First, the Republican side:
As usual, I was right. I predicted to all who would listen that Trump's support on paper was not going to live up to the potential in practice, because way too many of the people who were most ardently supporting Trump are also the bumpkins who most famously don't bother to show up to vote.
So now, it's looking like a three-way race between Trump (who will probably deflate completely if he loses again in New Hampshire, though that's still up in the air), Cruz, and Rubio.
Rand Paul, who was my preferred candidate for the nomination and presidency, is effectively dead in the water. He got 4.5%, and some libertarians are claiming that's a 'good sign' or some bullshit but it's not. He desperately needed to get at least double or triple that in order to have any chance at all. Unfortunately, Rand Paul was the candidate America needs, but they're looking to end up getting the one America deserves.
And who will that be? We get to choose between a Neocon Puppet Autocrat, a Lunatic Outsider Autocrat, and a Retarded-Orangutan Autocrat. Whoopee. Cruz (the Lunatic Outsider Autocrat) is probably the least utterly godawful of the three options, only because he's very slightly less Autocratic than the other two, but has the disadvantage of looking like a half-melted muppet (he's said to have "the most punchable face in politics") and being famously hated by absolutely everyone who knows him. He makes Nixon look dashing and debonair by comparison.
As for Rand Paul, maybe its time for him to try to play influence-broker instead of serious candidate. I take no pleasure in saying so, but there we are.
You can say one thing for Rand, though: he still beat Jeb Bush. And Jeb spent about nine times more money than Rand to do far worse. In fact, Jeb spent 6.5 times more than Ted Cruz. He spent more than any candidate other than Hillary. Jeb got 2.8% of the vote in Iowa, that's about $23 million per percentage point.
All of which goes to show that the fretting about campaign finance is bullshit; the guy who spends the most or raises the most doesn't necessarily win. And also, that the Neocons are fried.
I mourn not doing better, but I couldn't be more pleased at Jeb Bush's humiliating showing throughout this whole election.
The Democrats:
Hillary should be scared shitless. In fact, we know she is, given how much fraud she felt the need to commit just to tie with Sanders. Seriously, Hillary, SIX coin flips that all go to you??
Man, the whole Democratic party machine is freaking out about Sanders, aren't they? In ways that the Republican Party machine is not even near approaching with their respective dark horse candidates. Of course, by all right Sanders SHOULD have been another Rand Paul, a guy who won't get anywhere. But the Democrats couldn't manage Sanders like the GOP did Paul, because there were no other likeable candidates running against him. Hillary is massively distrusted by almost everyone. She acts ridiculously entitled, and it feels to most people like every word out of her mouth is a carefully-calculated statement to appeal to the most possible people, with no concern for the truth or any kind of real convictions (witness how she was firmly against Gay Marriage until the very instant a slight majority of voters supported it, and then she was immediately totally for it and claims to have always been).
Its the GOP race had just been Rand Paul and Jeb Bush, Rand would have tied in Iowa too.
Hillary must be waking up with night-terrors right now. Once again, a populist who has 'no right' to be President is going to steal the nomination from her, only this time it's not even Chocolate Jesus, it's this funny-looking little old communist atheist Jew. Seriously: he looks like a strong breeze could kill him (though in fact he's only 6 years older than Hillary, and possibly in better physical and almost certainly better mental health), he said he doesn't believe in any religion, he's a proud marxist, and he's Jewish, and HE'S STILL MORE POPULAR than she is. She must be sweating black ooze from her pores! I can't wait for her to fake-cry in public again and talk about hard it is to be a woman.
If I'm feeling schadenfreude at Jeb Bush, what I'm feeling about Hillary right now can only be defined as a kind of transcendental ecstasy at witnessing a divine act of Karmic justice.
This promises to be an entertaining election season, even if the guy who could actually be a good president is dead in the water already.
RPGPundit
Currently Smoking: Lorenzetti Volcano + H&H's Beverwyck
You hit the mark on Hillary! It is indeed karmic justice. I only hope the voters pay attention. :-)
ReplyDeleteOf course sending Bill back to the white house to have more access to interns is another drawback of Hillary. As for Republicans, it is at least promising Trump in going down and out. Sanders vs Paul would have been a very interesting match up.
ReplyDeleteI think you hit the mark all around except I don't think Autocrat fits Cruz. As a zealot constitutionalist he's most likely the least Autocratic of the bunch (excepting Rand Paul of course) despite the way he may come off.
ReplyDeleteI think Hillary as Apollo Creed after at the end of the first Rocky movie. Yeah she won, but Rocky was supposed to be an easy match not a 14 round blooding that ended up with both getting the exact same number of Electoral votes.
DeleteCruz is a zealous constitutionalist the way that Fidel Castro is a zealous freedom fighter. Castro famously defined 'freedom' as "within the Revolution everything, outside the Revolution nothing". Cruz's religious fanaticism will operate at full bore except on those few occasions where it clashes with his narrow interpretation of the Constitution.
DeleteBut I'll concede as far as saying that he's the least godawful of the remaining GOP candidates.
Delete