# They're at the starting gate......



## AZ Jim (Mar 22, 2015)

Which of this gallery of hopefuls do you think will emerge as winner?

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/us/politics/2016-presidential-candidates.html


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## QuickSilver (Mar 22, 2015)

I believe it will be Hillary Clinton against either Jeb Bush or Scot Walker


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## AZ Jim (Mar 22, 2015)

QuickSilver said:


> I believe it will be Hillary Clinton against either Jeb Bush or Scot Walker



Worst case between Bush and Walker?   WALKER!!!


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## jujube (Mar 22, 2015)

I'm afraid it's going to be Hilary vs. Jeb.  Heaven help us.


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## AZ Jim (Mar 22, 2015)

jujube said:


> I'm afraid it's going to be Hilary vs. Jeb.  Heaven help us.



Well. I agree.  It's scary with the crazies taking over congress due to our lazies not caring about midterm elections.  I vote in ALL national elections and wish everyone would.


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## Josiah (Mar 22, 2015)

OK we have a very dysfunctional government, but it could become not just dysfunctional but a failed state if the Republicans control the congress the presidency and the SCOTUS. This is an extraordinarily important election, but I'm entirely comfortable with Hillary Clinton. She's a remarkable woman who has remarkable credentials. I'm proud to support her.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 22, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> Well. I agree.  It's scary with the crazies taking over congress due to our lazies not caring about midterm elections.  I vote in ALL national elections and wish everyone would.



I vote no matter how hard the Knox County voting board makes it for me!  Just imagine how hard it was for me in 2008 to get my ballot mailed to Uganda!!  It did make it but I had to send it by registered mail which cost a lot of money to make sure it got to TN by the deadline.  And I did it knowing that TN always went for the Repubs.  However, I just HAD to cast my ballot for Obama, much to the delight of the Ugandans.


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## ronaldj (Mar 22, 2015)

its time for none of the above


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## Grumpy Ol' Man (Mar 22, 2015)

Dems... They have no really viable candidate other than Ms. Clinton.  Even in local and state elections, the Dems have struggled to find candidates that can generate the dollars needed to win against the huge pocketbooks of the right.  Personally, I believe Jim Webb would be a more electable candidate than Ms. Clinton.  There's still time for someone to step up.

Pubs...  The Pubs have a long list of hopefuls.  That list will be whittled down as soon as the Kochs and Addelson decide who they want to elect.  In the past two elections, a moderate has come out as the candidate... McCain and Romney.  Immediately upon being nominated, the talking heads... Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck have proclaimed the moderate as a mistake and sermonized to their cult followers to not vote rather than vote for the candidate.  The Dem candidate has won more because of the split in the Pub party than a coming together of the Dems.  Hence, I predict the money men will put their dollars behind a hard right candidate and he will be the candidate.  I belive the Bush, Paul, etc.... common sense candidates... will be left behind.  Walker might be it.  But, I would think we'll see a Cruz or Rubio type succeed.

If we see and anti-immigration, war hawk, religious zealot, anti-same sex marriage, anti-social services, anti-regulation candidate from the right we will see dollars against a "get out the vote".  It will all depend who gets off their couch and casts votes.  If either Party leaves people unmotivated, under-excited... they lose.


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## Josiah (Mar 22, 2015)

ronaldj said:


> its time for none of the above



That's glib and easy to say but where does it get you?


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## AZ Jim (Mar 22, 2015)

Josiah said:


> That's glib and easy to say but where does it get you?



Exactly what's wrong now..........attitude.


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## Butterfly (Mar 22, 2015)

One thing I would like to see in the best of all possible worlds would be terms limits for congress.  AND serious campaign finance reform.  But, I don't think either of those will ever happen because the foxes are guarding the henhouse, so to speak.


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## Josiah (Mar 22, 2015)

Butterfly said:


> One thing I would like to see in the best of all possible worlds would be terms limits for congress.  AND serious campaign finance reform.  But, I don't think either of those will ever happen because the foxes are guarding the henhouse, so to speak.



Serious campaign finance reform seemed a real possibility a few years back, but that was before the Supreme Court stepped in.


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 22, 2015)

They just said that the Teaparty favorite Ted Cruz is about to officially announce he'll be running.  I assume he's eligible? http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m.../ted-cruz-born-canada-eligible-run-president/

I don't know much about him, here's some info.  http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/03/22/3637312/6-extreme-views-presidential-hopeful-ted-cruz/


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## Warrigal (Mar 23, 2015)

They're at the starting gate, and here are the current odds



> *2016 US Pres election betting*
> Clinton $2.20
> Jeb Bush  $5
> Walker, Rubio $11
> ...



