Tag: Campaign 2016

Rand Paul Not Appealing to Young Voters

Buck Banks

It’s a tantalizing theory for the right and a fun story for the media. But the data suggests that the senator from Kentucky has his work cut out for him. So far, Paul isn’t doing much better among young voters than the Republican nominee in 2012, Mitt Romney, or than Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor, is currently doing.

— Harry Enten, writing on FiveThirtyEight.

Rand Paul Takes Jab at Chris Christie

Buck Banks

Bridges.

— Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), when asked in a recent interview to name one word when he thinks of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), CNN reports. “The Kentucky senator’s dig marks the latest round in the back-and-forth between the two potential presidential contenders — a feud started last year in a war of words about surveillance and government spending.”

Trips to Iowa, New Hampshire, Just So Much Show

Buck Banks

It would be one thing if all of this early activity and attention in Iowa resulted in a smarter electorate, better candidates or a more authentic version of democracy. But in general, the quaint ‘retail’ settings of Iowa diners and New Hampshire living rooms are treated mostly as media sound stages, places where reporters report on how many other reporters showed up… As a result, these scenes have become backdrops for set pieces that blur into an anesthetizing noise: So-and-so has been to Iowa five times; some other so-and-so is ‘thinking about’ running for president; and here’s yet another picture of yet another so-and-so looking a voter right in the eyes and telling him the truth about something or other, as the discerning voters here insist.

— Mark Leibovich, writing in the New York Times.

Clinton Is Just Another Politician from the Gilded Age

Buck Banks

I’d like to find a reason to believe she’s a political force who stands for something in an era when there is a real appetite for serious change. She could, after all, decide to campaign vociferously in favor of the ACA this summer and fall (universal healthcare is, after all, one of her positions), but that might siphon money away from her foundation and candidacy. She could get out there and start framing a foreign policy vision. But, again, too risky. I see nothing that suggests a real passion for getting on with the fight – just the usual presumptions of a super-elite, super-rich and super-cocooned politician of the gilded age.

— Andrew Sullivan, on The Dish.