# This cycle's crop of Republican candidates **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 20, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869 "2011-12-20T17:32:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/21 "2011-12-21T05:24:02Z")
> [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](#): > > Well, Mitch Daniels, Indiana’s gov. is one of them. I the smart money is waiting till 2016 so that 1) they don’t run against a popular incumbent 2) After getting their ass handed to them in 2012, the crazy will have burned itself out in the GOP a little bit. I guess I just don’t see it burning itself out. All the things that should discourage them just wind up stoking the fires even more. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/22 "2011-12-21T05:45:28Z")
What’s wrong with a few jokes in the “crop”? That’s democracy. The Dems have had Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Denis Kicinich and Mike Gravel. I think the US has had a long history of side show politics. We can all laugh at many of the GOP candidates this time, and I’ve done my share. But in the end, the process has done a pretty good job of weeding out the nut cases. Maybe it’ll be different this time, but let’s wait and see. ---
**Author:** ![Condescending\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a183cd/32.png) [@Condescending\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Condescending_Robot)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/23 "2011-12-21T07:19:49Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > What’s wrong with a few jokes in the “crop”? That’s democracy. The Dems have had Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Denis Kicinich and Mike Gravel. I think the US has had a long history of side show politics. We can all laugh at many of the GOP candidates this time, and I’ve done my share. But in the end, the process has done a pretty good job of weeding out the nut cases. Maybe it’ll be different this time, but let’s wait and see. Well, neither Kucinich nor Gravel ever were leading polls or the focus of the process. Sharpton and Jackson have a lot of crazy ideas and character flaws, but Jackson’s campaigns in the 80s were more or less about poverty issues, and he was running as an actual candidate with an actual intent to win the nomination. It’s of a whole different stripe than Herman Cain yelling a sequence of numbers like a schizophrenic as part of his fake campaign. ---
**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 21, 2011, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/24 "2011-12-21T07:37:57Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > Why do you think McGovern was a crackpot? He was a decorated veteran of WWII, earned a PhD, taught history, and had a distinguished career in politics. He opposed the Vietnam War, and even if you disagree with that position it is hardly a crackpot idea. Sure he lost the Presidential election in a landslide, but he was running against an opponent who engaged in “dirty tricks” that included bugging the offices of the Democratic party. I apologize. I was looking for a different word than “crackpot,” perhaps non-mainstream or even “fringe.” I did want to evince non-partisanship and include a Democrat, thought of Jackson … AndBTW, I even voted for George McGovern for President. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/25 "2011-12-21T07:43:06Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > What’s wrong with a few jokes in the “crop”? That’s democracy. The Dems have had Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Denis Kicinich and Mike Gravel. I think the US has had a long history of side show politics. We can all laugh at many of the GOP candidates this time, and I’ve done my share. But in the end, the process has done a pretty good job of weeding out the nut cases. Maybe it’ll be different this time, but let’s wait and see. The problem with that position is that Jackson, Sharpton, and even Kucinich were only flash in the pans with no actual shot. And I haven’t even heard of Mike Gravel. While they campaigned, and raised money, it was never about winning, at least for Sharpton and Jackson. They are (were) the equivalent of Palin… raising issues, organizing, but not really serious about running for office. I don’t remember ever seeing anyone on your list being taken seriously by the media and by the party itself. But now, at least in the GOP, we’ve got genuinely scary people running for president. I can’t think of a democrat who has run, and been taken seriously, who has viewpoints as extreme as Perry or Bachman. And both have been at least TREATED as serious contenders. The GOP is busted, and the Democrats are to weak to be as mean as they need to be to take advantage of that fact. I have no idea what is going to happen next year. I am genuinely worried about how this vote is going to go. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/26 "2011-12-21T14:28:01Z")
I like to think of Ron Paul as the GOP Al Sharpton. When Al ran back in 2004, I knew he wasn’t going to win, and I didn’t vote for him. But I sure did enjoy him in debates, and I appreciated what he did. We need someone up on the stage who doesn’t rely on talking points, who will say things no one else will. Even if they are straight-up crazy things. If anything it forces the other candidates to talk about them. So if anything, you get to hear candidates discussing things that you normally wouldn’t hear. Even though Paul’s not doing too shabby, he’s not gonna win. As long as he stays in the race, though, he’s doing okay. I want him to keep pushing out those anti-Newt ads, at the very least. (He can keep those crazy views on taxes to himself, though). The thing is that Mitt Romney WISHES he was a crackpot. At least crackpots have charisma. He might be a helluva guy, but if I were voting in the primary, I wouldn’t be too thrilled about him either. I don’t know if I’d be crazy enough to vote for the other jokers, but I wouldn’t be voting for him. