# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/101 "2015-01-14T19:53:54Z")
This is a partisan board. Of course the majority is going to think I’m wrong here. If you had an ounce of intellectual courage, you’d be debating in less friendly forums. There’s some smart people here, to be sure, but it’s hard to take any of you seriously when you’ve flocked to a board as skewed towards your political point of view as this one is. Your intelligence is never challenged, and sometimes it really shows when you obstinately stick to points of view long discredited and that you can’t even defend without resorting to bluster. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/102 "2015-01-14T19:57:20Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Bush was death to John McCain. There has never been a campaign where an incumbent wasn’t running where the candidate of his own party trying to succeed him wasn’t tied to his performance. > > The Obama campaign’s primary strategy was to say that McCAin would be “Bush’s third term”, and liberal discussion board posters couldnt’ stop showing that picture of McCain hugging Bush. Most of you thought it was an effective strategy. That’s because it is. Elections are ALWAYS about the incumbent whether the incumbent is running or not. > > Besides, Obama can’t help himself. You just know he’s going to say things like, “Every one of my policies is on the ballot” and “Clinton will say what she has to say, but she’s going to continue my policies.” His ego is too big to just shut up. McCain was death to John McCain. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/103 "2015-01-14T19:58:56Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > This is a partisan board. Of course the majority is going to think I’m wrong here. If you had an ounce of intellectual courage, you’d be debating in less friendly forums. There’s some smart people here, to be sure, but it’s hard to take any of you seriously when you’ve flocked to a board as skewed towards your political point of view as this one is. Your intelligence is never challenged, and sometimes it really shows when you obstinately stick to points of view long discredited and that you can’t even defend without resorting to bluster. You shouldn’t make so many assumptions about people. You don’t know the first thing about me, yet you claim I have no intellectual courage, and that I avoid challenges to my intelligence? Based on what? What long discredited view do I hold and obstinately defend with nothing but bluster? This is a highly insulting post, so you had better be able to back it up. Defend your insults please, with facts. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/104 "2015-01-14T20:04:46Z")
for starters, you indicated that Obama’s popularity is on the rise(after having to back off it being at 50%, his most friendly poll), when he’s at a rather poor 45%. Bush had some bumps during his time too, all Presidents do. Now someone like iiandyii could have come around and made the argument that he has constantly made to me, that Presidents always have ups and downs and these short term movements are meaningless. But he’s busy and someone already actually posted in SUPPORT of a rather untenable point of view! It’s hard to argue that any less partisan board would be that friendly to such a crappy argument. Whatever I say gets picked to shreds, and that’s fine. I take my lumps here and it makes me a better poster in other places because I’m facing more of a rigorous process. You, on the other hand, made a very poor argument and had to wait virtually no time for someone to back you up. ---
**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 14, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/105 "2015-01-14T20:08:33Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Bush was death to John McCain. There has never been a campaign where an incumbent wasn’t running where the candidate of his own party trying to succeed him wasn’t tied to his performance. > > The Obama campaign’s primary strategy was to say that McCAin would be “Bush’s third term”, and liberal discussion board posters couldnt’ stop showing that picture of McCain hugging Bush. Most of you thought it was an effective strategy. That’s because it is. Elections are ALWAYS about the incumbent whether the incumbent is running or not. > > Besides, Obama can’t help himself. You just know he’s going to say things like, “Every one of my policies is on the ballot” and “Clinton will say what she has to say, but she’s going to continue my policies.” His ego is too big to just shut up. You’re incapable of discussing this man without letting your extreme personal bias take control. There’s no point in listening to your opinions on Obama – you just hate him too much to say anything approaching reasonable criticism. We get it. You hate Obama. You’ve admitted it (I don’t remember if you used the word “hate”, but the vitriol in every sentence makes this obvious). It couldn’t be any more clear. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/106 "2015-01-14T20:09:40Z")
Do you think the President will keep his mouth shut this time? I’d almost be willing to bet on that one too, and I don’t bet on much. Be real now. Do you really think he’ll keep his ego in check this time when he didn’t do it last time? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/107 "2015-01-14T20:17:19Z")
Here’s the thing Airbeck. Your post wasn’t terrible in itself. It was wrong, it was rather unnecessary cheerleading, but people do that, even smart people like yourself. What makes it absurd is that someone else actually read that post and must have thought, “Yeah! Obama’s on the rise, Pubbies are on the run!” and backed you up. That’s just weird. That never happens to me here, and it’s probably for the best. ---
