Elections GOP Road to 2016 Primary Thread

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Marco Rubio Says He Would Revoke Iran Deal as President

If President Obama signs a nuclear agreement with Iran that allows the country to keep its enrichment capabilities, and if Senator Marco Rubio runs for and wins the presidency in 2016, then Rubio says he would

 

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Bobby Jindal assembles 2016 finance team-in-waiting

Bobby Jindal is pressing forth with plans for a presidential campaign, lining up a finance team-in-waiting for a likely but long-shot bid.
The Louisiana governor is expected to decide whether he’s running after his state’s legislative session ends in June.
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Jindal aide Alexandra Bautsch Grunewald is on deck to serve as campaign finance director, a source close to the Jindal operation told POLITICO. She has been with the Republican since his days in Congress in the early 2000s, and has worked both as a fundraiser and finance director for his gubernatorial campaign. She also has worked for several other governors, including former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, another likely presidential contender.

 

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John Kasich Says Bill Clinton Gets Too Much Credit for Budget Success

Bill Clinton gets too much credit for the fiscal discipline of the 1990s, Ohio Governor John Kasich, who helped drive tax-and-spending deals with the then-president as a Republican member of Congress, said today.

"He was there, but this idea that he balanced the budget is a joke," Kasich said during a Bloomberg-hosted roundtable with reporters from national news organizations. "He's very good at getting in front of a parade."

 

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Chris Christie Rails Against Estate Taxes New Jersey Can

 

[Farmer Br0wn]

Chris Christie Rails Against Estate Taxes New Jersey Can

 

[ripskater]

If Christie made the elimination of the federal death (estate) tax as part of his campaign platform, it would be very tempting to vote for him. I know too many farm families that the estate tax lead to the ruin of their generations old family business.

That's a crime for that to happen. And it makes me mad. But the govt thinks it's not yours, you didn't build that etc. It's theirs and they just allow you to use it.

 

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If Christie made the elimination of the federal death (estate) tax as part of his campaign platform, it would be very tempting to vote for him. I know too many farm families that the estate tax lead to the ruin of their generations old family business.

Farms have pretty much become a corporation because of this. I'm baffled they never made some type of exception for farmers because it's been a known problem for decades. Makes me think there is lobbying against it. They could pass something like that but I think the damage is already done. I'm sure economists would argue this free's up the workforce for other work and makes our market more efficient with larger farm companies. But then you get the arguments of the dangers of large farms with disease and too many chemicals in the crops and in the animals.

The farming industry is a really interesting topic for economics/politics. I use to read up on it a lot in college along with banking.

 

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Indiana's governor signs bill allowing businesses to reject gay customers

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed into law on Thursday a measure that allows businesses to turn away gay and lesbian customers in the name of "religious freedom."

The bill has sparked an uproar among gamers and church groups that hold their conventions in Indianapolis and businesses that are threatening to pull out of the city.

Even the NCAA -- which is less than two weeks from hosting its men's basketball Final Four in Indianapolis -- was critical, saying the organization is "committed to an inclusive environment where all individuals enjoy equal access to events" as it hinted the bill could damage the city's reputation as a host of major sporting events.

 

[ShoelessRye]

^that will go all the way to SCOTUS no doubt. Pence is toying with running for President, I guess this would help him in the primary, kill him in any general though. Will probably force GOP candidates to have to comment on it though - though most will hide behind states rights belief.

Expect big time demonstrations and the like during the Final Four.

 

[Lead]

Jeb and the Neocon Trap

Are the neoconservatives turning on Jeb Bush? It would be ironic, considering the men his brother turned to for foreign policy advice. It would also be highly problematic—since foreign policy establishment hawks should represent one of Bush’s few natural constituencies on the right. But it’s hard to observe recent developments and not suspect something is afoot.

I’ve often observed that Sen. Rand Paul has to walk a fine line in order to keep all the disparate elements of his coalition together, but it’s increasingly looking like Jeb Bush is having to do the same thing. He has the legacies of his father and brother to contend with. And while these legacies aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, they aren’t necessarily complementary, either. And therein lies the trap for Jeb: Does he alienate the GOP’s main cadre of foreign policy activists and thinkers, or does he saddle up with them and risk being seen as the second coming of his brother?

Jeb Bush's tricky path to an economic plan

One of Jeb Bush’s biggest challenges in the 2016 campaign will be to come up with a fresh economic plan that doesn’t make him seem like a tool of deep-pocketed Wall Street donors or the second coming of Mitt Romney, whose big, expensive tax cut plan failed to catch fire and left him wide open to populist attacks.
So far, however, the roster of economic advisers with Bush’s ear includes a heavy dose of Wall Street veterans and holdovers from previous GOP campaigns and the administrations of Bush’s brother and father. Bush’s advisers say it is way too early to properly assess an economic team that is only starting to take shape. And they argue that there will always be holdovers given that anyone with experience in a Republican administration these days served under a president named Bush.

