Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

The willow is too close to the house.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

The GOP is a fucking disgrace.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / I shoulda quit you, baby

Reader Interactions

167Comments

  2. 2.

    Goblue72

    I thought half the schmucks on that list already quit. The klown kar is worse than I remembered.

  3. 3.

    Bobby Thomson

    Way too bullish on a lot of people. Kasich most of all. He’s effectively out after NH.

  5. 5.

    dr. bloor

    Who in Hell’s Half Acre is throwing money at George Pataki at this point? Everytime I click through one of the debates, I’m surprised that he’s still alive, much less campaigning to be Preznit.

  6. 6.

    Tom Levenson

    Santorum is still in? He’s not getting out until someone takes him out politically. Why should he? Seriously, why would he leave before somebody mathematically eliminates his chance for nomination?

  7. 7.

    SatanicPanic

    Paul should be out sooner- he’s got a senate seat to hold onto. Bush will probably drop out sooner since he seems to have a sense of shame and he’s getting embarrassed daily at this point.

    Rubio still looks like flavor of the week to me and I don’t see why we should assume an establishment candidate has any advantage this time.

  8. 8.

    Jeffro

    Doug you have Graham getting out before Paul … That must’ve been an oversight .

    I can see Kaisch, Jindal, Santorum, Paul, Graham, and Pataki all getting out before Thanksgiving .

  9. 9.

    Germy Shoemangler

    Pataki went on the Chris Hayes show and said Trump or Carson would make a better president than HRC.

    How many of these klowns are really running for VP?

  11. 11.

    Rising Above

    LOL, love the wishful thinking from you all that a Jeb dropout is imminent.

    He’s in this for the long-haul. Only he has the funding and policy wonk chops to guide the Republican Party and the country in the 21st Century.

    Rubio is an empty suit.

  13. 13.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Germy Shoemangler: Thankfully, everyone isn’t as insane as Pataki. President Clinton or President Sanders are better than any of the Clown Car Occupants in every possible way — civil rights, women’s rights, immigration, education, labor, economic policies, etc.

    There will never be a President Trump or President Carson. Bye Pataki.

  14. 14.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    @Bobby Thomson:

    I think Kasich was the biggest threat in the general election because he seems to occasionally be able to view reality from Fox News Land (like with his support for Medicaid expansion). But there was no way he was going to get any traction with Republican primary voters by discussing reality.

  15. 15.

    Rising Above

    @SatanicPanic:

    Do you seriously think Jeb Bush–son of a President, brother of a President, former governor of our fourth largest state–is going to drop out before a single vote is cast?

    We’re not talking about a first-timer amateur like Scott Walker. The Bushes have “been there, done that” and destroyed many political careers of people who thought they had them dead to rights.

    Bob Dole. Mike Dukakis. John McCain. Al Gore. John Kerry.

    Soon you can add Marco Rubio to that list.

    The Bushes are like rattlesankes–they’re most dangerous when cornered.

    Again, ask John McCain. Lol.

    Sounds like a nice time to bring out some good ‘ole fashioned “dirty tricks” against Rubio, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

    Stay tuned!

  16. 16.

    Ajabu

    Rubio is an empty suit.

    Damn! I actually find a point on which our resident troll & I agree.
    re: Jeb? – Not so much…

  19. 19.

    Felonius Monk

    @Rising Above:

    a Jeb dropout is imminent

    That’s the only correct part of your statement. Choo-Choo. The train is barreling toward Jeb?. He’s like deer in the headlights. Won’t know what hit him.

    Of course, when Jeb? goes, you go, amirite?

  23. 23.

    Rising Above

    @Felonius Monk:

    He ain’t getting out. No way, no how.

    No word coming down from on high about a dropout. Just the opposite–buckle down for the “long game”.

    These are trying hours, no doubt, but happy days are coming again.

  24. 24.

    Eolirin

    What do you think is going to take Trump and Carson out of the running? Their complete lack of qualifications isn’t going to do it, and neither is the fact that they’re stark raving mad; the establishment essentially has no power over the base anymore. Their poll numbers are still significantly higher than anyone else, and Trump’s numbers in particular show endurance even in the face of significant media pushback and controversial statements.