**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 14, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/108 "2015-01-14T20:17:58Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Do you think the President will keep his mouth shut this time? I’d almost be willing to bet on that one too, and I don’t bet on much. > > Be real now. Do you really think he’ll keep his ego in check this time when he didn’t do it last time? What do you mean “he didn’t do it last time”? I think (in terms of what he’ll say) he’ll do what he think will most help elect a Democrat. That’s what he did before. In the midterms, it didn’t work very well in many cases. But it wasn’t his ego – he told multiple Senators that it was okay if they attacked him on certain issues if they thought they needed to. ---
**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 14, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/109 "2015-01-14T20:20:23Z")
I don’t know if we can say his popularity is “on the rise”, but his approval rating has been trending up since October. We might soon be able to say, with confidence, that it’s “on the rise”. I certainly this this ‘new Obama’, changing stupid Cuba policy and issuing immigration orders, is more likeable and more effective than the '12 to '13 Obama. It might be reasonable to say his popularity is on the rise, but it’s probably a bit too early to tell. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/110 "2015-01-14T20:20:46Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > for starters, you indicated that Obama’s popularity is on the rise(after having to back off it being at 50%, his most friendly poll), when he’s at a rather poor 45%. Bush had some bumps during his time too, all Presidents do. Now someone like iiandyii could have come around and made the argument that he has constantly made to me, that Presidents always have ups and downs and these short term movements are meaningless. But he’s busy and someone already actually posted in SUPPORT of a rather untenable point of view! It’s hard to argue that any less partisan board would be that friendly to such a crappy argument. Whatever I say gets picked to shreds, and that’s fine. I take my lumps here and it makes me a better poster in other places because I’m facing more of a rigorous process. You, on the other hand, made a very poor argument and had to wait virtually no time for someone to back you up. This does nothing to back up your prior insults. You questioned my integrity as a SDMB poster, you were not just taking issue with my latest post. You made strong insulting statements well beyond that. At this point most reasonable people would be apologizing for making baseless statements questioning another persons integrity. I’m not holding my breath though. Also, I didn’t ‘back off’ 50%. I said “as of today” meaning in this most recent Rasmussen poll (since when is Rasmussen the most friendly polling outfit to Obama?), which was in fact 50% approval. I never claimed that was an average, so there was nothing at all factually wrong about what I posted. Your 44% was in fact factually wrong though, so at least one of us was. No surprise it was you. Again. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/111 "2015-01-14T20:21:51Z")
You don’t do it in public, while strongly implying that they are just doing what they need to do. And then digging in further by saying they all supported him. > [@](#): > > “This isn’t about my feelings being hurt,” Obama told radio show host Al Sharpton in an interview Monday. “These are folks who are strong allies and supporters of me, and I tell them, ‘you know what, you do what you need to do to win. I will be responsible for making sure that our voters turn out.’” > **[Obama: Democratic candidates support me](https://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2014/10/21/obama-al-sharpton-democratic-candiodates/17650393/)** > > President Obama said he understands Democrats who don't want to campaign with him. So my question is, will he do that to Hillary if she tries to distance herself from him? And aren’t you on record multiple times as saying that attempting to distance yourself from Obama is a terrible strategy for a Democrat? ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/112 "2015-01-14T20:22:49Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Here’s the thing Airbeck. Your post wasn’t terrible in itself. It was wrong, it was rather unnecessary cheerleading, but people do that, even smart people like yourself. What makes it absurd is that someone else actually read that post and must have thought, “Yeah! Obama’s on the rise, Pubbies are on the run!” and backed you up. That’s just weird. That never happens to me here, and it’s probably for the best. Nope. You saying 44% was wrong. Obama did in fact poll at 50% today, and the trendlines are in fact on the upswing. None of that is false. Your original post of %44 was the error. It’d be nice if you’d own up to being wrong just once instead of pointing fingers at everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/113 "2015-01-14T20:25:47Z")
> [@Airbeck](#): > > This does nothing to back up your prior insults. You questioned my integrity as a SDMB poster, you were not just taking issue with my latest post. You made strong insulting statements well beyond that. At this point most reasonable people would be apologizing for making baseless statements questioning another persons integrity. I’m not holding my breath though. Actually, I didn’t question your integrity as an SDMB poster. I questioned whether you could handle yourself on a board where you’d get less reflexive support for your arguments. > [@](#): > > Also, I didn’t ‘back off’ 50%. I said “as of today” meaning in this most recent Rasmussen poll (since when is Rasmussen the most friendly polling outfit to Obama?), which was in fact 50% approval. I never claimed that was an average, so there was nothing at all factually wrong about what I posted. Your 44% was in fact factually wrong though, so at least one of us was. No surprise it was you. Again. Now you’re digging yourself deeper. Okay, fine, the poll itself is factual, but given how many Presidential approval polls are taken, no one would post just one unless they were trying to pull something. I know you know better. You can be factual while leaving out necessary facts. My 44% was also factually wrong, but again, you make a piss poor argument for it being part of a pattern. I check that average daily. It was 44% this morning, before they posted the latest Rasmussen poll. Give me a break. Your style here reeks of someone trying to “win” without actually being right about anything. And other posters will back you up, because that’s what you guys do here. ---
