Ted Cruz - Biggest Loser of 2016

[AN63093]

I don't think Cruz was the biggest loser.  To the extent he was exposed, it was to something that people already suspected about him anyway.  It's not like he transformed from JFK into Nixon.  He was widely seen as a polarizing figure that would have trouble uniting the party in '16, and he was gonna be seen that way in '24 too, no matter how the election in '16 exactly unfolded.

Rubio is in the running, but I tend to think that he would've been exposed as a lightweight eventually anyway.  If Christie hadn't done it, someone else would have.  And even if that never happened, he didn't have wide enough support to win the nomination, and by 2024 he would've been yesterday's news.  See Booker for an example of what effect that has.  It was just never in the cards for Rubio.

The winner is Jeb Bush.  From going to the establishment favorite, well positioned to win the nomination, with a gigantic war chest... to utter humiliation.  And unlike Cruz, if Bush had won the nomination, there's a chance he never would've been exposed at all.  Clinton wasn't a great candidate and Bush would've had a legitimate shot.  Heck, he could've been president right now.  The absolute dismantling of Bush by Trump is unlike anything I've ever seen in over 25 years of following politics... it was truly a remarkable sight to see.

I think Bush wins over Clinton even, because even though they both have no future, she still has the respect of some people in the Dem establishment (even if begrudgingly), whereas Bush is now a national laughingstock with both D and R alike.