I’ve had this image in my head of a strong, pragmatic New Jersey-style leader. Oops, wrong image…
If Chris Christie is truly knocked out of the running for the GOP nomination in 2016, then who will take his place?
No, that’s not a setup for a list. I was wondering whether y’all had anybody in mind. I can think of only two categories:
- Unbending ideological extremists.
- People most of us, possibly including me, have never heard of.
Regarding that second category: You may say that there’s somebody great out there that I’m not thinking of. But in my book, someone I haven’t heard of has next to no chance to gain my confidence between now and 2016. When it comes to doling out (more or less) extreme executive power, trust is a cumulative process with me. It takes time for me to be able to see someone as president.
I was feeling pretty good there looking at a Clinton-Christie matchup, as it meant the choice would be two people I felt moderately good about. That is to say, I wouldn’t have seen the election of either as a disaster, which gave me a small measure confidence about the nation’s future. After her four years as SecState, I felt better about Hillary than I did in 2008. And after watching Chris the last couple of years, I thought I saw the kind of pragmatic governor that I like.
In any case, he was the only Republican I could think of that I felt kinda OK about (while Hillary is kinda the only Democrat I can think of, good or bad).
So… if he’s knocked out… what happens?
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Susan Collins of Maine
Maybe I should set some ground rules — such as “has shown some sort of interest in the past in wielding supreme executive power”… or maybe a better way to put it would be, “has been seriously and widely spoken of as presidential material…”
Basically, I’m looking for someone who has a shot. Christie had a shot. If you think Sen. Collins does, make the case. But someone who’s best known as the last GOP senators beloved of Democrats, I have my doubts.
That’s the thing about Christie — he could get support from Democrats (if they knew what was good for them), but he was still a mainstream Republican…
Why not our guy Lindsay Graham?.. one of the very few who can work both sides of the aisle ( most of the time anyway)
Rand Paul will be viable in a few primaries but will be shot down by war monger Republicans. I will likely vote for him. I’m guessing Ted Cruz will run but not enough people have heard him speak yet to form an opinion that isn’t prejudiced by the media. Santorum will run again because running begets campaign dollars and TV appearances to help build the brand. He can’t win. Someone will tell Rick Perry he can win and he’ll go back out there to look foolish again.
The default choices may be Rubio and Ryan. Neither are inspiring. Both lack depth of experience.
I wouldn’t ever rule out Sarah Palin… but I would expect she or her children will do something to make it difficult. She’s had eight years to learn to how to pretend to be informed.
Top 5 People I’d like so see run in the 2016 Primary. (In no particular order)
1. Mike Pence, Indiana. Other than having very Presidential hair, I don’t know much about him.
2. Bobby Jindal, Louisiana. He could throw his hat in the ring. I think enough time has passed since his lackluster response to the SOTU. Could he turn some minorities towards the GOP?
3. Scott Walker, Wisconsin. He’s successfully taken action against unions in a very historically pro-union state. Regardless of whether or not you agree with what he did, you have to respect his political chops.
4. Rand Paul. Senator from Kentucky. He won’t win, but he’ll (hopefully) pull the other candidates into some more libertarian positions.
5. Zombie James Madison. He would have to work on his appeal to younger voters (and update his clothing choices), but he’d have some very good street cred amongst the Tea Party and historians. During a live debate with Santorum, Zombie James Madison could say: “I helped write the Constitution and the Federalist papers. What have you done besides wear a sweater vest?”
Out of those five, I would vote for Zombie James Madison. As the magic 8-ball says: Outlook not so good.
That’s what I’ve got at this juncture.
I’d rather vote for Zombie John Adams… NOT Zombie Samuel Adams, who would be the Tea Party fave…
Wouldn’t Samuel Adams be a Beer Party fave?
There’s another Bush…
Mark Sanford!
NNBHN!
Not No! But Hell No! That’s probably one of the computer acronyms that your husband may no be familiar with. A coworker and I filled up a whiteboard of acronyms ages ago.
I’d like to see Jon Huntsman run again with a little bit of media attention. I think he would be formidable in a general election, but if he runs, he’ll be primaried out of it. I am cautiously trusting of Bobby Jindal, who seems to have flashes of pragmatism. He at least seems to think more than some of the others.
Hillary is the obvious front-runner for the Democrats. Joe Biden would be fun to watch in a campaign, but his mouth would probably get him in trouble somewhere along the way. Andrew Cuomo has enough name recognition that he wouldn’t be starting from scratch. I don’t really know much about him, though. Cory Booker’s name will probably come up.
Huntsman wouldn’t win one single primary. He’s an MSNBC darling and he’s burnt too many bridges.
I agree that he wouldn’t win any primaries, but he didn’t burn any bridges. The extreme right burnt the bridges behind him.
