The 2016 Presidential Election Trainwreck

[Uncle Ted]

#SenatorsDontMakeGoodPresidents
#TedIsANarcissist
#TedIsDivisive
#TedOnlyAppealsToTheVeryFarRight
#CantBeatHillary

So says of of the more obsessed Mitt fans from my FB feed.

And by the way, Mitt is just waiting for the opportune time to enter the race.

#UntilMittEndorsesSomebody...NobodyButMitt!!!!

Obama, RMoney, Cruz

#YetAnotherExampleWhyHarvardIsOverRated

Cruz is the GOP's version of Obama...

Ted Cruz and Barack Obama have more in common than you think

Ted Cruz doesn't get compared to President Obama all that often. But the senator's speech Monday at Liberty University announcing his 2016 presidential bid carried heavy echoes of the rhetoric and positioning that the current occupant of the White House used in the early days of his own national ambitions.


Cruz dedicated the entire first half of his speech to a recitation of the stories of his parents' lives as well as to his formative years and those of his wife, Heidi.
[...]

But the first 900 words of Cruz's speech were dedicated to this detailed retelling of his origin story. That's more than most candidates will do and suggests that Cruz plans to lean heavily on his biography to not only distinguish him from the rest of the field but also to affirm the message that he represents real change and a future face of America.


That's exactly the same thing Obama did during his own presidential campaigns. His background functions as a proof point on just how different he was than the rest of the people running. He not only sounded different; he was different.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/03/23/how-ted-cruz-channeled-barack-obama-in-his-presidential-announcement/

Same sh*t, different party.

[byu71]

Obama, RMoney, Cruz

#YetAnotherExampleWhyHarvardIsOverRated

Cruz is the GOP's version of Obama...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/03/23/how-ted-cruz-channeled-barack-obama-in-his-presidential-announcement/

Same sh*t, different party.

Yep and why I mourn the fact the extreme and fringe elements have captured the electoral process in the parties.

I will say though I think the republicans have done a better job of countering these folks. The tea party wasn't so influential in the mid term win. Obama was probably the most influential in getting republicans elected.

[Uncle Ted]

LOL... http://www.tedcruz.com

[Pelado]

LOL... http://www.tedcruz.com

That's pretty funny.

[UVACoug]

cruz is allegedly much smarter than he acts. how does the gop not realize how harmful candidates pandering to teabaggers is?

I keep reading about how smart he is, but I have yet to see any evidence of it. The more I learn of him, the more looney he seems.

[pellegrino]

I keep reading about how smart he is, but I have yet to see any evidence of it. The more I learn of him, the more looney he seems.

It's calculated looniness. Crazy though it may be, he has a very well thought out political agenda that should be taken very seriously. Anyone who just dismisses him as a crazy teabagger is the fool.

[Jeff Lebowski]

It's calculated looniness. Crazy though it may be, he has a very well thought out political agenda that should be taken very seriously. Anyone who just dismisses him as a crazy teabagger is the fool.

Dang it. I am a fool.

[pellegrino]

Dang it. I am a fool.

we all knew that.

[TripletDaddy]

this election is going to be lame

[woot]

His credentials being what they are, I guess it's possible Cruz's ignorant positions are all political calculations rather than the result of stupidity, but why then did he decide on a platform far to the right of any other recent Republican candidate? He's not even close to electable so unless he's being employed by the RNC to act as foil to a preferred candidate, his positions don't seem well considered.

[old_gregg]

His credentials being what they are, I guess it's possible Cruz's ignorant positions are all political calculations rather than the result of stupidity, but why then did he decide on a platform far to the right of any other recent Republican candidate? He's not even close to electable so unless he's being employed by the RNC to act as foil to a preferred candidate, his positions don't seem well considered.

he's got to get the nomination before worrying about electability in the general election, which might explain why he does dumb stuff. i also think you're giving way too much credit to the conservative electorate if you think he's not electable even now.

[Moliere]

this election is going to be lame

The general will be lame. The republican primary is going to be entertaining.

[Omaha 680]

he's got to get the nomination before worrying about electability in the general election, which might explain why he does dumb stuff. i also think you're giving way too much credit to the conservative electorate if you think he's not electable even now.

When is the last time the Republicans nominated a far right presidential candidate? GWB? I think you have to go back to Goldwater.

For all the handwringing on about the influence of the far right in the party, they have recently settled on people like McCain. The Democrats have their loons in the primary, too.

[woot]

he's got to get the nomination before worrying about electability in the general election, which might explain why he does dumb stuff. i also think you're giving way too much credit to the conservative electorate if you think he's not electable even now.

Perhaps I am being too optimistic, but nobody close to this conservative has ever been a serious contender for the Republican nomination, even ignoring general electability.

This is why I can't believe that his positions are manufactured; unless the Republican electorate has taken a huge jump to the right in the last 1-3 years, any success he has will have been made more difficult, not less, by his falsely-held positions.

[SCcoug]

Can anyone who has paid closer attention than I have summarize Cruz's loony political positions? Outside of being a weird looking Canadian, having smarmy mannerisms and having a reputation for being a right-wing nut-job I don't know anything about him. Wasn't he in on the government shutdown?