The 2016 Republican candidates

[ElvisL1ves]

But the guys you know less about don’t have the same issues, huh?

Might want to look into that a little further. Tell us what makes Walker electable and Scott not.

[esmeralda2]

@Lobohan

Most of that baggage was made up by morons in the RW media.

Very true.

[BrainGlutton]

@Quartz

What baggage does Walker have?

Gross misgovernment of Wisconsin.

[Quartz]

@BrainGlutton

Gross misgovernment of Wisconsin.

Really? Seems like his electorate approved of his government given he won the recall.

[Chronos]

Or maybe his electorate just disapproved of recalls in general.

[BrainGlutton]

@Quartz

Really? Seems like his electorate approved of his government given he won the recall.

All the same, however . . .

What do Scott Walker, Chris Christie and Bobby Jindal all have in common? They’re all sitting governors who’d like to be president, sure. But what else?

How about being embarrassingly bad at job creation? That’s right. From January 2011 through January 2015, Louisiana under Jindal ranked 32nd in job creation with 5.4 percent growth over four years. Wisconsin under Walker ranked 35th, with 4.85 percent growth. New Jersey under Christie ranked 40th, with 4.15 percent growth. This compares with a national average of 8.21 percent.

Even Ohio’s John Kasich, who’s worked more with Democrats—most notably by agreeing to Medicaid expansion under Obamacare—and thus tarnished his brand with conservative purists while puffing himself up with Beltway pundits — only ranked 23rd. He’s still under the national average, with Ohio’s 6.23 percent growth. Ohio has yet to get back to 2007 employment levels, “The nation and the majority of other states reached this benchmark in 2014,” said researcher Hannah Halbert, in a statement from Policy Matters Ohio.

<snip>

It’s not just the embarrassing job-creation numbers, though that alone should be enough to disqualify the whole lot of them. New Jersey has just experienced its ninth bond downgrade under Christie, who may end up looking for a bridge to hide under. In Wisconsin, Walker, facing a two-year deficit that could go as high as $2 billion, has responded with $300 million in cuts for higher education, on top of billions in previous education cuts. Still, job creation was supposed to be Walker’s big thing—he promised to create 250,000 jobs in four years when he first ran in 2010, but came up short by more than 100,000 jobs. Making matters worse are the neighborhood comparisons. Wisconsin ranked between 29th and 41st in job growth over the last four years, the worst in the Midwest three of those years, and second worst the other. In fact, the state performed poorly on a whole host of indicators used by Bloomberg News, and suffers markedly in contrast with neighboring Minnesota, where progressive policies have that state’s economy recovering nicely.

[adaher]

You’ll notice they didn’t mention the example of Illinois. Strange that liberals don’t like to talk about the President’s home state.

Again, if we can send a typical Chicago pol to the White House, given Illinois’ record of dysfunction, corruption, and economic mismanagement, we can send anyone to the White House.

[Quartz]

4.85% growth? We’d love that rate here in the UK. That Walker hasn’t done as well relatively as elsewhere in the U.S. doesn’t disguise how well he’s actually done in absolute terms.

[Chronos]

Except that he’s competing against other Americans, not against Brits. Maybe there’s some difference between America and the UK that makes job recovery easier here. But Walker hasn’t taken proper advantage of that whatever-it-is.

[elucidator]

@adaher

You’ll notice they didn’t mention the example of Illinois. Strange that liberals don’t like to talk about the President’s home state.

Again, if we can send a typical Chicago pol to the White House, given Illinois’ record of dysfunction, corruption, and economic mismanagement, we can send anyone to the White House.

Well, for starters, we have a local poster who insists that being a governor of a state is a very important signifier for a Prez candidate. Therefore, it follows that such a poster would find the performance of said governor to be a crucial indicator of Prez-level competence. Obama was Senator from Illinois, not its governor. As such, he never got the hands-on experience that so many Illinois pols get.

Especially in the area of prison reform…

[adaher]

It is important and it’s why I no longer tout Jindal.

Anyway, Ben Carson has said he’s running for President. Shit just got real.

[jayjay]

Heh…I couldn’t PAY for entertainment like this…

[eschereal]

@Quartz

4.85% growth? We’d love that rate here in the UK. That Walker hasn’t done as well relatively as elsewhere in the U.S. doesn’t disguise how well he’s actually done in absolute terms.

I suspect Walker would fare very poorly on the national stage. He has a non-personality, which might not be that big an issue for someone trying to be PM, but for a U.S. presidential candidate, it really matters. W. supposedly got away with the “guy you’d like to have a beer with” thing, that would get zero traction with Walker. When the rest of the nation gets a good look at him, and at the catastrophe that is now Wisconsin, he will melt away under the lights. Wisconsinites will vote for him just to get him outta there, not that he spends any time in Wisconsin as it is.

[adaher]

I think his ethical issues are the bigger problem. Nothing’s ever stuck, but you don’t want to put someone against Clinton who will nullify her trust disadvantage.

[Rick_Kitchen]

Are we supposed to believe that Carly Fiorina can do better for the country than she did for Hewlett Packard?

[adaher]

Absolutely not. Too often politics is a field that unsuccessful people get into who are better at talking than doing.

[ElvisL1ves]

@adaher

It is important and it’s why I no longer tout Jindal.

Although, very recently, you did, and you must have had reasons, right?

Your A list was Christie and Jindal. Now you’re trying to pretend your B list was your A list all along.

Anyway, Ben Carson has said he’s running for President. Shit just got real.

This year’s Herman Cain. You know it too.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

A funny, opinionated piece in The Atlantic on both major party’s lineups so far: The 2016 U.S. Presidential Race: A Cheat Sheet - The Atlantic

[SirRay]

@adaher

Anyway, Ben Carson has said he’s running for President. Shit just got real.

And people on this board say adaher doesn’t have a sense of humor…

[Lance_Turbo]

A recent NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl poll had this as question 19.

NOT thinking about any specific candidates, I’m going to list several types of people who might run for president. For each one, please tell me whether that type of candidate is someone you would (a) be enthusiastic about, (b) be comfortable with, (c) have some reservations about, or (d) be very uncomfortable with.

These things made the bottom of the list…

(Enthusiastic + Comfortable) / (Have Some Reservations + Very Uncomfortable)

A person who does not have a college degree 35/63

A leader of the Tea Party Movement 33/61

A person who is not a politician and has no previous elected experience in government 30/69

Bad news for Walker, Fiorina, Carson and arguably Cruz.