2016 Presidential Race

Bensell · Post by **Bensell** » Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:50 pm

brian wrote:I don't think you'll ever out-idiot Ted Cruz.

I wouldn't say ever - remember Rick Perry is giving it another try

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:30 am

rass · Post by **rass** » Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:32 am

Shit. That goes great with Bensell's post. A 4th of July miracle.

howard · Post by **howard** » Sat Jul 04, 2015 9:41 am

Hey, I never knew. I ride a motorcycle, too! He'll probably make a great President, ima gunna vote for him!

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sat Jul 04, 2015 3:34 pm

The dream ticket is taking shape as Ted Cruz defends Donald Trump.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas ... 360648.php

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:19 am

Ahh....that Bush family just gets what its like for hardworking families out there...

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Wednesday that in order to grow the economy “people should work longer hours” -- a comment that the Bush campaign argues was a reference to underemployed part-time workers but which Democrats are already using to attack him.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:31 am

Rick Perry is the worst. That dude just believes whatever the person currently giving him money wants him to believe. He would be a frightening President. Ted Cruz may have more principles but he always aligns with the whatever the current fringe pet cause is.

If I had to pick one of the GOP guys it would be Rubio by a longshot.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:35 am

Pruitt wrote:The dream ticket is taking shape as Ted Cruz defends Donald Trump.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas ... 360648.php

Oh please happen. I don't think Cruz is wrong or anything with his quotes there but please please happen. I need Trump running in the election.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:36 am

http://www.chron.com/news/politics/texa ... 278493.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Alright nevermind. He's still insane. All of these people are insane about gays.

I still stand by Leviticus saying that you have to treat the illegal Mexicans like equals if they are Christian.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:55 am

Gunpowder wrote:http://www.chron.com/news/politics/texa ... 278493.php

Alright nevermind. He's still insane. All of these people are insane about gays.

I still stand by Leviticus saying that you have to treat the illegal Mexicans like equals if they are Christian.

A gay person getting married affects my relationship with G-d, dammit.

Post by **Shirley** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 4:11 pm

Gunpowder wrote:http://www.chron.com/news/politics/texa ... 278493.php

Alright nevermind. He's still insane. All of these people are insane about gays.

I still stand by Leviticus saying that you have to treat the illegal Mexicans like equals if they are Christian.

I'm pretty sure he didn't mean everyone had to get gay married, but that every state had to allow gay marriage.

BTW, I wish that instead of financial disclosure for these clowns we got some sort of past grades/SAT scores disclosure. I want to know if these guys (and gals) are really as dumb as they sound, or is most of that just pandering.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 4:58 pm

Ted Cruz is reportedly very, very intelligent.

Post by **Shirley** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 6:26 pm

Gunpowder wrote:Ted Cruz is reportedly very, very intelligent.

Well, I'll be damned. Cum laude undergrad from Princeton. Then magma cum laude at Harvard Law while also on the law review. He also founded a new journal.

Ok, then now I know when he's pretending to be dumb and pandering to his ignorant tea party base.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Jul 09, 2015 8:59 pm

Shirley wrote:
Gunpowder wrote:Ted Cruz is reportedly very, very intelligent.
Well, I'll be damned. Cum laude undergrad from Princeton. Then magma cum laude at Harvard Law while also on the law review. He also founded a new journal.

Ok, then now I know when he's pretending to be dumb and pandering to his ignorant tea party base.

I think he is an incredible actor. He genuinely comes across as a complete moron with absolutely no sense of the Constitution, but his resume is astounding. He clerked for Rehnquist, which is hands down the most prestigious position for a recent law school grad. He was the Solicitor General of Texas, a partner at Morgan Lewis, which is a big name, and part of the Bush legal team for Bush v. Gore. Cruz has argued 9 cases before the Supreme Court, so he clearly knows his stuff.

I keep getting videos of Cruz interviews on my FB feed, and I am a glutton for punishment, so I have watched several. There is no way he can believe the shit spewing out of his mouth regarding the Supreme Court's gay marriage holding. All this bullshit about five rogue Justices letting their personal political views override the wishes of 360,000,000 people, destroying the intent of the Constitution. Then again, he is quoting Scalia's dissent, so who the fuck knows. He is so fucking smug, and the few interviewers who slightly push back, he immediately pulls the "but I'm not here to talk about gay marriage, I'm here to promote my book." That sums up most of the Republican field, trying to sell books or get a show on FoxNews. A link to Laura Ingraham's site had a headline saying Cruz "shut down" a network news journalist's attacks. The interviewer challenged his call for Christian clerks to refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The interviewer said it would be exactly like telling a clerk after Loving v. Virginia to refuse to issue a license to an interracial couple. Cruz thought this comparison was ludicrous, because he spent 12 years digging for a religious belief that interracial marriage is wrong. Sure, this was a common argument at the time, but Cruz somehow missed that. When she cornered him, he started talking about his book.

