Marco "Gulp" Rubio now odds-on favorite to be 2016 GOP nominee

[anti partisan]

Oddschecker - 2016 Republican Presidential Nominee

Marco Rubio 5:1
Chris Christie 5:1 (trending down)
Rand Paul 9:1
Jeb Bush/Paul Ryan 10:1
Ted Cruz 16:1
Scott Walker 20:1

None of these prospective candidates seem scary at all. I remember everyone was making fun of the 2012 crop as a bunch of clowns, but this bunch just seems like Bozo's cousins.

Each one of these candidates seems uniquely unelectable. I think this will bring up the obligatory "Why settle for Hillary?" question but it seems a very appropriate question given the cast of clowns.

[BlueStreak]

1. Uhhh, Herman Cain was the prohibitive favorite

for a week until that changed to News Gingrich.

[anti partisan]

4. They were never favored by sportsbooks

I believe only Perry and Romney were ever actual favorites on Intrade during the actual primary season. Maybe Pawlenty was too at some point.

[JaneyVee]

45. You can't be on ballot twice in FL, so Rubio will have to choose prez race or senate race.

If he loses both he's unemployed.

[longship]

2. For his benefit, I hope he doesn't have to campaign in WV.

[elleng]

3. Jeb Bush presents worst problem for Dems, imo,

still.

[anti partisan]

6. I think Jeb is toast in the primaries

Just my hunch, but didn't he say somewhere that he'd govern like LBJ? If there's an audio clip of that, it'll be blasted over and over again by his challengers.

Scott Walker seems like the guy who can actually win a primary and then cause some trouble in a general, but he can be handily attacked.

[TBF]

21. There's a lot to attack with Scott Walker -

the guy can't tell the truth to save his life.

[anti partisan]

23. Would this hurt him in the primary or the general?

What are examples of his lies? If it's stuff to bash unions, then that'll make him all the more popular in the primary.

[TBF]

24. Scott Walker Lies

Union bashing is just one lie: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/29/1251562/-Scott-Walker-New-Book-Lies-Exposed-Even-BEFORE-It-s-Released

It's been going on a long time w/this guy -

Lies that politifact has documented: http://www.politifact.com/personalities/scott-walker/statements/byruling/pants-fire/

Kicked out of Marquette: http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/article/2013/dec/18/scott-walker-early-years/

More at Marquette (campaign violations re student gov't): http://thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/2013/11/time-magazine-let-scott-walker-clean-up.html

And, finally, 20 of the biggest lies told by Walker: http://www.alternet.org/story/150170/20_of_the_biggest_lies_told_by_wisconsin_governor_scott_walker


If you are supporting this guy you've got your work cut out for you.

[DonViejo]

34. Former Gov. Jeb Bush talks immigration, bipartisanship in Florida

Thursday, 02.14.13

BY ADAM C. SMITH
TAMPA BAY TIMES POLITICAL EDITOR
SAN ANTONIO -- Jeb Bush wouldn’t say Wednesday night whether or not he’s likely to run for president in 2016, but at Saint Leo University he did suggest a surprising role model for the sort of president he’d strive to be: Lyndon Johnson.

No, the conservative former Florida governor didn’t hail Johnson’s Great Society initiatives. Instead, he hailed Johnson’s forceful, hands-on leadership that among other things produced a 25 percent across-the-board income tax cut.

“He went and he cajoled, he begged, he threatened, he loved, he hugged, he did what leaders do, which is they personally get engaged to make something happen,’’ said Bush, who recently read Robert Caro’s latest Johnson biography.

Bush’s homage to Johnson before several hundred people at the Pasco County campus was one of his only shots at President Barack Obama, who has earned a reputation for avoiding hands-on negotiating with congressional leaders.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/14/3234145/former-gov-jeb-bush-talks-immigration.html#storylink=cpy

[anti partisan]

37. All the wingnuts will have to do is

Get a word blender and throw stuff like "LBJ", "big government", "common core", "RINO", and "amnesty" into it and they will have done their job. At least I hope that's how it works.

Here's a post from that article
[quote]LBJ was unquestionably the worst president ever. He squandered the patriotic cache from WWII, divided our country almost as bad as the civil war, through Viet Nam he introduced the drug culture that has proven to be the most destructive force our nation has ever dealt with, destroyed home ownership, introduced a privileged class of people, destroyed the work ethic, laid the foundation for the Marxist takeover we’re seeing today, and the list could go on much further. Jeb Bush should be tried for treason for simply saying what he did. We don’t need him or Colin Powell. Do the republicans really wonder why we lost with leadership like this?[/quote]

Yeah, I think this one will be easy.

