# The Race for the GOP Nomination - Post-Thanksgiving Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 28, 2015, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819 "2015-11-28T12:40:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/321 "2016-01-04T20:17:54Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > One thing at a time, first we have to seize all the guns. But then how will we kill all the lawyers? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/322 "2016-01-04T20:35:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But then how will we kill all the lawyers? The old-fashioned ways; you know, pointed sticks, bananas. . . ---
**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 4, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/323 "2016-01-04T20:37:35Z")
Brilliant! If they don’t have guns, they’ll have no way to defend against the bananas! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/324 "2016-01-05T04:51:33Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Anyway, **adaher** ’s position on ex-cons and jobs is that it’s A-OK to deny them access to jobs, unless they’ve got influential friends. And if you don’t like influential people pulling strings for ex-cons, then you’re for denying jobs to ex-cons. > > It’s the Republican philosophy in a nutshell, really. It’s okay to deny them a job if the employer judges that the person is too dangerous or dishonest to work for them. However, when it comes to occupational licensing, the government should loosen their requirements, especially since most occupational licensing regimes are just meant to insure a cartel and keeping felons out is simply another way to reduce the supply of a particular professional. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/325 "2016-01-05T14:30:11Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It’s okay to deny them a job if the employer judges that the person is too dangerous or dishonest to work for them. Oh, I fully agree! If an employer interviews a prospective employee, and **after** doing so, wants to access their full legal history before making a hiring decision, then by all means, I’m all for it. What we’re talking about here is whether employers should be able to screen people out _from the opportunity to have a job interview_ simply on the basis of the existence of a past conviction of indeterminate nature, end of sentence, without any knowledge of the nature of the offense, or whether it was recent or in the distant past, or whatever. You apparently agree that this pre-screening should remain legal. I am proud to oppose it. Outlawing this sort of arbitrary, across-the-board screening out of anyone who’s ever had a criminal conviction from even the opportunity of an interview would do far more to aid the employment prospects of ex-cons who deserve a shot than all the letters that the Rubios of the world might write to prospective employers or licensing boards. > [@](#): > > However, when it comes to occupational licensing, the government should loosen their requirements, especially since most occupational licensing regimes are just meant to insure a cartel and keeping felons out is simply another way to reduce the supply of a particular professional. I agree with you there too! But this has nothing to do with Rubio, the election, or partisan politics. ---
**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:** [January 5, 2016, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/326 "2016-01-05T15:01:37Z")
The right-wing philosophy is about empowerment of the rich. Wasn’t it Donald Trump himself who thought Mike Tyson should be released from prison because his economic value was too great to waste in prison? To a right-winger, a major drug smuggler is an important job-creating person of substance, in stark contrast with a kid slinging dime bags of crack on the corner. Thus **adaher** ’s defense of a family embracing their successful relative in the import-export business is fully consistent. However … > [@adaher](#): > > It’s okay to deny them a job if the employer judges that the person is too dangerous or dishonest to work for them. > > However, when it comes to occupational licensing, the government should loosen their requirements, especially since most occupational licensing regimes are just meant to insure a cartel and keeping felons out is simply another way to reduce the supply of a particular professional. now we’re getting silly. Most felons have trouble even getting janitorial jobs, but jobs like real estate brokering, where opportunity for fraud is one reason for licensing requirement, should be open to major criminals(\*)? :smack: (\* - I almost wrote the more accurate “ex-criminal” but the right-wing morons are first to insist “once a criminal, always so” when they’re bad-mouthing the kids selling dime bags. Wouldn’t it be consistent to apply the same “reasoning” to a real big-time criminal?) ---
