for the general. Of the entire bunch I think he's the one that could possibly pull out a win.

He's beatable but it won't be easy.

Cruz would be the better debater (although I think folks would be turned off by his "snark&quot , but Rubio has the better overall "story" and the backing of the RNC.

Cruz is too religious and while he will have strong support from a significant number of Republicans, he will turn off moderate voters.

Rubio is the one to prepare to fight against, imo.

As for Rubio, he is the wolf in sheep's clothing we should be deeply worried about in the weeks ahead.

But if the sheep believe him, he's going to get the evangelical vote.

And, I agree, Rubio is the one to worry about.

I think it's best to take his word for it. He's running as a fundie, and he'd most likely govern as a fundie, regardless of whether he really believes in the crap he says he does.

If you listen to him, it sounds like he's running for pope, not president. With all his holier-than-thou Jesus speak, I'm desperately hoping there are photos to go with the rumors of his affair with a lobbyist.

And I reckon Rubio would cut that out once he got into the general.

His odds just shot up to over 50% in the wagering markets (him and Trump basically flip flopped). He was the big winner last night. Bush spent millions nuking him, and he still finished with the same number of delegates as Trump and only one less than Cruz.

It would have been better for the establishment candidate to not crystalize until much later.

The one hope is that he is not ready for the prime time. He could step into a Quayle hole if he is not careful. The right type of debate could lead to a "I knew Jack Kennedy moment".

It definitely seemed like it was going to start trending in his direction.

His narrow 3rd place Iowa win makes him the establishment favorite...oh, wait, he already was!

They might not be ready to give up the battle for the establishment lane.

......I doubt that anyone has gone from 2-3% in Iowa, to the nomination. That is a big hill to climb.

So it has been known to happen.

Rubes has skeletons. Time to drag them out.

No way he torpedoes one of the remaining candidates.

None of them has any broad-based appeal, and any pig can be lipsticked if the campaign staff is reasonably competent. Who the GOP puts up is immaterial, all that matters is how good a con they can run.

-- Mal

I don't think this election will be a walk in the park for our nominee, be it Hillary or Bernie.

The GOP is still a very capable marketing force, although this cycle they are handicapped by the fact that their field is the worst ever assembled. I frankly don't care much who wins the GOP nomination (except for schadenfreude, there are a couple of individuals I would prefer not have the satisfaction). The only question is how successful the machine will be (given its many advantages of gerrymandering, voter fraud, and media control) in selling the empty suit who stands in front of the microphone for them. That ability, alas, is not so easy to denigrate, although it must be noted that they have not really "won" a Presidential election since the Reagan area (Bush senior riding in on Saint Ronnie's coattails, as it were).

-- Mal

He couldn't even carry a few states.

I thought after the 1980 elections that I had no more left to throw up, then that cretin was elected by the biggest landslide in history. By that time, I knew I was really out-of-step with the tastes of the rest of this benighted country. I still haven't gotten over the pain, not of being wrong, but of how stupid my countrymen were.

-- Mal

Thanks for sharing your personal perspective on that horrible election. It seems to be that Reagan was able to cruise on this caricature of himself that people found likable and appealing for some reason.

He is not ready for primetime. He is stiff. Offers little to nothing to draw in the red meat base. Very canned speeches.
In the general? Both Bernie and Hillary are experienced and rock solid debaters. Both project a commanding presence and domminate a stage. Either would chew him to pieces. To be blunt, none of their options are good. Each has their respective talents but none bring a challenge to the table to match what Bernie and Hillary bring as experienced politicians.

Is there one that you think would be a formidable challenge?

Certain candidates offer a sort of ying/yang counter-position depending on who they face.
The religious zealotry and ability to inspire his supporters in Cruz would be toughest for Sanders.

For Hillary I think it would be tRump. He has huge sums of money. He is caustic and outrageous. They have been friends for decades, He can go toe-to-toe on dirty secrets. Being populist and unpredictable will make him a tough fight.

Just my thoughts

He is pretty hard core with that stuff even for a Republican. I don't see him doing well with the National Review crowd, who also hate Trump obviously. I think Bernie would wipe the floor with him.

I also think Hillary would do fine against Trump. Hillary can actually talk intelligently about a wide variety of issues and Donald is unable to do so on pretty much any of those topics. I think Hillary would make him look like even more of a buffoon.

Rubio, on the other hand, can pose as a reasonable moderate and sounds smarter than Trump, so I think he would do better against either Bernie or Hillary.

If he has a very good prep team that readies him and protects him, yeah he can take it. Otherwise, its only a matter of time before he trips over himself.

Rubio is arguably the person most likely to be the next president of the USA.

