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2016 Republican Primary Tag

Posted by Amy Miller on October 07, 2015 52 Comments
Rand Paul is in trouble. The Real Clear Politics average has him at just 2.3% in the polls, putting him well behind outliers like John Kasich (3.2%), Mike Huckabee (2.9%), and Chris Christie (2.6%). Substantive comments in last month's CNN debate didn't help him much---but Carly Fiorina's popularity spiked. Enter a golden opportunity for Paul to hitch a ride on Fiorina's media wave. During an interview yesterday with Wolf Blitzer, he lashed out against Fiorina's hardline stance against dealing with Putin and tolerating Assad's regime in Syria:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 06, 2015 56 Comments
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has long maintained America's cultural trajectory is paramount to her economic valuation. In the wake of the horrific mass shooting at an Oregon community college, Jindal released a statement railing against culture rot.
Another week, another mass shooting, another press conference by the President lecturing us on the need for gun control, and now Hillary and Obama are in a race to see which of them can be the most extreme in trying to destroy the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Rinse and repeat. But there is something missing from this discussion, and it’s a glaring omission that everyone knows deep down, but politicians are afraid to talk about. I’m going to go ahead and talk about it, and I don’t care at all if some people don’t like it, the truth is important. What is the root cause of all these evil acts? These people who go into classrooms and churches and murder innocent people? How did we get to this place? These shootings are a symptom of deep and serious cultural decay in our society. Let that sink in for a minute. These acts of evil are a direct result of cultural rot, and it is cultural rot that we have brought upon ourselves, and then we act like we are confounded and perplexed by what is happening here.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 06, 2015 64 Comments
Well, we can cross "Use Bible to Justify Government Subsidized Entitlement Expansion" off the 2016 presidential bingo card. In a video published Tuesday, Ohio Governor and Republican Presidential candidate John Kasich offered to buy Bibles for those opposed to Medicaid expansion.

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 06, 2015 27 Comments
Carly Fiorina is now polling ahead of Hillary Clinton in Iowa so naturally, the liberal media has sharpened its claws for new attacks on her. The Washington Post recently filed this report:
Carly Fiorina’s first political campaign had a surprising problem: Money Famed California pollster Joe Shumate was found dead in his home one month before Election Day 2010, surrounded by sheets of polling data he labored over for the flailing Senate bid of Carly Fiorina. Upon his death, Fiorina praised Shumate as “the heart and soul” of her team. She issued a news release praising him as a person who believed in “investing in those he worked with” and offering her “sincerest condolences” to his widow. But records show there was something that Fiorina did not offer his widow: Shumate’s last paycheck, for at least $30,000. It was one of more than 30 invoices, totaling about $500,000, that the multimil­lionaire didn’t settle — even as Fiorina reimbursed herself nearly $1.3 million she lent the campaign.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 04, 2015 80 Comments
Back in early September, CARLY for America circulated buzz on an upcoming documentary about dark horse presidential candidate Carly Fiorina. They knew that, in spite of a favorable image with the oft-polled American public, more people needed to hear the story of the only female Republican presidential candidate. They released a trailer, and it made a splash in the conservative media. Before September's CNN debate, Carly Fiorina was an enigma; we'd seen her before, but we'd never seen her perform the way she did in the Fox News "undercard" debate. In the wake of her breakout performance in the CNN debate, even conservatives who felt loyalty for another candidate had to admit that Carly was earning the attention given to her by the national media. Her "secretary to CEO" story was resonating---and that presented an opening for critics to hack away at it. A recent WaPo "fact check" on the "secretary to CEO" narrative appeared so slanted to readers it earned backlash warranting an explainer/walk-back from the columnist as well as the Post's editors. The article hurt (as all major outlet articles can do) but it also teed up a perfect opportunity for Fiorina's backers to release the full-length documentary on the candidate's life. Today, the full "Citizen Carly" documentary was released---and it's great:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 04, 2015 71 Comments
A poll released by Investor's Business Daily Friday shows Dr. Ben Carson sailing past Donald Trump. While Trump's numbers are steadily declining, he remains one of three contenders pulling in doubly digits in IBD's poll, the third being Senator Rubio. WEBprez100515_345.gif.cms IBD writes:
The nationwide survey found that 24% of Republicans back Carson, compared with 17% who say they support Trump. Marco Rubio came in third with 11% and Carly Fiorina fourth at 9%. Jeb Bush, once considered a prohibitive favorite, ranked fifth with just 8% support, which was a point lower than those who say they are still undecided. The IBD/TIPP Poll has a proven track record for accuracy, based on its performance in the past three presidential elections. In a comparison of the final results of various pollsters for the 2004 and 2008 elections, IBD/TIPP was the most accurate. And the New York Times concluded that IBD/TIPP was the most accurate among 23 polls over the three weeks leading up to the 2012 election.

