Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Thursday, September 17, 2015

Clown Car 2.0

So, I've read the transcripts, perused the early commentary - not that it's going to be accurate in Bizarro Primary 2016 - and come to an interesting conclusion.

I think Walker and Bush - the two guys I thought would duke it out for the nomination - are toast.  Neither one is ready to flourish in a multi-candidate field.  The Donald has figured out how to set himself apart.  Carly Fiorina did as well.  Carson is the Trump/Anti-Trump, the outsider who isn't a flaming asshole.  But the regular political skills that Walker, Bush and Rubio have polished over their careers are simply not what gets GOP voters' attention in 2016.

Walker should drop out soon.  Or at least the Kochs should gently push the pearl-handled revolver to him across the mahogany table.  He's not a good candidate and whatever qualities he brings, others bring more of them.

Bush can likely stick around and hope that as the field is winnowed, his star will ascend.  I doubt it.

The question is: What would a Fiorina-Clinton race look like?  I think Fiorina is a tremendously poor candidate based on her biography.  But the flaws in her bio are unlikely to be exploited by the GOP field.  She as a horrific chief executive that earned the hatred and animosity of everyone around her, laid off thousands and escaped with a golden parachute worth $40,000,000.  Gender is removed from the table as a disqualifying factor, which I think helps Clinton more than Fiorina.  And Fiorina's presence in the race makes Hillary look like Bernie.

But I can see the Final Four right now as being Trump, Fiorina, Carson and Rubio.

Chew on that for a moment, GOP establishment.

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