Presidential Race, 2016

[Hoss]

I love watching the regular righties in here implode...or maybe just the one.

I think Gweed may have a competitor now for 'biggest drama queen' for the forum.

[nathanm]

Hoss, learning is a process...

[Townsend]

Yeah, he's running for president. 

Why Doesn't Florida Senator Marco Rubio Know How Old the Earth Is?

In an interview published by GQ magazine, reporter Michael Hainey asks the senator simply, "How old do you think the Earth is?" The answer too should be simple. Rubio's reply, however is anything but:

I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.

He just cost himself the election.

[Townsend]

Rand Paul 'interested' in 2016 presidential race

http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2012/11/20/rand-paul-president-2016/1717601/

2:47PM EST November 20. 2012 - Like father, like son: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul says he's interested in running for president in 2016.

The Republican senator, a Tea Party favorite, didn't shy away when ABC's Jonathan Karl asked about his White House aspirations.

"I'm not going to deny that I'm interested," Paul said in an interview.

Paul is a son of Texas Rep. Ron Paul, whose three presidential bids have earned him a devoted following for his small-government philosophy. The Kentucky senator was the first candidate in the 2010 election cycle to turn Tea Party support into victory at the ballot box.

In the ABC News interview, the younger Paul said there is a need for the Republican Party to go in a "different direction" to reach out to Hispanics and younger voters. Paul's father is retiring from Congress in January when his 11th full term ends.

Get your throat stompin' boots on boys.  We've got an election to win.

[Townsend]

Rubio clarifies answer on age of Earth

http://www.usatoday.com/story/onpolitics/2012/12/05/marco-rubio-earth-age-science-faith/1748257/

12:06PM EST December 5. 2012 - Sen. Marco Rubio tried Wednesday to clear up his stance on the Earth's age, after getting into some hot water when asked about the topic during a magazine interview..

"Science says it's about four and a half billion years old and my faith teaches that that's not inconsistent," the Florida Republican said at a breakfast sponsored by Politico.

"The theological debate is how do you reconcile what science has definitely established with what you think your faith teaches," Rubio continued. "For me, actually, when it comes to the age of the Earth there is no conflict: I believe that in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth and I think scientific advances give us insight into when he did it and how he did it."

In an interview with GQ magazine, Rubio gave a rambling answer that side-stepped the specific question on the Earth's age as he discussed that he is "not a scientist" and acknowledged a "dispute among theologians." He ended his response by saying "it's one of the great mysteries."

Rubio got drubbed in the liberal blogosphere, highlighting the sensitive debate over evolution vs. creationism -- the view that God created the world.

Rubio told the Politico audience on Wednesday that he doesn't "regret" what he told GQ -- but wishes he would have given "a better answer, a more succinct answer." The senator also noted that he was talking to the magazine about hip hop and then the discussion jumped to the age of the Earth.

"I'm not a robot," he said. "I got caught off guard, I guess."

[Townsend]

New Jersey's Christie: likely "more ready" for president in 2016

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/09/us-usa-politics-christie-idUSBRE9080NP20130109

(Reuters) - Rising Republican star Chris Christie says he would be "more ready" to run for U.S. president in the 2016 election after finishing his work as the governor of New Jersey.

Christie, who had been pushed to run as a presidential candidate in 2012 but declined, is seen as a possible national party leader as it tries regroup after losing the White House to Democratic President Barack Obama and several seats in the U.S. Congress in November.

"I will be more ready than I was in 2012 because I will have done my job for longer and hopefully gotten better," he told ABC's "Good Morning America."

Still, Christie, who will seek a second four-year term in November, added, "What I want to do now is be governor of New Jersey."

"Anybody who tries to plan four years from now ... is crazy," he told ABC. "I'm running for four more years as governor of New Jersey because I want to serve as four more years as governor of New Jersey."

Christie's comments came in a spray of interviews on least four U.S. television networks, one day after giving his annual assessment of his Atlantic coast state and calling for more relief in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, which hit October 29.