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/27 "2011-12-21T14:51:58Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I would have said that their obsession is Obama. Whether or not it’s racially motivated (I think it is) it seems that “We hate Obama” is the only policy they have. It was charming (in a nauseating way) to watch Cain refuse to answer questions on foreign policy, out of his dread of accidentally agreeing with Obama. We saw the same thing a handful of times, before a major Obama policy speech, where Republicans refused to make their views public, out of terror that Obama might come out with the same view. > > These guys would sell Oregon to Iran if it meant Obama’s defeat. (Okay, hyperbole. Hawaii, maybe.) I think the racial aspect is at least overstated, and possibly fictional, and I think the fact that it gets so much attention is entirely the Republicans’ fault. They have an airtight defense against the charge that they refuse to offer. That is, it really doesn’t matter who the Democratic Party nominates for President, they will find some way to “prove” that he is unAmerican, likely a traitor but certainly completely out of the mainstream. If Joe Leiberman had been the nominee, we would be talking about the anti-semitism in the Republican Party, and they would be insisting that he is just as much of a Communist as Obama (which would be true). The problem is, if they admit this fact, then they reveal to [del]their base[/del] Fox News viewers that the whole thing is Brechtian drama designed to angry up the blood. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/28 "2011-12-21T14:56:03Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > What’s wrong with a few jokes in the “crop”? That’s democracy. The Dems have had Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Denis Kicinich and Mike Gravel. I think the US has had a long history of side show politics. We can all laugh at many of the GOP candidates this time, and I’ve done my share. But in the end, the process has done a pretty good job of weeding out the nut cases. Maybe it’ll be different this time, but let’s wait and see. This argument kind of reminds me of people who tried to draw an equivalency between the Birthers and Truthers. Sure, they are equally crazy, but the difference is that prominent elected Republicans were openly admitting to Birtherism, while no actual officeholder was arguing that Bush was behind 9/11. By the same token, none of the wacko Dems have ever led in the primary polls, unless you count Howard Dean (who wasn’t crazy at all, just overly enthusiastic). ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/29 "2011-12-21T15:00:25Z")
> [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](#): > > 1. After getting their ass handed to them in 2012, the crazy will have burned itself out in the GOP a little bit. They got their asses handed to them in 2008, and decided they hadn’t been right-wing enough. Then, Zeus save us, they turned on the crazy in 2010 and did better. If they lose again in 2012 (save us, Odin), they’ll say it was because they veered left. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/30 "2011-12-21T15:01:15Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Yet, look at the Republican field for the coming election! Perry, Gingrich, Cain, Bachmann, Paul, Palin and Trump can only be described as utter jokes. Quite the opposite, actually. Palin and Trump are not candidates, Paul is a little too over-the-edge as an isolationist for my liking. But any of the others stand head and shoulders above the clown currently in the White House. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/31 "2011-12-21T15:04:27Z")
Well, we agree they’re better clowns. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/32 "2011-12-21T15:16:47Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Quite the opposite, actually. Palin and Trump are not candidates, Paul is a little too over-the-edge as an isolationist for my liking. But any of the others stand head and shoulders above the clown currently in the White House. I don’t normally have a problem with you, so please read this as me attacking the sentiment and not you as such. I get it that not everyone is thrilled with The Obamalama, it would be a dull planet indeed if we were that homogenous. But what I don’t get is how BO can be called a “clown” when his competetor demonstrated his own senility/irresponsibility with his choice of running-mate. McCain/Palin would have been a wise choice, reasonably beyond being labeled “clown”? Seriously? I firmly believe the only reason McCain is alive today is because he escaped the stress of the presidency, which happily prevented a President Palin situation. Which is not to say I agree with how BO handles discord–I think he’s a bit of a pussy and that what we really need is someone with his brains and Douglas MacArthur’s intolerance of bullshit. But perhaps those two traits are mutually exclusive. That said, I think over a beer just about any two given Dopers could at least agree that DC is a circus, and that the presidential election will always boil down to “which clown do we want running it?” With that metaphor I could embrace BO’s label as 'clown." ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/33 "2011-12-21T15:19:00Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > I firmly believe the only reason McCain is alive today is because he escaped the stress of the presidency . . . And the same is true of you and me. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/34 "2011-12-21T15:40:47Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > By the same token, none of the wacko Dems have ever led in the primary polls, unless you count Howard Dean (who wasn’t crazy at all, just overly enthusiastic). So what? When one of these “whackos” gets the nomination, you will have a point. Otherwise, it’s just inventing a category (leading in the polls) for convenient sniping. That category is meaningless, since the only poll that matters is the summation of the primary votes that pick the final candidate. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/35 "2011-12-21T15:44:14Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > So what? When one of these “whackos” gets the nomination, you will have a point. I think that **was** his point, that they can’t. ---
**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 21, 2011, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/36 "2011-12-21T16:03:00Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Crop circles. That’s what I keep reading in the thread title. Or in the case of these clowns, Crap Circles. The Republican electorate has made the qualifications for their candidate to be that they must be either mind-numbingly stupid or batshit crazy, preferably both. The party is merely giving the people what they want. I have no idea how Santorum (from the Latin for “asshole”) hasn’t had his day in the sun yet. That Mitt Romney is going to win the nomination despite the fact that 3/4 of his own party can’t stand him tells you all you need to know about this field. On the Democratic side, we’ve not had anyone as batshit crazy as the least of these fools. I’ll take a Jackson-Sharpton ticket any day of the week over Bachmann-Palin. Both Jackson and Sharpton are good men (if you just overlook the Tawana incident with Sharpton) and care more about the 99% than the entire Republican field combined. For all their real and perceived shortcomings, neither was ever a front-runner candidate. As far as morals go, the worst of our lot was Edwards, but other than that he would have been a fine president. Give me an Edwards presidency over a Paul presidency any time. For all of his sins, Edwards never published racist newsletters. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/37 "2011-12-21T16:28:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > So what? When one of these “whackos” gets the nomination, you will have a point. Otherwise, it’s just inventing a category (leading in the polls) for convenient sniping. That category is meaningless, since the only poll that matters is the summation of the primary votes that pick the final candidate. If it’s meaningless, why bother polling? The polls don’t determine the nominee, but they certainly determine which nominees are credible and which are not. That’s why candidates have already dropped out even though the Iowa caucuses haven’t even begun. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/38 "2011-12-21T17:41:05Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > So what? When one of these “whackos” gets the nomination, you will have a point. Otherwise, it’s just inventing a category (leading in the polls) for convenient sniping. That category is meaningless, since the only poll that matters is the summation of the primary votes that pick the final candidate. You don’t think that just the fact that there are candidates who embrace ignorance, lie, and just exude all around kookiness - and that they resonate strongly with the GOP base enough to be considered serious candidates - is in itself problematic? Is there no point at which extreme, ridiculous, stupid views become widely embraced that it’s cause for concern in and of itself? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/39 "2011-12-21T17:48:29Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Quite the opposite, actually. Palin and Trump are not candidates, Paul is a little too over-the-edge as an isolationist for my liking. But any of the others stand head and shoulders above the clown currently in the White House. The fact that you can say that Cain and Bachmann stand “head and shoulders” above Obama helps me to understand the exact level of your powers of reasoning. Their sole attribute that makes them better for you is the “R” after their name. That you’d be comfortable with a President Bachmann running the country with her pathetic knowledge about world politics and her finger on the nuclear button… well it tells me volumes about your powers of discernment. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869/40 "2011-12-21T18:43:45Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > The fact that you can say that Cain and Bachmann stand “head and shoulders” above Obama helps me to understand the exact level of your powers of reasoning. He meant **on** Obama’s shoulders, it’s a clown act they do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycles-crop-of-republican-candidates/606869.md?page=3)