And another one down

[lupinus]

Have foxnews on for background noise.

They are now reporting Walker will be having a news conference at 6pm and have confirmed it will to announce he is dropping out of the race.

[Perd Hapley]

But AJ said he didn't quit. 

[makattak]

The first one taken out by his own spinlessness.

He was steel spined before the unions, but when his donors tell him to shut up about immigration... he meekly complies.

And now he's out of the race because that is the number one issue of the race. (For all the problems I have about Trump, I will thank him for making that the number one issue.)

[charby]

Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

[brimic]

The first one taken out by his own spinlessness.

He was steel spined before the unions, but when his donors tell him to shut up about immigration... he meekly complies.

And now he's out of the race because that is the number one issue of the race. (For all the problems I have about Trump, I will thank him for making that the number one issue.)

He was steel spined in WI because he had a very conservative republican (loaded with TEA candidates) majority in the Assembly and Senate backing (pushing) him.
I have no problems with retaining him as Governor of my state- he's better than we've had here in anyone's living memory (unless the person opining happens to be a dem-socialist).

[grampster]

Do you think it's possible that any of the Republican candidates are gnashing and grinding their teeth along with rending their garments and covering their heads in sack cloth and ashes because they didn't have the wisdom or courage or just plain guts to say what Trump is saying because they know it's what needs to be said in this time and place?

[SADShooter]

Do you think it's possible that any of the Republican candidates are gnashing and grinding their teeth along with rending their garments and covering their heads in sack cloth and ashes because they didn't have the wisdom or courage or just plain guts to say what Trump is saying because they know it's what needs to be said in this time and place?

They are jealous that it is working for him, but who among them would have the nerve/intestinal fortitude to carry it off? Fiorina's line during the debate about a fish and water hits this nail on the head. You've made a career out of calculated parsing and nuance to offer the blandest still-palatable message to the largest number, and you're now going to start speaking about principles and hard choices, when you don't even know how to fake it (a la Trump) much less actually mean it? Not bloody likely.

[grampster]

The thing is that only a small portion of Americans speak and accept that parsing and nuancing.  It has been a fallacy to believe they needed to do this.  They and those who run 'em and support 'em live in a small and nasty world.  Americans want straight talkers.  If Trump actually gets the nomination and actually wins the election, I think he'd do 4 years and set the smooth talking blissninnies back 50 years, and neo-liberalism might finally be put to death in America. 

Whoever would wind up being his VP would be president in 4 years and the lights would get turned on again on that "house on the hill."

[Perd Hapley]

I think he'd do 4 years and set the smooth talking blissninnies back 50 years, and neo-liberalism might finally be put to death in America. 

How do you see that happening? What would he do? How would it work?

[grampster]

Well, first of all, I believe in separation of power. 

Having said that, Trump has the bully pulpit and if he actually went about pushing what he talks about, confronts the congress, and asks the citizenry to support pulling back the nanny state over time, a lot of good things could happen.  Congresscritters like their jobs.  If their constituents start getting particularly feisty and observant and actually began to participate in our governance, good things will happen. 

It won't happen overnight.  Neo Liberalism doesn't work for all the reasons we all understand.  He understands that as a capitalist.  He also understands when things don't work, you stop them.  He also understands if you are getting a bad result, you stop it. He understands the value in surrounding oneself with bright people.  I am told he values opinions from people he knows are bright.  He also understands that much profit and goodness is in American exceptionalism.

Hey, I don't know how all this is going to turn out, but I sure wouldn't mind seeing this play out rather than some sort of insurrection that most people don't have any idea how bad that would be or a continuance of our national decline into an oligarchy.

[Perd Hapley]

It won't happen overnight.  Neo Liberalism doesn't work for all the reasons we all understand.  He understands that as a capitalist.  He also understands when things don't work, you stop them.  He also understands if you are getting a bad result, you stop it. He understands the value in surrounding oneself with bright people.  I am told he values opinions from people he knows are bright.  He also understands that much profit and goodness is in American exceptionalism.

You seem to think that Trump grasps, as a matter of his lifetime of business acumen, that we must shrink government. His past writings and interviews contradict that. Given that he's been very supportive of big government in the past, I'm not sure why he's any more likely to stick to his campaign rhetoric than other candidates. I would think that a movement conservative or libertarian(ish) would be better in that regard (Cruz, Paul, et al).

[AJ Dual]

I think he was being shrewd enough to quit before he looks too much like a loser or also-ran so he's not too damaged to try again in 2020 or 2024.  I've always said his optics were bad for national politics. Jug ears, unfocused look in his eyes from one being a teeny bit off, his weird bald spot, and somewhat nasal voice.