**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 14, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/114 "2015-01-14T20:29:54Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > You don’t do it in public, while strongly implying that they are just doing what they need to do. And then digging in further by saying they all supported him. Incoherent nonsense. > [@](#): > > So my question is, will he do that to Hillary if she tries to distance herself from him? And aren’t you on record multiple times as saying that attempting to distance yourself from Obama is a terrible strategy for a Democrat? Yeah, it’s a bad move. Obama did it anyway – he’s not a perfect campaigner. I’m hopeful that he’ll be better than ever in the '16 campaign. Unless his approval rating is way, way lower than it is now, Hillary will probably take a “Obama did a good job except for a few things I would do better” tactic. If it’s way, way low, then who knows – and there probably won’t be much she can do. ---
**Author:** ![Airbeck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/airbeck/32/6574_2.png) [@Airbeck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airbeck)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/115 "2015-01-14T20:33:50Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Actually, I didn’t question your integrity as an SDMB poster. I questioned whether you could handle yourself on a board where you’d get less reflexive support for your arguments. > > Now you’re digging yourself deeper. Okay, fine, the poll itself is factual, but given how many Presidential approval polls are taken, no one would post just one unless they were trying to pull something. I know you know better. You can be factual while leaving out necessary facts. > > My 44% was also factually wrong, but again, you make a piss poor argument for it being part of a pattern. I check that average daily. It was 44% this morning, before they posted the latest Rasmussen poll. Give me a break. Your style here reeks of someone trying to “win” without actually being right about anything. And other posters will back you up, because that’s what you guys do here. You said “if you had a shred of intellectual integrity”. The implication being that I currently do not. You evidently have nothing to back up the assertion that have no intellectual integrity, so you should apologize and take it back. You have no idea what I do away from the SDMB. I don’t even post that much here, so you really have nothing to go on to make that kind of insulting statement. You are as overconfident about what you think you know about me as you are about what you think you know about politics. A little humility goes a long way you know. At least you did admit that you posted something factually wrong. That’s a good start. Somehow I don’t think it’ll help too much with the over confidence problem that you have though. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/116 "2015-01-14T20:40:16Z")
I’m overconfident? I’m probably the least confident poster here. But I also have the thickest skin. Yours, not so much. But I do apologize for the attack on your intellectual integrity, it was an unnecessary and wrong statement. I would like to see you in other venues though where you’d have to be more rigorous in defending your point of view. You could not bring that last argument into very many non-lefty boards and get very far. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/117 "2015-01-14T20:42:41Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Clinton and Obama prove the rule: if the Democrat isn’t charismatic, Democratic voters don’t come out. Hillary Clinton is far from charismatic. [shrug] She’s no less so than Bill; that’s enough. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/118 "2015-01-14T20:42:44Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Unless his approval rating is way, way lower than it is now, Hillary will probably take a “Obama did a good job except for a few things I would do better” tactic. If it’s way, way low, then who knows – and there probably won’t be much she can do. That’s probably the best tack to take. I’m glad that you admit that if he’s really low, then a lot of things are just out of her hands. The criticisms of McCain tend to ignore that he had to throw some hail marys to have a chance to win the election. If McCain had been succeeding a popular incumbent, he would have run a much more conservative campaign. So again, McCain didn’t kill McCain anymore than a QB coming in down by 20 points is the cause of his team’s loss because he threw a couple of interceptions. McCain knew the headwinds he was up against and ran the kind of campaign he thought he had to to give him a chance to win. I will say he totally botched the handling of the financial crisis though. He might have still had a small chance had the financial crisis happened after the election, or if he’d handled it better. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/119 "2015-01-14T20:48:40Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That’s probably the best tack to take. I’m glad that you admit that if he’s really low, then a lot of things are just out of her hands. > > The criticisms of McCain tend to ignore that he had to throw some hail marys to have a chance to win the election. If McCain had been succeeding a popular incumbent, he would have run a much more conservative campaign. So again, McCain didn’t kill McCain anymore than a QB coming in down by 20 points is the cause of his team’s loss because he threw a couple of interceptions. McCain knew the headwinds he was up against and ran the kind of campaign he thought he had to to give him a chance to win. > > I will say he totally botched the handling of the financial crisis though. He might have still had a small chance had the financial crisis happened after the election, or if he’d handled it better. He botched the most significant decision a candidate has to make, picking a running mate who can take over without ruining the country if you die in office. ---
**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 14, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/120 "2015-01-14T20:55:27Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > That’s probably the best tack to take. I’m glad that you admit that if he’s really low, then a lot of things are just out of her hands. > > The criticisms of McCain tend to ignore that he had to throw some hail marys to have a chance to win the election. If McCain had been succeeding a popular incumbent, he would have run a much more conservative campaign. So again, McCain didn’t kill McCain anymore than a QB coming in down by 20 points is the cause of his team’s loss because he threw a couple of interceptions. McCain knew the headwinds he was up against and ran the kind of campaign he thought he had to to give him a chance to win. > > I will say he totally botched the handling of the financial crisis though. He might have still had a small chance had the financial crisis happened after the election, or if he’d handled it better. McCain’s another guy who somewhat ruined himself due to hatred of Obama. He just couldn’t get over getting his ass kicked. I’d say Lindsey Graham was too, but he ruined himself years before. Plus, he chose Palin, which is way, way dumber than anything Obama has done. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444.md?page=7)