The Republican governor has been critical of national politics and Washington politicians, especially when U.S. lawmakers last week delayed a vote on storm relief funding before ultimately approving some money.

After the storm, Christie announced his intention to seek another term. In his speech Tuesday, he called on Congress to quickly pass the full $60.4 billion storm relief package, saying victims in New Jersey had been "short-changed."

He also touted his state's economic recovery after the 2007-2009 recession and pointed to his accomplishments alongside New Jersey's Democratic-led state legislature.

"Maybe the folks in Washington, in both parties could learn something from our record here," Christie said on Tuesday.

Christie's approval rating remains high, with about 73 percent of voters approve of the job he is doing, a Fairleigh Dickinson University poll showed on Monday.

Christie's popularity on the national stage, fueled in part by his no-nonsense and blunt style, helped snare him the keynote address at August's Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.

Months later, however, he drew sharp criticism from fellow Republicans when he toured the damage from Sandy with Obama days before November 6 presidential election, and strongly praised the Democrat's response to the storm.

Christie told CBS News' "This Morning" that he was not concerned about upsetting fellow Republicans.

"I don't worry about that. I believe what the American people want, and what the people of New Jersey want, is people that come into office and do their jobs and if you try to calculate every one of those jobs politically, you're not doing your job and you're not going to be an effective politician anyway," he told CBS.

[Townsend]

Karl Rove renewed his contract with FOX through 2016.

Wonder how he'll do.

[Teatownclown]

Karl Rove renewed his contract with FOX through 2016.

Wonder how he'll do.

And Dennis Kucinich signed on with Faux. Wazzat 'bout?

[davideinstein]

Hillary.

[Townsend]

CPAC is next month.

We should start getting an idea of conservative presidential possibilities.

Edited to add:  Romney's coming.  Romney's coming.  said it twice

re-edited to add:  Trump's coming too.

[Townsend]

Will CPAC Tell Us Which Way The GOP Is Headed?

http://kwgs.com/post/will-cpac-tell-us-which-way-gop-headed

Which way the Republican Party?

In the hope of getting answers to that and other questions, many activists, party big wigs and political journalists have descended on a hotel in a Washington suburb to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference, which started Thursday.

This annual CPAC gathering is the first since President Obama thwarted Republican efforts to retake the White House, a defeat of Mitt Romney that many in the GOP didn't see coming.

While there will be some backward glances (at least two panels on the agenda are specifically aimed at understanding what went wrong: "Should We Shoot All the Consultants" and "CSI Washington DC: November 2012 Autopsy"), the conference is mostly supposed to be about finding the way forward.

To that end, the conference theme is "America's Future: The Next Generation of Conservatives. New Challenges, Timeless Principles." True, some of those given prime speaking slots seem to have more to do with the party's past than its future — Romney and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, for instance.

Also true is that conference organizers at the American Conservative Union caused no shortage of head scratching with their failure to invite to speak one of their party's most popular politicians — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — while extending an invitation to the inimitable Donald Trump.

But possible future paths for the party will certainly be represented on CPAC's main stage. Republican rising stars like Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky are likely to get rousing CPAC welcomes for their back-to-back scheduled speeches Thursday afternoon.



Paul, especially, can be expected to get the hero's treatment as he continues to bask in the glow of his widely covered, though ultimately unsuccessful, counterterrorism drone-inspired Senate filibuster of Obama's CIA nominee, John Brennan, who has since been confirmed. And Paul is popular with the young libertarians who have comprised a significant part of CPAC's attendance in recent years and venerated his father, former Texas congressman Ron Paul.

Meanwhile, sessions on immigration reform and how to better appeal to Latinos clearly show CPAC trying to grapple with the demographic changes in the electorate that worked to Republicans' disadvantage in 2012.

Of course, all of this comes against a backdrop of a party that has been redefined more or less by the emergence of the Tea Party and its primary challenges from the right against more establishment Republicans.

