NJ
Poll of GOP “insiders”: Rubio would be the strongest nominee in 2016
“It’s not just that our party has to reach beyond old white males,” one Republican said. “More fundamentally, we talk in terms of policies and numbers instead of addressing people’s real-life concerns. Rubio is the only one on the list who does that persuasively and relatably.”
Said another Republican, “The Latino Republican version of Obama/Kennedy — he inspires, he’s handsome, and what’s not to like?”
Interestingly, Paul Ryan failed to receive more than a few votes among the Insiders – for perspective, he received about as many votes as failed 2012 GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum. The Wisconsin congressman is the closest thing the party has to a next-in-line successor, although it’s not clear if he will run for president again.
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Support for Obama dropped by 8 million votes. The whackos “on our side” cost us this election.
Basilsbest on November 10, 2012 at 10:34 AM
ReWrite™ engaged. The GOP establishment stayed home in Nevada and Deleware in 2010, and they left the Senate race unchecked in Missouri and Indiana in 2012.
Steve Eggleston on November 10, 2012 at 10:35 AM
My concern is that too many conservatives have bought into Rubio just because he sounds great making speeches and he looks good. Plus, now with the concern of getting Hispanic voters in the next election, many conservatives want identity politics just like the dems.
One just has to peel away the veil of Marco Rubio to revealed who is backing him (Establishment) and what he actually believes beyond the beautiful conservative rhetoric he sprouts. Rubio is probably a nice guy and a good family man but he is a con for the Establishment, who knows that many conservatives in the Republican Party won’t vote or support another Establishment candidate outright ever again, so they have guy come in through the side door
journeymike on November 10, 2012 at 10:35 AM
Delaware, even.
Steve Eggleston on November 10, 2012 at 10:35 AM
Maybe I missed something, but how did Marco Rubio, in the span of 2 years, go from the Tea Party darling who beat Charlie Crist to a hated stooge of the GOP establishment, according to many of the comments I see on this thread?
Seriously, I don’t understand what happened here.
JimLennon on November 10, 2012 at 10:37 AM
Here’s a crazy thought. Fight back? Turn those attacks back on the left? Romney could’ve done that. He could’ve asked if Obama was so concerned about helping the middle class, why did his health care law raise their taxes? Why if he’s focused on jobs did he kill the Keystone pipeline? Why if he cares so much about women, why did his White House pay their female employees nearly a quarter less than their male counterparts? If he wanted to rich to pay their fair share, why did GE pay no income taxes?
It is possible to counter these attacks by the Democrat/media complex. It requires backbone and an actual desire to engage them. Newt seemed to be the only candidate of ours who got that. Unfortunately his personal baggage made him a tough sell.
Doughboy on November 10, 2012 at 10:39 AM
I don’t think he is as strong a player as is made out. Remember, he won a 3 way election for Senator. I don’t think that many hate him, just don’t see him being a strong Presidential Candidate.
reddevil on November 10, 2012 at 10:40 AM
The Hispanics are probably lost to our side, as most of the blacks are. They want Santa.
Can we go after a more natural-fit group to take up the conservative mantle? Say, Asians, India immigrants… They mostly voted for Obama, I believe, but they aren’t so much into the Santa syndrome.
How many are there.? I think we should go around the Dem focusing on the groups that are lost to us and form a strong conservative wave from other immigrants to this country who are here for opportunity and liberty, not for “free stuff”.
stenwin77 on November 10, 2012 at 10:47 AM
Rubio won because of TP support and then he turned around and pretty much told them they could go to hell. He’s a Bushie.
NoNails on November 10, 2012 at 10:52 AM
.
Where is the list?
News2Use on November 10, 2012 at 10:53 AM
Rubio might actually do something in the next three years that may make him the top choice, but until then, let’s get our priorities in order. First, we need to throw those “GOP Insiders” out into the street. They represent everything that’s wrong with the GOP.
NoNails on November 10, 2012 at 10:54 AM
Hey GOP Insiders, if you don’t want this to be the party of old white men anymore, there’s this woman you could run but you’ll have to do a better job of keeping her from being slandered.
Odysseus on November 10, 2012 at 10:58 AM
The only reason Rubio would be our nominee is that stupid conservatives think that nominating a Hispanic gets us the Hispanic vote. Its pretty condescending to Hispanics to think like that. Rubio offers nothing past his skin color and ethnicity to the party. He has done what to deserve being president? Exactly.
thphilli on November 10, 2012 at 10:58 AM
To get Asians and Indians to vote for you, you cannot be a party that denies climate change, evolution and all sorts of other science. Asians in general are heavily into science, and they are not voting for a party that is seemingly anti-science. No asian parents are going to spend 18 years demanding their children get straight A’s so that they can do to an engineering school and then turn around and vote for a party whose nominee thinks that the earth is 6000 years old. Not gonna happen.
thphilli on November 10, 2012 at 11:02 AM
Rubio got the TP support because he sprouted all of the right things and against Charlie Crist, even Romney would be more conservative and get support from the TP.