I just saw this GQ article about Cruz. It's 2 years old, so Rass will probably pull up a link to me posting it 2 years ago and not remembering. It doesn't paint him in the best light.

But Cruz’s personal style earned him many detractors in BushWorld. He was infamous for firing off mundane work e-mails in the middle of the night—it happened so often that some in the Bush campaign suspected him of writing them ahead of time and programming his computer to send while he was asleep. He was also known for dispatching regular updates on his accomplishments that one recipient likened to "the cards people send about their families at Christmas, except Ted’s were only about him and were more frequent."

Plus, he is creepy as fuck. He looks like he has a ton of pent up emotional baggage he is trying to stuff down. I'm expecting to see him caught sucking a dick in dumpster or burying a mutilated 4 year old he fucked to death.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 1:58 pm

I know people who went to high school with him who indicate this is in no way, shape or form an act.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 2:04 pm

They say highly intelligent people are smart enough to build a defense for just about any idea they have.

howard · Post by **howard** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 4:19 pm

Hey, I'm still a Raiders fan!

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:02 pm

The Sybian wrote: Plus, he is creepy as fuck. He looks like he has a ton of pent up emotional baggage he is trying to stuff down. I'm expecting to see him caught sucking a dick in dumpster or burying a mutilated 4 year old he fucked to death.

Fantastic encapsulation.

I also feel the same way about Bobby Jindal. I am convinced that he has shit on his hard drive that would probably make a sane person cry.

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 4:22 pm

Trump's campaign tweeted this graphic and then quickly pulled it down. Wonder why? Take a closer look at the soldiers at the bottom:

P.D.X. · Post by **P.D.X.** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 5:27 pm

A little help?

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 5:50 pm

Look closely at the shape of the soldiers' helmets. Someone is not good at validating stock photos.

(They're Nazis.)

Post by **brian** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 6:04 pm

You could also interpret it as soldiers "liberating" the White House, which ain't good either. (But I didn't see the Nazi helmets.)

Baloney · Post by **Baloney** » Tue Jul 14, 2015 9:31 pm

Must be Hair Trump now, sorry

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 6:48 am

In fairness to Trump, he's just being honest.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 12:39 pm

brian wrote:You could also interpret it as soldiers "liberating" the White House, which ain't good either. (But I didn't see the Nazi helmets.)

I also found it insinuating we should worship Trump for his money, or buying his way into the White House. I don't know if I would have picked up on the soldiers, but I immediately recognized the helmets as Nazi when told to look at the soldiers. At some point, Conservative politicians are going to have to learn they do more harm than good when they try to use social media. I love the response every time one of them tells supporters to use a hashtag, like #askbobby (Jindal), or the Republican Congresswoman who asked constituents to post their Obamacare horror stories, only to find an overwhelming percentage of posts talking about how great their experience has been.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 1:49 pm

I can't believe a clown like Trump could really be a player for the GOP nomination. But, I have people on my facebook feed who are actually endorsing him, so what do I know? It appears you have to be a bit of an extremist just to win that nomination. So, maybe he could get a plurality (shudder).

I didn't think Sanders had a chance for the Dem nomination, but it is dawning on me that he has a slugger's chance. i guess he could get it if Hilary shoots herself in the foot, which she is prone to doing.

EdRomero · Post by **EdRomero** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 2:36 pm

sancarlos wrote:I didn't think Sanders had a chance for the Dem nomination, but it is dawning on me that he has a slugger's chance. i guess he could get it if Hilary shoots herself in the foot, which she is prone to doing.

Sanders reminds me of Howard Dean a lot. However, the anti-Hillary crowd is much stronger than the we're-not-really-settling-for-John-Kerry-are-we? crowd so I think Sanders can withstand more setbacks and adversity.

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 5:22 pm

sancarlos wrote:I can't believe a clown like Trump could really be a player for the GOP nomination.

He can't.

At this stage in 2012, the frontrunner was Sarah Palin. How close did she come to the nomination?

In 2008, Rudy Guiliani.

At this stage, name recognition is what drives the polls, and it bears zero correlation with the eventual nominee. Hillary has great name recognition, and she may well be nominated. Trump, who is on a TV show watched by millions every week, has great name recognition, and has as much chance as me as being the GOP nominee.

It seems I've made this point before.

EdRomero wrote: Sanders reminds me of Howard Dean a lot.

That is an interesting point. Here is one similarity I heartily predict - if he has actual primary success as did Dean, the media will unite to slime him, ridicule him, and destroy his candidacy. As they did with Dean.

(When they did not do this to Obama, I should've known right then Obama was one of the approved. At the time, I figured because he was black his entertainment value was so high to protect him from such slimeing. Live and learn.)

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 5:34 pm

Hey - how come we're not talking about Shawna Sterling?

Declared 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate
Woman of Faith
Declared Republican 2016 Candidate Shawna Sterling
Shawna Sterling
Shawna Sterling has opinions all her own, even on matters which might not generally be considered up for debate. She blames GMOs above all else for childhood obesity, and pledges to eliminate their use in school cafeteria food. Otherwise, she is generally conservative, with a strong faith and strict opposition to abortion.

