# And the Republican "Deep Bench" Produces ... The Reality Show Candidate ? ! ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 4, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841 "2016-05-04T01:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/1 "2016-05-04T01:47:21Z")
Ummm … Oooo - kaaaay… 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: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/2 "2016-05-04T01:51:48Z")
Forget it, Jake, it’s Goptown. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/3 "2016-05-04T01:53:44Z")
To quote someone’s butler, “Some people just want to watch the world burn.” ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/4 "2016-05-04T02:08:26Z")
Now wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute! Kasich hasn’t capitulated yet. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/5 "2016-05-04T02:10:36Z")
From the Washington Post, December 2014: [Republicans have deep bench for 2016; Democrats have, at best, two …](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/28/joseph-curl-republicans-have-deep-bench-for-2016-d/) First, the run-down on the Democrats: > [@](#): > > Yet on Sunday, the brain trust on “This Week” went on and on about the prospects for Democrats in 2016. Weirdly, though, they talked only about two possible candidates — **Hillary Rodham Clinton, who got crushed last time by a first-term senator no one had ever heard of** , and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a one-dimensional politician who has repeatedly said she does not plan to run in 2016. > > **The Dem bench thins significantly after that** — ever heard of Jim Webb or Martin O’Malley? Didn’t think so. They get mentioned most often after Mrs. Clinton and Mrs. Warren. And party leaders still talk seriously about Vice President Joseph R. Biden making a run. Highly unlikely. So crushable. > > There are others: Andrew Cuomo, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Brian Schweitzer, Mark Warner — none are exactly household names. **My favorite is, of course, Sen. Bernie Sanders, who tells us that he will announce early next year whether he will make a go. His thinking: Perhaps America is ready to elect a self-described socialist to the White House. My thinking: When pigs fly.** And then the Republicans: > [@](#): > > **On the other hand, the Republicans are sitting on the deepest bench they’ve had in decades. Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard, counts some 26 potential candidates** : “John Bolton, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, Pete King, Mike Pence, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Rick Santorum, Joe Scarborough, Scott Walker, and Allen West … Dick Cheney, Tom Cotton, Mitch Daniels, Joni Ernst, Newt Gingrich, and Rudy Giuliani.” > > **“Each of you would be a better president than Hillary Clinton.** You would deserve the thanks of man and woman if you beat her. And if your name is not on this list, don’t feel slighted. Rather, feel free to volunteer you’re also more ready than Hillary. If you think you’re the right person go for it.” > > He missed a few others: Nikki Haley, Brian Sandoval, Susana Martinez. And of course Rand Paul. That pushes the number to 30. **Not all are top-tier, ready-to-govern candidates, but all are, as Mr. Kristol points out, “more ready than Hillary.”** 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. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/6 "2016-05-04T02:18:49Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > From the Washington Post, December 2014: > > [Republicans have deep bench for 2016; Democrats have, at best, two …](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/28/joseph-curl-republicans-have-deep-bench-for-2016-d/) > > First, the run-down on the Democrats: > > And then the Republicans: > > 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. Snik…snicker. Heh. Snort…Hehehe…aahahahaaaa!! Bill Kristol! HAHAHAaaaaaaa!!! Hahahaaa!!..choke…Haaaaaah! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/7 "2016-05-04T02:19:10Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > So what happened? 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](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/03/peggy-noonan-mike-murphy_n_123647.html), coming from Republicans that should know better but will have to support Trump till November. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/8 "2016-05-04T02:47:46Z")
Oh, and just to provide a bit of balance. You guys in USA-Land are all agitated about Trump clinching the Republican nom, and Bernie winning another state to Keep the Bern Alive! Up here in Canuckistan, we’re all excited about [the return of the long-form census](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=792029). Really. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/9 "2016-05-04T03:35:13Z")
There’s a reason why the rest of the world thinks Canada is boring. Sometimes boring is nice. And nice is nice, even if it’s a bit boring. ---
**Author:** ![blue\_infinity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_infinity/32/2817_2.png) [@blue\_infinity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blue_infinity)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/10 "2016-05-04T03:43:00Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Now wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute! Kasich hasn’t capitulated yet. “It’s just a flesh wound. Come back here! I’ll bite your legs off!” ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/11 "2016-05-04T03:58:14Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > From the Washington Post, December 2014: > > [Republicans have deep bench for 2016; Democrats have, at best, two …](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/28/joseph-curl-republicans-have-deep-bench-for-2016-d/) Dude, that’s not the Washington\* Post\*. It’s the Washington _Times_. That’s a far-extreme-right-wing paper owned by the Moonies. That’s just a nitpick, though. Nobody saw Trump coming. And the Republicans sincerely thought they had candidates with appeal. Other than that what are you asking that hasn’t been exhaustively covered in the last 600 threads in Elections? ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/12 "2016-05-04T04:05:37Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/13 "2016-05-04T04:11:28Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > From the Washington Post, December 2014: > > [Republicans have deep bench for 2016; Democrats have, at best, two …](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/28/joseph-curl-republicans-have-deep-bench-for-2016-d/) Your link is not to the Washington Post, but to the Washington Times, a [notably less authoritative source.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Times#Political_stance) 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. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/14 "2016-05-04T04:13:17Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > 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. 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. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/15 "2016-05-04T05:41:36Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/16 "2016-05-04T06:25:09Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/17 "2016-05-04T06:42:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/18 "2016-05-04T06:55:08Z")
Deep bench? I thought it was the [clown car](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-republican-field-is-a-clown-car/2015/05/18/e8234a9e-fd81-11e4-833c-a2de05b6b2a4_story.html). Someone needs to make up his mind. (That was the actual Washington Post, btw.) ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/19 "2016-05-04T07:06:20Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > From the Washington Post, December 2014: > > > [@](#): > > > > On the other hand, the Republicans are sitting on the deepest bench they’ve had in decades. Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard, counts some 26 potential candidates: “John Bolton, Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, John Kasich, Pete King, Mike Pence, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Rick Santorum, Joe Scarborough, Scott Walker, and Allen West … Dick Cheney, Tom Cotton, Mitch Daniels, Joni Ernst, Newt Gingrich, and Rudy Giuliani.” … “more ready than Hillary.” 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. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841/20 "2016-05-04T11:17:41Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > This should have been the election that attracted the best and the brightest from the Republicans. Face it – that _ **was** _ the best and the brightest from the Republicans. :eek: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/and-the-republican-deep-bench-produces-the-reality-show-candidate/753841.md?page=2)