[DonViejo]

41. Oh, it's already begun...

just Google, Jeb Bush wants to be a President like LBJ. Pretty wild what comes up!

[JaneyVee]

44. Not to mention his own mother wouldn't even endorse him.

If he runs, I can just see it now, #MotherKnowsBest trending on twitter.

[DCBob]

52. many said that about mccain 2008 and romney 2012

[anti partisan]

53. Romney ran from day 1 as a severe Reagan conservative

Imagine if a prospective Democratic candidate said they'd try to emulate Reagan's governance style. Yeah...

I do agree there could be big money trying to get Jeb to win but the base will be much more resistant than they were with Romney/McCain, especially with the back-to-back failures of "moderates".

[DCBob]

51. agreed.

i dont think he can win but he has better chance than those other losers.

[RandySF]

5. It's going to be Jeb! or Scott Walker.

[RBInMaine]

20. Scott Walker has to get re-elected first, and they will fight hard to get rid of this ASSHOLE. He is

such a fucking scumbag smarmy piece of infected cow shit. How the fuck can the people of Wisconsin stand this asshole?

[okaawhatever]

7. I agree that Rubio should be the favorite of that group. Not being an old white male opens the door

to non-traditional votes. Heck, even George W Bush got 42% of the Latino vote. Rubio has stayed out of the limelight so the GOP can craft an image of him for public consumption. That was evident when he was a leading advocate of immigration reform, being on the gang of 8, until it started to backfire. Try and find a comment from him made publicly during those next couple of months. I know Bobby Jindal is a gop favorite as well. I don't know why, though. He's turned Louisiana into a third world state.

[TwilightGardener]

8. That is one sorry, lame-ass roster. WaterBoy is a lightweight, the Stay-Puft Man

is going down, Canadian Cruz is a smarmy sociopath, and Jeb Bush...I mean, come on. How many times does the Bush family get to ruin America before we say "enough"?

[rocktivity]

9. Jeb? What is his slogan going to be?

Last edited Mon Jan 20, 2014, 07:28 PM - Edit history (1)

rocktivity

[calimary]

28. ROFL!!!!

Yep! That's the ticket!!!

[LongTomH]

32. "Jeb! All the evil and twice the smarts!"

[avebury]

35. LOL!

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

10. I don't see why he would be. Aside from Christie's fall, which benefits all the other candidates.

I've seen no signs of Rubio recovering his status among the GOP faithful ever since his dalliance with immigration reform. They've cast him aside.

[SunSeeker]

11. Never EVER underestimate the GOP.

I remember when we progressives laughed at Ronald Reagan and then Dubya as unelectable clowns.

[flamingdem]

12. ASK ME about Rubio's friend ex Rep. David Riviera

[pansypoo53219]

13. butbutbut the 2nd place always returns. so its

santorum. frothy.

[anti partisan]

15. I remember they did some polls with his name

He got around 2% even with all his name recognition.

[trusty elf]

14. A shoo-in?

[IMG][/IMG]

[calimary]

29. Oh God, I just got the irony there. "Lean Forward"!!!!!!

OMG!!!!!!

[trusty elf]

36. .......

[calimary]

39. ROFL!!!!!

And thaaaar he goes! Leaning forward so hard he's practically falling into that glass o' water!!!!

Cue the sound effects department!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..............

[Beaverhausen]

16. What about Rick Santorum?

He is running.

[anti partisan]

17. Sure winner that guy LOL (nt)

[Beaverhausen]

25. He won Iowa in 2012

I wouldn't count him out. He's far right and actually might drag the GOP farther or split it in two.

[anti partisan]

26. As I posted to someone else, even with all his name recognition he's at 4%

Link here: click

GOPers really just looked at Frothy as the last alternative to Willard. Now that there's other "true conservative" types in the poll, Frothy is a non-entity.

edit: That poll was North Carolina only, but still shows the general consensus about Santorum. The latest national poll which PPP polled that had him included showed him at 5%.

[calimary]

40. Welcome to DU, anti partisan!

Great to have you with us! Must say I am totally dumbfounded that ANYONE would consider that individual as presidential material. ICK! Even without googling him...

