The "Who is running?" tea leaves thread

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I like Joe Biden. I think he'd be a decent president, too.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Susana Martinez's dad seems to be dying.

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/news/official-susana-martinezs-father-gravely-ill-el-pa/nThmj/

For practical purposes, this does mean she'll have fewer forces tying her down when it comes time to think of a national run in 2015...

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Susana Martinez's dad seems to be dying.

http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/news/official-susana-martinezs-father-gravely-ill-el-pa/nThmj/

For practical purposes, this does mean she'll have fewer forces tying her down when it comes time to think of a national run in 2015...

Classy.

It's true though. This was cited as the number one reason why she wouldn't run alongside Romney if asked.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Interesting that it's no longer a no now that Obama's been re-elected. I think she's gonna do it. And I think she could very well be the best president since Reagan.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Unless Biden decides to challenge Clinton anyway. Hillary would win, but it would be interesting to see Biden completely implode.

Also, how would Hillary market herself? Would she be "Hillary," or "Clinton?" How will the VP pick incorporate into her logo if she's "Hillary?" I've wondered this for a while. In '08, would it have been, say, "Hillary-Evan," or "Hillary-Bayh?"

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Someone needs to disavow, ASAP, the remarks from Perry and Santorum about the Boy Scouts' new willingness to be more inclusive. What a couple of smurfin' idiots. Marriage is a time-honoured tradition between a man and a woman—fine. But that doesn't mean gays should be barred from every single damn opportunity. They're people, for Christ's sake. This is actually infuriating. One, it just makes no sense to be against gays joining up. Two, we're trying to win an election, and more and more voters are seeing us as a bunch of extremists. How in the hell does taking a public stance like theirs help? I really couldn't care less if that's what they actually believe, but by God, keep it to yourself. Don't jump on it like it's some sort of opportunity. Smurf.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

For Hagrid: P16 profiles Martinez.

http://www.prez16.com/2013/02/meet-susana-martinez.html

Thanks. Damn, I hope she runs.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Well, if everyone is a Benedict Arnold, Benedict Arnold doesn't start looking too bad.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Seeing her delivery of that statement reminds me that Hillary may not actually have this in the bag after all.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

People underestimate it, but Romney does have a pretty strong base of support.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

A new name to add to the 2016 speculation:

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/351921/bolton-plans-tour-early-primary-states-robert-costa

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I guess this means the schism between libertarians and neo-cons will be even bigger than usual in 2016...

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Christie's rhetoric has taken a huge shift to the right.  Gone are the days of, "It's not Republican or Democrat," now it's:

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Hopefully that ends the Democrats' love affair with Christie, for both the gubernatorial and presidential contests, now that he's shown himself to be yet another politician who says what ever it takes to get elected.

I wouldn't call that a tack to the right. It's just a pretty common observation. Obama hasn't really been the picture of strong leadership that past presidents have been.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

If Biden wants to be a part of the conversation, my thoughts are that he'd need to "jump in" early to gain some steam and attention. If he waits until April 2015, it'll be too late.

If you ask me, he'll need to start looking like a serious candidate even before the midterms. Is there a BidenPac or something equivalent? Would that even be becoming of the Vice President of the United States? I just think he'll need to be out on the trail espousing some kind of message, even if it's just on behalf of other Dems around the country in 2014. If not, he's moot.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

If Biden wants to be a part of the conversation, my thoughts are that he'd need to "jump in" early to gain some steam and attention. If he waits until April 2015, it'll be too late.

If you ask me, he'll need to start looking like a serious candidate even before the midterms. Is there a BidenPac or something equivalent? Would that even be becoming of the Vice President of the United States? I just think he'll need to be out on the trail espousing some kind of message, even if it's just on behalf of other Dems around the country in 2014. If not, he's moot.

I don't think there's a Biden PAC right now. He won't run against Hillary, so he'll probably find out early enough to avoid jumping the gun. Biden making major moves in 2014 would spark a flood of speculation about Clinton being out, since he's now on record as saying he wouldn't run against her.

His aides have made some statements, but has he? If he wants to run and win, he won't care what signals he's sending about Hillary's intentions.

As for major moves... I don't necessarily mean anything as transparent as Santorum or Paul, but he just needs to be a player. He can achieve that by being a powerful force on the campaign trail during the midterms.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

The more Tea Partiers, the better. And people say Christie has no chance?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

If both Jeb and Christie run, we could very well get a Cruz type as the nominee. I am not impressed.

Either way, I think the rift in the party is big enough that the Republican ticket will end up featuring two people who are quite similar. Each side, moderate and crazy, things the other is killing the party.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Santorum is asked "Have you gotten the itch to get back into politics?"

http://time.com/32718/rick-santorum-2016-presidential-race/

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In the same interview, he attacks Rand Paul on foreign policy, and says that he (Santorum) would've beaten Obama in 2012, had he been the nominee rather than Romney(!).

lol

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Portman may set up an exploratory committee after the midterms.

He'll have my support if he does.