WHO'S RUNNING AND WHO'S NOT RUNNING IN 2016? Part Two

In Part One, we took a look at potential candidates Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie. Herein we look at three conservatives and one wild card liberal who swears she is not running. Uh-huh:

TED CRUZ

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) is perhaps the most extreme character in this saga. He enters with one glaring disadvantage; he looks a lot like the infamous late Joseph McCarthy. But that may be the least of his problems. Cruz, who was educated at Princeton and Harvard, is considered even by some of his naysayers as brilliant. But his brilliance does not seem to enlighten him as to the rights of all Americans: He opposes all things gay; he was staunchly against renewing the Violence Against Women Act; has not shown much regard for the environment; sees very little reason to impose gun control on Americans, in any way; supports employers’ right to deny insuring birth control.  Cruz is an extremist, to be sure. Remember when he threatened to shut down the U.S. government unless Congress defunded Obamacare? Oh, and then there was that time that Cruz proclaimed that Saturday Night Live executive producer "Lorne Michaels could be putin jail under this amendment for making fun of any politician."

Ted Cruz

That’s when he twisted a proposed Democratic-backed campaign finance amendment so that it would infringe on artists’ First Amendment rights.  Good times, huh? Is Ted Cruz dangerous? You be the judge.

PROS: First Cuban or Latino to win the Senate position he holds; One of only three Latinos in the Senate, likely to garner a huge chunk of the Hispanic vote; Knows the political game and knows Washington, having served in the Bush administration; has some appeal to extreme right wing Republicans.

CONS: Born in Canada, is he actually eligible to run for President of the U.S.? ; not in good favor with traditional Republicans; comes off as more of a dictator than an elected legislator; has been compared to infamous dictators like Hitler; Americans are not known to elected bad boys or extremist rebels to be leader of the free world.

 
MARCO RUBIO
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), as far back as May, said publicly that he does feel he is ready to be President. Here’s my take on that: Anybody who’s relatively young and relatively new to the political game, who has to actually state that he is ready to be President, is going to have a tough time convincing the electorate.

Marco Rubio

Rubio, 43, may run, but if he does, it will probably be just for the national exposure and to set the stage for a future run. He probably needs to convince Republican stalwarts that he is the future hope of the party, and that will take some doing when many he must convince are, shall we say, in the Autumn of their days. He is pro-life, supports state’s rights to decide on marriage equality; voted no on re-authorizing the Violence Against Women Act; reportedly has a concealed weapon permit, but does not carry a gun; believes that children of illegal immigrants should be afforded state tuition rates; supported a $2.3 billion cut to Florida public education. Oops.

PROS: Youth, vitality, personal appeal; ethnicity; willing to take legislative risks even if it means alienating some more extreme members of his own party.

CONS: Youth; ethnicity; inexperience. Probably lacks the necessary gravitas to be President.

RAND PAUL

So far, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is the only potential 2016 presidential candidate to visit Ferguson, MO in the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown. While that speaks well for him, it may just be that he is already courting the black vote.  Good luck with that, Rand. He uses every opportunity to bash Hillary Clinton, so evidently he feels this is going to be a Paul/Clinton race. Is he a Tea Party guy or a libertarian? That depends on when you listen to his rhetoric. Paul is adamantly pro-life; says states should decide on marriage equality, but believes redefining marriage is a threat to society; opposes anything that gets in the way of the right to bear arms; believes raising the retirement age would alleviate the social security shortage issue; voted no on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. Shortly after he became

Rand Paul

a senator, he proposed eliminating foreign aid to all countries. Seriously. After he was roundly bashed about that, he revised the proposal, which went nowhere. Rand Paul is an enigma of sorts, in that he doesn’t tow the line for any particular party, and he does very little to ingratiate himself to his colleagues. Still, there are those that said he could be a formidable opponent.

PROS:  Appeals to those who support individual liberties; Works hard to spread his ideology coast to coast; has risen quickly in the GOP ranks;

CONS: Too many grey areas in his stands on critical issues; probably too laissez-fare for many voters regarding government controls; not exactly a media darling already; has made a number of anti-war statements that make him come off as an isolationist; stated the the Civil Rights Act of 1964 unreasonably infringed on private businesses’ rights; as with Cruz, Ameicans are not prone to electing extremists.

ELIZABETH WARREN

Despite one denial after another after another, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is the subject of one of the most aggressive presidential drafts in recent memory.  Ready For Warren is a political action committee that is feverishly raising funds to pay for Warren’s presidential bid. What they will do with all of that cash once Warren truly doesn’t run is anybody’s guess. The Boston Globe even reported that Warren had her lawyer send a letter to the Federal Election Committee disavowing any relationship between her and Ready For Warren. Despite

Elizabeth Warren

her protests to the contrary. Warren could still change her mind. And what if she did? She’s an extreme liberal who adamantly supports abortion rights, thinks churches should provide birth control, wants the minimum wage raised to $10.10 by 2016, wants to end tax breaks for rich people, pushes for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, and need I go on? She’s a left-wing American’s dreamboat. Except for weed, that is. She strongly opposes marijuana legalization.

PROS:  Provides Hillary-haters a viable alternative; relative newcomer to Washington, not tainted or jaded by political quagmire; forthright, determined demeanor.

CONS: Inexperience with the Washington insiders; Conservatives despise her and many are likely to launch hostile campaigns to discredit her.

Yes, yes I know I left out people like Joe Biden and maybe a few others. All in good time. Just be thankful Rick Santorum is not on the list. Stay tuned.