**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:** [January 5, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/327 "2016-01-05T15:02:00Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > However, when it comes to occupational licensing, the government should loosen their requirements The best way of getting to that result is to prevent special-privilege cases (i.e. you’re the brother-in-law of an influential politician) from slipping through, thus forcing the influential politicians to repeal the rule for everybody if they want to help their relatives. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/328 "2016-01-05T16:01:16Z")
[Sean Illing writes:](http://www.salon.com/2016/01/04/ok_now_its_getting_really_intense_where_we_stand_on_the_ever_changing_always_crazy_presidential_races/) > [@](#): > > As we near the Iowa caucuses, it’s clear that the Republican race comes down to three candidates: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. Bush and Chris Christie are competing with Rubio to be the establishmentarian candidate, but Rubio appears to have all the momentum. The junior senator from Florida is polling at 11.6 percent in the national polls, behind Trump and Cruz. Bush and Christie are virtually tied, hovering around 5 percent. Christie is dumping all his eggs in the New Hampshire basket, but that’s his only hope and it’s not enough. Bush has continued attacking Trump, as that’s his only play, but the damage is done. Bush is too milquetoast for this political climate, and his window closed long ago. > > By all accounts, this is still Trump’s race to lose. He’s polling at 35 percent, while Cruz, currently in second, remains at 18 percent. Pundits like yours truly have patiently waited for Trump to implode, but it’s not happening and it’s no longer reasonable to expect otherwise. He has done everything possible to subvert his own campaign, and Republican voters have rewarded him for it. > > Ted Cruz is a formidable challenger, however. To the chagrin of GOP insiders, Cruz remains the most likely nominee behind Donald Trump. He’s leading the real estate mogul by 3 points in Iowa and he’s gaining momentum in other early primary states as well. More important, Cruz is well-funded and best positioned to dethrone Trump as the default anti-establishment candidate. How this dynamic plays out will be one of the more interesting storylines in the Republican race. ---
**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 5, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/329 "2016-01-05T17:00:57Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It’s okay to deny them a job if the employer judges that the person is too dangerous or dishonest to work for them. > > However, when it comes to occupational licensing, the government should loosen their requirements, especially since most occupational licensing regimes are just meant to insure a cartel and keeping felons out is simply another way to reduce the supply of a particular professional. Depends on the job. Barbers, maybe. Doctors, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/330 "2016-01-05T17:18:48Z")
From BG’s quote: > [@](#): > > Christie is dumping all his eggs in the New Hampshire basket, but that’s his only hope and it’s not enough. “Help me, Granite State! You’re my only hope.” ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/331 "2016-01-05T18:24:12Z")
Actually, his strategy has shifted. He’s spending more time in Iowa so that he’ll be seen as having exceeded expectations there, which will give him a boost in New Hampshire where Cruz is not likely to be a major competitor. It’s a good plan. Take fourth in Iowa, then win New hampshire. If trump falters, Christie expects he can gain a lot of Trump’s support. I’ve actually long felt that a lot of Trump’s voters would be Christie voters if he wasn’t in the race. They like the personality more than any of his specific positions, and Christie comes the closest to his style. Of course, it might not work, but with no one looking like an obvious winner, Christie’s got as good a chance as anyone at this point. Finish at least fourth in Iowa is step one. If he beats Bush in Iowa and Trump loses, then he probably gets a bounce in New Hampshire. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/332 "2016-01-06T00:56:03Z")
Marco Rubio’s PAC takes aim at Chris Christie [with a searing negative ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpm7w2r1ZCA): > [@](#): > > "One high tax, Common Core, liberal energy loving, Obamacare Medicaid expanding President is enough! Liberal energy loving? Energy is partisan? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/333 "2016-01-06T01:08:12Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Liberal energy loving? Energy is partisan? It is if you want Coal Country to stay red. Besides Global Warming is Al Gore and therefore Liberal Claptrap. Don’t question it: Science is done by making personal attacks and Al Gore is a dirty Commie, which disproves all of the evidence. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/334 "2016-01-06T09:34:03Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Marco Rubio’s PAC takes aim at Chris Christie [with a searing negative ad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpm7w2r1ZCA):Liberal energy loving? Energy is partisan? You’re parsing it wrong: it’s not ‘liberal energy-loving’ (because you know us libruls don’t love energy, broadly speaking - we want to reduce everyone’s power use to what they normally use in 3 hours each day, don’t you know), but rather ‘liberal energy’-loving, that is, lovers of solar and wind and geothermal power. And while energy itself isn’t partisan, its sources are, of course: Real True Patriotic Americans love petroleum and coal, and can tolerate natural gas. Solar and wind power are hippie stuff. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/335 "2016-01-06T09:58:26Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Actually, his strategy has shifted. He’s spending more time in Iowa so that he’ll be seen as having exceeded expectations there, which will give him a boost in New Hampshire where Cruz is not likely to be a major competitor. > > It’s a good plan. Take fourth in Iowa, then win New hampshire. If trump falters, Christie expects he can gain a lot of Trump’s support. I’ve actually long felt that a lot of Trump’s voters would be Christie voters if he wasn’t in the race. They like the personality more than any of his specific positions, and Christie comes the closest to his style. > > Of course, it might not work, but with no one looking like an obvious winner, Christie’s got as good a chance as anyone at this point. Finish at least fourth in Iowa is step one. If he beats Bush in Iowa and Trump loses, then he probably gets a bounce in New Hampshire. The problem with this approach is, if he spends nontrivial time campaigning in Iowa, guess what? _People’s expectations for him there will go up!_ And fourth in Iowa…well, the only way it’ll be in reach is if Carson crashes even further than he has, and nobody’s gonna be impressed if he takes 4th in Iowa with 5% of the vote. And Christie’s such a bad fit for Iowa that it’s really one hell of a gamble. Right now he’s more or less in a dead heat for 2nd in the NH polls (way behind Trump), and he’s probably a better fit for NH than Rubio and Cruz, his main rivals for 2nd. Is he really going to gain in NH by losing convincingly to them both in Iowa - which is almost surely what will happen? If I were advising him, I’d tell him: fuck Iowa, stay the course in NH. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/336 "2016-01-06T15:37:51Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > You’re parsing it wrong: it’s not ‘liberal energy-loving’ (because you know us libruls don’t love energy, broadly speaking - we want to reduce everyone’s power use to what they normally use in 3 hours each day, don’t you know), but rather ‘liberal energy’-loving, that is, lovers of solar and wind and geothermal power. > > And while energy itself isn’t partisan, its sources are, of course: Real True Patriotic Americans love petroleum and coal, and can tolerate natural gas. Solar and wind power are hippie stuff. I recently saw a billboard on the Interstate protesting that a certain number of birds every year are killed by power-windmills. I assumed it was paid for by animal-rights activists, but now I wonder . . . ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/337 "2016-01-06T17:27:48Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I recently saw a billboard on the Interstate protesting that a certain number of birds every year are killed by power-windmills. I assumed it was paid for by animal-rights activists, but now I wonder . . . Yeah, IIRC, that argument has been used by some conservative media folks to attack wind power. “You think wind power is better for the environment? What about all the birds it kills, you big liberal hypocrite poopy head!” George Will brought it up in a conversation about the Gulf Oil spill in 2010. > **[Checking George Will on birds and wind turbines](https://www.politifact.com/article/2010/may/03/checking-george-will-birds-and-wind-turbines/)** > > In a discussion of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on ABC's This Week on May 2, 2010, the topic of alternati ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/338 "2016-01-06T18:57:11Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I recently saw a billboard on the Interstate protesting that a certain number of birds every year are killed by power-windmills. I assumed it was paid for by animal-rights activists, but now I wonder . . . All we need to do is to make the turbines nastier to the birds, such that they’re auto-spatchcocked and ready for the grill. Automatic fast food. What GOPper could disagree with that? ---
**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:** [January 7, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/339 "2016-01-07T02:00:46Z")
It suddenly occurred to me that the only GOP Presidential candidates in all of history that could really be called right-wing are Goldwater (1964) and Reagan (1980 and 1984). All the others (Dewey, Ike, Nixon, Ford, Bush-41, Dole, McCain, Romney, etc.) were moderates. (Cheney and Rove could be called right-wing but their puppet GWB was almost too addle-brained to have identifiable idealogy.) Kasich and Jeb! are at least as right-wing as Reagan, so this election is likely to produce the _fourth_ right-wing GOP nominee in all of history. The only moderates in contention are Christie and, arguably, Trump. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/340 "2016-01-07T04:46:01Z")
McCain was actually as right-wing as Reagan, but moderate in temperament, so if you allow McCain as a moderate, Kasich is also a moderate, as is Jeb. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819.md?page=18)