I'm now crossing my fingers he doesn't get offered any cabinet spots or a VP slot. Like Brimic, I really wanted to keep him here in WI more than I wanted to see him as POTUS.

His WI bona-fides from the huge union fights and dirty pool with the years long fishing expeditions by Democrat DA's made him a GOP darling, but he didn't really have any exposure on national issues, and when peppered on them, he probably got bad advice from his staff on how to respond and try to make everyone happy, and later on how to try and counter Trump.

He was also a victim of his success, he peaked so early in the polls, they weren't ready.

He and Perry were arguably the two most experienced in executive leadership, with Kaisch running third in that, and he's a bottom scraper in the polls too. Christie is a RINO and also scudding along the bottom. Now the leaders are a loudmouth real-estate mogul who isn't even conservative. A neurosurgeon with best selling books, and the former CEO of HP, half who credit her with saving the company, and half with running it into the ground to become an inkjet refill scam. None of whom has ever held any kind of office.

We're insanely lucky the DNC is just as screwed up, with uber-dirty Hillary, who's also possibly hiding huge health problems, and weird old doddering commie Bernie Sanders.  

Right now my fallback position is Rubio, and hoping Donald HAS to "burn out" sooner or later.  

[Ron]

If Rubio wins I suspect he will be nothing more than the RNC's dancing boy.

[makattak]

If Rubio wins I suspect he will be nothing more than the RNC's dancing boy.

Rubio is on my never list. (Or at least never this cycle.)

If he wants my vote (in some future election), he's going to have to earn it, and it cannot be done with a campaign. I need to see promises kept, not broken.

[roo_ster]

If Rubio wins I suspect he will be nothing more than the RNC's dancing boy.

Rubio's dumb enough to buy an "Intelligence Booster Kit" from a traveling salesman. "Really, it will make me smarter?"  "Sure, it will."

[makattak]

Rubio's dumb enough to buy an "Intelligence Booster Kit" from a traveling salesman. "Really, it will make me smarter?"  "Sure, it will."

Five minutes later: "This thing is a rip-off! It doesn't work!" "See, you're smarter already."

[roo_ster]

Five minutes later: "This thing is a rip-off! It doesn't work!" "See, you're smarter already."

It was difficult to watch Rubio spar with Schumer on shamnesty. 

[makattak]

It was difficult to watch Rubio spar with Schumer on shamnesty. 

That was "sparring" like a game between my 5 year old and me is sparring.

[MillCreek]

Five minutes later: "This thing is a rip-off! It doesn't work!" "See, you're smarter already."

Oh, two thumbs up, sir!

[Scout26]

If Rubio wins I suspect he will be nothing more than the RNC's dancing boy.

This.


Ted Cruz is the only elected Senator who has stuck his thumb in the in the eye of the Senate Leadership and the RNC.  Calling McConnell a liar from the floor of Senate takes pretty big brass ones, when McConnell controls the Re-election campaign funds. 

And that's not the only time he has stood up to the leadership.  Remember the Obamcare shutdown ??  The one that cost the R's so much they gained control of the Senate and increased their control of the House ?  Yeah, that one.  Who was it that did that?  Ted Cruz.  I would highly recommend reading his book.  He's a true Conservative/Libertarian who will work to shrink the size of the fed.gov.

[grampster]

You seem to think that Trump grasps, as a matter of his lifetime of business acumen, that we must shrink government. His past writings and interviews contradict that. Given that he's been very supportive of big government in the past, I'm not sure why he's any more likely to stick to his campaign rhetoric than other candidates. I would think that a movement conservative or libertarian(ish) would be better in that regard (Cruz, Paul, et al).

I like Cruz and Paul.  I believe either of them would make a good president.  But honestly, Trump would make a better Potus than the RINO's in the race, which is basically all of the rest of them except the Doc.  I like Carly for VP.

[Perd Hapley]

The more I see of things, the more I rather like a Cruz/Fiorina ticket.

[roo_ster]

I wish it was ¡JEB! or ¿Rubio? who had left the race.  Walker might have been nothing too special WRT shaking up the GOP establishment, but he has a good record as governor.

Fiorina reminds me of a Romney with a poor record as an executive and different wedding tackle.  HP survived her reign, but was not appreciably strengthened after she fired American tech employees and hired H1Bs & outsourcing them. 
 

[Ron]

Fiorina would get rolled by the establishment in the unlikely event she didn't agree with them.

Cruz only has shown he could withstand the behind the scenes assault from the right and the overt full on assault from the leftist government/media complex.

Carson and Paul are maybe's.

The rest are good soldiers for the status quo.

[Perd Hapley]

Whatever Fiorina's negatives, her optics would be good. She'd be only a veep, after all.