The Wingnut Sweepstakes - Who will we face in 2016 (May 2013 edition)

[OmahaBlueDog]

Inspired by....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251308862

Who will be our Republican opponent in 2016, in your opinion?

Bonus question -- will there be a Tea Party breakaway in 2016? For example, if Chris Christie is the nominee, might Rand Paul run under the Tea Party banner?

12 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited
	Paul Ryan
	2 (17%)
	Chris Christie
	1 (8%)
	Marco Rubio
	3 (25%)
	Jeb Bush
	4 (33%)
	Ted Cruz
	2 (17%)
	Bobby Jindal
	0 (0%)
	Bob McDonnell
	0 (0%)
	Dr. Ben Carson
	0 (0%)
	Rand Paul
	0 (0%)
	Someone Else (such as Santorum, Palin, Huckabee, Thune -- please elaborate)
	0 (0%)
	1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[wandy]

1. Paul Ryan, Rand Paul and Ted Cruze will be allowed to sell crazy for most of the extended,,,

campaigning season. Right about the time that any remaining sane republicans, if such a thing is possible, are scared witless, Jeb Bush will arise as the Great Champion.
A highly qualified governor type, likely Scott Walker will be selected for the VP slot to satisfy the Teaparty owners.

It is hoped that by November of 2016 Democratic voters will have become so tired of scandals/conspiracy theories/dark rumors involving Obama and Hillary Clinton that many will not bother to vote.

A perfect marriage of corporate interests and the BFEE will now be in control.

2014: Get the vermin out of the house.
End the republican Menace.

[Fearless]

2. Mittens again? Oh please!

By all means keep trying. How about trotting out McCain again? Palin? It's what they do. Run the same elitist candidates again and again.

[Dollface]

3. I have to pass. There are still rocks they haven't looked under.

[Chan790]

4. It positively will not be Jeb.

I'm pretty sure his parents have all but forbidden him to run under threat of being written out of the will. Both of his parents have made statements to the effect that there needs to be no Bushes running for a while.

They're not the sort of fuck around...they don't want the family brand tarnished by the asswhupping Jeb will take in 2016 or 2020.

[OmahaBlueDog]

5. I think Jeb is going to be the éminence grise behind Marco Rubio

My opinion, the 2016 GOP ticket will either be Christie/Cruz (balancing a northern Governor perceived as being able to work with Dems with an Hispanic with solid Tea Party credentials) or Rubio/???. Walker would be a possibility. Susana Martinez could be in that mix. Maybe Bobby Jindal. Jeb could even be in that mix, although it becomes very Floridian at that point.

I think Jeb is going to cheerlead and fundraise for Marco, and work hard to undo a decade of damage done by Jan Brewer and the Teabaggers vis a vis the Latino vote. But I agree -- they don' want him to run (even though he's a bunch smarter). Dubya tarnished the brand, and Columba Bush has some unique baggage that would get dragged out.

[RDANGELO]

6. Paul Ryan

Ted Cruze will do well early until the others start making noise about the fact that he was born in Canada.

Chris Christie will become very frustrated with attacks from the right. He will be attacked for nominating a Muslim to the state courts and being so friendly with the President over Hurricane Sandy.

Jeb Bush won't pass the litmus test from the Tea Party types who will dominate the primaries.

Rubio will be hurt by his efforts on immigration reform.

[AlinPA]

7. Cruze comes off as a crazier bombthrower than Ryan and appeals to more of the far right wing.

I'd say it will be Cruze.

[BlueStater]

11. Not unless they want to commit political suicide.

That nutjob at the front of ticket would be nothing short of a disaster for them. They would lose in a landslide.

If their selections of McCain and Romney in the last two presidential elections have proven anything, it's that they're willing to vote for someone they don't personally care for if they think he/she has a decent shot of winning. That really boosts Christie's chances, if you ask me.

[AlinPA]

17. The crazies run the GOP now.

[OmahaBlueDog]

10. re: Paul Ryan

Ted Cruze will do well early until the others start making noise about the fact that he was born in Canada.

It will be ironic to see Republicans battling "birthers." One wonders if Orly Taitz will be as interested in birthplace of the Senator from Texas. More ironic is that less than 10 years ago, some in the GOP spoke seriously of the "Arnold Amendment" thst would waive the natural-born-citizzen rule to allow Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for office. How times do change.

The other interesting dynamic would be to see how votes break in primaries with both Rubio and Cruz.

Chris Christie will become very frustrated with attacks from the right. He will be attacked for nominating a Muslim to the state courts and being so friendly with the President over Hurricane Sandy.

1) I think the mainstream GOP wants Christie to be nominated because they see him as being the most electable. 2) As evidenced by this law just passed in Nebraska, http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251308930 , I think the Republicans are attempting to pre-empt a breakaway run by Rand Paul or another Teapublican against a candidate they perceive as too far left.