Make of it what you will.


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## Ralphy1 (Mar 23, 2015)

How about Snooki?  What is she doing these days?


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## Warrigal (Mar 23, 2015)

Snooki?


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## Ralphy1 (Mar 23, 2015)

Snooki was one our recent cultural icons before Kim grabbed the spotlight...


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## QuickSilver (Mar 23, 2015)

Ted Cruz has just officially announced he is running...  SURPRISE!!   However, fortunately, for our country,  he is completely unelectable..


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## Warrigal (Mar 23, 2015)

Ralphy1 said:


> Snooki was one our recent cultural icons before Kim grabbed the spotlight...



I've been looking up her policies



> On Education : "Study hard but party harder"
> 
> On future planning and development : "I'm trying to build an empire, because after this, I cannot get a normal job".
> 
> On telecommunications: "We can't have cellphones, TV, radio or the Internet. If the president dies, we'd have no normalcy. It's just like prison, with camera.


Sounds like a well prepared candidate.


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## Ralphy1 (Mar 23, 2015)

She would definitely get my vote, or maybe Kim would if they were in a primary contest...


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## Jackie22 (Mar 23, 2015)

QuickSilver said:


> Ted Cruz has just officially announced he is running...  SURPRISE!!   However, fortunately, for our country,  he is completely unelectable..



Ahhh..Ted Cruz, the darling of the tea party, will announce his candidacy at a Christian college that believes the world is 6000 years old.....how appropriate.

What an embarrassment he is, this election will be entertaining if nothing else.


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## QuickSilver (Mar 23, 2015)

Unfortunately, or fortunately for the Democratic candidate, the Cruz campaign will only pull the more moderate(if there is one) candidate farther and farther to the Right.. making the walk-back of the crazy harder to do in the General Election.  It is unfortunate that a small minority of a part can dictate the outcome of something as important as a Presidential candidate.   This is what the Religious Right has done to a once great party.


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## Glinda (Mar 23, 2015)

Grumpy Ol' Man said:


> Dems...
> 
> If we see and anti-immigration, war hawk, religious zealot, anti-same sex marriage, anti-social services, anti-regulation candidate from the right we will see dollars against a "get out the vote".  It will all depend who gets off their couch and casts votes.  If either Party leaves people unmotivated, under-excited... they lose.



You forgot an "anti".  Anti-women.


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## QuickSilver (Mar 23, 2015)

Grumpy Ol' Man said:


> Dems... They have no really viable candidate other than Ms. Clinton.  Even in local and state elections, the Dems have struggled to find candidates that can generate the dollars needed to win against the huge pocketbooks of the right.  Personally, I believe Jim Webb would be a more electable candidate than Ms. Clinton.  There's still time for someone to step up.
> 
> Pubs...  The Pubs have a long list of hopefuls.  That list will be whittled down as soon as the Kochs and Addelson decide who they want to elect.  In the past two elections, a moderate has come out as the candidate... McCain and Romney.  Immediately upon being nominated, the talking heads... Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck have proclaimed the moderate as a mistake and sermonized to their cult followers to not vote rather than vote for the candidate.  The Dem candidate has won more because of the split in the Pub party than a coming together of the Dems.  Hence, I predict the money men will put their dollars behind a hard right candidate and he will be the candidate.  I belive the Bush, Paul, etc.... common sense candidates... will be left behind.  Walker might be it.  But, I would think we'll see a Cruz or Rubio type succeed.
> 
> If we see and anti-immigration, war hawk, religious zealot, anti-same sex marriage, anti-social services, anti-regulation candidate from the right we will see dollars against a "get out the vote".  It will all depend who gets off their couch and casts votes.  If either Party leaves people unmotivated, under-excited... they lose.



Of course turn out is the most important thing... However, don't confuse a Midterm election  with a Presidential Year General.  Unfortunately Dems have never voted in droves in the Midterms.  However, far Right conservatives do.   Dems AND Independents come out for Presidential elections..  this is why the actions of the Republicans in Congress for the next two years are really going to matter.  People are starting to pay attention.


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## Davey Jones (Mar 23, 2015)

Ted Cruz.not surprise he will announce NOW, considering he's the biggest joke of them all.


