Here we are, the first Monday of 2015, and back to work – facing that long, long, holiday-free stretch until Memorial Day, unless you’re lucky enough to be an Imperial employee.
Fortunately for yr. obdt, when one is self-employed at a business you chose and happen to enjoy, and indeed feel in large part defined by that work, it’s not so bad.
And, as is our usual practice on Monday, thanks go out to The Other McCain for the Rule Five links!
With that said, let’s take a look (a very early look) at the 2016 Presidential field. If the GOP is smart (anything but a given, that) this is what the race will look like:
Let’s set aside for the moment that the old and busted wins that particular battle. Here’s the presumptive Democrat nominee (and yes, the left-right positioning of images is deliberate.)
And, yes, Hillary Clinton is without a doubt old and busted. She’s a lousy campaigner; she was also the presumptive nominee in 2007, and was taken out by a political newcomer who has since proven to be the most inept President since Andrew Johnson. She doesn’t bring anything new to the race. Unfortunately, the current GOP frontrunner suffers from the same problem:
Jeb Bush may have some different ideas on governing than his father and brother; he may have a good track record as a Governor. But in the world of electoral politics, that doesn’t matter a damn. He carries a political name (as does Hillary Clinton) that has a ton of baggage. If the GOP wants to throw away the election, nominating Jeb Bush would be one way to do it. But here’s the rub; the Democrat field doesn’t have much else to offer than Ms. Clinton. There are plenty of young Democrats who might make good candidates, but none of them seem interested. The GOP, on the other hand, has a few possible stars in the up-and-comings. Three in particular, I think, have a very good chance of running Ms. Clinton ragged out on the hustings, those three being Senator Rand Paul (my favorite for the moment,) Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and Congressman Paul Ryan. So let’s look at those potential match-ups.
Senator Paul first: Senator Paul has many of his father’s libertarian leanings, while steering away from his father’s overall nuttiness. Paul the Younger could appeal to younger demographics, which is a must for winning elections. He’s one of the new faces in the GOP and more importantly, he’s part of the growing libertarian wing of the party. I’d like to see him win the nomination.
Another up-and-comer, having won three elections in four years in a blue state, is Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker. He is a fiscal hawk, having restored some semblance of fiscal sanity to Wisconsin, and could very well move the Imperial Federal government in the same direction; that’s something we sorely need. He lacks Rand Paul’s libertarian leanings, but could still be a strong candidate.
Finally, Paul Ryan has some significant strengths as well. Again, he’s a fiscal hawk, and is generally regarded as one of the foremost budgetary thinkers in the GOP House. Also, he has already been in a national campaign, and has been through the vetting process; he has experience in a debate on the national stage (granted that was only against nutty old Uncle Joe Biden) and has some campaigning chops.
Any of the three would bring some welcome new blood to the race. Any of the three, in the considered opinion of yr. obdt, based on forty years of campaign-watching, could probably hand Hillary Clinton her electoral pink slip.
But it’s a long way until November 2016, and I would remind all True Believers of the outcome of the original Old and Busted vs. New Hotness scenario from the video above; in politics, anything can happen. A big part of the GOP’s 2016 campaign must go to prevent Hillary Clinton from defining herself as the Old Busted Hotness.
Still. New and hot is the way to bet in 2016.