    No one in the Republician primary is doing anything to focus on ground game organization and GotV, so the effects of incompetently managed campaigns are basically a wash. It’s all about the PR game at this point, and Carson and Trump are winning there. Rubio’s surging a bit, but we’ll have to see if it sustains, and even then, he has a long way to go in terms of catching up in the polling or having adequate fundraising; Carson tripled his draw last month.

    So why are you so sure Trump or Carson don’t win this?

  26. 26.

    SatanicPanic

    @Rising Above:

    Do you seriously think Jeb Bush–son of a President, brother of a President, former governor of our fourth largest state–is going to drop out before a single vote is cast?

    I don’t know. I just know he is never going to be president. He can’t even handle dorky little Rubio on his own.

  28. 28.

    Rising Above

    In fact #43 is heading a big-time fundraiser for Jeb tonight.

    Does that sound like someone about to drop out?

  31. 31.

    Hoodie

    @SatanicPanic: He must be confused about the date, because we’re already a decade and half into the 21st century, having arrived on Bill Clinton’s bridge.

  32. 32.

    mai naem mobile

    I’m not sure who drops out next. I think Reince is going to have to either bribe or extort some of these people out. I’m thinking Jindal, Santorum and Gilmore need new paying gigs to move on. Graham is on the Armed Services Committee so he’s always got somebody paying his way but I think he would shut it down if Reince asks him nicely. Huckster’s probably doing some paying gigs along with the supposed campaigning but he’ll probably get out after Iowa. Paul needs to work on the Senate election. So… Gilmore,Santorum,Jindal,Graham,Huckster,Paul,Christie(after some Bridgegate residual story), Carly. Cage fight for the rest.

  38. 38.

    SatanicPanic

    @Eolirin: I have the same question. It seems like the guys that are winning consistently for months should be a better bet than people who are languishing in the single digits in the polls, but that’s just me.

  39. 39.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @schrodinger’s cat: in early 2008, I said McCain was dead in the water, all through the 2012 primary season, I said they’d never pick Romney. This time, I’m just sitting back and watching the river of crazy flow

  44. 44.

    trollhattan

    @mai naem mobile:
    Speaking of Carly, since suddenly nobody is, she went all mean girl on a (female) reporter today when said reporter pressed Carly on some of her whoppers. A tidbit.

    “Wow, Alisyn, I can’t believe we’re having this conversation, honestly,” Fiorina said. “It’s clear now, it’s very clear that Planned Parenthood is harvesting body parts. So clear that they had to announce that that they no longer take compensation for it. Honestly, this has been hashed and rehashed is there no other issue of economic import to the middle class in the United States of America that you’d like to talk about this morning?”

    She might as well be Chris Christie in drag.

  46. 46.

    beltane

    It seems that Ted Cruz is going to filibuster the budget deal. This may help him gain traction with the lunatics, which is 95% of Republican primary voters. The Republican base has embraced a pure punk rock ethos. It’s a given that one of the establishment candidates will win, but it doesn’t look like many of the primary voters will vote for an establishment candidate.

  49. 49.

    trollhattan

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    Yeah, it’s one thing to pick…oh, six or eight no-fvcking-way candidates and another two or three who are simply proving unbelievably bad at the whole gettin’ elected thing, but predicting how the nation’s sub-100 i.q. cohort are going to vote is a fool’s errand. Oh, wait….

  50. 50.

    beltane

    @David Koch: Yeah, just because the Republican establishment needs Rubio to win doesn’t mean that Rubio will actually win. There are these pesky things called voters that must be dealt with.

  51. 51.

    eric

    @David Koch: with all due respect, Romney had Romneycare and he got the nomination. The irony is that the bluest of blue states could decide the nomination. trump could take new york and california. I dont see Carson doing that. I can see Christie or Kasich doing that too. Now that might be fools gold for the general, but a delegate is a delegate. I think the calculus is way to complicated to predict the outcome with any certainty. Were I a betting man, I would bet on Kasich because I think he can carve up young Rubio. Only Trump will go after him for Lehman and i see that as a so what when he lies about his budget bona fides. He is just as shameless as the others, but he can point to (made up) accomplishments in Ohio and in DC. If he wins New Hampshire or is close, he could be the guy.

