I've said it before...will say it again, the R's are throwing away 2012-pinning their hopes on 2016

[demtenjeep]

why, if they were serious, would they let rMoney be their "savior" he hasn't been any good the last 2,000 (hyperbole) he has run, why would this time be any different?

Look at the scum they had running. They are holding back their "big guns" because they know this cycle is already lost.

[LeftofObama]

1. I agree 100%.

They think if they can just hold out til '16 they'll have 8 years to run us into the ground. Until then they will just block any legislation the dems want to put through.

[treestar]

2. We've got to get into gear right away for 2016.

And keep supporting the POTUS and Congress (if Democratic) like mad, so they won't have lost in the eyes of the average voter. We really don't need Republicans to get the office back just because they think it is their turn or the voters do.

[hifiguy]

3. Who the hell are their "big guns" apart from Jebbie?

The Repukes with national visibility are Yertle, Orange Man and Cantor. None of them would stand a snowball's chance in hell of getting near the Presidency. Rubio? Ryan? No one knows them from Adam's house cat. Bachmann and Frothy are batshit insane, Horndog Herman and Newty are finished. The base hates Huntsman because he's demonstrably sane.

Their bench is about as thin as it gets.

[Zalatix]

16. Rubio. That 'cut Social Security' budget plan will explode in Ryan's face.

[KansDem]

4. You have a point.

Mitt Romney 2012 could be Bob Dole 1996; a sacrifice. But look what happened four years later...

[demtenjeep]

7. they think the country will be ready for Jebby

or Chris Christie but I am betting he will be in big political trouble by then.

Their field is thin but it gives them time for their political babies to "grow"

they really are sorry

[elleng]

5. Because they think they can steal it as they've done before,

and the states are complying with their 'registration' games.

[SammyWinstonJack]

18. That's the reason rmoney and the rest of the scumbags can run around

insulting the vast majority of the 99% and not worry about losing votes.


Planning on stealing this election in a big way.

[elleng]

24. Right.

[Motown_Johnny]

6. I think some are but the ones spending $1 Billion + seem to be trying to win.

[LynneSin]

8. You could run a pile of dog poop for the GOP nomination and as long as it's not Obama these crazies

will donate money.

[demtenjeep]

9. thats for sure

obvious

[KG]

10. prolly trot out Jeb in '16

[onehandle]

11. They have a good chance in 2016, based on the success of President Clinton's second term...

...and the idiocy of the Greens that helped put Bush into power in 2000.

My money is still on Rubio for 2016.

[backscatter712]

12. They're going to be focusing on taking the Senate and retaining the House.

That's the real danger.

They've got more money than they know what to do with, so they can spend money keeping the Presidential race alive enough to keep the peasants distracted, but their real goal is taking full control of Congress.

[loyalsister]

17. As we have seen, that's where much of the real power is

I think they will do that and groom one of these younger conservatives to be a presidential candidate- Paul Ryan, Rubio, maybe even bring Tim Pawlenty back into the mix.

[arbusto_baboso]

13. They have no "big guns", that's the real issue.

For years now, Republicans have claimed that Democrats have no ideas and no leadership. Since we already KNOW what masters of projection Repigs are, that just naturally leads to the conclusion that... they've got nuthin'.

[Robbins]

14. I agree

Romney Is an inept disaster.At end of the day he mag get 48 to 49 percent of popular vote and pick up Indiana and NC and hold
rest of Mccain states but Obama should preveil.The real battle Is for congress.

The republicans hope Is they keep the house and they can keep onstructing obama for 4 more years and then Jen can come in on white horse convince everyone he's a moderate,talk about working with both sides and enough have forgotten about his brother.

[Spike89]

15. No, "they" wouldn't do that. There are stakes beyond the white house

First, there really isn't a "they" in the sense you are speaking of. There is a very fractured base--they desperately want Obama gone and aren't looking at 2013, much less 2016. There are various camps around a relatively small group of potential big guns--these folk may hope for the field to be "open" in 2016, but many of them are still jockeying to be Mitt's VP and hoping to follow 8 years behind Mitt with their own term(s).
The republican committee, such as it is, can't afford to write off the 2012 elections. They desparately need/want to avoid an Obama landslide and the potential coattails that would have. The House could shift, especially if the Repugs "throw away" the presidential race. There would be virtually no chance of them making serious inroads to the Senate. These backroom pols may not like him or care about Romney actually winning--but they absolutely care about him being very much in the race.

