IOWA: Rand Paul is GOP's best candidate for 2016

[GunnyFreedom]

Elizabeth Warren. You heard it here first.

 

[Warlord]

A pill is only effective in 24 hours after sex. Even then it's no guarantee. The problem is social-conservatives want to ban the pill too! I'd like to know
Rand's opinion on this.

The bigger issue is this: if a woman wants abortion, who gave you the right to deny it her? This is not a libertarian position, it's an authoritarian position. And women nowadays don't like being told what to do.

My own position is not extreme and Warlord is not religious. It's based on not liking the idea of an abortion by convenience. I'd like to see states able to restrict it from maybe 4-6 weeks or whenever doctors generally agree the life is viable but Warlord is no reproductive expert.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

The whole gender gap didn't appear until the days of Ronald Reagan, when he made his alliance with Southern Evangelicals.

It's worth mentioning that female electorate is not uniform: black women tend to have kids out of the wedlock and rely on the government to raise them. They are a lost demographic to GOP. Black single mothers voters voted like 98% for Obama - nothing we can do. White women are doing very well financially, they get married - there is no reason we should be losing them by this margin. It's mostly due to social issues. If you ever looked at pro-abortion rallies, they're overwhelmingly white, lots of white women involved.

You sir, appear to have never been anywhere near a Republican Primary. Women run GOP primaries, and they are three times as socially conservative as the men. Social authoritarian positions that GOP men would overlook or don't really care a lot about, GOP women will string you up and make you regret ever being born. The GOP is so deeply socially conservative because of GOP women.

 

[supermario21]

Rand Paul won the youth vote against Hillary. Yes, you just read that. The war on women and all that BS is geared to young liberal types, if Rand can hold those numbers in an actual election he wins.

If Rand makes it to the general, he wins. His advantage is that he starts in with a built in constituency of young voters and independents. All he has to do is lock down traditional Republican voting blocs like seniors and he wins in a landslide.

 

[Icymudpuppy]

Proof, that Benghazi means nothing to most Americans..

 

[RockEnds]

You make some great points there!

You make a good point, too, with the support of candidates with a good following but lacking the 15% threshold. Hillary really failed in that. She'll have to improve at winning the support of the other campaigns if she hopes to win.

 

[nnuckelt]

It is still early and we have some time to expand our supporters in Iowa.

 

[nnuckelt]

Proof, that Benghazi means nothing to most Americans..

Sad but true, Benghazi will just be a small bump in the road for the Hillary campaign.

 

[Warlord]

Warlord strongly suspects if Ms. Clinton was foolish enough to run the GOP would bury her up to the neck in Benghazi with wall to wall Swift boat like ads in key states featuring the dead victims families, children and survivors with their heart wrenching stories after Secretary Clinton's ineptitude left them for dead.

 

[Warlord]

Here's a taste of what Ms. Clinton can expect if she runs.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqFtEtpy9G8

And there's still much more to come out. More whistleblowers, more testimony (survivors), more inquiries.

 

[asurfaholic]

Proof, that Benghazi means nothing to most Americans..

That's because the relevant information isn't getting out there.

I imagine in a debate situation between the two of them, things could get interesting.

But I'm banking more on what Gunny said...

 

[eleganz]

Name recognition is key, as long as Rand stays at the top, he will get the name recognition he needs to win the nomination.

 

[RonPaulFanInGA]

Elizabeth Warren. You heard it here first.

 

[KurtBoyer25L]

Just because you find something to be disgusting or unethical doesn't mean it should be illegal. Those who want abortion completely banned are almost always motivated by religion. This fraction of the electorate is already fully engaged with GOP. There is nothing to be gained by moving further to the right. But Rand Paul's position is even more extreme than Romney: no abortion for Rape victims. That would make it even harder for Rand to connect with the average female voter.

Rand Paul's personal position on abortion is pretty hard-line. But his political intentions on the issue are far more nuanced & realistic. If I thought a Rand Paul presidency would result in a hardcore federal abortion ban, I wouldn't still be here on this forum.

 

[Rocco]

Some VERY interesting numbers to look at in this poll. It is quite clear that, despite a 4 point lead in current polling, Hillary Clinton faces some pretty big demographic challenges if her vs Rand ends up being the match up. Actually, the differences between Rand and Rubio in terms of broad appeal really shine through here. Many of the problems she faces with Rand are non problems when she faces Rubio. For example:

Age 18-29:

Clinton 51
Rubio 32

Paul 46
Clinton 42

Difference: Paul +23

Independents:

Clinton 41
Rubio 36

Paul 44
Clinton 38

Difference: Paul +11

 

[JCDenton0451]

My own position is not extreme and Warlord is not religious. It's based on not liking the idea of an abortion by convenience. I'd like to see states able to restrict it from maybe 4-6 weeks or whenever doctors generally agree the life is viable but Warlord is no reproductive expert.

So you're a moderate, but you would rather to shirk the debate on this important issue. I just don't think this is the most productive approach for one reason: if we, social moderates disengage from the debate on abortion, hardcore types will end up running the show, Rand will be saddled with ridiculous positions that will make him unelectable in the general election.

 

[GunnyFreedom]

She's making herself into a golden hero with the 18-34's right now, and unlike the GOP establishment, the Dem establishment (and voters) actually listens to their millennials. Stuff like the above isn't going to be relevant to 18-40 year old voters who (falsely) think electing this socialist nutjob will automatically forgive their student loan debts. If the GOP wants to snatch the millennials out from under her, we can only do it on a liberty platform. And by 2016 the millennials will hold enough of the electorate to swing the whole shooting match by themselves.

 

[JCDenton0451]

Rand Paul's personal position on abortion is pretty hard-line. But his political intentions on the issue are far more nuanced & realistic. If I thought a Rand Paul presidency would result in a hardcore federal abortion ban, I wouldn't still be here on this forum.

I get that, but low-information voters don't care about nuances. Rand can be easily portrayed as another Todd Akin, and frankly, what is the difference between Todd Akin and Rand Paul on abortion?

 

[erowe1]

This is good news.

In a real election Hillary would be at a huge disadvantage because she's a woman.

 

[KurtBoyer25L]

I get that, but low-information voters don't care about nuances. Rand can be easily portrayed as another Todd Akin, and frankly, what is the difference between Todd Akin and Rand Paul on abortion?

Plenty of Republicans are pro-life in some way or another. Akin is ignorant and demonstrated himself to have zero medical knowledge, while Rand is a medical pro who speaks about "privacy between a woman and her doctor." He also believes in a strong congress, states rights & a non-unilateral President. If you look at his interview w/ Wolf Blitzer on abortion, it's pretty clear that as President he wouldn't try to change the laws unless a majority of congress & the general public came to him wanting to do so.