# 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:** 5
**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:** [December 5, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/81 "2015-12-05T15:46:11Z")
Trump probably wouldn’t do as much indirect economic harm to the country as the other candidates would. But I’m not worried about what he might do accidentally: I’m worried about what he might do deliberately. I’m sure, for instance, that Cruz or Rubio wouldn’t nuke Moscow: Their handlers know that would be bad for business. But Trump just might nuke Moscow… or Beijing, or Tel Aviv, or Ottawa. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/82 "2015-12-05T17:59:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Trump probably wouldn’t do as much indirect economic harm to the country as the other candidates would. But I’m not worried about what he might do accidentally: I’m worried about what he might do deliberately. I’m sure, for instance, that Cruz or Rubio wouldn’t nuke Moscow: Their handlers know that would be bad for business. But Trump just might nuke Moscow… or Beijing, or Tel Aviv, or Ottawa. I suspect that Trump would nuke Moscow if and only if it would be profitable / good for the economy. My worry is that his understanding of “good for the economy” is from the business world, and that he isn’t personally well-rounded or open-minded enough to consider all of the relevant factors. (Such as ethics, culture, or things like the environment which are such long-term factors that they aren’t always considered in terms of cost / benefit analysis.) ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/83 "2015-12-05T18:01:40Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > In another thread a long while ago, I posted my suspicion that he really wants the VP slot. I’d buy into the notion that this is just one hell of a piece of performance art and self-promotion that’s succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. But I can’t see him wanting either the Presidency or the Vice-Presidency. He doesn’t want the responsibility of the former, and he’s not exactly second-fiddle material. Not to mention, if he were Veep, he’d drive the President absolutely bonkers, because nobody would be able to get him to shut up, and he’d always be saying things that were a few thousand light-years from being on anyone’s message but his own - and not even his own message that he’d decided on that morning, but whatever he decided was his message the moment he opened his mouth. After all, that’s what he’s like already, so why would he change? 😃 Actually, that would be kinda cool to watch, if he became the GOP veep nominee. Can you imagine a Cruz-Trump ticket, or even better, a Rubio-Trump ticket? Trump would turn Cruz into the straight man in a Marx Brothers movie, and he’d turn Rubio into a basket case. ---
**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:** [December 5, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/84 "2015-12-05T18:15:04Z")
> [@](#): > > I suspect that Trump would nuke Moscow if and only if it would be profitable / good for the economy. He’d do it if it would be profitable _for him_. And he puts a high value on his own ego. So he’d nuke someplace if he thought it would get him a lot of attention… which, frankly, it would. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/85 "2015-12-05T20:22:47Z")
Maybe something, maybe not: Rumors of a [Rubio mistress](http://www.fitsnews.com/2015/12/02/sources-marco-rubio-mistress-bomb-about-to-detonate/) revelation coming up. ---
**Author:** ![GloryDays](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GloryDays](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GloryDays)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/86 "2015-12-05T21:39:52Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Maybe something, maybe not: Rumors of a [Rubio mistress](http://www.fitsnews.com/2015/12/02/sources-marco-rubio-mistress-bomb-about-to-detonate/) revelation coming up. Good afternoon. Wonderful Saturday in the Northeast. If this happens to Rubio, it may affect his numbers in the polls like Clinton in 1992. This is probably way Mitt Romney didn’t pick Rubio as his vice presidential running mate in 2012, ---
**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:** [December 5, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/87 "2015-12-05T21:58:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > He’d do it if it would be profitable _for him_. And he puts a high value on his own ego. So he’d nuke someplace if he thought it would get him a lot of attention… which, frankly, it would. This seems very bizarre thinking. Whether you respect his business acumen or not, I don’t think suicidal tendencies were a big factor in his success. When the dangers of nuclear attack are discussed it is supposed that Kim Jong-il, despite his bizarre flamboyances, is rational. Yet now we can’t offer Donald Trump the same courtesy? :rolleyes: Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/88 "2015-12-05T22:09:52Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Maybe something, maybe not: Rumors of a [Rubio mistress](http://www.fitsnews.com/2015/12/02/sources-marco-rubio-mistress-bomb-about-to-detonate/) revelation coming up. According to the comments on that article, Nikki Haley cheated on her spouse, so that would be why she didn’t stand. ---
**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:** [December 6, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/89 "2015-12-06T00:42:17Z")
> [@](#): > > When the dangers of nuclear attack are discussed it is supposed that Kim Jong-il, despite his bizarre flamboyances, is rational. Supposed by whom? I’ve never heard anyone describe the Kims as in any way sane. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/90 "2015-12-06T11:16:23Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Maybe something, maybe not: Rumors of a [Rubio mistress](http://www.fitsnews.com/2015/12/02/sources-marco-rubio-mistress-bomb-about-to-detonate/) revelation coming up. A whispering campaign can be very effective, so why hasn’t Rubio told the press to put up or shut up? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2015, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/91 "2015-12-06T11:37:39Z")
Because there’s no story in the press yet. ---
**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:** [December 7, 2015, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/92 "2015-12-07T13:46:52Z")
I want to know what kind of woman would have an affair with Rubio. He looks like he should be taking Mary Jane to the sock hop, not committing adultery. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/93 "2015-12-07T16:11:46Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I want to know what kind of woman would have an affair with Rubio. He looks like he should be taking Mary Jane to the sock hop, not committing adultery. Maybe like this? 😃 > [@](#): > > Benjamin: For god’s sake, Mrs. Robinson. Here we are. You got me into your house. You give me a drink. You… put on music. Now you start opening up your personal life to me and tell me your husband won’t be home for hours. > > Mrs. Robinson: So? > > Benjamin: Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/94 "2015-12-07T20:19:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Let me clarify that: I don’t think Cruz is actually any better than Trump. I simply find his support less horrifying. If you sat a sane person down in a room and asked him who he’d vote for for President, given the choice between two guys without any prior political experience or an influential sitting senator, _and didn’t give him any other information_, then I expect that that sane person would choose the senator. And there are at least some potential voters, and poll-responders, who are at that level of information. At this point in the process, before any of the primaries, it might even be reasonable for a person to be at that level of information. Just to note that Cruz isn’t an influential Senator, but just a blowhard who, by the rules of the Senate, can get a lot of intention on himself. I’m not aware of him actually influencing anyone. This might be too subtle a point for the Republican masses to get, I agree. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/95 "2015-12-07T20:21:55Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Just to note that Cruz isn’t an influential Senator, but just a blowhard who, by the rules of the Senate, can get a lot of intention on himself. I’m not aware of him actually influencing anyone. This might be too subtle a point for the Republican masses to get, I agree. Well, there’s a difference between being ‘an influential Senator’ and ‘influential in the Senate.’ A lot of people would say that Cruz is the former but not the latter. He seems to have a great deal of influence with the more conservative members of the House Republican caucus. That makes him influential, and he’s a Senator. So…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/96 "2015-12-07T20:27:21Z")
There’s a [new Monmouth poll of Iowa voters](http://www.monmouth.edu/assets/0/32212254770/32212254991/32212254992/32212254994/32212254995/30064771087/de240398-df23-47b6-8470-91977d38b749.pdf) out, the first new Iowa poll in a couple of weeks, and it shows Cruz in the lead. Cruz 24, Trump 19, Rubio 17, Carson 13, Bush 6, Paul 4, everyone else 3 and under. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/97 "2015-12-08T06:11:53Z")
Cruz needs Iowa, but it’s not sufficient. New Hampshire is probably going to be more important. I do think that a defeat in Iowa does to Trump what it did to Romney in 2008. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/98 "2015-12-08T07:34:04Z")
Choosing between Trump and Cruz would be like choosing between leprosy and smallpox. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/99 "2015-12-08T07:42:47Z")
All Cruz needs in the early going is a victory _somewhere_ to give him a good push into Super Tuesday. Either Iowa or SC would do. Super Tuesday is really his make-or-break occasion. OTOH, NH is make-or-break for every candidate in the ‘Establishment lane.’ It’s hard to see how even Rubio gets to the nomination without a NH win. Wonder what happens to Trump’s campaign if he doesn’t win any of the early primaries? I think that’s the point where his supporters will finally wander off. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2015, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819/100 "2015-12-08T08:05:14Z")
I think that for Rubio three 2nd place finishes would be sufficient. What’s more important is that he beat Kasich, Christie, and Bush and hopefully gain most of their support when they drop out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-race-for-the-gop-nomination-post-thanksgiving-thread/738819.md?page=6)