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2016 Republican Primary Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 30, 2015 17 Comments
I've been ill the past couple of day with a bad stomach flu, so I had a chance to vegitate in front of the TV. At least on Fox News in Scottsdale, where I am now, it's been nearly non-stop Jeb attack ads on Trump. Not technically Jeb, but the SuperPAC supporting Jeb: This ad epitomizes the inability of Jeb or his supporters to deal with Trump. The overwhelming image in my mind from the ad is of Trump mocking Jeb. See the featured image.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 29, 2015 16 Comments
Tuesday evening, Republican Presidential candidate and former Governor of New York, George Pataki alluded to an exit from the Republican presidential primary race.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 27, 2015 59 Comments
Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio picked up several meaty endorsements over the past few days. Saturday, Townhall's Guy Benson reported South Carolina firebrand, Rep. Trey Gowdy, has endorsed Sen. Rubio.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on December 23, 2015 23 Comments
I was astonished that Hillary Clinton wept as she decried bullying, after Donald Trump's used of the word "schlong". A woman who is seeking the office of "Commander-in-Chief" should really show a little more intestinal fortitude. The act is laughable, because her own use of profanity is so notorious that there are whole books on the subject! A California friend, Bill Monroe, offers this example.
Hillary's vulgar and nasty language is well documented. To directly quote her: 'F**k off! It's enough that I have to see you ****-kickers every day, I'm not going to talk to you too!! Just do your G*damn job and keep your mouth shut.'

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 23, 2015 13 Comments
According to polling rules set forth by the FOX Business Network, the next Republican debate in January may reduce the number of candidates on stage by three. Ben Kamisar reports at The Hill:
Next GOP debate stage could shrink to six candidates As few as six candidates could make the next GOP presidential debate stage in January, as Fox Business Network's new criteria could drastically shrink the field less than a month before the Iowa caucuses. Fox Business Network announced three separate avenues to make the main stage, but those pathways are more restricted than in previous debates. Participants in the main stage debate on Jan. 14 must hit the top six in an average of five recent national polls, or top five in an average of recent polls from Iowa or New Hampshire...

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 23, 2015 11 Comments
Whether it's an Overton Window effect, an example of Boyd's “OODA Loop," or something else, Ted Cruz is enjoying a surge in both state and national polls. According to the latest Quinnipiac poll, Cruz is now only four points behind the current Republican front-runner, Donald Trump. CNN reports:
Donald Trump's lead over Ted Cruz has shrunk to just 4 percentage points in the second national poll after last week's Republican debate. Trump wins 28% support in a Quinnipiac poll released Tuesday, with Cruz nipping at his heels with 24%. Following that pair is Marco Rubio with 12% support, Ben Carson with 10%, Chris Christie with 6% and Jeb Bush with 4%. The survey was in the field entirely after CNN's debate in Las Vegas on Dec. 15. Cruz has been steadily climbing and overtaking Trump in Iowa, and there is some evidence that the Texas senator is managing to perform similarly nationally.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 21, 2015 19 Comments
Monday, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham became the fourth Republican presidential candidate to call it quits. "I got into this race to put forward a plan to win a war we could not afford to lose and to turn back the tide of isolationism that was rising in our party," said Graham in a video message to his supporters. "I believe we've made enormous progress in this effort."

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 21, 2015 13 Comments
There's been quite a bit of drama surrounding the Marco Rubio - Ted Cruz exchange on immigration during the CNN debate and the Rubio-Schumer Gang of Eight immigration bill. Bret Baier's interview with Cruz following the CNN debate skirmish allowed Cruz to explain his rationale for proposing an amendment (one of several) that, had it been approved—and Cruz knew it would not be, would have legalized millions of illegals. When Cruz explains his "poison pill" amendment, it becomes clear that he was being not only smart but also quite savvy (and ultimately, and all that matters to me, successful in quashing the Rubio-Schumer amnesty bill). The amendment that Rubio is touting is an amendment that included the stipulation that no illegal immigrant would ever get citizenship.  Under any circumstances.  Cruz obviously knew that Rubio and the other Gang of Eight members would never agree to such a proposition when a path to citizenship was a key driver in their bill.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 20, 2015 39 Comments
Hillary Clinton flat-out lied during the Democratic Debate on Saturday night. Throughout the debate, even when not the subject of a question, the candidates tried to out-do each other in condemning Donald Trump. It was a preview of a general election strategy. At one dramatic point, Hillary claimed that Trump's comments about a temporary halt to Muslim immigration were being used in ISIS videos as a recruiting tool. It was not a claim made in isolation. It came as Clinton tried to explain her ISIS and refugee strategies in the face of an American public which strongly (though not majority) supports Trump's position. This was Hillary's opportunity to convince the public that people need not give in to fear. Rather than making the case, Hillary just made stuff up:

