2862

So Trump is Perry, Carson is Cain… who will be Gingrich?

Also, here’s a question:
Why does anyone give even one single fuck about Iowa? They clearly are not in line with the rest of the country. Their opinion about who should be president is pretty consistently wrong. So seriously, why does anyone give a crap about Iowa?

2863

I think it’s an unexpected result of Citizens United. While we all feared it would allow people like the Koch’s to outright buy a candidate, no one really considered the possibility that many millionaires would fund many candidates, allowing fringe candidates who would have been forced out by a lack of funding to stay in the race.

Was it here that someone posted the article speculating that Carson’s run may have started as a direct mailing money making operation which morphed into unexpected legitimacy?

Anyway, the best/worst part of Trump’s rant which has not been explicitly mentioned here yet is that he repeatedly compared Carson to a child molester:

But Trump seized on Carson’s own words in his autobiography that such episodes were brought on by a “pathological temper.” He likened it to a pathological disease that couldn’t be changed.

“If you’re a child molester, there’s no cure. They can’t stop you. Pathological? There’s no cure,” Trump said.

So that’s what this race has devolved into. Candidates for President comparing each other to child molesters and spending week’s trying to convince the American people that they do indeed have a history of violence.

2864

Agreed.

Nobody had the balls to call out the over the top lies and stupid things Carson was saying. Until Trump.

Carson clearly made up fake stories in order to make it sound like God intervened and redeemed him.

Caron’s campaign is just HORRIBLE. He is making every mistake in the book. Hillary would eat him alive.

2865

Trump’s tirade was so nonsensical though.

I love how his plan to deal with ISIS is, “I’d blow up those suckers. I’d blow up every refinery, every pipe, there’d be nothing left! And then I’d take the oil!”

He needs to start ending his speeches with, “San Diemos Highschool Football Rules!”

2866

This is completely true. But the irony is, the guy who ended up in the lead (Trump) as a result is personally totally unaffected by Citizen’s United. Blowing your own billions on your personal presidential run has always been legal.

2867

Think of it as the minor leagues of electioneering. Or maybe a pre season exhibition. Why do people care about those matches?

Simple: new prospects. Some presidential candidates have never run for office before, and most have never run for national office. They are going to need a lot of money to run a national campaign, or even a big statewide campaign like in Texas or California. Many donors are hesitant, because all of the campaign staff are still untested.

Iowa is technically a small-scale contest, but if there are glaring weaknesses in one’s GOTV, then they will become apparent. After Iowa, donors can contribute to a candidate with slightly more confidence that they will be able to run a campaign.

2868

Oh, Ben.

Carson previously said that the Chinese were involved in Syria in Tuesday’s GOP debate, which the White House rejected.

National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Thursday she has “not seen any evidence of Chinese military involvement in Syria” when asked about Carson’s suggestions at a White House briefing.

On Friday in South Carolina, Carson was pressed by CNN on whether he wanted to revise his earlier comments.

“I have several sources that I’ve gotten material from,” said the retired neurosurgeon. “I’m surprised that my material is better than theirs.”

He pledged to make public the information backing his position in the next few days.

2869

Is it possible Carson is totally out of control and is just making stuff up at this point? Doesn’t he have someone to rein him in?

2870

God’s just speaking through him, don’t worry. Since the Pope decided he only sort of hated the gays, God had to find a new mouthpiece on Earth. He found Ben Carson snoozing with his mouth open at the first Debate and just sorta took the wheel.

2871

Who knows, dude. But let me take this opportunity to thank you for using the correct spelling of “rein” given the context. I can’t tell you how many times I see people write “reign in,” ugh.

2872

Who will take the reins during my reign while it rains?

2873

Why, my good friend Ray N. Raines.

2874

Because they’re the first and historically weren’t so insanely religious. After GWB’s reign and the fallout of it all, they became taken over by the purest of the pure nutjobs. Because everyone else was sick of the bullshit and left the party and it’s primary. Then the entire GOP became a haven for the insane.

The Democrats side of things never really changed and remain relevant. Obama credits his candidacy to winning in Iowa. Basically something along the lines of: if middle America is willing to elect this guy to office, maybe it can actually happen, which made later primary wins possible.

2875

Yeah i don’t get it either. You’d think he would have at least one adviser who knows what they are doing to tell him not to open his mouth.

I think Carson is a crazy, religious extremist, but his campaign is just being run horribly. I think if he had better advisers (or listened to them) he would be doing a lot better in the primaries (yes, i realize he is doing well now, but i think he would be doing even better).

That he either did such a bad job picking staff and/or does not listen to people who know what they are talking about when he does not, does not speak well for what he would do as president.

2876

I still think Carson is just grifting, with perhaps hopes for a regular job on Fox.

2877

Dem debate tonight was a total snoozer. Seemed like they ended it about 10 minutes early.

2878

I Was on the road and missed it. Did the shift in focus towards foreign policy and national security benefit Clinton over Bernie?

2879

I didn’t watch it, but reading some reactions it didn’t go well for either Clinton or Sanders. Sanders clearly isn’t that interested in foreign policy, and Clinton from the sound of it back slid into disingenuous mode.

2880

Ugh, Hillary’s pandering fucking murders me.

After getting slugged repeatedly over her massive contributions from Wall St. companies, and how that almost certainly has to affect her judgment (note her being the only person on-stage not supporting the return of Glass-Steagal-style legislation), her response is essentially, “They donated to me because I was so helpful in NYC after 9/11, and by the way, did you know 60% of my donors are women!”

When they did a twitter followup with someone incredulously asking how she thought mentioning 9/11 in any way cleared her Wall St. connections, her reply was the politically evasive version of “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

O’Malley looked like he was on fire for the first half, but was very strangely subdued in the second half. Sometimes he gets this sort of pitiable, brokenhearted quietude to himself when answering a question–I think its his version of solemnity–that feels really weird compared to his normal charismatic poundings of the various other candidates. He basically got stuck in that mode–and continuously got cut off for commercial breaks after 4-minute back-and-forths between Hillary and Bernie–which was sad, since he seemed to be hitting some key notes midway through.

And laughably enough, I’ve seen a couple of sites calling Hillary’s “Wall St. supports me because of 9/11, not because they think I’ll do 'em a solid!” comment a good moment for her. Insanity.

Oh, and apparently Republicans are mad that none of them would say “Radical Islam” was the enemy, preferring “radical Jihadists.” Kay.

2881

Isn’t that a bit redundant? Oh, I’m a jihadist but I’m just in it for the virgins.