Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

2016 Republican Primary Tag

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 26, 2015 22 Comments
On Wednesday, Ted Cruz published an article at Politco that skewered the Republican party's "politics of surrender."  He writes:
In 2010, we were told that Republicans would stand and fight if only we had a Republican House. In 2014, we were told that Republicans would stand and fight just as soon as we won a majority in the Senate and retired Harry Reid. In both instances, the American people obliged. Now we’re told that we must wait until 2017 when we have a Republican president. Like Charlie Brown and the football, this disconnect explains the massive frustration with Washington. The American people do not believe Republicans will actually do what we say we will do.
And this, of course, is why 62% of Republican voters feel betrayed by the GOP.  Despite historic victories handed to Republicans in 2010 and 2014, the GOP refuses to do what they campaigned they'd do and what voters sent them to Washington to do: stop Obama's agenda. These "campaign conservatives," to use Cruz's term, continue to have their show votes in Congress, meaningless votes intended to appease conservative voters, but then they quietly rubber stamp Obama's policies.  Cruz explains:
Alas, no. In today’s partisan Washington, there are only two important kinds of votes: show votes on legislation that has no chance of becoming law and votes on legislation that “must pass.” (A third kind of vote—growing government and worsening the deficit—occurs as well. These votes succeed because Democrats and Republican leadership agree that expanding corporate welfare and cronyism helps the reelection of career politicians of both parties.)

Posted by Amy Miller on September 25, 2015 15 Comments
Jeb Bush is lashing out against the entitlement state---but he's taking a page out of Mitt Romney's book to do it. During a town hall meeting in South Carolina last night, Bush touted Republican outreach efforts to minorities by taking a slap at the Democratic tendency to promise a lot of "free stuff" in return for votes. Unfortunately for Bush, however, Democrats (and some Republicans) were reminded of Mitt Romney's failed 2012 attempts to reach out to a broader base. Via WaPo:
"Look around this room," a man told Bush, who spoke to a mostly white crowd. "How many black faces do you see? How are you going to include them and get them to vote for you?" asked the man, who was white. Bush pointed to his record on school choice and said that if Republicans could double their share of the black vote, they would win the swing states of Ohio and Virginia. "Our message is one of hope and aspiration," he said at the East Cooper Republican Women’s Club annual Shrimp Dinner. "It isn't one of division and get in line and we'll take care of you with free stuff. Our message is one that is uplifting -- that says you can achieve earned success."
Listen:

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 24, 2015 44 Comments
If anyone is wondering what's behind the high poll numbers for political outsiders in this election, a new poll from FOX News has possible answers. A startling number of Republican primary voters feel betrayed by the party. Dana Blanton has the details:
Fox News Poll: Outsiders rule 2016 GOP field, support for Biden nearly doubles Most Republicans feel betrayed by their party -- and show their displeasure by supporting outsiders over establishment candidates in the GOP presidential race. Real-estate mogul Donald Trump and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson are the favorites in the Republican race in the latest Fox News national poll on the 2016 election. Neither has held elected office before and yet the two of them -- together with businesswoman Carly Fiorina -- capture the support of more than half of GOP primary voters...

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 24, 2015 18 Comments
Earlier this week, Ted Cruz appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.  It was an interesting appearance in a few respects, but what stood out to me is how confident and relaxed Cruz remained in the face of Colbert's questions and an often hostile audience. When faced with Colbert's regurgitation of common talking points among the left about Ronald Reagan (he raised taxes and supported amnesty), Cruz took the questions in stride and explained his own stance on both issues and on conservatism more generally. Watch:

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 24, 2015 36 Comments
The mainstream media is obsessing over Ben Carson's recent remarks about a Muslim becoming president, but the issue hasn't hurt his fundraising. Quite the opposite, actually. Denver Nicks reported at Time:
Ben Carson Sees Campaign Cash Spike After Muslim Comments Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Wednesday that he’s seen a deluge of donations to his campaign in the days since his controversial anti-Muslim remarks. “The money has been coming in so fast, it’s hard to even keep up with it,” Carson said on Fox News. “I remember the day of the last debate, within 24 hours we raised $1 million. And it’s coming in at least at that rate if not quite a bit faster.” During an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Carson was asked if he believes “that Islam is consistent with the Constitution.” “No, I do not,” Carson said then. “I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.”

