Month: January 2016

Rubio Adopts 3-2-1 Plan to Win Nomination

Buck Banks

3-2-1

Marco Rubio’s new campaign strategy, “an unconventional path to winning the GOP primary contest. The strategy, dubbed ‘3-2-1’ by some who have been briefed on it, forecasts a sequence in which Rubio takes third place in Iowa on February 1, finishes second in New Hampshire on February 9, and wins South Carolina on February 20,” reports National Review. “From there, Rubio would be well-positioned in the long haul to win a plurality of voters, and ultimately a majority of delegates, in a three-way contest against Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.”

Americans Mixed on What Characteristics Trump Would Bring to Presidency

Buck Banks

5%

Percent of Americans who cite his confidence — that he doesn’t back down — when asked to name the best or most positive thing about a possible Donald Trump presidency if he were to be elected in 2016, according to Gallup: “Americans most commonly volunteer his business background, policies on immigration and honesty — that he says what he feels. … More than four in 10 cannot name anything positive about a potential Trump presidency.”

GOP Candidates Don’t Know What Carpet Bombing Is

Buck Banks

Carpet bombing would be completely useless. It’s totally contrary to the American way of war. Total disregard for civilians. So, I mean, part of the concern that I have with the campaign, particularly when it comes to national security, is that the solutions being offered are so simplistic and so at odds with the reality of the rest of the world, with the way the world really works.

— Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, quoted by Politico, saying the GOP presidential candidates “don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Cook: Clinton Shouldn’t Turn Too Far Left

Buck Banks

A hard move to the left would make her job of win­ning over in­de­pend­ent and mod­er­ate voters in the gen­er­al elec­tion even more chal­len­ging. In­de­pend­ents tend to have very com­plic­ated views of Clin­ton, see­ing her on one hand as smart, know­ledge­able, and com­pet­ent, but on the oth­er hand as not par­tic­u­larly likable or trust­worthy. Big ideo­lo­gic­al swings over the course of the cam­paign aren’t likely to help her cred­ib­il­ity. … It can’t be fun for Clin­ton to be Sanders’s piñata this month and next, but for March 1 on, it shouldn’t be that bad, and there is no point win­ning the nom­in­a­tion if you render your­self un­elect­able in the fall.

— Charlie Cook, National Journal

For GOP to Survive, Trump and Cruz Must Lose

Buck Banks

For Republicans, the only good outcome of Trump vs. Cruz is for both to lose. The future of the party as the carrier of a humane, inclusive conservatism now depends on some viable choice beyond them.

— Michael Gerson, who worked with Ted Cruz on George W. Bush’s first presidential campaign, writes in the Washington Post that “he is actually more of a demagogue than an ideologue.”

GOP Primary Souring Voters’ Views of the Party

Buck Banks

42%

Of registered voters said the primary race has made them feel less favorable about the GOP, compared to just 19% who said they feel more favorable, according to the latest NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll. Thirty-eight percent said the brawl for the Republican nomination hasn’t changed their view of the party as a whole.