Posted by Amy Miller on October 03, 2015 8 Comments
A new Pew poll dropped on Friday and told us what we already know about this election cycle: American voters are ready for something different. We could have told you that months ago, citing the popularity of candidates like Donald Trump, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina as a prime example of been-there-done-that fatigue. The latest polling data (1,502 adults were surveyed, including 1,136 registered voters) serves to validate those candidates' rising stars More from Pew:
Since March, the share of all registered voters who say it is more important for a presidential candidate to have “new ideas and a different approach” has surged – with virtually all of the increase coming among Republican and Republican-leaning voters. Today, by more than two-to-one (65% to 29%), Republican and Republican-leaning registered voters say it is more important that a candidate have new ideas than “experience and a proven record.” Just five months ago, GOP voters valued experience and a proven record over new ideas, 57% to 36%.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on October 03, 2015 29 Comments
Upon learning that the Oregon shooter had asked his victims to state their religion before killing Christians on the spot, Dr. Ben Carson posted his own response to Facebook on Friday:  Yes, #IamAChristian. Within hours, the post had generated "70,000 shares and more than half a million likes"—as of this writing, those numbers are 130,000 shares and nearly a million likes (930k). The Daily Mail is reporting that thousands of people are declaring their Christianity on Facebook, Instagram, and on Twitter.  They write:

Thousands have now begun to share the same hashtag with photos on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

'Today, many of your questions were in regards to the sorrowful event that took so many precious lives in Oregon yesterday. We don’t have all the details yet, but as time passes more are coming out,' wrote Carson on Facebook.

'Millions of people are posting pictures of themselves declaring they are Christians in support of the victims and their families. I did so on Facebook this afternoon. If you have a moment, please consider doing it as well.'

Dr. Carson urged his Facebook followers to change their profile image "to honor the victims and their families":