Rubio is a protege of Jeb Bush, that’s a fact. He also has a lot of Establishment staffers and ties to Romney and the Bushes. Some of his foreign policy speeches sounds right out of the establishment playbook
journeymike on November 10, 2012 at 11:04 AM
Yes.. He charismatic and charming. Ryan is also charismatic and charming. Christie is also charismatic and charming in his own bombastic way. If you’re a politician, you are probably going to be charismatic and charming. And yes Rubio does give a great testimonial on the American dream. The first time I heard “the speech” when he won in 2010 I thought that it was very inspiring and there are some great turns in there – the anecdote about his dad working behind a bar would be ridiculously powerful if given on the steps of the Capitol on January 20th, 2017- but that is his only speech. I know that his family was poor and from Cuba, but I don’t know anything about his governing philosophy. I know a whole lot about what Ryan’s governing philosophy is and I know what Christie and Jindal are about as governors. And Rubio’s lack of vision and accomplishments are going to come back to bite him, especially if the R party basically anoints him the successor like they did Dubya in 1997.
Don’t get me wrong.. there are great positives to Rubio. He is a younger, non-white guy (although he’s Cuban, not Mexican), he comes from a working class background, and he can deliver powerful speeches. However, he has yet to connect his background to an actual government philosophy. A great political speech would explain how President Rubio would help the sons and daughters of bartenders and hotel maids succeed in America, why his conservative philosophy is the best path.
As for the political insiders, I’m assuming that Ryan’s soft support is because of Medicare plan although it was a non-factor in the Presidential race. If he runs for President, it is going to be an outside-in strategy where he gets lots of support from the WSJ and National Review and those fuel his run. Ryan’s never going to win over the K Street consultants. Also.. just most evidence that the Steve Schmidts of the world are morons – Jeb Bush comes in second place. I got a huge hunch that Jeb Bush is never going to be able to win a Presidential election; does anyone want to hazard a guess as to why?
Illinidiva on November 10, 2012 at 11:07 AM
Sure, the winning secret is to try and out “identity politics” the party of “identity politics”. Why don’t we throw some “me too, santa-lite” in for good measure.
Let’s let the primary process work things out. 2016 is a lifetime away to be annointing nominees from the beltway already.
jnelchef on November 10, 2012 at 11:08 AM
It’s impossible to elect candidates who are hopelessly out of touch with 80% of the population. Akin and Mourdock made meaningful contributions to Obama’s victory.
Basilsbest on November 10, 2012 at 11:11 AM
“Insiders” eh?
I love Rubio, but for goodness sake, what ever happened to “Fool me once shame on you…”? Even Gomer Pyle understood that.
29Victor on November 10, 2012 at 11:12 AM
Yes, because when we nominate black candidates, blacks welcome them with open arms and vote for them in droves.
29Victor on November 10, 2012 at 11:15 AM
The insiders like Rubio?
That should be like getting an endorsement from Kim Jong Dong Il or whatever that fat midget is called.
CorporatePiggy on November 10, 2012 at 11:16 AM
There is a huge difference between how the House recruits candidates and how the Senate recruits candidates. Give Ryan and Cantor credit for putting together an entire recruitment program and finding appealing, electable candidates that fit their districts. Their efforts are probably a huge reason why the Rs did so well in 2010 in the House and were able to overcome the Steele RNC mess. I don’t see the 2010 freshmen reps making moronic comments about rape. (As a sidenote, the fact that a large majority of the Rs owe their victories to Ryan and Cantor helps both yield lots of influence against Boehner.)
The Rs in the Senate need to really get smarter about recruiting candidates. They tend to support candidates who are establishment and then get burned when people go with the kooky candidate instead out of spite. This is why, speaking of Rubio, it is sort of confusing to me why he wouldn’t want the NRSC chair. Yes, there is some risk that he fails, but it is probably going to be a good year for Rs in 2014. You’d think a guy who got burned by the NRSC in 2009 would be able to do a good job at recruiting candidates. Get some easy wins and Rubio looks really good. As an added advantage, Rubio would get access to all the big RNC donors and grassroots support which is helpful in 2016.
Illinidiva on November 10, 2012 at 11:31 AM
way to stereotype!!
Sachiko on November 10, 2012 at 11:33 AM
not sure when india stopped being a part of asia…
Sachiko on November 10, 2012 at 11:37 AM
Remember this.
Democrat nominee for POTUS in 2016? Tammy Baldwin. The lesbian Senator from Wisconsin. Watch as the media begin a push for her.
Guaranteed.
For liberals, what you are is all that matters.
Moesart on November 10, 2012 at 11:47 AM
Maybe calling them wackos is just one of many reasons why you’re not getting the desired result.
DFCtomm on November 10, 2012 at 2:08 PM
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