2016 Campaign Issue: Competence

[jwoodie]

By the time of the 2016 Presidential election many of the scandals within the Obama administration will be forgotten, but one issue has been indelibly imprinted on the public consciousness: Utter incompetence.

Whether Hillary can escape this stain will depend, in large part, on who the GOP nominates. It would be a big mistake for them to nominate a young sitting Governor whose main appeal is to social/religious conservatives, since this would play into Hillary's plan to portray herself as being the "moderate" candidate.

At this point, Mitt Romney would seem to be an ideal candidate to defeat Hillary. RomneyCare will be a dead issue, and his demonstrated competence will be in stark contrast to Obama and Hillary. His two main hurdles will be his age and his religion. The former can be dealt with by comparing him to Reagan. The latter may be trickier, since many women and minorities will find it offensive. Hopefully, his two previous runs will have defused this issue, just as Reagan's divorce was forgotten by the voters by 1980.

 

[mamooth]

Mitt Romney was totally incompetent with his 2012 campaign. Good luck getting anyone to forget that. The right tossed Mitt under the bus and blamed the loss entirely on Mitt's incompetence. The quotes from Mitt's fellow Republicans are all still there, just waiting to be used by Democrats.

 

[william the wie]

If the GOP breaks 53-47 or better for the Senate this year everything but the shouting will be done by 2016, the bad news for Ocare is that backloaded. Combined with the general political as opposed to electoral incompetence since January 2009 that is a toxic mix. Not doing anything stupid translates as not doing anything. The do nothing presidency that didn't even personally negotiate with his own party on his signature issue is really bad news for the Ds. How bad will be measurable by the number of senate seats won 52 or less the GOP will most likely lose in 2016, 53 or more they will most likely win. 55 or more, which is only remotely possible, means landslide territory for 2016.

 

[jwoodie]

If the GOP breaks 53-47 or better for the Senate this year everything but the shouting will be done by 2016, the bad news for Ocare is that backloaded. Combined with the general political as opposed to electoral incompetence since January 2009 that is a toxic mix. Not doing anything stupid translates as not doing anything. The do nothing presidency that didn't even personally negotiate with his own party on his signature issue is really bad news for the Ds. How bad will be measurable by the number of senate seats won 52 or less the GOP will most likely lose in 2016, 53 or more they will most likely win. 55 or more, which is only remotely possible, means landslide territory for 2016.

Interesting observation. I have been concerned that continuing "gridlock," especially with a GOP Senate, could allow Hillary to position herself as a "moderate" who could work with the opposition like her husband.

 

[birddog]

With the Senate swinging to the Rs, a Senator that becomes effective with legislation may have an advantage. Rand Paul or Cruz comes to mind.

 

[boedicca]

I am grateful to Obama for one thing: he has demonstrated to many heretofore utterly clueless people that Big Government Is Too Big Too Succeed.

 

[william the wie]

I am grateful to Obama for one thing: he has demonstrated to many heretofore utterly clueless people that Big Government Is Too Big Too Succeed.

Given all of the past demonstrations of the same fact I consider your point disproven.

 

[Old Rocks]

Two term GOP President with 6 years GOP House and Senate. How did that play out? Damn near had the Second Great Republican Depression. Two wars incomptentantly ran the whole time. The mastermind of the murder of 3000 Americans on American soil let go, and the whole world considering us pariahs for our use of torture.

President Obama took over on 20Jan09 with the market in a nosedive, clear down to 6550. People losing jobs at the rate of 500,000 a month. And where are we now, market 16,000+, unemployment below 6%, and Bin Laden is dead. All this in spite of a GOP House that has tried to take us back to Jan09 with it's every act.

When comparing the competance of the GOP and the Dems, one might want to actually consider the facts.