Let the 2016 campaign begin!
For the GOP, the journey ahead is more perilous. They will be going through civil war after this Romney loss: the very conservatives vs. the establishment; the cultural conservatives vs. the economic conservatives; the populists vs. old school. And there is no clear leader ahead. Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, would be formidable with his name and money.
Paul Ryan is a favorite among deficit conservatives and did well on the Romney campaign.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is a rising star of party and they need Latino inroads.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie did well in Hurricane Sandy and is a tough talker.
Rick Santorum would consider a run, and has backing of social conservatives.
Mike Huckabee needs to make a decision and is a popular figure in the party.
Blowback
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Hey I know lets allow the freaks of the media decide who should be our candidate. That has worked out so well so far.
PierreLegrand on November 7, 2012 at 8:08 PM
Give the nomination to Mike Pence right now. After a successful term as Governor he can walk in.
Rocks on November 7, 2012 at 8:09 PM
Blah, blah, blah, blah. I hope ABC expldes into a million bits. I hope its terroism but everyone calls it workplace violence. And I hope that for 7 hours they beg for help but Obama chooses to watch it on TV via a unmanned drone (his weapon of choice).
magicbeans on November 7, 2012 at 8:09 PM
Spit-ballin` here, wild card, thinkin` outside the box……… Micheal Reagan.
ThePrez on November 7, 2012 at 8:09 PM
Some names can automatically be crossed off…
Jeb BushPaul Ryan
Marco Rubio
Chris ChristieRick Santorum
Mike Huckabeeaunursa on November 7, 2012 at 8:12 PM
Rubio.
goflyers on November 7, 2012 at 8:12 PM
Let’s try John McCain again.
faraway on November 7, 2012 at 8:13 PM
Sadly Rubio’s already been chosen for us.. Total lightweight bound to lose. I would much prefer Ryan.
Illinidiva on November 7, 2012 at 8:15 PM
I will never, ever support the fat Charlie Crist known as Chris Christie. I also have zero interest in the unelectable Rick Santorum. Mike Huckabee is another joke. The others on the list sound okay, though.
bluegill on November 7, 2012 at 8:15 PM
Would I vote for them?
Jeb Bush-no
Paul Ryan-overrated, doubtful
Marco Rubio-haven’t actually seen that much out of him. Not sure
Chris Christie-no way
Rick Santorum-meh, maybe
Mike Huckabee-no way in heck
Sarah Palin-yes
Rick Perry-maybe
I think Scott Walker, Susana Martinez, and Rand Paul would all have very good shots and I wouldn’t have a problem with any of them.
topdawg on November 7, 2012 at 8:16 PM
They should all just take a long vacation on a cruise liner that sinks leaving no survivors.
sharrukin on November 7, 2012 at 8:17 PM
Not a whole lot of names matching up on ABC and my shortlist.
HitNRun on November 7, 2012 at 8:17 PM
There always has to be some freak like you to post a comment like that, embarrassing this site and conservatives in general. Go away, and stay there. We have no use for calls for violence.
bluegill on November 7, 2012 at 8:17 PM
Santorum? Huckabee? Only if the GOP has a total death wish.
rbj on November 7, 2012 at 8:17 PM
I agree bluegill and it has been quite awhile since I agreed with you.. but I would add one more thing.. NO MORE BUSHES!
melle1228 on November 7, 2012 at 8:18 PM
Sarah Palin is another one that should never be considered. The woman can’t even string together two or three consecutive sentences properly. We need someone new. We can do a lot better than her.
bluegill on November 7, 2012 at 8:19 PM
Huckabee, Christie, and Jeb Bush?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Guaranteed I will be writing in “Ace/Dave” on that ballot, my two favorite dogs, if any of those jerkwads get the nomination.
Bishop on November 7, 2012 at 8:19 PM
Hate to break it to you guys, but from now on the Democratic primary is a whole lot more important than the general election, because there’s not gonna be a Republican that can flip enough states to get 270 EVs for a long, long time.