  52. 52.

    SatanicPanic

    @schrodinger’s cat: yeah, that’s just one step short of voting of Obamacare. I don’t know how he overcomes that. I know everyone is casting around for an establishment candidate, but no one has explained why it has to be an establishment candidate. Seems fairly plausible that they’ll finally just cut to the chase and nominate a straight-up kook. They were halfway there with the McCain/Palin team.

  53. 53.

    mai naem mobile

    Shit, I forgot Pataki. How did Pataki get elected to multiple terms in NY? He looks like a dork. He looks like Howdy Doody. He gets out with the other kiddie table contestants after being promised a cabinet level position in a winning candidate’s administration.

  54. 54.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @beltane: Rachel Maddow said several times the other night that this bill can’t be filibustered, but didn’t say why or under what rule. IIRC, she said each Senator will get one hour to talk.

  56. 56.

    beltane

    @goblue72: Of course, but if Cruz can put on an impressive song and dance routine about Nazis and dead fetuses it will surely help him in the polls.

  59. 59.

    Cermet

    @David Koch: Wow, once the big money pays for him, fake news will make all the dead ender’s follow suit and the 27% will always follow as the brain dead zombies they are.

  60. 60.

    Calouste

    I’d expect Pataki to drop out first. He raised a grand total of $409,309 last quarter, $20,000 of which came out of his own pocket, and he has $13,571 cash in hand. He can barely afford plane tickets to the next debate for himself and his staff. Without that $20,000 loan, his campaign would actually be in the red.

    Santorum is probably next, his campaign has about $240,000 in cash and $520,000 in debts, and pulled in less than 1 million last quarter.

    Cruz, Fiorina, Kasich, and Rubio are unlikely to drop out before the New Year, as they have more cash in hand than they spend last quarter.

    Trump has only about $250,000 cash in hand, but has loaned himself close to 2 million so far.

    Carson is by a distance the biggest spender (from the GOP, Clinton spend about double what he did), he spend more than $20 million last quarter, I wonder where that all goes.

  62. 62.

    trollhattan

    @Cermet:
    “Missing” isn’t really apt here but it would seem you’ve not been in some of the many heavily trolled threads over the last couple months. Does UNLIMITED CORPORATE CASH ring a bell or two?

  63. 63.

    SatanicPanic

    @eric: Why do you think they’ll fall in line this time though? Every year that seems less likely to happen.

    ETA- Romney also had an early lead and lots of money. Bush was supposed to be this year’s Romney :(

  64. 64.

    BGinCHI

    Rubio/Sanders/Fiorina for President!

    The first three way ticket.

    There must be a French phrase for that.

  65. 65.

    jl

    Rubio seems like the invisible man in the empty suit to me.

    I mean sure he supposed to be youthful and good looking, but you look at him, and it’s still just an abstract idea.
    Same with being smart.

    As I said before, looks like a deer just smart enough to know not to look straight into the headlights.

  66. 66.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @eric: ah, looks like you’re right, per Wiki

    It goes to the Senate with a special rule: it can pass with 51 votes and cannot be filibustered. Other legislation can be filibustered and requires 60 votes to end the filibuster.

  67. 67.

    Peale

    @SatanicPanic: Paul isn’t going to drop out until after he loses KY. He made the republicans re-write the rules for him so he’d better be around for their primary or caucus or whatever it is they did so that he can run for two offices at once.

  68. 68.

    Calouste

    @Eolirin:

    What do you think is going to take Trump and Carson out of the running?

    Oh, pick me, pick me, I know that one!

    Well, not about Trump, but Carson is going to be taken out of the running if it came out he had an affair with a white woman. Not saying there is anything like that, but if there was, it would kill his candidacy stone dead.

  69. 69.

    dmsilev

    You know, I had been vaguely curious to see how our pet troll would react to Jeb-Jeb Brinks doing a faceplant last night, and I guess the answer is “stick fingers in ears and shout lalalala I can’t hear you”.

  70. 70.

    SFAW

    I, for one, find it refreshing that Racist Above, a/k/a Racism to Rise, is finally openly admitting that the only way Jeb? can even think about continuing in his “campaign” is to ratfuck everyone else.