[Gothmog]

18. Rubio would be weak candidate

I doubt that the tea party will support Rubio now after the immigration issue

[libdem4life]

19. Everybody in politics has skeletons...some more than others. I think the hyper-sleuthing that is now

routine, has reduced those willing to run, put their families through it, have the personal income to campaign for 2 plus years, incur debts, especially those whose former back room participants would be willing to talk now... for whatever reason. I'm pretty sure every state has unsavory leaders with cronies who don't want to be outed, as well.
National politics is horse trading in 49 new and unfamiliar states...this for that...but one billion dollars needs to be raised for the campaign...and that's the sorry mess we find ourselves in. That's why we have the Koch Brothers and their ilk, now thoroughly enabled by the Supreme Court. Why? Because it's no longer "of the people, by the people and for the people." Fill in the words "money and power" instead of "people" and it more closely resembles American politics.

This is why, IMO, we don't have decent candidates. As Herman Cain so aptly and rather crudely put it, it's like running a brothel and expecting the women to be virgins.

The Bushes and the Clintons have been nationally vetted, for better or for worse. People already know pretty much what to expect.

[anti partisan]

22. American people know what to expect from another Bush and will reject it (nt)

[libdem4life]

33. Jeb has yet to be vetted nationally and that's what the primary is all about. He presents very

well in person. Nothing like GWB, more like his Dad. And his wife is Mexican-born and their family is bilingual. People will already know what the Bush family record is, so nothing new to see here. Maybe.

I don't know his intra-state problems. But I don't think GWB disallows him the opportunity to run. His mother definitely doesn't want it, that's for sure. She's likely tired of the limelight as she and GHWB are likely in their late 70s or 80s.

Out of that list, he's the one that worries me the most...regardless of who we run. They have a daunting ability to raise campaign funds.

If the Democrats don't bring in Julian Castro as VP, Jeb will look even better, pretty much guaranteeing Florida and Texas.

My bet is still on a Jeb/Hillary contest. I know it's early, but to raise the kind of money needed, it's dicey for donors and fundraisers banking on someone who isn't already on the national scene and whose scandals will be likely raised, but pretty ho hum because it's old news. Christie is Exhibit 1 and this weekend will be interesting to see, or at least get some leaks, about the success for his fund-raising. But Christie's woes only happened because he got out in front a bit early, got too full of himself (OK, a bit of a pun) and probably had more corruption than your average governor.

[hrmjustin]

27. The Gop field is weak. Our nominee will win over 300 electoral votes.

[tridim]

30. It's obviously going to be Jindal.

Sucks to be the GOP. They have NOBODY.

Rubio is a dumbass, even by Dubya standards.

[DonCoquixote]

31. never forget one thing

a candidate can be absurd, blatantly absurd, but as long as there is money, there are people who will believe "this person can win."

[stevenleser]

38. Hillary outpolls Rubio in Florida, she is very popular there. That should give you an idea of

Rubio's chances against her.

[brooklynite]

43. Folks will have to "settle for Hillary" as long as they're too lazy to work for an alternative

This discussion has been going on for months, and I've yet to see any serious effort to encourage an appropriately progressive Democrat to get into the race.

[libdem4life]

58. It could be that there is not one willing to get into the slime. That's my take.

[brooklynite]

59. Welcome to the real world...

[davidpdx]

46. Interesting, they are that desperate

Keep the odds coming. Maybe we should have a pool on DU.

[anti partisan]

48. I'd be down

I used to trade GOP contracts on Intrade. The worst part was having to watch FOX News to get an edge.

[davidpdx]

49. That's like slapping yourself upside the head

LOL

[anti partisan]

50. Except more brain cells are killed. It's like a drawn out lobotomy (nt)

[struggle4progress]

47. Here's a poll-tracker: it shows Rubio in a crash-and-burn nose dive over the last year,

falling from 22% to 7%. It also shows Christie moving up, which I would guess reflects Republican wagon-circling in the wake of his heroic efforts to fuck-over bridge commuters. It makes a lot of difference who gets polled too

http://elections.huffingtonpost.com/pollster/2016-national-gop-primary

[oldandhappy]

54. Last man standing.

Romney played that game well. Donno. Will watch.

[Warpy]

55. I doubt he's got broad support within the party

Yes, he's wacko and will cater to the religious nutbars, but most of the teabaggers think with a name like that, he's gonna turn the country over to the Messicans.

They're idiots, remember.

[anti partisan]

56. I personally see him as the least likely of those listed

There was some poll among GOP insiders and Jeb Bush trounced him, and they thought Bush was more likely to run too... Rubio probably won't run.

[anti partisan]

57. Rand Paul is the 2016 Republican Frontrunner??

I don't really agree, but Peter Beinart seems to think so. (link)

[TeamPooka]

60. they will each get their 3 weeks in the limelight