Cruz is too polarizing. If Christie isn’t the pick, then who will pick Governot Haley? Let’s face it, when George W picked Cheney, he did better than Secret Service in ensuring that no one would take a pot shot at him.
Whoever picks “Boss Hogg” Haley as Vice President candidate assures himself that there will be no assassination attempt.
The fact that Christie appears to have been dethroned by Obama may give the NJ Governor more sway with both establishment Republichans, urban voters and disenchanted Obama supporters at large.
The Republichan establishment (elite power brokers) favor Christie because although he is a R.I.N.O., is acceptable to voters across the country. Polls numbers now are less than meaningless.
The bridge scandal festered too long to have actually bothered many voters outside Ft Lee (Hint: NYC does not regularly send school buses to Ft Lee, NJ). This is a staged (no doubt by one of the major parties) faux crisis of confidence that Christie survives. Will he be elected? His chances are better than Cruz’s and Bush’s, but Christie cannot win.
Watch out for a dark horse, an outsider with impressive clout, fire, $$$$, and public acceptance than Christie.
” Christie appears to have been dethroned by Obama”
By Obama? LOL!
Christie was never one of my choices and it was not because of his appearances with Obama after Sandy, Christie was doing his job as governor of NJ first and should be commended for that. He just never appealed to me as presidential in any manner and if he were elected, he would be another train wreck just waiting to happen.
Quite honestly, about the only one I think might be a viable candidate is Walker of Wisconsin but he would face a tough, uphill battle because of his stand against the unions and the subsequent attempt at a recall which failed miserably.
As for the others mentioned, Cruz is a non-starter for me, Paul is too closely tied to his dad, and Bush is just wishful thinking for anyone but if not for his last name, he would be a good candidate for the Republicans.
So far, no one on the Republican side I can think of has enough “positive” name recognition to be viable candidate. If Jon Huntsman had a better PR campaign and could get his face in front of the voters far enough ahead of time, he might stand a chance.
Unless Hillary is photographed choking a puppy or kitten with a wicked smile on her face, she is most likely to be the next president. And that is absolutely pitiful when one considers the fact that this country does not need another “legacy” president, enough of the Clinton, Bush, and Kennedy aspirants for the presidency. Heck, even Michelle Obama has been mentioned as a possible candidate.
The dearth of leaders on both sides of the aisle is dismal and disconcerting when one stops to think about it. Maybe the truth is that the United States is in a leadership crisis because Bush and Obama most certainly are not made of the “Right Stuff” to be effective leaders and if they are an indication of the best we have, we are totally screwed.
“Christie was doing his job as governor of NJ first and should be commended for that.”
Absolutely. Unfortunately, in this post-Mark Sanford era in the GOP, taking that sort of pragmatic approach to the duties of a governor is rarer in the GOP than it would have been a few years ago…
Jeb Bush would be a good candidate. I don’t see the country voting for a Bush though- even though he’s quite different than George.
I’m not good at knowing what the rest of the country and this faction and that faction will think or do. But of people I’ve heard talk, the ones that make the most sense to me are Jon Huntsman and Jeb Bush. It is refreshing how different Jeb is from George, based just on a very little that I’ve heard.
I liked Huntsman on 2012 and still like him. He is not the Tea Party or far right choice but he is about as close to center right as one can get without being a true RINO. The problem with purists is that no one is ever going to win who fits the description of a perfect purist, liberal or conservative. This country needs someone who can pull the sides together and tell the far left and far right to KMA, this is America, not a third world country.
Jeb Bush would seem to be the logical GOP pick. It’s still possible Christie can survive all the various Saprano incidents but I suspect his hijinks won’t play well outside NJ. (That’s assuming no one actually demonstrates he knew about the bridge closing before the poop hit the fan last week. In that case he can run for penitentiary council).
As for the Dems, Hillary seems anointed but they have a way of pulling surprises. I’m putting the odds at about 60% that someone other than Hillary wins the Dem nod. Perhaps Andrew Cuomo or Corey Booker. Either one fills the bill as a spoiler.
If Cuomo or Booker wins the nomination, it will be a gift to Republicans and then the race would be wide open and the Republican, whoever it is would most likely be the favorite.
Lindsey Graham could be a viable candidate. Dems seem to like him. I don’t think he is as reviled elsewhere as he is in SC.
2008: Moderate republican loses Presidential election
2012: Moderate republican loses Presidential election
2016: Moderate republican loses Presidential election?
What’s the definition of insanity, again?
Nominating another Bush for President – regardless of qualifications.
Times change, and the failure of McCain may be linked to Tea Party Palin…..
BP
Did you see that Christie got positively Reaganesque in a speech yesterday? “Mistakes were clearly made…”