    Of course, even then, Jeb? will be hovering around 7 percent until 2018, as Trump and Rubio smoke him, and even sick bastard Ted Cruz passes him.

    What’s the over/under on Pataki passing Jeb?

  71. 71.

    David Koch

    Trump has a solid south behind him.

    PPP — North Carolina Oct 23-25

    Trump…………….31%
    Carson……………23%
    Rubio……………..11%

    “Donald Trump’s struggling in recent Iowa polls but this is the strongest we’ve found him doing in North Carolina yet,” said Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. “His support’s increased at least a little bit every month going back to July.”

  73. 73.

    dmsilev

    @Calouste:

    Carson is by a distance the biggest spender (from the GOP, Clinton spend about double what he did), he spend more than $20 million last quarter, I wonder where that all goes.

    Carson’s fundraising operation chews up some hilariously large fraction of the money raised, like over half. Lends credence to the “grifting, not a serious campaign” theory.

  75. 75.

    David Koch

    “Rubio is controlled by his Pac. And he needs a lot of water, on top of everything else! Digya ever see a guy sweat as much as Rubio! I’ve never seen anything like that! [audience laughs] ~ Donald Trump

    Gotta admit, Donald Rickles Trump is a great insult comic.

  76. 76.

    Redshift

    I think it’s more instructive to divide them into:
    1. people who were running because they actually thought they had a chance to win
    2. people who were only ever running for the grift/Fox gig/personal brand/speaking fees

    And I think there’s a third category of people who still believe the GOP will recover its sanity at some point, and are positioning themselves to be the new leader when that happens. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for Gilmore and Pataki, and I guess I’d put Graham in there too.

    I think the grifters will all stay in at least until the first several primaries, unless they run out of money, because why not? I would put Santorum, Jindal, Huckabee, Fiorina, Carson, and Trump. And I’m still not convinced that one of the con artists won’t win it.

    I think the people who thought they had a serious shot are the most likely to drop out before the voting starts or after SC at the latest, because their personal brand is more likely to be damaged by losing badly than by quitting. That would be Christie, Bush, Paul, Cruz, Kasich, and Rubio.

    Paul, of course, committed one of the classic blunders — inheriting his old man’s grift, and thinking highly enough of himself to believe he should be a contender instead of a grifter.

    I’m skeptical of the Rubio buzz. Nobody who the pundits picked as a debate “winner” has yet gotten more than a few weeks of bounce. And as Steve Benen pointed out, Rubio’s “great” performance was in giving canned responses to attacks/questions that everyone knew were going to come at him. He still flounders when he actually has to think for himself, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he has enough embarrassing moments in the near future to keep the Establishment nervous about uniting behind him. They’ve flushed a lot of money down the toilet with Bush, and “we don’t have anyone better” isn’t necessarily going to consolidate support.

  77. 77.

    dmsilev

    @SFAW: I really hope that Bush does the whole “I’m going down, but I’m taking you bastards with me” thing. We’re overdue for a good Gooperdammerung.

  78. 78.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @efgoldman: The story I recall is that Graham got in the race specifically to destroy Paul since Paul’s foreign policy views are so abhorrent to him and St. John McCain.

    TheHill:

    Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Sunday that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is the only 2016 GOP presidential candidate with foreign policy stances that are worse than Hillary Clinton’s.

    “Would you say right now that any Republican running would be better, in terms of foreign policy, than Hillary Clinton?” John Dickerson, host of “Face the Nation,” asked Graham on Sunday.
    “Yes, except for Rand Paul,” Graham responded. “No, she would be beat by all of us, except Rand Paul.”

    It’s hard to see Graham getting out before Paul, or at least before Paul’s chances are destroyed if he is still officially running…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  80. 80.

    SFAW

    @Origuy:

    She showed that at HP.

    I thought the superpower she showed at HP was the ability to make 20,000 (or more) people disappear, along with untold billions of corporate value/market cap.

  81. 81.

    beltane

    @David Koch: Most Republicans seem to genuinely like and admire Donald Trump. He combines Mitt Romney’s business savvy with Newt Gingrich’s mouth and Ronald Reagan’s showmanship. Marco Rubio possesses none of these qualities, nor was he a war hero who suffered for serving his country. The GOP establishment should have produced a more convincing empty suit.