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## QuickSilver (Mar 23, 2015)

I understand that he has no incentive to wait to announce.  As a sitting Senator,  he is prohibited from courting the big donors to contribute to his PAC.  So waiting and raking in the money is not an option for him as it is for Jeb Bush or Scot Walker... I'm surprised Rand Paul hasn't announced as yet. He would be under the same restrictions as Cruz.


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## AZ Jim (Mar 23, 2015)

Davey Jones said:


> Ted Cruz.not surprise he will announce NOW, considering he's the biggest joke of them all.



How can you narrow it down to just one in that ship of fools?


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## QuickSilver (Mar 23, 2015)

I've said it before.. watch out for Scot Walker.  He entire political career has been bought and paid for by the Koch Brothers.  He has decimated  Union Rights and collective bargaining..  He has dismantled public education with $millions in cuts while giving bigger tax cuts to the wealthy.. and the very latest, he has turned Wisconsin into a "Right to Work" state..  He has more than earned continued financing by the Kochs and there is no doubt they will support him BIG in this election.  We only have to look at the decline of Wisconsin to see what he and his partners Charles and David have in mind for the rest of the country.


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 23, 2015)

Which republican candidate would you like to see run, I'm thinking Bush?  From the conservative talk shows I've been listening to, he's not favored much there, too moderate.


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## QuickSilver (Mar 23, 2015)

Well, I'd like to see Donald Trump or Ben Carson get the nomination....  as a Dem that would please me to no end..  BUT which one do I think has the best chance of winning the nomination and the one that have at least a modicum of chance in winning that would be Bush or Walker.   I wouldn't vote for either..    Now Should a Republican win, I think I'd be less sick about Bush than the others.


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 24, 2015)

SeaBreeze said:


> They just said that the Teaparty favorite Ted Cruz is about to officially announce he'll be running.  I assume he's eligible? http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m.../ted-cruz-born-canada-eligible-run-president/
> 
> I don't know much about him, here's some info.  http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/03/22/3637312/6-extreme-views-presidential-hopeful-ted-cruz/



I read that The Donald was questioning whether Cruz could run because he was born in Canada, but he's willing to let the courts decide.


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## Jackie22 (Mar 24, 2015)

LOL......after all his dire warnings about Obamacare.......


[h=1]Rep. Ted Cruz Tells CNN That He Is Going On Obamacare[/h]Source: *CNN*

Ted Cruz is going on Obamacare. The newly announced Republican presidential candidate told CNN's Dana Bash on Tuesday that he will sign up for health care coverage through the Affordable Care Act -- a law he has been on a crusade to kill. "We'll be getting new health insurance and we'll presumably do it through my job with the Senate, and so we'll be on the federal exchange with millions of others on the federal exchange," Cruz said. 

Cruz's admission comes one day after CNN first reported that the senator would no longer have access to health benefits through his wife's employer, Goldman Sachs. Heidi Cruz, a managing director at the firm's Houston office, has gone on unpaid leave for the duration of the senator's presidential campaign and will not have access to the company's benefits during that time. 

Cruz's campaign appeared caught by surprise Monday by questions about the senator's health care. Asked how Cruz's family would be covered after his wife lost her Goldman Sachs benefits, Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler repeatedly answered that he didn't know. It's a deeply ironic development for the Texas conservative firebrand, who vaulted to fame during his few years in the Senate in large part by denouncing President Barack Obama's landmark health care law. 

Cruz denied that there was anything ironic about the move, saying he was simply following the law. "I believe we should follow the text of every law, even (a) law I disagree with," Cruz told CNN. "It's one of the real differences -- if you look at President Obama and the lawlessness, if he disagrees with a law he simply refuses to follow it or claims the authority to unilaterally change." Cruz also said he will continue advocating for repealing the law. 








Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/24/politics/ted-cruz-obamacare/index.html


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 25, 2015)

I just heard this on a conservative talk show this morning, Ted Cruz wants Jesus as his running mate.



> _“After a long afternoon of prayer, and knowing the Lord is on my side in all of this, I’ve chosen Jesus Christ to be my running-mate on the 2016 presidential election ticket,” said Cruz on his Google+ account. “This is a decision that I know is right for me and most definitely for the country. I can’t wait to begin campaigning alongside him.”_


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## AZ Jim (Mar 25, 2015)

Oh brother.  When in doubt about the evangelists take on Jesus as a running mate.  No end to the hypocrisy.


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## QuickSilver (Mar 25, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> Oh brother.  When in doubt about the evangelists take on Jesus as a running mate.  No end to the hypocrisy.



I'd love to hear Jesus and Cruz discuss Matthew 25....


