Welcome back to Rabbit Punch: Politics, the only news & politics blog that will throw you off the balcony and break you in half. Like a boy.
The SOTU by the POTUS has come and gone, and the GOP are firing on all cylinders. Trouble is, they’re all running in different directions, and no one appears to be gaining any traction. If the party can’t get themselves on the same page for the 2016 election season, we’re going to see a repeat of 2012’s sad carnival of weak candidates and public bickering.
The tribes had looked ready to unite under the banner of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, but the presumptive GOP front runner proved to be too. . .big of a target, his white house chances dieing the death of a thousand tiny cuts.
In 2012 he was too fat. In 2014, too corrupt. Too bad.
The GOP has other governors in their stable of potential candidates, as well as a few well-knowns in Congress. Whoever steps up will have to find a way to play to the conservative base without scaring off women, which is why the party is losing Virginia. I know that the GOP is making another push for the minority vote, but they’ve said the same thing for the last 10 years, and nothing has come of it so far. Most likely because they keep trotting out Cubans in order to drum up the “latino” vote, as if everyone south of the boarder had the same monolithic culture. Mexicans and Salvadorians don’t identify with Cubans any more than Irish or Germans do.
As far as the “black” vote goes, the GOP seems to have given up, and are focusing on making sure that as few of them get to vote as possible.
Christie was a strong choice for 2016. He was charismatic, loved by the business community, and still able to play to the center. He appears to have been hamstrung early in this election cycle, but 2016 is still a long way off. It remains to be seen if the big man can make a big comeback.
Alright, everyone still in one piece? Good, then you just might be man enough for the next Rabbit Punch! Until then, keep your hands up and protect yourselves at all times, and be sure to check our sister blog, Rabbit Punch: Sports for a Super Sunday post later today.
What do you think Christie's changes of a viable 2016 run will be if evidence comes to light that he knew about or even ordered the lane closures? This particular scandal gets more salacious by the day. Do you think Christie has any chance of redemption?
ReplyDeleteIt has since been claimed that "evidence exists" that Christie did indeed know about the lane closures (http://tinyurl.com/kqd3wc2). While no "smoking gun" has surfaced yet (http://tinyurl.com/n9t23km), the Big Man's image has taken a serious hit, and even his fellow party members are rushing to undercut him (http://tinyurl.com/mgwxhrq).
DeleteLike I said, it's a long race. The fact that the other GOP factions are still getting their licks in shows that they still perceive him as the man to beat. His other advantages haven't disappeared, and Christie was still able to lead the Republican Governors Association to a monthly fundraising record in January (http://tinyurl.com/lajn73p). On the other hand, the news media seems pretty committed to smacking this guy on the head with a hammer every time he sticks his political nose outside the gopher hole of New Jersey.