When the going gets tough . . . the tough starts to sob. Republican field tired of 'gotcha questions' sob, stop quoting me! The Republican presidential primary has only just gotten going and already the candidates are sick and tired of gotcha questions from the media. You know, sneaky, unfair stuff like asking the candidates about their own words. Ted Cruz has had enough of this nonsense where people check to see if he's telling the truth: Harwood: You've said a few things that don't necessarily comport with the facts, like, "125,000 I.R.S. agents, send 'em to the border." They've only got 25,000 agents or something like. You've talked about the job-killing nature of Obamacare. We're adding jobs at a very healthy clip right now. Why shouldn't somebody listen to you and say, "The guy'll just say anything - doesn't have to be true"? Cruz: There is a game that is played by left-wing editorial writers. It's this new species of yellow journalism called politi-fact. Colloquially I was referring to all the employees as agents. That particular stat is in a joke I used. So, they're literally fact-checking a joke. I say that explicitly tongue in cheek. Oh, see, colloquially I was using the scary-sounding term "agents" to stand in for agents, receptionists, clerical staff, janitors, paper pushers, and number crunchers, and it was all a joke anyway, so it's illegitimate to point out that my innocent little joke making a serious political point was premised on misinformation. It's a good strategy for wooing the Republican base, though—say all kinds of outrageous stuff, then insist it was all a joke anyway, so if reporters call you out on it, it's yellow journalism by left-wing editorial writers. Cruz could never be held accountable for anything he says under this theory. For his part, Rand Paul spent the first day of his official candidacy testily explaining to reporters that nothing he said before about 2009, when he began running for office, is in any way relevant to his presidential run now and so it's all off limits. In one case, he even claimed that something he said in 2009 was said in 2007, pushing it back out of the acceptable-to-ask category, per his rules. This from the man who's been trying to run against Hillary Clinton based on things her husband did in the 1990s. For guys gearing up to run on accountability for everyone else, "it's not fair to ask me about that stuff I said" is an interesting and nervy approach to dealing with the media. But the truth is, it is likely to appeal to a Republican base strongly rooted in the victim mentality.
Rand Paul up, Clinton down in 2016 presidential poll WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton has slipped against leading 2016 Republican candidates in Colorado, Iowa and Virginia, according to a poll released on Thursday that cited damage from the furor over the former secretary of state's emails. The Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll also showed Clinton in a close race with U.S. Senator Rand Paul, the Kentucky Republican who declared his candidacy on Tuesday. Clinton, who is expected to announce her White House bid this month, is tied with all the Republican candidates in Colorado and almost all of them in the early voting state of Iowa, the poll said. "It isn't just one or two Republicans who are stepping up; it's virtually the entire GOP field that is running better against her" since the last swing state survey on Feb. 18, pollster Peter Brown said in a statement. He attributed the drop to the controversy that erupted in March over Clinton's use of personal email for work when she was America's top diplomat. Republicans have raised the prospect of congressional hearings on the issue. Paul led Clinton by 44 percent to 41 percent in Colorado and 43 percent to 42 percent in Iowa, the Quinnipiac poll showed. In Virginia, Clinton led 47 percent to 43 percent. "These numbers are a boost for U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky as he formally launches his campaign," Brown said. The poll cited a bright spot for Clinton in Virginia, where she led all Republicans, including former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, whom she led with 47 percent to 40 percent, compared to a 42-42 percent tie in February. The telephone poll of 2,803 likely voters was conducted from March 29 through April 7 and had an error margin of 3.2 percentage points in Iowa and Virginia and 3.3 points in Colorado. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn) https://ca.news.yahoo.com/rand-paul-clinton-down-2016-presidential-poll-133940057.html
Expected Presidential Bid Puts Marco Rubio at Odds With a Mentor, Jeb Bush MIAMI — As Marco Rubio debated whether to run for the United States Senate in 2010, he made a pledge steeped in loyalty and deference: He would never challenge his political mentor, Jeb Bush, if the former Florida governor wanted the job himself. This time around, Mr. Rubio is not asking for permission. When Mr. Rubio officially enters the presidential campaign here on Monday, upstaging Mr. Bush in his own backyard, it will signal a decisive, Shakespearean turn in a 15-year relationship so close, personal and enduring that friends describe the two men as almost family. It is a bond that has stretched from Miami to Washington, punctuated by late-night telephone consultations, fueled by mutual enemies and fixated on reinvigorating conservatism with big ideas, according to dozens of interviews. The head-on collision of Mr. Bush’s and Mr. Rubio’s presidential aspirations, once viewed as an outlandish prospect in this state, is now consuming their hometown with talk of unchecked ambition and political backstabbing. But precisely who betrayed whom is a matter of intense debate. For the hundreds of Florida lawmakers, donors and operatives who know them both, the situation is discussed with funereal dread. “It’s hard for us to emotionally accept,” said Al Cardenas, a longtime Republican Party leader. “Nobody thought it would come to this,” said Dominic M. Calabro, president of Florida TaxWatch, an advocacy group. “I’m not going to lie,” said Ana Navarro, a strategist and fund-raiser. “It gives me a lump in my throat.” Both men are eager to tamp down the tension. “What do you think,” Mr. Rubio recently asked an associate somewhat sheepishly, “about two friends running for the same office?” In an interview at his Miami office, Norman Braman, a fatherlike figure to Mr. Rubio and a major donor to his campaigns, portrayed Mr. Bush as a tired vestige of the past. “I don’t believe in dynasties,” he said, adding that it was time for the Bush family to “get out of the way” and make room for the fresher-faced Mr. Rubio. “This is not the time to go backward.” On Monday, friends said, when Mr. Rubio addresses his own supporters from the tower’s ornate lobby, his declaration of independence from Mr. Bush will be complete.
Jem . . . you really have to step up and give political advice to these confused wannabe Presidents.. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeb Bush's Iraq War Misstep Raises Concern Over 2016 Bid SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Jeb Bush worked his way through the dim hallway of an Arizona resort for hours, shuttling from room to room and meeting with dozens of Republican officials, many for the first time. He was in need of a political reset. For days, he had offered confusing answers to questions about the war in Iraq. He had disappointed Republicans in Iowa, the leadoff state in the nomination chase. And, for a moment, he had forgotten he wasn't yet a 2016 presidential candidate. Only weeks earlier, donors willing to give millions to put him in the White House were coming to see him at an opulent Miami Beach hotel. Now it was Bush seeking the private gatherings, on the sidelines of a Republican National Committee meeting. The former Florida governor was trying to recover from what was undeniably his worst week in politics since announcing he was considering a run for the White House. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marco Rubio Struggles To Explain Whether He Thinks Invading Iraq Was A 'Mistake' Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) struggled to reconcile past statements he has made about the 2003 invasion of Iraq with an answer on whether he thought the decision to invade was a mistake during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday." Last week, Rubio was asked whether he would have still authorized a war, knowing what is known now about Iraq and its lack of weapons of mass destruction. He unequivocally said no.
I'm still wondering why Jeb thought he was Hispanic on that voter registration form. At best he is a bumbler. We already had a bumbling Bush.
jeb was a very smart governor... the problem is you can trust a bush about as much as you can trust a clinton.
a republican wants to win its pretty simple. no irs more jobs less govt if you cap govt spending... and we come a a bit short in the revenues just have the Fed print it. they print as much as they want anyway. soon the revenues from the booming economy will match the capped budget and we will all be a boatload happier and with more jobs.