[sadbear]

19. Wouldn't you say they did that in 2008, too?

Wow! Bush screwed things so royally that they have decided to sit out TWO consecutive presidential elections? I don't know. They didn't take 2010 off. No, I just think they all suck, have NO ONE to put up against President Obama, and they know it.

[RZM]

21. I think you're right

People forget that strong candidates don't grow on trees. Neither party has an unlimited supply of Reagans and Obamas. They come around when they come around - and that's usually pretty infrequently.

Both parties make do with what they've got. And this time around, the Republicans were holding pretty low cards.

[RZM]

20. Doubtful

Nobody's 'throwing' anything here. They just happened to have a particularly lousy bunch of candidates this time around.

I don't think it's about some sort of master plan to 'hold back' people. The people who held themselves back probably did so of their own volition, because their time was better spent building their cred than going into campaign mode.

[Marr]

22. I disagree completely. He's extremely well-funded. The thing you're not considering is

that Republicans don't really care what the public thinks. They can depress the voter turnout to their benefit and spend piles and piles of corporate money to push their message.

Yeah, Romney is an extremely weak candidate. But so what? They think they have enough money and clout to pretty much purchase the office anyway, no matter what you (all of us, that is) think. We're only "common people", after all.

[edhopper]

23. What Big Guns or more electable candidate do they have sitting out?

Romney is about as middle of the road as they got. Who aren't they nominating?
I've looked around and don't see anyone in the wings.
Jebbie? Jindal? Pawtry? Palin?
Parties don't throw elections.
The candidates when in primaries voted by citizens.
I think this is just bullshit.
Besides, he has a 50/50 chance of winning.

[amfortas the hippie]

25. Nah

there may be a few denizens of the proverbial walnut paneled rooms thinking along those lines...big picture, long game...hell, the whole "conservative revolution&quot sic) has been all about the long game, messaging(read:propaganda/psyops), and being there with the right machines when opportunity knocks. They thought they had won, forever, in 2000. by 08, the bunch i eavesdrop on were crowing, still, about the "permanent republican majority".
This is even after the whole wall street/tarp BS.
During the 08 run, I don't think they knew they were bankrupt...they believed their own BS.
Then Tea started running in the streets...which I didn't see as a Republican Party Op...they just tagged along.like the guy who hitches a ride to the next party, where he can get free beer...Why Not?
I don't think the former Masters of the Universe are in charge, any more...Corporate Machine, yes(a la:Kangas)...but the Republican Party is in it's death gurgles.May take a decade, but I reckon the Fifth Party System is Failing.

[randome]

27. Yes! You get it!

They only have power over us if we believe it. They are falling to pieces before our eyes and we need to stop ignoring Reality.

[randome]

26. Why would they throw away their precious bodily money this way?

There is no master plan. There is no strategy. Bush, Jr. is toxic. Palin was not vetted. Romney was not vetted.

See a pattern?

The GOP is falling to pieces and we need to stop pretending they have power over us. Rove? Hell, he isn't calling the shots! He's nothing!

[amfortas the hippie]

28. anylise the rhetoric

it's here, behind the words...at the cafe on the corner.Fear that all that they've fought for, all these years, was all a bunch of hooey.
The Tea I encounter, if they think, at all...are worried. The "Old School" Republicans...the ones who despise Rick perry, et alia, and Tea and Lil George....they're waiting for Saint Ronnie to come back and save us all.
Turns out that you can only deny Reality for so long...lol.
Of curse, the more Unthinking among them are simply doubling down...they believe, to their core, all the Bogeyman Nonsense...Obama = kenyan Socialist = Fascism(thanks Jonah.sigh)
and vaccines are gonna turn us all gay...and climate change is a liberal plot, along with critical thinking(I kid you not.TexRepubs Platform)
These folks won't let go, easily...they'll lash out.
I expect a renewed interest in the Libertarian party...in fact that's already been operant...those who saw the writing on the wall, by 06, or so...jumped ship...started talking about how "both parties are the same", and dont vote...
We ll are prone to mistaking the Present as the Way it Must Be.
Things change...often overnight(at least in retrospect)