And CPAC also happens in the context of fiscal battles between the GOP and Democrats, with Republicans claiming that the greatest threat to the nation are fiscal deficits and debt. Obama and Democrats see it as just the opposite — poorly timed austerity that slows economic growth.

NPR journalists will be at CPAC trying, like everyone else, to read whatever signals the conference sends about the Republican Party's future.

[Townsend]

Is it called "Bridge-gate", "cone-gate", or what?

[Gaspar]

It's Bridgegate as of now. 

I watched Christie's whole presser.  He answered questions for two hours straight without breaking a sweat.  It was like he was afraid someone wasn't going to get to ask him something. By the end, the media needed a cigarette and a nap. He apologized several times and said that while there is still an investigation underway, whatever happened was his fault, because it happened on his watch. He had already fired those responsible, his chief of staff and his election mgr. 

Bad scandal, and if he is in any way involved, his presidential chances are greatly diminished, but you have to commend him for the way he is handling this, like a public servant instead of a politician. If it is discovered that he indeed had nothing to do with the bridge closing, this is going to be a positive for him, because it illustrates how a leader manages issues.

I think CNN was upset that he didn't open up his presser with "What difference does it make now anyway?" or immediately fly off to Vegas for a fundraiser and leave his staff to blame the incident on an internet video.  You know we lost some good Americans on that bridge.

I'm just joking, you know me, I joke.

[Gaspar]

This was just released, and shows Christy's ability to quickly take control of an embarrassing situation.

Even though Sokolich said that he did not want Christie to come to Fort Lee for an apology, Christie insisted and Sokolich said he was glad the governor stopped by.

"I'm glad he came," Sokolich said after meeting with the governor. "I indicated maybe it wouldn't be productive to come up now. It wasn't to be disrespectful. It was just, would it make more sense to do it when the investigation is completed? The governor insisted, and we would certainly welcome our governor with open arms, as we did."

Christie said he had "a very warm, very productive meeting" with Sokolich.

"I look forward to working with him in the future," Christie said while leaving the meeting.

Sokolich said that he believes Christie's claims that he did not know about his aides' plans to shut down lanes on the bridge.

"I take him for his word, which is, he didn't have anything to do with it," Sokolich said.


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fort-lee-mayor-accepts-christie-apology

The dude should give classes on leadership.

[heironymouspasparagus]

This was just released, and shows Christy's ability to quickly take control of an embarrassing situation.

Even though Sokolich said that he did not want Christie to come to Fort Lee for an apology, Christie insisted and Sokolich said he was glad the governor stopped by.

"I'm glad he came," Sokolich said after meeting with the governor. "I indicated maybe it wouldn't be productive to come up now. It wasn't to be disrespectful. It was just, would it make more sense to do it when the investigation is completed? The governor insisted, and we would certainly welcome our governor with open arms, as we did."

Christie said he had "a very warm, very productive meeting" with Sokolich.

"I look forward to working with him in the future," Christie said while leaving the meeting.

Sokolich said that he believes Christie's claims that he did not know about his aides' plans to shut down lanes on the bridge.

"I take him for his word, which is, he didn't have anything to do with it," Sokolich said.


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/fort-lee-mayor-accepts-christie-apology

The dude should give classes on leadership.

You mean Sokolich...?   Or was that another joke?


Real thought moment - if that is the worst that comes from Christie, I think it is pretty minor.  This seems like one of those "jostling elbows" events that politicians do to each other all the time.  UNLESS it can be shown beyond doubt that someone did die from the delayed emergency response!

I guarantee that Sokolich has done something similar in his career.  Think about it - he's a lawyer!!  And a Director at Bancorp New Jersey - he does not have squeeky clean hands.

It will be interesting to see if these people acted without direct control from Christie.  I kind of like the guy, so I hope he isn't quite that stupid.  And he fires people quickly!  Unlike you know who, who kept the corruption around him for a long, long time.