  85. 85.

    rk

    @Rising Above:

    Dude, I hope you’re getting paid good money for this, or are a relative, otherwise this Bush adoration makes no sense. He’s not all that. I fail to see a reason for so much devotion.

  86. 86.

    JPL

    @David Koch: The mistress rumor doesn’t matter, unless there are pictures and it is a male. The NYTimes had a well sourced article about McCain, and how did that work out.

    As long as the lower tier has the money to fly, they can always sit at the kiddie table. The next debate is Nov.10, according to google. It gives them a chance to bloviate and show their fists.

  88. 88.

    Mike in NC

    @Rising Above: Dry drunk only needs to remind Americans why 15,000+ of their countrymen died on his watch from 9/11, Katrina, and two pointless wars in the Muslim world.

    Brinks trucks, motherfucker!

  93. 93.

    BGinCHI

    @Felonius Monk: Days are definitely getting shorter, but I can still see mountains wherever I look.

    Altogether a great experience. The kid (about to turn 4 in January) is getting fluent fast. These damn kids and their flexible brains.

    It’s a beautiful country with amazingly nice, smart people. I miss Chicago, apart from Rahm and shots fired.

  95. 95.

    gratuitous

    Hard to handicap this; it’s not like any of these candidates have a regular job that they have to show up for and still get paid. As far as I can tell, none of them have regular person obligations that would require their attention beyond booking speeches and making book tour appearances.

    In short, they got nothin’ else to do but run for the Republican nomination. Travel around the country, make local and national media appearances, and talk to crowds of generally supportive people. Don’t have to be out in the weather, no heavy lifting, and see the sights around the country. What’s not to like?

  96. 96.

    Mandalay

    @trollhattan:

    is there no other issue of economic import to the middle class in the United States of America that you’d like to talk about this morning?

    Planned Parenthood was the ONLY thing Fiorina wanted to talk about until she got publicly skewered for her lies.

  97. 97.

    Redshift

    @Cermet:

    Wow, once the big money pays for him, fake news will make all the dead ender’s follow suit and the 27% will always follow as the brain dead zombies they are.

    And the reason this didn’t happen for Jeb is…?

  99. 99.

    Redshift

    @Peale:

    Paul isn’t going to drop out until after he loses KY. He made the republicans re-write the rules for him so he’d better be around for their primary or caucus or whatever it is they did so that he can run for two offices at once.

    He didn’t just get them to rewrite the rules, he paid for the cost of running a caucus. Hard to believe his pride would let him drop out before he can run in them, so I agree.

  100. 100.

    Felonius Monk

    @BGinCHI: Sounds like a great experience for both you and the kid. Chicago will still be there when you come back, but I know the feeling.

  103. 103.

    Redshift

    @dmsilev:

    Carson’s fundraising operation chews up some hilariously large fraction of the money raised, like over half. Lends credence to the “grifting, not a serious campaign” theory.

    Oh, yeah, big time. (warning, Politico link.) His campaign is run by consultants who are funneling money to their multiple companies. They’re working so hard to be non-transparent they’re setting up separate LLCs for individual staffers, so they don’t have to report what they’re actually doing for the campaign.

    It’s not quite a pyramid scheme, but as soon as the money starts to dry up, the whole thing is going to collapse quickly.

  106. 106.

    David Koch

    @dmsilev: his campaign is brain dead and on life support. sooner enough they’ll have to pull the plug.

    would be hilarious if Congress passed a law forcing him to keep it life support forever.

  107. 107.

    cokane

    Santorum sticks around until at least the Iowa vote, since he won it last time. Some others are going to drop out before that, like say, Jindal.

  108. 108.

    catclub

    @Eolirin:

    No one in the Republician primary is doing anything to focus on ground game organization and GotV,

    Important if true. But since reporters do not seem to report much on this, I have no idea. If somebody IS, they might surprise in actual elections.

  109. 109.

    trollhattan

    @ksmiami:
    Carson is so somnambulant I assume he kept a few of his triplicate prescription pads for his own use, after retiring from the doctoring thing.

