# The 2016 Republican candidates **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 9, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444 "2015-01-09T22:38:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/221 "2015-01-20T15:39:39Z")
That’s probably true for the general-election debates, but primary debates can probably make a bigger difference. There, you usually have voters who’ve decided that they they mostly agree with all of the candidates, and are just interested in which candidate can more effectively implement what they want. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/222 "2015-01-20T19:05:24Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Hey, you were the one who brought up the debates as something of apparent importance as you saw it. (“Democrats won’t get much mileage out of basically accusing him of being an idiot savant. Especially when they keep on touting how smart their candidates are and then watch them lose debates against supposed simpleton Republicans.”) > > If our judging candidates on whether they’re on their game for a debate is “the whole problem,” then you shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place to support your contention about Carson. I will say that debates demonstrate more intelligence than written speeches. Any idiot can read from a teleprompter and sound intelligent. Actually, I take that back, seems like most politicians can’t even do that. That’s the other problem with our politics. We let these people act like they know more than they do and we punish the ones who can’t act as smart as we expect them to, rather than the ones who are actually really stupid but know how to play the part well. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/223 "2015-01-21T16:26:19Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I will say that debates demonstrate more intelligence than written speeches. It depends on the debate. In 2016, the press may not jump in to help the Democrat as they did with Obama when his performance in the first debate shows that he was rather in over his head. Or perhaps they may - but if they do, and it’s Romney on the other side, he may be prepared to debate both the Democrat and the moderator. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/224 "2015-01-21T16:40:48Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It depends on the debate. In 2016, the press may not jump in to help the Democrat as they did with Obama **when his performance in the first debate shows that he was rather in over his head**. Or perhaps they may - but if they do, and it’s Romney on the other side, he may be prepared to debate both the Democrat and the moderator. > > Regards, > Shodan No, his performance in the first debate showed that he wasn’t on his game. Anybody can have an off day. As the subsequent debates showed, Barack Obama was NOT “in over his head.” Salutations, Me. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2015, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/225 "2015-01-21T16:55:45Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It depends on the debate. In 2016, the press may not jump in to help the Democrat as they did with Obama when his performance in the first debate shows that he was rather in over his head. Or perhaps they may - but if they do, and it’s Romney on the other side, he may be prepared to debate both the Democrat and the moderator. > > Regards, > Shodan Obama would be the first to admit that he sucked ass in that first debate. He did a poor job, perhaps because he had so little regard for Romney personally that he found it beneath him to prepare for such a dick. As far as debating the moderator, Romney was putting his eggs in the “WAAH! When anything happens the president’s number one job is to sprint to a microphone and say “terrorism” and he didn’t do that!”, which was not really true. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/226 "2015-01-21T17:19:32Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It depends on the debate. In 2016, the press may not jump in to help the Democrat as they did with Obama when his performance in the first debate shows that he was rather in over his head. Or perhaps they may - but if they do, and it’s Romney on the other side, he may be prepared to debate both the Democrat and the moderator. > > Regards, > Shodan In the first debate Obama was outclassed. In the next two, Romney was outclassed. I’m sure it had something to do with their preparation and how they felt that day. Obama didn’t make Romney say “binders full of women” or complain about the number of ships in the Navy. Is it really impossible to accept that Obama was a better debater than Romney 2 out of 3 times? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/227 "2015-01-21T17:22:27Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > No, his performance in the first debate showed that he wasn’t on his game. Anybody can have an off day. As the subsequent debates showed, Barack Obama was NOT “in over his head.” That’s the point - the press wanted to make sure Obama didn’t have another “off day”, so the moderator jumped in to help him and not let him get flustered. When the mod didn’t help in the first debate, he was in over his head. When the mod did help in the second, he was back on familiar ground, where the press assists him with his spin. As has been mentioned previously in other threads, Obama is used to getting a little more than he deserves (witness the Nobel Prize). The question is whether the press is going to do the same for the Democratic nominee in 2016. If that turns out to be HIllary, it probably won’t happen - she won’t get flustered, since she has a lot more experience in doing pretty much everything than our current CiC. She might try to get aggressive and go on the attack, but that isn’t something a moderator can help her with in a debate. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/228 "2015-01-21T17:35:12Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > That’s the point - the press wanted to make sure Obama didn’t have another “off day”, so the moderator jumped in to help him and not let him get flustered. > > When the mod didn’t help in the first debate, he was in over his head. When the mod did help in the second, he was back on familiar ground, where the press assists him with his spin. As has been mentioned previously in other threads, Obama is used to getting a little more than he deserves (witness the Nobel Prize). > > The question is whether the press is going to do the same for the Democratic nominee in 2016. If that turns out to be HIllary, it probably won’t happen - she won’t get flustered, since she has a lot more experience in doing pretty much everything than our current CiC. She might try to get aggressive and go on the attack, but that isn’t something a moderator can help her with in a debate. > > Regards, > Shodan Is it any wonder the Republicans got their butt kicked twice by Obama? Many really seem to see him as some sort of bumbling doofus who can’t put together a sentence without a teleprompter. