess...

[MADem]

11. Cruz thinks he can GET IT. He's convinced. He's already telling Heidi to measure the drapes,

and he has images of his little kids crawling under the desk like JFK JR and Caroline.

What he doesn't realize, though, is that Trump is gonna go FULL FRONTAL TWITTER on him, just like he did on Bush. Now Trump won't be distracted by Bush, so all his sniping energy will be towards "He's not Natural Born" Ted!! Wouldn't surprise me if he sues! If he can get a conservative lower court judge or bank of judges to agree with him, a Supreme Court could easily go 4-4 on this, which would mean the lower court ruling would stand!

[LW1977]

7. Please be Rubio, Please be Rubio!

[shadowrider]

8. It won't be Rubio

He's the GOPe establishments last hope.

[Rex]

12. Ben Carson.

He needs to count the grain inside the pyramids, before Xorn comes back to rule over us all.

[farleftlib]

40. He is a full-fledged cuckoo

I don't know how he is still in it after that doozy. Or how the moderators can ask him questions without busting up laughing. What a loon!

[Vinca]

13. Carson . . . unless he hasn't met his quota for book sales.

[hifiguy]

14. Carson.

With Kasich not far behind.

[n2doc]

15. Carson isn't really running

He is just grifting to get money out of the process. He will be there until the money completely is gone. Kasich is next, probably with a promise of being VP. The real battle is going to be between Cruz and Rubio, one has to go if the other is to have a shot at defeating Trump. But neither will.

[trusty elf]

16. My guess is Carson.

[img][/img]

[NastyRiffraff]

17. If Carson wakes up

and looks at the results so far, he'll drop out after Nevada. Followed quickly by Kasich after Super Tuesday.

And the RNC will be on their knees praying desperately for Rubio. Many will become atheists soon afterwards.

[Cassiopeia]

26. I would really like to see Kasich drop out

He scares me nearly as much as Cruz. I would really like to see Cruz get caught in a huge scandal and flee the country altogether.

[lpbk2713]

27. For all practical purposes the race is down to Trump, Cruz and Rubio.

Every one else is just delusional. And frankly I don't think
the GOP has a snowball's chance in hell in the GE.

[BillZBubb]

32. I think the GOP has a very good chance in the GE.

Unless they nominate cruz.

[Cleita]

28. I hope Ted Cruz. For once I agree with Trump. Being foreign born, no matter that he is

considered a natural born citizen, he still can't be President. I have a similar situation, but I have citizenship papers to prove it. Although I am considered a citizen from birth because of my American parents, I still had to take out citizenship papers before I was twenty one and swear allegiance to the United States. Otherwise I would have forfeited my citizenship not doing so. I would not have been able to have an American passport either. Even as recently as 2004 when I renewed my passport, I was asked for my citizenship papers in order to do so. I want to see at least his American passport, if he has one.

[CTyankee]

33. I think Cruz's citizenship is very dicey and I don't think he is a "native born" American.

If he gets the nomination, the dems will file a federal lawsuit to challenge it on the grounds of Ted's citizenship status. That will be a bad thing to happen in a GE election. Better to avoid it. It would throw the electorate into a maelstrom I know that is a talking point of some repubs but I think they are absolutely right.

[Cleita]

37. They better do it sooner rather than later because, other than Trump, it seems he's

popular and if those two are the only ones left standing, knocking the pedestal out from under Cruz gives them Trump as their nominee, fer shure.

[BillZBubb]

29. Kasich. He just doesn't have the support or money to run a realistic campaign.

Carson will stay in because he doesn't care if he runs a realistic campaign or not. He's operating on a different level of reality than the rest of us. He'll only quit when he gets bored.

rubio, cruz and trump are in a three way death match. They've all got the resources from right wing zealots and corporations (or trump's own money) to stay in to the end. It is hard to see how any one of them can get enough delegates to lock up the nomination. Their convention is going to get nasty. I would expect rubio to emerge the nominee because he's who the party elite wants to win.

It is possible trump, with the most delegates, could promise the vp slot to one of the other two and pick up his support. That would most likely be rubio, since no one would knowingly offer cruz a position of power.

[tularetom]

30. Hillary Clinton?

[BillZBubb]

34. Do I detect some wishful thinking?

[Liberal_in_LA]

41. Nope

[Bleacher Creature]

38. Carson then Kasich then Sanders

And then I have absolutely no idea.

[SoCalDem]

39. Doesn't matter

The ego-twins (Cruz & Rubio) will stay on..

Carson is trying to pump his notoriety up for a Fox gig, paid speaking events, or another book deal. He will stay as long as a crowd shows up.. even a small crowd

Kasich's departure will make as big a splash, as his staying in......zippo..

As long as three of them think they can be numero uno,Trump wins

[Mendocino]

42. Carson

He's obviously in free fall. Kasich though will stay in as long as possible, hoping for a VP nod. He will try to parlay that into being a player in the 2020 race. Cruz and Rubio will not quit, their tremendous egos, especially that of Cruz will keep them in tooth and nail. I think the republican convention will be a snarly nasty mess.

[NobodyHere]

43. Kasich doesn't want to be a VP