Just 18 months ago the Republican punditry was talking about the “Deep Bench” they had in this election. That they would crush Hilary. That even their second and third strings could lead them to victory.
So what happened?
In an earlier thread, I commented that this was exactly the situation that is supposed to favour the non-incumbent party: two term president with baggage, with an heiress apparent with even more baggage; Republicans on a roll in the state-houses and mid-terms.
This should have been the election that attracted the best and the brightest from the Republicans.
Instead, a reality show snake-oil salesman with a huuuuuge ego, multiple bankruptcies, and absolutely no experience in government. And some of the worst negatives ever, amongst the very constituencies he needs to attract.
So what happened to the best and the brightest Republicans? Where were they?
Or was this really the best and the brightest they had on their bench? :eek:
Note, of course, that the presumed nominee for the Republicans is not even mentioned.
So what happened?
ETA: this isn’t Republican-bashing, by the way. I have no dog in the fight (literally, posting from somewhere north of North Dakota). I’m just very curious to know what happened to the Republicans this year.
The best thing the Democrats wanted… And now we can say that more in the open because selecting Trump was really the dumbest idea I have seen being made by the Republicans.
Also, expect mass quantities of bullshit politics, coming from Republicans that should know better but will have to support Trump till November.
It’s because for all his xenophobia, crazy comments, and occasional lapses in knowledge, he is the only Republican who even pretended to give a shit about anybody who wasn’t upper-middle class.
What happened? The Washington Times is known for promoting conservative thinking. As is often the case, conservative thinking got run over by reality. The Pubs didn’t have a deep bench - that is, a lot of people with talent. They just had a lot of people with desire.
Well, you know that Canadian/Northeastern American Indian legend where you get really starved and eat human flesh and get turned into a Wendigo? Something like that. Pretty much exactly, in fact.
This is the 2nd presidential race in a row with no strong candidates. 2012 Romney and now 2016 Trump. It’s just crazy that there’s nobody that interesting or charismatic in the Republican field.
2008 wasn’t exactly that great either with McCain.
Maybe in 2020 Paul Ryan will catch fire. Just have to wait and see. Otherwise, I haven’t seen any interesting candidates on the horizon. One name to watch for is from my home state Tom Cotton. He’s pretty far to the right, but he’s young, energetic and a war veteran. That was enough to beat Mark Pryor. Cotton is ambitious, you’ll see him in 2020 or 2024.
lol. This primary cycle has proved that somebody like Ryan or Cotton, who will offer the same nonsense every Republican candidate-TRUMP, the Pauls, and Buchanan excepted-has offered since the 1980s won’t win. I do hope Cotton runs, just to see him get thumped Rubio style by a proper TRUMP-style populist.
Tom Cotton is the guy who wrote to the Ayatollah of Iran to say that he couldn’t rely on our President’s word because future Congresses may not hold up their end of a deal.
So, yeah, sure, total Deep Bench Material, right there.
I had a real cognitive disconnect here. The Washington Post listed a Who’s Who in Looney Land (Bolton?? Carson??? Huckabee??? Cheney :smack:) as “more ready than Hillary.” :eek: Yes, reputable newspapers have right-wing columnists but they don’t pick the token right-wingers from the Looney Farm.
Give me credit for guessing right away what had happened: I placed the cursor of the “Washington Post” link. … Sure enough.
It’s easy to get confused. The New York Times is a newspaper; the New York Post is a right-wing vomit bag. In Washington the Times/Post labels are reversed.