 

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Poll: More New Hampshire Republican Primary Voters Are Pro-Choice than Pro-Life

New Hampshire's Republican presidential primary has a reputation as an oasis in the desert for moderate candidates. A new poll underlines exactly why.

While social conservatives dominate other early states in the GOP nominating process, New Hampshire Republicans are divided or even slightly left-leaning on two major social issues, according to the latest survey from Suffolk University.

A slight plurality of the state's 2016 GOP primary voters, 49 percent, describe themselves as "pro-choice" on the issue of abortion, while 41 percent called themselves "pro-life." On a national level, pro-life Republicans control their party by big margins (69 percent to 27 percent, Gallup found last year). But the New Hampshire voters who will help pick the party's nominee are further left.

 

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Ted Cruz and Rand Paul Team Up to Cut Enviro Funding

Republican Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz are rivals for their party's White House nomination, but they're finding common ground in the Senate's budget fight.

On Wednesday, the 2016 hopefuls jointly filed an amendment to the budget plan that would cut new budget authority for environment and natural resources programs by roughly $11 million annually over the next decade.

It's one of hundreds of amendments that senators have filed, many of them designed to help or hurt each other's prospects for reelection to the Senate or

 

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I really hope Pence, Perry, and Jindal don't even make it to debates. They seem like a waste of time. Sure, Cruz and Carson are too but they fill a niche that is going to be in the election no matter what. Pence, Perry, and Jindal are just shadows of the other Governors running.

 

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Florida Senate Polls came in. Rubio is +7 and +9 against Murphy.

 

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Wisconsin's Walker changes stance on illegal immigrants: WSJ

Likely 2016 Republican U.S. presidential hopeful Scott Walker has shifted his stance on illegal immigrants, backing the notion of letting them remain in the United States and eventually become eligible for citizenship, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The newspaper reported that the Wisconsin governor made his remarks on March 13 at a private dinner for Republicans in New Hampshire, which holds a key early contest on the road to the Republican presidential nomination.

At the event, Walker said illegal immigrants should not be deported but rather should be permitted to "eventually get their citizenship without being given preferential treatment" over others already in line to try to get citizenship, the Journal reported.

The Journal said the governor's remarks were confirmed by three people present at the event.

"He said no to citizenship now, but later they could get it," Bill Greiner, an owner of the restaurant where the event was held, told the Journal.

Wow, this is odd. He had the position at first than changed it on Hannity to against and is now back to his original position. Not sure if he was trying that angle out and realized how bad it was or was just trying to hard to appeal to Hannity.


Either way, this means the top three guys I think having a chance of being elected (Bush, Walker, Rubio) all support immigration reform. Add in Christie and I think it's safe to say we will have a GOP nom in favor of immigration reform.

 

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The Conservative Gov

 

[COTUR1@43]

Does anyone think height of candidates will really matter? I have heard a few conservative pundits question whether Paul or Rubio can win the nomination because they are both around 5'8-5'9. I don't think it is that big of a deal, especially in the general election because they will look taller next to Hillary.

If I were on their campaign staff though, I might be investing in some of those shoes that lift your height 2-3 inches.

 

[Lead]

Does anyone think height of candidates will really matter? I have heard a few conservative pundits question whether Paul or Rubio can win the nomination because they are both around 5'8-5'9. I don't think it is that big of a deal, especially in the general election because they will look taller next to Hillary.

If I were on their campaign staff though, I might be investing in some of those shoes that lift your height 2-3 inches.

It's just like movie stars. I doubt it matters because the majority of people see them on TV. Maybe in person it could help a candidate. Isn't Bush fairly tall? I saw him at CPAC by Hannity and he seems like 6'2 or 6'3

 

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Every Republican Running for President Votes Against Paid Sick Leave; It Passes Anyway

Not every budget vote in Thursday's Senate marathon is particularly telling. The vote on SA 798, one of Washington Senator Patty Murray's amendments, is an exception. Titled the Deficit-Neutral Reserve Fund for Legislation to Allow Americans to Earn Paid Sick Time, Murray's amendment would devote funds "relating to efforts to improve workplace benefits and reduce health care costs, which may include measures to allow Americans to earn paid sick time to address their own health needs and the health needs of their families, and to promote equal employment opportunities."

The amendment retooled the Healthy Families Act, a bill that faces a steep hill in a Republican Congress. Yet unlike most of the Democrat's amendments this one was agreed to, picking up every member of Murray's party and 16 Republicans. From the Republican side: New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte, North Carolina Senator Richard Burr, Illinois Senator Mark Kirk, Arizona Senator John McCain, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, Ohio Senator Rob Portman, and Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey.

 

[ShoelessRye]

It's just like movie stars. I doubt it matters because the majority of people see them on TV. Maybe in person it could help a candidate. Isn't Bush fairly tall? I saw him at CPAC by Hannity and he seems like 6'2 or 6'3

At the debates they all stand shoulder to shoulder though. Jeb is taller - listed at 6'3". Romney was 6'2'. Pres Obama is 6'1".