Alpha_Male on November 7, 2012 at 8:19 PM
I like Mike pence and Marco Rubio, but I’m interested to see who else emerges.
bluegill on November 7, 2012 at 8:20 PM
Why bother? If we couldn’t win this election, we can’t win any election. I don’t buy into this Monday morning quarterbacking about our candidate or our messaging or whatever. We have an electorate problem. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m not being defeatest, I’m being a realist. It’s time for plan B.
Kataklysmic on November 7, 2012 at 8:20 PM
We’ll see about that. Not interested in joining your boo-hoo party.
bluegill on November 7, 2012 at 8:21 PM
Susanna Martinez and Scott Walker. For God’s sake, our candidate can’t come from a TV gig. Sorry Joe Scarborough.
Marcus on November 7, 2012 at 8:24 PM
Well, if you change your mind, the tent is plenty big; you’ll be welcome.
Alpha_Male on November 7, 2012 at 8:25 PM
Eh, the GOP simply needs to find a guy who is willing to shower money on the grifting douchebags who comprise the demorat base and quite a few states will probably be turned; it’s how the Dog Eater did it.
As a bonus, if the guy is really white he can claim to be descended from Sitting Bull or Tecumsah or whomever and rake in the extra votes.
Bishop on November 7, 2012 at 8:25 PM
Umm..bluegill you were totally defending Christie last week m’kay. When I pointed out how Christie cost Romney the election. As for Rubio what exactly is the appeal? Seriousl,iojo he is a lightweight.
Illinidiva on November 7, 2012 at 8:26 PM
Oh, I realize I misread your comment. I thought you meant the Democrats.
Alpha_Male on November 7, 2012 at 8:26 PM
Where do I donate?
Glenn Jericho on November 7, 2012 at 8:27 PM
Rand Paul, thanks.
Paul Ryan is best kept in the House, preferably as Speaker.
Jeddite on November 7, 2012 at 8:28 PM
Yeah i’m sure Santorum, will be the best candidate in 2016! The electorate will be even more socially conservative by then! /s
cjv209 on November 7, 2012 at 8:29 PM
Christie can take a hike too, can’t believe I ever had faith in him.
cjv209 on November 7, 2012 at 8:30 PM
After she is reelected to the governorship of New Mexico in 2014, I would take Susana Martinez over Marco Rubio. Heck, I’d take her over him now.
steebo77 on November 7, 2012 at 8:31 PM
I’m beginning to think we have a Facebook problem.
With FB, young people and single women are now reliable voters. This is a big, big change that began in 2008.
Rove and Morris don’t understand FB.
faraway on November 7, 2012 at 8:31 PM
Ryan has no desire to be Speaker and lots of desire to be President..m’kay. Hence the VP run.
Illinidiva on November 7, 2012 at 8:31 PM
Rand Paul + Thomas Shotwell FTMFW!!!!!
abobo on November 7, 2012 at 8:33 PM
Charlie Cristie’s national ambitions ended with that photo-op with Obama the week before the election. Not even the RINO establishment is going to forgive that kind of self-serving backstabbing. I’ll donate to Cory Booker if he runs just to rid of us of Cristie.
Lawdawg86 on November 7, 2012 at 8:33 PM
I think she considers bluegills bait.
the_nile on November 7, 2012 at 8:33 PM
People keep saying our side needs to do some soul searching. Well here it is. We ran two moderate Republicans two Presidential cycles back to back and lost BOTH!!!!!
Palin 2016 for me, and I say that as a gay guy. If she runs, she would have my time, my money, and my vote. No politician has ever received all three from me. She’s the only one that I trust.
Palin 2016: Vision for America
Stryker83 on November 7, 2012 at 8:34 PM
I can’t agree more.
My Facebook friends, all over, posted incessantly about how Romney is a monster, Obama is a god, endless repetition of Akin and Mourdock… if even twenty-five percent of those people vote that way in perpetuity, we’re totally sunk.