Posted by Amy Miller on September 23, 2015 55 Comments
Carly Fiorina killed it during the last debate. Polling has her in second place behind Donald Trump, marking a whopping 12% increase in support from earlier this month. Considering she very nearly didn't make the cut for CNN's GOP throwdown, I think we can all afford to throw her props. Love her, hate her, or have questions about her, registered voters have spoken---they want to see more. It's not surprising; many pundits predicted that all Carly needed to raise her profile within the crowded Republican field was a chance to steal the spotlight. She did it. Her star is rising, and she's using the opportunity not only to hit back at her most vocal opponents, but to bolster her conservative bona fides before a divided voter pool. It's a continuation of the strategy she used earlier this summer---when her polling numbers sat below 5%---but it's still effective. This time around, Fiorina is rebooting the conversation on abortion with a new Carly for America PAC ad that lashes out against Democrats who refused to acknowledge the existence of the Planned Parenthood sting videos after she referenced them in the CNN debate. It's an intense ad, and be warned---it contains graphic images from the now-infamous sting videos. Watch:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 23, 2015 68 Comments
Earlier today, Donald Trump announced his own personal boycott of Fox News via tweet. Trump alleged Fox News' treatment was "unfair." And so the ongoing battle between Trump and cable news network rages on. A spokesman for Fox News told CNN Trump's boycott announcement followed their cancellation of his scheduled appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor."

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 22, 2015 16 Comments
No, this is not a question from a CNN GOP presidential debate. Former Presidential Candidate Herman Cain joined Fox News' Greta Van Susteren Tuesday evening. The subject? Carly Fiorina's foreign policy speech at The Citadel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvr8_a-FZ2U&feature=youtu.be&t=2m4s

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 22, 2015 41 Comments
There are two big stories in a Florida Atlantic University poll of Republican voters to be released tomorrow. The Orlando Sun-Sentinel reports, Poll: Marco Rubio pulls ahead of Jeb Bush in Florida; Hillary Clinton in trouble:
Marco Rubio has overtaken Jeb Bush among Florida Republicans, as he benefits from positive reviews of his performance in the most recent presidential debate. A Florida Atlantic University poll to be released Wednesday shows Rubio, the state's junior senator, is in second place in the Republican primary field in Florida. His political mentor, former Gov. Jeb Bush, is in third place. Donald Trump, the real estate investor, former reality TV show host and part-time Palm Beach resident, is in first place among Florida Republicans, as he is nationally.... On the Republican side, Trump had 31.5 percent of the Republican primary vote. Rubio was second with 19.2 percent and Bush was third with 11.3 percent.
Ben Carson came in at 10.3% and Carly Fiorina at 8.3%

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 22, 2015 23 Comments
Wisconsin radio talk show host Charlie Sykes interviewed Scott Walker confidante John Hiller on Walker's decision to end the campaign, and on Walker's future. The money quote emphasized at Syke's website, RightWisconsin, was that Walker "Was At Peace With the Whole Thing":
John Hiller, a closer confidant of Scott Walker, told Charlie Sykes that the governor was at peace after making his decision to leave the presidential race. "He was at peace with the whole thing. He probably handled it better than anyone at the table," said Hiller. Hiller, along with Walker's wife Tonette, was in the room with a handful of close friends and advisors when Walker made his decision. Hiller said that Donald Trump, the 24 hour news cycle, the inability to raise money, and some missteps were the reasons Walker believed he no longer had a path to victory. "This is a very similar scenario to 2006," said Hiller. "When you don't have a clear path to victory, it's in everybody's best interest to get out."
But the line which jumped out at me, coming at the end of the interview and which Sykes also quoted, was:

Posted by Mike LaChance on September 22, 2015 41 Comments
Marco Rubio did a pretty good job in the Republican debate last week. He didn't hurt himself in any way and when he had a chance to speak, he sounded strong and got applause. Since then, two liberals have expressed fear of Rubio as a candidate and it seems real, not the type of fear liberals express for a weak candidate they secretly want to get the nomination. First up is MSNBC's Chris Matthews who claims that Rubio "terrifies" him. Here's what he says in the video below:
I'm sorry, I see this race going to Marco Rubio and it terrifies me. He's the biggest hawk running, he's a beautiful speaker, a very attractive young candidate who really knows how to spellbind. He's the young new breath, he's an Obama!
Watch:

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 21, 2015 8 Comments
Ohio Governor John Kasich was caught on camera showing off his dance moves on Mackinac Island, Michigan Saturday night. Or at least we're told this is supposed to count as dancing: The video was posted by American Bridge, a progressive SuperPAC.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on September 21, 2015 84 Comments
Scott Walker has a 6 p.m. Eastern press conference, at which he is expected to drop out of the race according to numerous news reports, such as this from the NY Times. His speech: https://twitter.com/billhobbs/status/646085643269984256 https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/status/646086497033191424 https://twitter.com/verumserum/status/646083195927064576

Posted by Amy Miller on September 21, 2015 54 Comments
Last week's CNN debate stirred the pot in what has been a roller coaster of an early primary season. A post-debate CNN poll showed Carly Fiorina surging into second place behind Donald Trump (a 12% jump since early September,) followed closely by Ben Carson. Right now, it's an outsider's race---but how long can it last? The tendency to wax and wane has been a hallmark of the GOP's "outsider" candidates. Their bumps and slides have had less to do with their budding policy plans, and more to do with how they've handled themselves under the extreme pressure of the national spotlight. Trump (for all his faults and foibles,) Fiorina, and Carson have all found their niche in the conversation, and if that was all it takes to become president, we could vote tomorrow and eliminate the primary state middlemen. Alas. As time wears on, primary voters (who are on the whole completely different animals compared to general election voters) will increasingly demand more and more substance from these candidates, and some pundits cite this as the reason the "outsiders" will become supplanted by more politically experienced candidates.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 20, 2015 34 Comments
Following her outstanding performance in the CNN GOP debate, Carly Fiorina has overtaken Ben Carson for second place in the GOP field.  According to a CNN poll released today, both Trump and Ben Carson have lost some support, while Carly has surged from 3% early this month to 15%.