Posted by Mike LaChance on October 03, 2015 21 Comments
Despite the high hopes of the GOP establishment, Jeb Bush has never inspired much excitement among Republican primary voters. Now that we've had two debates and the candidates are coming into clearer focus, Jeb's poll numbers are starting to reflect what many on the right already knew. Daniel Halper of The Weekly Standard:
Poll: Jeb Falls to 4% The latest Pew poll shows that Jeb Bush has fallen to 4 percent in the Republican field. Donald Trump leads the field with 25 percent; Ben Carson is at 16 percent. Carly Fiorina and Marco Rubio are tied for third at 8 percent of the Republican field. "At this stage of the 2016 presidential campaign, key issues divide both Republican and Democratic voters, and early candidate preferences reflect some of these cleavages," writes Pew.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on October 02, 2015 22 Comments
Jeb Bush is being raked over the media coals for supposedly expressing a callous disregard for the Oregon mass shooting victims by saying "stuff happens." But those words in a long dialogue were taken completely out of context and promoted by New Yorker reporter Ryan Lizza. It was then picked up by others in the media based on Lizza's tweet about it, which was shared over 1000 times on Twitter. Here's how it went down. Former Governor Jeb Bush was questioned about Thursday's UCC tragic shooting during a press conference held Friday afternoon. Ryan Lizza, a reporter for the New Yorker and CNN contributor pulled two little words from Bush's answer, pretended they were indicative of Bush's statement as a whole, and then kept digging. Lizza tweeted:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 30, 2015 17 Comments
Republican Presidential candidates wanting a podium on the debate main stage will have to first qualify. CNBC set a 3% polling floor for the upcoming October 28th presidential debate. There will be an undercard debate, but that too has a polling floor. To qualify for the kiddie table, candidates must have received at least 1% in any one national poll -- no averages here.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 29, 2015 12 Comments
Insider speculation pegged Paul as the next to drop out of the crowded Republican primary weeks ago. Today, one of three Paul-supporting SuperPACs has stopped raising money until they see, "the campaign correct its problems." Politico reports:
One of the three super PACs supporting Rand Paul’s presidential campaign has stopped raising money, dealing a damaging blow to an already cash-starved campaign. In a Tuesday telephone interview, Ed Crane, who oversees the group, PurplePAC, accused Paul of abandoning his libertarian views -- and suggested it was a primary reason the Kentucky senator had plummeted in the polls. “I have stopped raising money for him until I see the campaign correct its problems,” said Crane, who co-founded the Cato Institute think tank and serves as its president emeritus. “I wasn’t going to raise money to spend on a futile crusade.” “I don’t see the point in it right now,” he added. PurplePAC has been in existence for around two years, but over the summer Crane transformed it into a Paul-focused vehicle. It joined two other super PACs, America’s Liberty and Concerned American Voters, that were expressly designed to support Paul. In July, PurplePAC announced that it had raised around $1.2 million - the vast majority of it coming from Jeff Yass, a Philadelphia options trader. Crane said the organization currently had over $1 million cash on hand, but no longer wanted to ask for contributions. “I just don’t want to do that to my friends,” he said. The libertarian views that catapulted Paul to national prominence had “disappeared,” Crane said, leaving many of Paul's longtime backers miffed.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 28, 2015 23 Comments
Based on the media chatter, Marco Rubio is being set up as the alternative to Jeb in taking on The Donald. Jeb wasn't up to the job of taking on The Donald. Jeb's counterpunches reminded me of George Castanza on Seinfeld. His comebacks to Trump just never seem to work: The Donald has moved beyond Jeb, and now is attacking Marco:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 28, 2015 133 Comments
Speaking from Trump Tower Monday, Republican Presidential contender Donald Trump announced his "tax reform that will make America great again." The announcement brings Donald Trump's policy paper count up to a grand total of three.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 28, 2015 27 Comments
Two women are running for the highest office in the land and only one has the support of liberal feminists. Despite her overuse of the gender card, Hillary's devotion to the feminist cause is largely unquestioned by her following. The conundrum is an interesting one to observe. How do feminists justify supporting one woman over another in an arena historically delegated to men? Hillary believes she's owed the White House, has served her time, and now the public ought repay her with the Presidency. She is pro-abortion, and has accomplished little outside of being elected to office or appointed to a cabinet position. Her resume is full of impressive titles but has a deficit of accomplishment. Clinton seldom, if ever, stands toe to toe with her opponents much less holds her own. The opposite is true of Fiorina. She's tough, accomplished, and has said repeatedly she hopes to earn voter support and ultimately, the White House. She doesn't see being a woman as a meritorious occurrence, nor a reason to garner votes. Preaching women are not "an interest group" in need of puffy pandering, Fiorina has even gone so far as to denounce modern feminism as a version that is "no longer working." And yet, liberal feminists aren't quite sure what to make of her. The New York Times explored the perplexing phenomena Monday:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 26, 2015 19 Comments
The headline at most websites covering Carly Fiorina's campaign today is that Planned Parenthood protesters threw condoms at Fiorina, via ABC13 in Iowa:
Planned Parenthood protesters threw condoms at Carly Fiorina today while she campaigned at a tailgate party for the Iowa Hawkeyes. The protesters, some of whom were affiliated with the women's health group and others who were supporters, were dressed in pink and waved pink pom-poms as they followed the Republican presidential candidate around the tailgate, chanting "Carly Fiorina offsides for telling lies" and "women are watching and we vote."
https://twitter.com/JordynPhelps/status/647828621474725888 Expect to see more such Code Pink-style tactics against Fiorina. But to me the more interesting story is how Fiorina faced down a woman who confronted her face-to-face, via CNN:
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