Posted by Mike LaChance on December 20, 2015 55 Comments
Despite acting a bit more aggressive in the last Republican debate, Jeb Bush has been unable to move his poll numbers up and break away from the pack. Dana Blanton reports at FOX News:
Fox News Poll: Trump jumps, Cruz climbs, Carson sinks in GOP race Donald Trump, a candidate even Republicans once considered a side show, increases his lead yet again in the nomination race, according to the latest Fox News national poll. The poll also finds Ted Cruz ticking up, Marco Rubio slipping, and Ben Carson dropping. Trump hits a high of 39 percent among Republican primary voters, up from 28 percent a month ago. The increase comes mainly from men, white evangelical Christians, and voters without a college degree -- and at the expense of Carson...

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 19, 2015 19 Comments
Marco Rubio missed Friday's vote on the Omnibus bill. It was a bill he stated he opposed and might even try to delay. But he didn't show up for the vote. 98 other Senators did. Including Ted Cruz, who returned from the campaign trail to be able to just say No. Omnibus Bill 12-18-2015 Senate vote In the run up to the vote, Rubio excoriated the process used to draft the bill as well as provisions funding Syrian refugees. He suggested an effort to slow things down:

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 19, 2015 44 Comments
Having just won reelection to his Senate seat for a sixth term in 2014, Mitch McConnell is back to making comments such as the one he made last year about his plans for "crushing" the TEA Party. This time, McConnell is announcing that he will ensure that no GOP candidate who "can't win" will be allowed to run for the U. S. Senate. The Hill reports:

“The way you have a good election year is to nominate people who can win,” he told reporters during his final Capitol Hill press conference of 2015.

He urged Republican primary voters to avoid the mistakes of the past, mentioning several Tea Party candidates who went down in flames in recent Senate elections.

“What we did in 2014 was we didn’t have more Christine O’Donnell’s, Sharron Angles, Richard Mourdocks or Todd Akins. The people that were nominated [last year] were electable,” he said of the last midterm cycle.

“That will happen again in 2016. We will not nominate anybody for the United States Senate on the Republican side who’s not appealing to a general-election audience,” he added.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 19, 2015 9 Comments
One of the many things I like about Ted Cruz is his sense of humor, and his campaign's latest ad, set to air tonight in Iowa during Saturday Night Live, exemplifies this beautifully. The Blaze reports:
The ad, which features the Texas senator read Christmas classics like “Rudolph the Underemployed Reindeer” and “The Grinch Who Lost Her Emails,” will air in key Iowa markets Saturday night, campaign spokeswoman Catherine Frazier told the Independent Journal. “In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, we are excited to bring a Cruz family Christmas into the homes of SNL viewers in Iowa,” she told the website. “Ted is a long time fan of SNL, so the chance to film his own SNL-style commercial was an opportunity we couldn’t pass up!”
Watch:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 18, 2015 12 Comments
Staff salary cuts, negligible fundraising, and crummy polling are usually good indicators a campaign is on its last leg. Thursday, Politico reported former Arkansas Governor and Republican presidential hopeful, Mike Huckabee, cut his senior staffer's salaries to reallocate resources to the Iowa battlefield.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign, struggling with its low standing in the polls and underwhelming fundraising, slashed the salaries of senior staffers amid the departure of its top communications aide. The salary reductions took place over the past few weeks, according to multiple Republican sources familiar with the Huckabee campaign's operations. The reductions were limited to senior staff, according to Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the candidate's daughter and campaign manager.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on December 18, 2015 12 Comments
Pro-Carly Fiorina PAC CARLY for America released a new ad Thursday. The 50 second spot will air in the digital space in early voting states. The ad makes a bold comparison -- it pitches Fiorina as America's Margaret Thatcher.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on December 17, 2015 79 Comments
While I didn't think Donald Trump did a particularly great job in Tuesday's CNN debate, his poll numbers and recent comment about a temporary halt to Muslims coming into the country have stirred interest in his candidacy abroad.  The latest foreign leader to weigh in on Trump is Russian president Vladimir Putin who thinks Trump is "brilliant," "talented," and "very colorful." The Hill reports:
Russian President Vladimir Putin had kind words for his “stablemate” Donald Trump during an annual end-of-the-year Q-and-A session in Moscow. "He’s a really brilliant and talented person, without any doubt,” Putin told reporters, according to a translation by Interfax. "It’s not our job to judge his qualities, that’s a job for American voters, but he’s the absolute leader in the presidential race.”
Putin claims that Trump was the "absolute leader" in the GOP presidential debates.
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