  111. 111.

    catclub

    @Mandalay:

    Planned Parenthood was the ONLY thing Fiorina wanted to talk about until she got publicly skewered for her lies.

    I sure wish I could ask the GOP; “So, you are a politician, 1) what would you trade in order to get Planned Parenthood defunded?
    2) What would you trade that the Democrats might accept in order to get Planned parenthood defunded?”

  112. 112.

    JPL

    As long as they have a free forum to spout off, they will continue. They don’t mind the kiddie table.

    They need to tighten up the debates.. maybe 7 percent. lol

  113. 113.

    JPL

    @catclub: There was a clip on mediate. Carly was on CNN and stands by her lies. The Washington Post fact check can’t be trusted. She’s right, damn it. I didn’t watch it though.

  114. 114.

    shell

    Santorum, Pataki? Are they even campaigning anymore? I know Trump sucks up all the media air, but I cant remember hearing a single thing from them for m onths.

  116. 116.

    jharp

    I’m still picking Jeb to win.

    Sure he sucks as candidate but who else would lose by less?

    And it will be a down ticket catastrophe if the GOP goes with anyone else.

    Kasich is plan B and I don’t think he had a very good day either.

  118. 118.

    dmsilev

    @efgoldman: I believe Zombie Reagan is first in line to be our first Undead President. Dick Cheney, of course, broke that barrier for the VP slot.

  119. 119.

    Shana

    @Redshift: With you about Carson’s grifter staff and consultants. I’ve never voted for a R in my life, and am a Democratic Precinct Captain and member of the local D Committee, yet I’ve received two Carson robocalls. I waited through the b**lsh*t of the call to talk to someone and gleefully told them that they were buying crap lists and I was glad the poor shrub on the other end was employed but he should try for honest work.

  120. 120.

    SRW1

    @Rising Above:

    No word coming down from on high about a dropout. Just the opposite–buckle down for the “long game”.

    You have communication with the Führerbunker? Cool story, bro!

  121. 121.

    SFAW

    @dmsilev:

    He _doubled_ my blog salary!

    What a cheapskate! If it were MY blog, I’d give you TRIPLE!

    ETA: Well, it would be triple BEFORE the consultants take their cut, of course

  122. 122.

    MomSense

    Who cares about the candidates. That is a great song by Howlin Wolf. I recently read about his life and cried for him. One of my heroes.

  124. 124.

    dogwood

    @trollhattan:
    My wild guess on Carson and his somnambulance is that he’s got some physical problem that took him out of surgery. Don’t know if it’s something really serious, but definitely career ending.

  127. 127.

    Bill Arnold

    @Redshift:

    they’re setting up separate LLCs for individual staffers

    Wow. They actually expect that this will not look bad under scrutiny?

  129. 129.

    Elie

    @Redshift:

    I can see Carson collapsing but not Trump — at least not without a big fight where he bloodies probably the lead candidate (whoever that is)

  130. 130.

    Peale

    @catclub: about a month ago I read a story linked on this here blog about Trump building an org to match Bush. That’s when I knew he was serious. But he must be staffing it with volunteers only because he’s raising and spending no money. Lending his campaign 2 million isn’t much. I thought he was supposed to buy up walkers people. Nope.

  131. 131.

    JPL

    @Elie: Interesting. I’m not very accurate with my guesses, but, here goes. if he loses a couple of primaries, I think he’ll go home. He doesn’t like to lose.

  133. 133.

    Elie

    The thing to me that makes this whole thing so different than past years is that the Republican Party stalwarts can’t protect anyone or assure their win. I thought that the Bush family also could take care of themselves. Not true at this time, anyway. There is nothing to force anyone out or protect from being kicked out. The mainstream GOP is powerless to do anything but wring their hands and hope it all comes out okay somehow. There candidates, even the lead ones may be doing very little real GOTV organizing and just running their various grifts…

  134. 134.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Patricia Kayden: He won a whole string of them, Tenn, Miss, LA, MO… at one point it looked enough like might catch Willard that some GOP money people wanted to draft….Jeb! Probably the same ones are now whispering about drafting Willard. Santorumarola hadn’t said some dumbass thing about JFK, it could’ve gotten really ugly.

  135. 135.