Carly Fiorina shot into second place in the Republican presidential field on the heels of another strong debate performance, and Donald Trump has lost some support, a new national CNN/ORC poll shows.

The survey, conducted in the three days after 23 million people tuned in to Wednesday night's GOP debate on CNN, shows that Trump is still the party's front-runner with 24% support. That, though, is an 8 percentage point decrease from earlier in the month when a similar poll had him at 32%.

Fiorina ranks second with 15% support -- up from 3% in early September. She's just ahead of Ben Carson's 14%, though Carson's support has also declined from 19% in the previous poll.

Driving Trump's drop and Fiorina's rise: a debate in which 31% of Republicans who watched said Trump was the loser, and 52% identified Fiorina as the winner.

Another candidate whose numbers have risen since the debate is Marco Rubio.

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on September 19, 2015 10 Comments
Although Ted Cruz didn't get much time during the CNN grudge match debate, his campaign has announced that he pulled in over $1 million in the 48 hours following the debate. Politico reports that Cruz is in a good place:
While other campaigns have been flummoxed and discombobulated by the rise of Trump, Cruz hasn’t. He has a simple political True North — go where the base is. Once it became obvious Trump was catching on with the grass roots, Cruz’s play was obvious: Start acting as if Ronald Reagan’s only failure was not to have handed down a 12th Commandment — thou shalt not criticize Donald Trump. Cruz can be very patient waiting for the mogul to come down to earth. The Texas senator has an ideological and geographical base that means he can play the long game.  Consider Iowa. Cruz is sitting in third place there, a comfortable place to be in the late-breaking state. He has captured the intense loyalty of a portion of the grass roots (evident in his consistently crowd-pleasing speeches) and lines up for the caucuses better than Trump does. Cruz is a preacher’s son who announced his campaign at Liberty University. He speaks forcefully on the social issues and is a down-the-line conservative, without a hint of a heterodoxy.

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 18, 2015 17 Comments
For everything that might be wrong with large media outlets, there's no escaping the control they wield over election cycles. They possess the power to crush White House dreams or make them a reality. Which is part of why headlines like this are hilarious: media influence elections politico headline donald trump decline scott walker Yesterday, we discussed a report released by the Media Research Center that revealed CNN devoted a whopping 78% of its GOP primary coverage to Donald Trump. The skewed timeshare was reflected in the network's GOP debate held Wednesday, the first 45 minutes of which were questions about their favorite subject -- Donald Trump. The end game? Ratings. And it worked for CNN. The cycle is relatively simple: how the media churns and burns through candidates

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on September 18, 2015 154 Comments
Thrust into the national spotlight thanks to Wednesday night's GOP presidential debate, everything about Carly Fiorina is under the media's microscope. Much has been said about Fiorina's job record, particularly her tenure at Hewlett-Packard. Fiorina was fired from HP in 2005, a fact her opponents love to mention. The Washington Post reported:
Fiorina got a taste of that new scrutiny before the debate had even ended Wednesday night. When her business record came under attack during the event, there was a spike in Google searches for “Carly Fiorina fired” and “Carly Fiorina fired why.” Fact-checkers quickly challenged her familiar assertions that, under her leadership, HP “doubled the size of the company, we quadrupled its top-line growth rate, we quadrupled its cash flow, we tripled its rate of innovation.” The main force driving the higher numbers was Fiorina’s decision in 2001 to merge HP with rival company Compaq. It was a controversial move — one that Dell founder Michael Dell dubbed “the dumbest deal of the decade” — and helped lead to her ouster. There are also certain to be reminders of the 30,000 layoffs that occurred at HP on her watch. But none of this comes as a surprise to Fiorina, who clearly has been preparing for the onslaught and faced similar fire when she ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2010 against incumbent Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). During the debate, Trump taunted her: “I only say this — she can’t run any of my companies. That I can tell you.” Her rejoinder was to bring up the four times that Trump’s companies filed for bankruptcy: “You ran up mountains of debt, as well as losses, using other people’s money.”
As Justin Fox of Bloomberg Politics points out, that Fiorina wasn't the best CEO in corporate history is simply fact. But how much of what happened at HP was Fiorina and how much was reflective of the industry at the time?
Accessibility by WAH