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## Jackie22 (Mar 25, 2015)

SeaBreeze said:


> I just heard this on a conservative talk show this morning, Ted Cruz wants Jesus as his running mate.



Oh yes, this is exactly how he won the senate seat in Texas, the same hype.......what a sleaze.


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## QuickSilver (Mar 26, 2015)

Ted Cruz has been existing in the far right wing bubble.  Oh sure he's made waves in the Senate with his hijinks, but for the most part all his press exposure has been in the friendly realm of Fox news and other conservative talk shows..  Now as a presidential candidate he will have to face a Press that will be far more likely to call him on some of his nonsense.  It's the same thing that happened to Michelle Bachmann exposing her to the General Electorate for what she was..  A wing nut.   That is what I predict will happen to Cruz.    As for Texas.. well...  sorry Jackie... but Texas is Texas as far as politics go..  How are you even able to keep your sanity there?


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## Rocky (Mar 26, 2015)

Butterfly said:


> One thing I would like to see in the best of all possible worlds would be terms limits for congress.  AND serious campaign finance reform.  But, I don't think either of those will ever happen because the foxes are guarding the henhouse, so to speak.



_*EXACTLY!!*_  :greedy_dollars:
And they "govern" a the behest of corporate lobbyists and Adelson/Koch Brothers, etc.


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## Jackie22 (Mar 26, 2015)

QuickSilver said:


> Ted Cruz has been existing in the far right wing bubble.  Oh sure he's made waves in the Senate with his hijinks, but for the most part all his press exposure has been in the friendly realm of Fox news and other conservative talk shows..  Now as a presidential candidate he will have to face a Press that will be far more likely to call him on some of his nonsense.  It's the same thing that happened to Michelle Bachmann exposing her to the General Electorate for what she was..  A wing nut.   That is what I predict will happen to Cruz.    As for Texas.. well...  sorry Jackie... but Texas is Texas as far as politics go..  How are you even able to keep your sanity there?



Well, they say Texas Democrats are loud and passionate, and that is because we are surrounded by Republican BS.

What you need is sustained outrage ... there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority. 
    Molly Ivins


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## Glinda (Mar 26, 2015)

I don't understand how Cruz can go on Obamacare.  When I applied for Covered California as it is called in my state, I was asked if I had insurance available to me through an employer.  The answer was no, so I was accepted.  Doesn't Cruz already have insurance available to him by virtue of being in the U.S. Senate?  I know they're saying he was on his wife's insurance but presumably he still has the Senate insurance available to him.  Does anyone know?


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## QuickSilver (Mar 26, 2015)

Glinda said:


> I don't understand how Cruz can go on Obamacare.  When I applied for Covered California as it is called in my state, I was asked if I had insurance available to me through an employer.  The answer was no, so I was accepted.  Doesn't Cruz already have insurance available to him by virtue of being in the U.S. Senate?  I know they're saying he was on his wife's insurance but presumably he still has the Senate insurance available to him.  Does anyone know?



I think Congress HAS to use Obamacare... and without subsidies.  I understand the Republicans insisted on that... thinking it was a bad thing.


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## Josiah (Mar 26, 2015)

Jackie22 said:


> Well, they say Texas Democrats are loud and passionate, and that is because we are surrounded by Republican BS.
> 
> What you need is sustained outrage ... there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority.
> Molly Ivins



Well Jackie, I see you as walking in the steps of Molly Ivins. Keep up the sustained outrage.


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## drifter (Mar 26, 2015)

I am at an age where I have turned the world over to my kids and their peers to run as they see fit. I have voted in every election I was qualified to vote in since the Truman era. I am considering not voting come the 2016 election. Yet I am greatly interested in national politics, have always been interested but have learned you can't take politics too seriously. You have to view it as a game. My preference is not Hillary but I can't yet say whom. I'm hoping my view will become clearer as we advance toward the time to vote, whether I vote or not.


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## AZ Jim (Mar 26, 2015)

Jackie22 said:


> Well, they say Texas Democrats are loud and passionate, and that is because we are surrounded by Republican BS.
> 
> What you need is sustained outrage ... there's far too much unthinking respect given to authority.
> Molly Ivins



Texas needs another Ann Richards!!!


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## AZ Jim (Mar 26, 2015)

With nothing to protect Seniors from a teaparty congress but the Presidential veto all seniors who depend on Social Security, Medicare, and related programs better damn well vote for whoever the Democrats run.  PERIOD!!


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