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 6:52 pm

sancarlos wrote:I can't believe a clown like Trump could really be a player for the GOP nomination. But, I have people on my facebook feed who are actually endorsing him, so what do I know? It appears you have to be a bit of an extremist just to win that nomination. So, maybe he could get a plurality (shudder).

Paul Krugman wrote:He's a belligerent, loudmouth racist with not an ounce of compassion for less fortunate people," Krugman told Bloomberg anchor Joe Weisenthal, who previously worked at Business Insider. "In other words: He's exactly the kind of person the Republican base consists of and identifies with."

Krugman added, "It's clear that the very things that Upper West Side New Yorkers find detestable about him are exactly what endear him to the Republican base, which is basically people who see in him everything — even the big red face and the yelling — that makes him their kind of guy."

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 8:08 pm

DaveInSeattle wrote:
sancarlos wrote:I can't believe a clown like Trump could really be a player for the GOP nomination. But, I have people on my facebook feed who are actually endorsing him, so what do I know? It appears you have to be a bit of an extremist just to win that nomination. So, maybe he could get a plurality (shudder).

Paul Krugman wrote:He's a belligerent, loudmouth racist with not an ounce of compassion for less fortunate people," Krugman told Bloomberg anchor Joe Weisenthal, who previously worked at Business Insider. "In other words: He's exactly the kind of person the Republican base consists of and identifies with."

Krugman added, "It's clear that the very things that Upper West Side New Yorkers find detestable about him are exactly what endear him to the Republican base, which is basically people who see in him everything — even the big red face and the yelling — that makes him their kind of guy."

Yes, yes, yes.

Waving the race card seems to always work.

Amazing that a son of New York money, a thrice divorced guy who would probably rather eat cat food than hang out with Nebraskans can appeal to so many red meat Americans by spitting at Latinos.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 8:41 pm

howard wrote:
sancarlos wrote:I can't believe a clown like Trump could really be a player for the GOP nomination.
He can't.

At this stage in 2012, the frontrunner was Sarah Palin. How close did she come to the nomination?

She actually wasn't, plus she hadn't officially announced any plans until October.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/148664/romne ... dates.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

howard · Post by **howard** » Wed Jul 15, 2015 9:20 pm

Ok, at what point was she the frontrunner, and when did she fade?

And, has Jeb announced? Because he stands high in the polls. People show up in the polls before they have officially announced.

ETA: a quick search shows Palin had faded in the Spring '11, and that Romney had established himself as co-leader w/ Palin in the spring. Sorry I'm off with the timeline. But I remember on this very site, the hand-ringing over the fact that Palin was a serious threat, which mirrors this Trump commentary here. And nearly every story I quickly scanned from 2011 mentions that name-recognition thing.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 12:30 am

I know that Sybian has to be ordering one..

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2 ... d-printing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 1:00 am

howard wrote:
EdRomero wrote: Sanders reminds me of Howard Dean a lot.
That is an interesting point. Here is one similarity I heartily predict - if he has actual primary success as did Dean, the media will unite to slime him, ridicule him, and destroy his candidacy. As they did with Dean.

(When they did not do this to Obama, I should've known right then Obama was one of the approved. At the time, I figured because he was black his entertainment value was so high to protect him from such slimeing. Live and learn.)

Obama had quite a few weak spots that the media seemed to just let go right on by. I was astonished by this soft treatment, after what happened to Dean.

My favorite Obama weak spot was his sweet real estate deal with Tony Rezko, who was a major Obama campaign backer. Rezko had earlier converted contributions to Governor Rod Blagojevich into kickbacks from firms that wanted to do business with the government. He spent 10 years in prison for that and other forms of fraud. If Mitt Romney had strong financial ties to Tony Rezko, the headlines would have eclipsed those generated by his private equity career.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 6:45 am

Scott Walker loves hot ham & rolls.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:12 am

Well, hot ham is pretty tasty.

rass · Post by **rass** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 7:18 am

I should hope so, but I was just sort of hoping to prompt the return of a long lost Swamper.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 9:20 am

howard wrote:Ok, at what point was she the frontrunner, and when did she fade?

And, has Jeb announced? Because he stands high in the polls. People show up in the polls before they have officially announced.

ETA: a quick search shows Palin had faded in the Spring '11, and that Romney had established himself as co-leader w/ Palin in the spring. Sorry I'm off with the timeline. But I remember on this very site, the hand-ringing over the fact that Palin was a serious threat, which mirrors this Trump commentary here. And nearly every story I quickly scanned from 2011 mentions that name-recognition thing.

Jeb officially announced a while ago.

I fail to see the similarities between Trump and Palin outside of "people who are popular before the election that have no shot." Trump has essentially captured the disaffected white minority vote in its entirety. Palin, while equally insipid in her own ways, had the ability to jump outside that box.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Thu Jul 16, 2015 9:22 am

Also, where is this "hand-wringing" over Trump?