KingGold on November 7, 2012 at 8:35 PM
Susana Martinez / Rand Paul
the_nile on November 7, 2012 at 8:35 PM
This should be pretty easy … who will have a lot of time on his hands for the next two years after the RINOs basically re-districted him out of the House?
ALLEN WEST
Fiscal Conservative – CHECK
Military Background – CHECK
Smart – CHECK
Minority(*) – CHECK
( * Only issue a significant portion of the Democrat party seems to vote on …)
IrishSamurai on November 7, 2012 at 8:37 PM
I hate to break it to you, but as a veteran of the 2008 campaign who took a pass on 2012, Sarah Palin is the very definition of a retread.
KingGold on November 7, 2012 at 8:38 PM
You’re right – it’s been well-established that after one party wins two elections in a row it’s a guarantee that the other party will not be able to win for a long, long time.
That’s why Clinton lost after 2 terms of Reagan and 1 term of Bush.
That’s why Bush lost after 2 terms of Clinton.
That’s why Obama lost after 2 terms of Bush.
We lost big 4 years ago in a historic election with a virtual unknown running on hope and change.
2 years later we won big in mid term elections.
This year we lost by less than we did 4 years ago.
It’s rare for incumbents to lose. I thought Obama had done so poorly over the past 4 years that there was a good chance he’d be out, but, I was wrong. That doesn’t mean that Republicans will never win again. I’m pretty certain that after EIGHT years of Obama people will finally realize that it doesn’t make sense to blame Bush for the bad economy any more. In 2016 the Democrats will be just as likely to be running as the “I’m not Obama” candidate as the Republicans will be. Although we’re not guaranteed a win (just as 8 years of Reagan were followed by 4 of Bush instead of a Dem win), I think it’s very likely that we will win.
JadeNYU on November 7, 2012 at 8:38 PM
And if we can’t have Allen West …
Rand Paul
Paul Ryan
Big Bird*
in that order …
(* Again we have to target the Democrats who call themselves “independents” in all the polls)
IrishSamurai on November 7, 2012 at 8:39 PM
Oh, quit it with your stupid Mm’kays. I never once defended Christy. Far from it. I have always called him the fat Charlie Crist known as Chris Christie. What I was doing was criticizing your stupid, incessant, doom and gloom, repetitive spam. Get it right, Mm’kay?
bluegill on November 7, 2012 at 8:40 PM
It’s also “well-established” that presidents do not win re-election with unemployment above 7.8%. How’d that work out for us?
KingGold on November 7, 2012 at 8:40 PM
Agree.
Unless and until conservatives as a group learn to work together to find a way to counter liberal indoctrination, and loosen the meddlesome grasping fingers of governments and transnational organisations, its a downward spiral into socialist tyranny.
Plan ‘B’, whatever it is, needs to be very considerably bolder and more radical than nominating a different candidate.
YiZhangZhe on November 7, 2012 at 8:40 PM
same here. Sarah’s kids will be older. Track will be out of the service.
question is, does Sarah still want it?
renalin on November 7, 2012 at 8:43 PM
Marco Rubio 2016
Flapjackmaka on November 7, 2012 at 8:44 PM
I agree. And for a time I chalked up this unfettered ignorance to a combination of poor parenting, biased media, and the lefty indoctrination program known as the public school system. But I realize it’s more than that that now. The cultural narcissism that used to creeping is now exploding in the age of Obama. It’s not that everything these voters believe is a lie that’s the problem. The problem is many times they know it’s a lie and don’t care. They are choosing to love the lie and to hate the truth.
Even the perfect candidate with the perfect message is not going to overcome that.
Kataklysmic on November 7, 2012 at 8:45 PM
No, she doesn’t. And the country doesn’t want her. Though she may be a nice, patriotic woman who is often right on the issues. Repeat after me: We. Need. Someone. New.
bluegill on November 7, 2012 at 8:46 PM
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