# 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:** 67
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1322 "2015-04-24T16:13:05Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Dukakis lost to George H.W. Bush, the incumbent VP, not the President (Reagan). To quote myself, with emphasis and notes: “You’ve got to go back to 1988 [Dukakis’ loss to Bush the Elder] to find a Presidential election where the Dem lost by **more** than 2.5% of the vote. [The last “more than 2.5%” loss. A good bit more than 2.5%.] And even **that 2.5% loss** [not “more than 2.5%,” just 2.5%] was by a pretty mediocre Dem candidate [John Kerry] against an incumbent Republican President [Dubya]…” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1323 "2015-04-24T16:16:02Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > Or, we’re guessing, Hillary Clinton, who mismanaged her 2008 campaign in ways that mattered a lot. Yes indeed. Not that I’m hoping for a repeat of either Reagan or Nixon, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1324 "2015-04-24T17:15:47Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Eh… Romney got a second chance. In fact lots of losers take a second run at it and win - consider Nixon and Reagan, for two. We’re talking general elections. No losers since Nixon have been renominated. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1325 "2015-04-27T06:52:28Z")
Some posters have said that Jeb Bush will be the nominee. It sure doesn’t look like it: > **[Is anyone afraid of Jeb Bush?](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/is-anyone-afraid-of-jeb-bush/2015/04/25/1a6791d0-eb59-11e4-aae1-d642717d8afa_story.html)** > > Bush is raising tons of money and has plenty of potential assets. Why aren’t his rivals scared off? He’s currently polling in single digits. Not good when you’re the best known candidate in the field. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1326 "2015-04-27T07:34:13Z")
[Looks like Rick Snyder is a sure bet to run.](http://woodtv.com/2015/04/26/report-former-sen-says-snyder-running-for-president/) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1327 "2015-04-27T07:52:59Z")
Hey, the more the merrier. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1328 "2015-04-27T09:24:59Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Hey, the more the merrier. Up to a point, but the “clown car” effect can dilute the effectiveness and visibility (and donation pool) of individual campaigns. We’ll see how many actually declare though - heck, Trump keeps claiming to be thinking about running and that ain’t ever gonna happen. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1329 "2015-04-27T09:42:03Z")
It can be bad, but I prefer it to a coronation of a flawed candidate.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1330 "2015-04-27T10:05:31Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It can be bad, but I prefer it to a coronation of a flawed candidate.🙂 Of course, in 2012 the GOP got both approaches… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1331 "2015-04-27T16:16:09Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Looks like Rick Snyder is a sure bet to run.](http://woodtv.com/2015/04/26/report-former-sen-says-snyder-running-for-president/) Well, who’d’a thunk it? Guess I’ll have to update my rankings to move Snyder back to the “_Running? Who in the damn galaxy ain’t?_” tier, from the “_Apparently these guys ain’t_” tier. 😛 Speaking of which, as improbable as it may seem, Trump’s hiring staff in New Hampshire, and is making noises about planning to open a campaign office there. Guess I may have to include him in the “Who in the damn galaxy ain’t?” tier as well. One more candidate, and they’ll have enough for a football scrimmage. Maybe the Mittster will look at the field and change his mind about dropping out. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1332 "2015-04-27T19:38:43Z")
Nah, if we’re going to get a re-run I want John McCain back in. Or at least Rudy Giuliani. ---
**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:** [April 27, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1333 "2015-04-27T23:04:21Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Nah, if we’re going to get a re-run I want John McCain back in. Or at least Rudy Giuliani. Are you a glutton for punishment? McCain was unqualified and unfit even while he still had most of his marbles and before he became the world’s sorest loser. Giuliani is your choice if all you want is a perpetual national pity party about 9/11. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1334 "2015-04-28T17:22:37Z")
But they’d both hire really good people to help them! It’s not like Rudy would bring Sarah Palin into his Administration, and John McCain certainly wouldn’t hire a Bernie Kerik. 😃 ---
**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:** [April 28, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1335 "2015-04-28T19:00:54Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > To quote myself, with emphasis and notes: > > “You’ve got to go back to 1988 [Dukakis’ loss to Bush the Elder] to find a Presidential election where the Dem lost by **more** than 2.5% of the vote. [The last “more than 2.5%” loss. A good bit more than 2.5%.] And even **that 2.5% loss** [not “more than 2.5%,” just 2.5%] was by a pretty mediocre Dem candidate [John Kerry] against an incumbent Republican President [Dubya]…” Ah, I see. All that bracketed stuff slipped by me. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Are you a glutton for punishment? McCain was unqualified and unfit even while he still had most of his marbles and before he became the world’s sorest loser… McCain in 2000 was qualified and fit (even if I disagreed with him on most issues). I suspect he would have won by an even bigger margin over Gore that fall, had he got the nomination. ---
**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:** [April 29, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1336 "2015-04-29T01:43:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **BobLibDem** : > > Giuliani is your choice if all you want is a perpetual national pity party about 9/11. What are you talking about? [We had no domestic attacks under Bush](http://www.nbcnews.com/id/34779020/ns/politics/t/giuliani-no-terror-attacks-us-under-bush/#.VUA2tmaBLS8). ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1337 "2015-05-02T06:59:16Z")
Chris Cilizza on why Huck could be a formidable candidate: > **[Two minutes that show Mike Huckabee’s great promise as a presidential candidate](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/05/01/two-minutes-that-show-mike-huckabees-promise-as-a-presidential-candidate/)** > > Huck still has some moves. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1338 "2015-05-02T12:09:55Z")
There’s a long time to go and a lot of column inches to fill, right, Chris? How’s that all-Republican government working out in Florida, **adaher**? Are you excited about making it nationwide next? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1339 "2015-05-02T12:39:55Z")
Florida’s been one of the better governed states for some time. If you can send a guy from freakin’ Chicago to the White House, I think we can manage someone from Florida. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1340 "2015-05-02T13:08:16Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Florida’s been one of the better governed states for some time. By what measures? 😃 > [@](#): > > If you can send a guy from freakin’ Chicago to the White House, I think we can manage someone from Florida. What happened to Hawaii? And Kenya? 😃 Good to see you’re putting Rick Scott on your prospects list after all, based on that assessment. Oh, you’re not, are you, and you already said it’s because he’s been a flop. Another round of cognitive dissonance, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444/1341 "2015-05-02T13:55:54Z")
We’ve already got two Floridians in the race. Don’t need a third. Scott’s got too many ethical liabilities to run for President. It wouldn’t do to put someone ethically challenged up against Clinton. Can’t draw contrasts that way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444.md?page=66) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-2016-republican-candidates/709444.md?page=68)