    Elie

    @JPL:

    He not only has to lose — but lose badly. SHUT UP kind of lose. Whatever, he doesn’t look close to that. He is not a nice man. I cannot imagine him just losing quietly and then going home. Maybe — but that would be a different Trump than we have seen to date, anyway…

  136. 136.

    Bokonon

    @Redshift:

    And I think there’s a third category of people who still believe the GOP will recover its sanity at some point, and are positioning themselves to be the new leader when that happens. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for Gilmore and Pataki, and I guess I’d put Graham in there too.

    Gilmore is not sane. I’ve met the man, and I lived in Virginia when he was governor. Gilmore was a ideologically extreme, rigid, angry Tea Partier before there was even a Tea Party.

  137. 137.

    trollhattan

    @Elie:
    Going all the way back to Trump’s initial, literal descent from on high (via escalator) when he announced I, along with 95% of sentient beings, presumed he’d peak and crash within a month, six weeks tops. His staying power is remarkable and I’ll grudgingly add that his willingness to kick the other candidates in the nuts (am including Carly due to her giant pair) continues to be useful. Or is that YUUUUSEFUL?

    Stick around, The Donald, and keep damaging both the brand and the competition.

  139. 139.

    gelfling545

    @mai naem mobile: Seems to me that he was pretty moderate back in the day. We’ve had worse governors. I know that he was in office when SCHIP came in he & pushed it pretty strongly. When my 2nd child was born I got a congratulatory card from him & his wife with a reminder that SCHIP was available. Practically a socialist by today’s standards.

  140. 140.

    Elie

    @trollhattan:

    @JPL:

    Trump — in fact the whole Republican Party is like one of those big ghost tankers where all the people including any captain are gone without explanation and its just sitting in the ocean, a hazard to other marine traffic. No one has any idea what is going to happen. The Republican Party has made the US look like one of those second tier semi democracies where they have elections but who knows what will happen. Really — is Reince cool with what is happening or could happen to his party? Truly, not ONE of these characters is competent and Trump and Carson’s shticks are contemptible. It seems that at least the House Republicans had some sense of their risk in the real world. While I would be thrilled to see the Republican candidate eaten alive by the Democratic nominee, this is not a good thing for our country overall…The sense off our losing the ability to govern ourselves is growing and emboldening the Putins of the world….

  141. 141.

    trollhattan

    @Elie:
    I know a sprinkling of self-identified Republicans and not one of them possesses a shred of realism in how they perceive the party’s current state. Once they get past “smaller government” and “balanced budgets” and “small-business friendly” they have or at least admit to not a single shred of the nativist culture-warrior rabble that has taken over. It’s forever Reagan’s second term (even for the ones in Huggies back then).

  142. 142.

    Elie

    We will also see what Rubio has to show if he can climb to front runner over Trump and Carson. Will be interesting to see if Trump more or less leaves him alone (like he pretty much does Carson), or if he does or attempts a take down. I have not only been surprised by Trumps staying power, but the sense that he may actually want this thing. I used to think he was just having some fun and fluffing his brand a bit, but now not so sure. If he actually wants it, things are going not only stay interesting, but may become quite harrowing for the GOP…. I they have no clear winner after a bunch of primaries, who knows?

  144. 144.

    Elie

    @trollhattan:

    I have a couple of friends and I take heart that both of them are pretty appalled about what they are seeing. I have to also assume that the quick resolution of the budget/debt ceiling thing came under GOP insider pressure and push to have the Republicans look at least a little competent given that they had THAT circus in the House AND Donald Trump. Maybe not in the rank and file voter, but I am thinking a lot of the regular GOP leadership are pretty worried but don’t know what they can do about it.

  146. 146.

    dogwood

    @Elie:
    Political parties have been losing power over the last several decades. It’s simply accelerating more rapidly right now.

  148. 148.

    Elie

    @dogwood:

    Got that but this seems pretty catastrophic. None of these guys strike me as able to put together a real strong organization (except maybe Bush whose family has done this many times). Yeah, they all have staff but not sure if they will be able to bring it together. We will see. Someone or some entity has to think about the larger picture…

  150. 150.

    Bobby Thomson

    @Rising Above:

    Do you seriously think Jeb Bush–son of a President, brother of a President, former governor of our fourth largest state–is going to drop out before a single vote is cast?

