I can't say I'm 100% solidified in my support, but it's getting pretty darn close.
I've got nothing against Jeb, but unfortunately, he seems to have some deficits in campaigning leadership his brother excelled in. His strategy of letting the hot air balloons have their day is sound. I trust his rolodex is formidable enough to staff an administration well enough and the iside (
iSideWith.com) website says we're 88% in tune. But he's blowing it. Maybe he's playing possum and if so maybe his timing his perfect. But I'm not so sure. His flubs have been novice and unprepared. The petulant vibe he's putting out is painting him into the popular mythic corner of "entitled royal" he can ill-afford. Maybe he cut the right deals on the golf course to leverage a big spring in a couple of months that chokes out the rest of the field. But I'm not so sure. It looks to me he's going to have to go more negative to pull it off than he can really afford. I think he should have been more prepared for the press and less frustrated with the party that he's asking to govern.
Walker was the perfect candidate on paper. He's got real executive skills in the hot seat. He has a remarkable record of affecting real policy and staying on the bull. But he showed up to the big stage unprepared. He squandered his mystique by flopping around like a fish on policy positions one would expect a prospective leader of the free world to have given some thought to beforehand. I could forgive him the first couple of times, but this past round of refining your policy and talking points in public view is starting to feel insulting. Now he's mouthing off about China in a way that reminds me of Romney's hyperbolic naiveté 4 years ago. (To his credit, his ‘China’ article in the Journal this morning didn’t self-inflict any wounds.) I still like him and his future, but I’m not seeing him ready to be president.
Rand Paul is right about a lot. He has a vision and skill in leading national attention to that which deserves it. He's on the front lines of pushing out the big tent, where I hope we follow him even if it takes decades to earns returns on the effort. But this Senator needs some executive experience before he can sit in the big chair with a full deck of cards to play for a successful presidency.
Perry & Jindal deserves more of a chance than they're getting, but the window for a redemptive breakout has probably already closed. The same may be said of most of the rest of the field--whose careers and qualifications deserve more attention than I'll give them here.
The novelties and rabble rousers come and go. (Some I'll be happier to see go.)
Folks, it's Rubio.
Yeah he's a Senator and a freshman one at that. Here on the red team that's a minus, not a plus. But he's handled his time there with seriousness and sobriety. I'd much prefer a governor with executive experience, but the fact is nobody's eye is the on the ball and has the skill to point to it as good as he does. He knows how to speak like foreign ministries are listening to him. He stuck his neck out on immigration reform, and even those of us who disagree with the legislation have to admire how deftly he respected the opposition, listened to the objection with fairness, took his lumps, and is capable of championing a winning coalition today. He's incisive, measured, and clear. He's a consensus builder with an eye on governing, not just hiding behind polarized politics and waiting for his GQ cover. He demonstrates an attitude of respect and responsibility greater than any governor in the race.
I keep waiting for a flub and he just won't give me one. When he does, I'll rethink my position. I haven't sized up the spouses yet and they matter. But at this point, my gut tells me the rest of the competition can't catch up.
If a pollster calls me up before the next debate, I'll say "Fiorina" so maybe she can get on the big stage.
But I'm saying, absent some shocking scandal (i.e. greater than a speeding ticket every few years)--it's Rubio for the win.
