New WSJ/NBC poll: 45% of Republicans won't consider voting for Rand Paul, 75% for Jeb

[mz10]

anyone know which primaries independents can vote in? I remember at least a few states allowed that.

-t

I think most states are open. Massachusetts is for sure, don't know about the rest.

 

[dannno]

You have to wonder if it isn't 236 registered Republicans who happen to be on the Jeb Bush mailing list.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Sometimes I think the reason the Republican field is so big this year is to divide the vote so much that Jeb Bush can end up getting the nomination

 

[opinionatedfool]

236 people and we are supposed to take them seriously, what a scam. No doubt NBC/WSJ staffers ensured it was stacked in favor of the anointed one - Jeb Bush.

What a joke. They just stop when they get the numbers they want... especially with so many in the race, the sample size should be much larger for any sense of accuracy.

 

[Galileo Galilei]

Anyone think Rand's Patriot Act filibuster backfired on him? I haven't seen any positive coverage on him for weeks.


http://dailycaller.com/2015/06/22/are-republicans-warming-up-to-jeb-bush/

Just an FYI to everyone out there, this is a non-standard poll question. The wording is causing some people who THINK Bush might get the GOP nomination to answer yes. Far fewer think Rand will get the nomination.

Also, they only polled 236 people, way too low.

It is also unclear who they define as a republican voter. Because an independent who leans GOP would react to this question differently than a regular GOP primary voter.

 

[rich34]

Sometimes I think the reason the Republican field is so big this year is to divide the vote so much that Jeb Bush can end up getting the nomination

Sure makes you wonder, I've also wondered what their strategy is by pushing so many to run because it seems going by history it's harder to control the results with multiple parties/candidates which really has me thinking that they could be covering all the bases in case there's a brokered convention. You'd have to think after seeing the last two elections and more particular how much effort campaign for liberty has put into learning/teaching supporters how to play the delegate race they know Rand is going to have a grassroots organization they'll be forced to reckon with. Since none of these other candidates truly generates legit grassroots support it would seem by loading the field and gathering as many establishment delegates as possible to band together when the time comes could be how they see their path to success against Rand. But who knows really, all speculation.

 

[Peace&Freedom]

Sure makes you wonder, I've also wondered what their strategy is by pushing so many to run because it seems going by history it's harder to control the results with multiple parties/candidates which really has me thinking that they could be covering all the bases in case there's a brokered convention.

I still go by the 'bury Rand' theory: Why do you think there are so many heavy-hitter Republican candidates in the race? They can tell just as much as we can that the primary race is over-populated. The point was to crowd Rand out, then bury him in the bottom half of the field by soft blacking out those lower tier candidates from the debates. Only Rand has stayed in the upper half of the field, thus depriving them of cover in excluding him.

 

[anaconda]

Sickening...

How this country, namely Repubs, could consider putting that friggin RINO clown in office is simply beyond me...

We get what we deserve as a country...

<goes back to his bunker>

It might be time for Rand to inform the donor class through back channels that unless they pull their heads out of their asses that he will run Libertarian or Independent. We'll see how the Kochs, the RNC, Sheldon Adelson, Fox News, or Larry Ellison like that.

 

[RonPaulMall]

Anyone think Rand's Patriot Act filibuster backfired on him? I haven't seen any positive coverage on him for weeks.

It isn't the Patriot Act stuff. I have a crap ton of "regular" Republican friends and family in North Carolina and while some are mildly supportive of Rand on it, the bulk honestly don't care. It isn't an issue that gets them fired up. The problem I've had with Rand over the past year or so is he's offering me nothing whatsoever to work with in terms of convincing my folks to vote for him. He hasn't really spearheaded any big time Conservative causes like he was doing his first couple years in office, and all the Sharpton BS and Republican brand trashing he does turns them off.

Rand's position in the polls right now are pretty much where you'd expect and where he deserves to be. If he wants to improve his position, at some point he's going to have to start engaging the Republican base and giving them a reason to support him. And I hope he starts doing it soon.

 

[Mr.NoSmile]

So is this it? Dismiss any sort of poll where Paul isn't at the or polling near the top? Come up with every single theory and explanation in the world for the results, versus accepting any poll where Paul is in the lead as 'We got this guys'?

 

[Brett85]

It isn't the Patriot Act stuff. I have a crap ton of "regular" Republican friends and family in North Carolina and while some are mildly supportive of Rand on it, the bulk honestly don't care. It isn't an issue that gets them fired up. The problem I've had with Rand over the past year or so is he's offering me nothing whatsoever to work with in terms of convincing my folks to vote for him. He hasn't really spearheaded any big time Conservative causes like he was doing his first couple years in office, and all the Sharpton BS and Republican brand trashing he does turns them off.

Rand's position in the polls right now are pretty much where you'd expect and where he deserves to be. If he wants to improve his position, at some point he's going to have to start engaging the Republican base and giving them a reason to support him. And I hope he starts doing it soon.

Yeah, I agree. He's started doing a little bit of that with his tax reform plan. He needs to continue doing that rather than acting like he's already the presumptive GOP nominee who's running in a general election against Hillary.

 

[LawnWake]

Yeah, I agree. He's started doing a little bit of that with his tax reform plan. He needs to continue doing that rather than acting like he's already the presumptive GOP nominee who's running in a general election against Hillary.

Agreed, but he still has to give the public nuggets of libertarian to establish himself as a viable nominee in a general election. He just hasn't struck the right balance yet.

 

[CaptUSA]

It has been my experience that the base of the GOP is not concerned with ideology at all and it most concerned about winning the general election. That's it. Keep out the Democrats. Keep out Hillary. They don't care if the nominee is named Paul, Bush, Trump, Jindal, or Beelzebub. They just want to win.

Rand's job is to convince the media (both left and right) that he stands the best chance of winning. He can't just point to polls, though, because most of the base don't believe the polls. He needs to keep doing to Hillary and other Democrats what he did to Debbie Wasserman-Shultz. Take their issues and shove them down their throats. That's the winning formula.

What we can do is to find commonalities with supporters of the other campaigns so that when their favorite horse drops out, Rand picks up the slack.

 

[acptulsa]

It has been my experience that the base of the GOP is not concerned with ideology at all and it most concerned about winning the general election. That's it. Keep out the Democrats. Keep out Hillary. They don't care if the nominee is named Paul, Bush, Trump, Jindal, or Beelzebub. They just want to win.

Rand's job is to convince the media (both left and right) that he stands the best chance of winning. He can't just point to polls, though, because most of the base don't believe the polls. He needs to keep doing to Hillary and other Democrats what he did to Debbie Wasserman-Shultz. Take their issues and shove them down their throats. That's the winning formula.

What we can do is to find commonalities with supporters of the other campaigns so that when their favorite horse drops out, Rand picks up the slack.

This is exactly correct.

And the other thing we can do is keep trying to get it through their thick heads that Fox will tell them the only electable candidate they have is their biggest loser ever. Just like McCain and Romney.

 

[rich34]

It might be time for Rand to inform the donor class through back channels that unless they pull their heads out of their asses that he will run Libertarian or Independent. We'll see how the Kochs, the RNC, Sheldon Adelson, Fox News, or Larry Ellison like that.

Hell yeah, I like your style! Plus 1