Flashback: 2016 presidential candidates Rubio, Paul, Cruz were behind 2013 government shutdown

By Lynn R. Mitchell

[Editor’s note: A look back at a post I wrote in 2013….]

New York Times Op-Ed columnist Gail Collins does not mince words:

Right now, the show horses of the United States Senate are Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida. All preparing for a 2016 presidential bid. All making visits to Iowa. They’re the new faces of the Republican Party. Really, really new. The three of them have an average age of 45 and an average tenure in Washington of 1.9 years.

Whatever happened to learning one job before moving to the next step?

Jeb surging, Rand Paul plunging in GOP primary voters poll

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The numbers look good for Governor Jeb Bush as he continues to campaign during the 2016 presidential race.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is losing support among likely Republican primary voters, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

The poll shows support growing for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who made his candidacy official only last week.

But Paul, who jumped in early on April 7, has shown a decline, Politico notes.

Only 49 percent of likely GOP voters said they could see themselves voting for Paul for president in June. That’s a 10 percent drop from the same survey in April, when he had just announced.

Bush headed up the poll, which 75 percent, a rise of five percent from April.

Rand Paul continues to alienate national security Republicans who are interested in protecting the homeland from terrorism attacks like those that happened on September 11, 2001 (see Christie goes after Rand Paul’s soft stance on terrorism).

Christie goes after Rand Paul’s soft stance on terrorism

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Chris Christie speaks the truth (see reporter Daniel Straus’ Chris Christie rips Rand Paul on Patriot Act). Rand Paul may have been elected as a Republican but he is a Libertarian especially when it comes to national security.

Referring to Paul’s filibuster on the floor of Congress that allowed parts of the Patriot Act to expire, Christie said:

“These types of actions, I’m telling you from experience, are shortsighted. And these same people who give these long speeches up on Capitol Hill if, God forbid, there is some kind of other attack in this country, will be the first ones to [drag] the CIA director and the FBI director up to Capitol Hill, put them under oath and excoriate them for not connecting the dots and not preventing the attacks,” Christie said.

True. It happened after 9/11. The Patriot Act was put into place after the devastatingly tragic terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001, as radical Muslims attacked New York City’s Twin Towers, Arlington’s Pentagon, and caused the airplane crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, of United Flight 93 that was thought to be headed to the U.S. Capitol or the White House.

Christie added, “This is about life and death for our country, and I stand for keeping America safe and making America strong and not giving political speeches on the floor of the Senate to raise money for a political campaign.”

Chris Christie gets it. Never forget.

Jennifer Rubin looks at GOP candidates: ‘They’re off! (for 2016)’

By Lynn R. Mitchell

Pragmatic conservative writer Jennifer Rubin took a look Monday in the Washington Post at the Republican candidates lining up for a run at the 2016 presidential race. In her Right Turn blog post titled ‘They’re off! (for 2016),’ Rubin comments on the GOP field.

In a nod to the strength of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s exploration and sure entry into the contest, Rubin notes, “The race has and will continue to be a contest between Bush and the most electable not-Bush candidate.”

Here are some of Rubin’s observations from her post:

Jeb: Big advantage in minority outreach

By Lynn R. Mitchell

In Tuesday’s Washington Post, “Right Turn” columnist Jennifer Rubin noted that Jeb Bush has a big advantage in minority outreach that is somewhat lacking in other possible 2016 GOP candidates (see Minority outreach that works). She wrote:

The most interesting part of the Mason-Dixon Florida Poll may not be that 59 percent of Republicans there want Jeb Bush to run for president. He was, after all, a successful governor there. Rather, two other figures pop out: A large share of the Hispanic vote in both parties (44 percent) and of independents (50 percent) want him to run. It is a telling reminder that saying you want to reach out, after deciding you want to be president, is a far different thing than having an established appeal with non-traditional GOP voters. Bush got 61 percent of the Hispanic vote in his first gubernatorial election and 56 percent in his re-election.

Republicans most likely to be 2016 GOP nominee

By Lynn R. Mitchell

The Hill has their list of 13 Republicans most likely to be nominees for the Republican presidential nomination for 2016 (see 13 Republicans most likely to win WH). I don’t agree with some of their choices but it makes for interesting speculation.

Libertarian Chris Stearns takes on Republican Reid Nicholson in 3rd District chairman’s race

By Lynn R. Mitchell

It’s decision time for voters in the 3rd Republican Congressional District where Chris Stearns is up for reelection as chairman, a position he has held the past two years.

Stearns, a former national leader from Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty — indeed, Ron Paul himself and his son Rand Paul endorsed Stearns for his short-lived state senate bid where he was soundly defeated — holds many libertarian views such as legalization of drugs, isolationistism, and others listed on the libertarian party platform as Justin Higgins noted over at JH Politics. Check out his post “Matt Kibbe, Chris Stearns, and the GOP’s direction.”