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/229 "2015-01-21T17:43:00Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > That’s the point - the press wanted to make sure Obama didn’t have another “off day”, so the moderator jumped in to help him and not let him get flustered. > > When the mod didn’t help in the first debate, he was in over his head. When the mod did help in the second, he was back on familiar ground, where the press assists him with his spin. As has been mentioned previously in other threads, Obama is used to getting a little more than he deserves (witness the Nobel Prize). > > The question is whether the press is going to do the same for the Democratic nominee in 2016. If that turns out to be HIllary, it probably won’t happen - she won’t get flustered, since she has a lot more experience in doing pretty much everything than our current CiC. She might try to get aggressive and go on the attack, but that isn’t something a moderator can help her with in a debate. > > Regards, > Shodan Good heavens, you’re grabbing more straws than a scarecrow maker. The CNN lady merely didn’t let Romney get away with a lie and provided instant factchecking. Perhaps if Romney had confined himself to being truthful, Candy wouldn’t have exceeded her BS tolerance. Romney never learned that lying isn’t the way to victory, as witnessed by his desperate attempt to scare Ohio autoworkers into thinking Jeep was going to build all its vehicles in China. But go ahead and blame a media conspiracy for the failings of Romney. Disregards, BLD ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/230 "2015-01-21T17:43:59Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > That’s the point - the press wanted to make sure Obama didn’t have another “off day”, so the moderator jumped in to help him and not let him get flustered. Yes, Og forfend that the moderator should call out outright falsehoods or anything. Obviously insisting on actual facts is helping the Democrats… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/231 "2015-01-21T17:57:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **adaher** : > > That’s the other problem with our politics. We let these people act like they know more than they do and we punish the ones who can’t act as smart as we expect them to, rather than the ones who are actually really stupid but know how to play the part well. That’s a feature, not a bug. There’s a lot of knowledge needed to run a country. It’s a poor leader who tries to know it all himself: The good leader is the one who finds a whole bunch of experts on all of the different issues and gets their advice. The leader ends up being the one taking that advice to a microphone, and so ends up getting to “look smart”, but it’s nowhere necessary for him to actually be smart himself. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/232 "2015-01-21T18:02:25Z")
Disagree. I don’t insist that the candidate I vote for be a master of all fields of knowledge, but I definitely want him or her to be _smart_. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/233 "2015-01-21T18:08:19Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Disagree. I don’t insist that the candidate I vote for be a master of all fields of knowledge, but I definitely want him or her to be _smart_. And more than just smart – they need to be critical thinkers. They need to understand how to evaluate facts and ideas. That’s why, for me, at least, one’s beliefs about things like evolution are so important. Smart people can disbelieve in evolution, but I don’t think people who think critically (at least about science) can. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/234 "2015-01-21T18:12:15Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Obviously insisting on actual facts is helping the Democrats… Yes. Always. This is a thread about the 2016 republican candidates, but for some reason, republicans keep trying to make it a thread about Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/235 "2015-01-21T18:20:42Z")
[QUOTE= jayjay] Obviously insisting on actual facts is helping the Democrats… [/QUOTE] No doubt that is why they have been doing so well lately. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/236 "2015-01-21T18:42:35Z")
Well, I see that Ben Carson [wants Congress to recall Federal judges](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-carson-remove-judges-gay-marriage) who vote for gay marriages. (Hey, if you’re going to fire judges when they reach a different conclusion than you do on your pet issue, why bother having an independent judiciary?) And the Huckster, OTOH, just [wants the states to ignore Federal court rulings](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/huckabee-states-ignore-supreme-court-gay-marriage) they disagree with. Didn’t we settle the issue of nullification 150 years ago, give or take a few months? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/237 "2015-01-21T22:26:20Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The question is whether the press is going to do the same for the Democratic nominee in 2016. If that turns out to be HIllary, it probably won’t happen - she won’t get flustered, since she has a lot more experience in doing pretty much everything than our current CiC. She might try to get aggressive and go on the attack, but that isn’t something a moderator can help her with in a debate. > > Regards, > Shodan Actually, I thought Clinton outperformed Obama in 2008 in the debates, but she wasn’t great and she did have her share of small gaffes. The nice thing about the Clintons from a right-wing perspective is that the press loves to pile on them as much as they do Republicans once they smell blood. The GOP candidate might actually get the more favorable coverage during the 2016 race this time around. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2015, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/238 "2015-01-21T22:29:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s a feature, not a bug. There’s a lot of knowledge needed to run a country. It’s a poor leader who tries to know it all himself: The good leader is the one who finds a whole bunch of experts on all of the different issues and gets their advice. The leader ends up being the one taking that advice to a microphone, and so ends up getting to “look smart”, but it’s nowhere necessary for him to actually be smart himself. I agree with half of your argument, but politicians should be a little more honest. Like Reagan, who when asked in the early days of his administration at a press conference if his budget was ready, turned to his budget director, who nodded, and Reagan said, “This young man tells me we do.” ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/239 "2015-01-22T01:09:46Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No doubt that is why they have been doing so well lately. > > Regards, > Shodan Concession noted. Moving on… Felicitations, Moi. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/240 "2015-01-22T01:33:08Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Yes. Always. > > This is a thread about the 2016 republican candidates, but for some reason, republicans keep trying to make it a thread about Obama. Who is doing **very** well lately. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444.md?page=13)