It will be interesting to see what his poll numbers do as candidates start dropping out. I think a large number of Christie and Bush supporters will flip to him.

Huckabee's will probably go to Cruz.

he sure tanked fast. One wonders if Rubio has been the plan all along. Ted's too evangelical to appeal to moderates (he is just a slightly -and I mean slightly - smarter Scott Walker). The only question is who is VP. Kasich or Sandoval?

For a while I didn't think he stood a chance, but he did much better in Iowa than I thought he would.

He could actually pull off the nomination.

How easy do you think Republican voters will go on a minority candidate?

it's likely going to be a three person race coming out of NH. At that point, Cruz and Trump are going to absolutely hammer him on Immigration. It didn't seem to make many headlines, but I don't think he handled the issue well at all in the last debate. He was trapped and could not explain his flip flop. He can ward off Cruz by pointing out that Cruz also flip flopped, but he has no such argument against Trump.

So, Rubio get pushed further and further right on Immigration. His Cuban ancestry (he's lied about his parent's story, but the way) won't save him from losing Latinos. He's already made a huge blunder on choice earlier in the campaign when he affirmed that he didn't believe in abortion rights in any circumstances at all, so he gets killed with women.

So, the question is, what 2012 Obama states does he flip? Probably none, and almost certainly not enough to get to 270.

Those are the ones that would be tighter at least.

General Election: Rubio vs. Sanders
Poll Date Sample MoE
Rubio (R)
Sanders (D)
Spread
RCP Average 10/29 - 12/20 -- -- 44.0 43.0 Rubio +1.0
Quinnipiac 12/16 - 12/20 1140 RV 2.9 45 42 Rubio +3
PPP (D) 12/16 - 12/17 1267 RV 2.8 42 39 Rubio +3

That's from Real Clear Politics

is Adelson of Las Vegas casino/Gingrich baker fame. Really talked up Rubio during the repug fashion show he held at his casino late last year.

ETA: And Rubio is absolutely for sale.

So let him have at it!

He does, fortunately, manage to pick losers. Maybe that's an omen of doom for the photogenic one. He hates his job and refuses to do it most of the time. He wants all the trappings of wealth but someone else has to pay for it.

I think he's too pushy for a lot of folks so he may not get very far. Once some of the other highly objectionables take their leave of the race, I expect his background check to come up with a low and unacceptable score.

McCain got smoked because he looked like an old curmudgeon, compared with Obama's youth. I believe our candidate would do best against Rubio by demonstrating experience and a sense of humor.

He's one lazy asshole.

He was even more disinterested than Bush was.

Have at 'im Donald Attaaaaack!

They're about to lay into him

Especially now that Trump will probably go after him with all his twitter might.

He espouses a very hard-ass foreign policy, too, which might appeal to ex-Trumpsters (assuming Trump will either quit or self-destruct) and can't wait to send troops to the Middle East. And capture and torture whoever American troops can get hold of. That will have to be attractive to the older white male.
I also think he has a pretty good speech-writer. Lots of syrupy HOPE for a NEW AMERICA! He's smooth.
All he has to do is bide his time and let Cruz and Trump eviscerate each other.
The big surprise - the unspoken WTF? - is the absence of JEB. Eve in this thread, he's hardly mentioned by anyone. I can't figure it out. I mean the man isn't worthy of the presidency. But when did that ever stop the Right Wing?

He just doesn't seem to come off well on TV at all. W had this goofy likability that Jeb seems to be lacking entirely.

I think JEB! is pulling the gay card right now to get rid of Rubio - did you really think it was about his boots when people were talking about them being Girl boots and high heeled?

The guy DEFINES the term "empty suit". He has zero accomplishments to speak of in the senate and is a lazy piece of shit who never shows up for work. He's against gay marriage, against abortion in ALL exceptions, is a denier of man-made climate change, is a warmonger, etc. He's a 40 year old Republican with the brain of an 80 year old one. I don't think you're giving Hispanics and young people enough credit if you think they'll vote for a total buttplug like Marco simply because he looks like them.

he's a lightweight among sociopaths, grifters and crooks. NO sense of gravitas. But it does raise the question.....who then? I think the repubs are well and truly fucked, in terms of the highest office.

gain enough new followers to over power Cruz.

I feel Rubio is the biggest threat. We will find out soon enough.

Kasich fakes normal and caring pretty well.

cause if you are I don't think he's much of a threat to Bernie at all though

Going forward I will refer to Rubio as Waterboy only.

The whole punditry and the betting markets have decided that he's gonna be the nominee after Iowa. But it's not so clear to me. Trump is still formidable, and still doing well in polls in a lot of states.

I think Bernie can beat him but our party establishment doesn't understand the base at all anymore.