In 2016, we wil face the new-look, slimmed down Christie. He might be attacked from the right, but after he appeared with the President, his approval went through the roof. Look for him to start vocally criticizing the President's policies later this year, while being respectful towards President Obama as a person. Look for him to respond to attacks from the right with the "we have to stop being the party-of-stupid" meme. If he is the nominee, I'd bet on Cruz or Rubio to be his veep (outside shot of Susana Martinez).

Jeb Bush won't pass the litmus test from the Tea Party types who will dominate the primaries.

The Bush camp seems to be signalling that he won't run. I think Jeb is destined to be a kingmaker, not a king. That said, Veep isn't entirely out of the question. I was somewhat surprised that he didn't go after Bill nelson's Senate seat.

Rubio will be hurt by his efforts on immigration reform.

The GOP can't survive as "the party of white voters." They can continue to listen to pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Phyllis Schlaffley on this issue, or they can do math. Math says that if they don't embrace some form immigration reform, they may not see much of the White House for a generation. Rubio and the pragmatists in the GOP (the few that are left) realize this. But your point is taken - what helps on the national stage can doom you in the GOP primaries.

Paul Ryan

I don't know. If he'd delivered Wisconsin to Romney, I'd like his chances a lot better. He's young and ideological, but he's also associated with a losing campaign (OTOH, so was JFK). I think he may need an intermediate step, like becoming Senator or Governor.

[sofa king]

8. We can assume it will be Jeb.

Jeb Bush must win in order to control and completely destroy an enormous volume of incriminating evidence generated by his brother. Some of those crimes have no statute of limitations. So I'll go farther than merely guessing Jeb will win it by hook or by crook. I'll say:

* Jeb Bush will win the nomination.

* If Jeb has a serious primary contender who shows a chance of derailing Bush's plans, that person will be unceremoniously destroyed.

* Jeb will plant his proposed running mate in the primary field, and wreck anyone between that person and himself in the primaries. We won't have to guess who his pick will be because by the time Jeb secures his own nomination, the running mate will be running a friendly, distant second.

* The running mate is going to be the idiot puppet, just like every other time except Cheney/Bush. That instantly narrows the field to pretty much Palin, Ryan, and Bachmann. Being chauvinists, they'll cynically want to place an incompetent female in the second slot, should Hillary Clinton win her side of the race. Bachmann is the only one of them left who hasn't lost a national election already, so my money is on her.

So there's my guess: Bush/Bachmann 2016, and Rand Paul dies in a small plane crash somewhere between January and April of 2016. And I wish I were kidding.

[graham4anything]

9. Jeb Bush

[BlueStater]

12. As of right now, I'd say Christie, Jeb, or possibly Paul are their most likely choices.

As for eveyone else:

Paul Ryan - A failed VP candidate that couldn't win his home state. Not going to happen.

Ted Cruz - An extremely polarizing figure who is prone to saying insane things. Would be the perfect nominee...for the Democrats.

Marco Rubio - He's little more than a lightweight, empty suit, pretty boy, in my opinion. He's also been putting his foot in his mouth quite a bit lately, such as when he demanded the resignation of an IRS Commissioner that doesn't exist.

[Jamaal510]

13. Probably either Jeb or Chris

because they're more boring compared to the rest of the bunch.

Bonus question: I think there could be a breakaway because they were griping about establishment candidates in 2012 and threatening to break away. Huckabee even warned that there would be a split if the party doesn't support the candidates who are on the fringe.

[Rochester]

14. I'm going to go out on a limb and say...

...it's someone who is obscure right now, so I don't know his name.
Someone about whom we'll learn far more than we ever want to know during the midterms.

[Rhiannon12866]

15. I agree with you, seems to usually happen that way

And those we've heard of already are carrying way too much baggage...

[Sunlei]

16. need a 'all of the above'. i think the Rs will have the same stage FULL of 'cons

just like last time. A massive attack of the stage full of Rs, all waiting untill the last second to 'suspend' (not quit, keep the warchests $$$$$$)gluting the media time with ALL of them and their personal wackie attacks against America.

Dragging along pandering to the Tea people with their choice, Palin? *whoever, doesn't matter* Scamming the same 'Ron Paul' people and dump their choice at the very last second.(like last time)

Then similar to romney, run the clown who all the Rs have to vote for.

Lock in their votes aswell with early voting, bagged ballots as much as posible so when they know they have been played for fools, it's to late.

[workinclasszero]

18. Jebby will be the "kinder gentler machine gun hand" for the thug party

They will throw the nazi teabaggers a bone with Walker, Cruz or some other nutcase for vice president, IMO.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

19. They should run Romney again - or Michael Steele!