    I certainly hope not. He’s a wonderful spoiler.

    But in terms of intestinal fortitude?

    “Of course he’s pro-immigration. His wife is Mexican, after all.” “Apologize!” “Get bent, nerd.” {crickets}

    “My brother kept us safe.” “The towers came down on his watch. Just sayin’.” “Apologize!” “Why? It’s just the truth.” {Crickets}

    “You should do your job or resign.” “You didn’t have a problem when your secret crush John McCain missed votes. And why so butch all of a sudden? Who put you up to this?” {Crickets}

    He’d be doing us a solid by taking out Rubio, but he just doesn’t have it in him. Chickens – they’re not just for Betty’s backyard anymore.

  153. 153.

    Jeffro

    @Peale:

    Paul isn’t going to drop out until after he loses KY. He made the republicans re-write the rules for him so he’d better be around for their primary or caucus or whatever it is they did so that he can run for two offices at once.

    And yet…the national and state GOP are beating on him for neglecting “constituent services” in KY while he is busy going nowhere fast as a presidential campaign. He may bow out sooner than you think, two-office-run or no.

  154. 154.

    Jeffro

    @Eolirin:

    What do you think is going to take Trump and Carson out of the running?

    Carson: apparently his handlers, fundraisers, and other leech-like components of his campaign are burning through his cash at a pretty high clip. That, and his more obvious lies & weirdness, should cut into his numbers in another month or so. If nothing else, Cruz will make a play for the fundies by pointing out all of the above while touting his own religious right cred.

    Trump: either Rubio or Cruz mocking him repeatedly to his face.

  155. 155.

    Jeffro

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:

    The story I recall is that Graham got in the race specifically to destroy Paul since Paul’s foreign policy views are so abhorrent to him and St. John McCain.

    Yes – Lindsey wanted to run as a counter-point to Paul’s foreign policy. Why not – he (Graham) gets all the free airtime he needs on Sunday mornings. And there’s no overhead, since he’s running a Gilmore-style campaign consisting of just him.

  158. 158.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Elie:

    I have to also assume that the quick resolution of the budget/debt ceiling thing came under GOP insider pressure

    No need. Boehner decided he was sick of the horseshit and quit. The moment he stopped being hardcore, historically unprecedented obstructionist, some kind of non-disastrous deal was in the bag.

  159. 159.

    mclaren

    @dogwood:

    My wild guess on Carson and his somnambulance is that he’s got some physical problem that took him out of surgery. Don’t know if it’s something really serious, but definitely career ending.

    It’s called “stupidity.”

  160. 160.

    lol

    @JPL:

    With McCain, it’s just an affair so it’s all circumstantial unless you get pics or other evidence from the actual hookup. Unlikely to say the least.

    With Rubio, the big difference is that there’s supposedly a love child or two. That’s a lot more to work with.

  162. 162.

    Matt McIrvin

    @efgoldman: Don’t forget, somebody with exactly the same writing style and a similar collection of nyms and catchphrases was saying the same kinds of things here about McCain in 2008 and Romney in 2012, right down to the paeans to UNLIMITED CORPORATE CASH and the occasional happily sinister invocation of dirty-tricks squads.

    Every one of his predictions was as unshakeably confident as the previous one, and the guy would silently vanish the day after Election Day, and he or somebody behaving exactly like him would reappear four years later.

    I don’t recall him getting this much into the primary campaign, though.

  163. 163.

    Paul in KY

    Here’s mine again:

    1. Pataki
    2. Graham
    3. Jindal
    4. Gilmore
    5. Satanum
    6. Paul
    7. Kasich
    8. Huckabee
    9. Christie
    10. Cruz
    11. Fiorina
    12. Carson
    13. Rubio
    14. Trump
    With Bush as the winner

    (big screw-up with Bush winning)

  164. 164.

    Paul in KY

    @Eolirin: I think the GOP money people would arrange for an ‘accident’ if it looked like Brave Sir Ben was going to be their nominee.

  165. 165.

    Paul in KY

    @dmsilev: Be interesting to see if any of that money has gone to his property. Like putting in a state-of-the-art studio or something like that in it.

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