Rand will end up with 5%, but the Iowa Caucus winner has a poor record picking the nominee

[Joeinmo]

Rand will end up 5th, probably at or near 5%..but the nominee has not been chosen by Iowa very many times. While I'm disappointed about the outcome, I'm not ready to throw in the towel, still anything can happen..see John McCain.

im hoping the terrible showing of Christie and Kasuck and the top 5 showing in Iowa will give Rand some momentum to get into the debates in New Hampshire, I don't think Rand is ready to throw it in yet, I think he felt he had to do 5th or better to stay in.

In the end I will never vote for Trump or Cruz, two frauds

 

[Virgil]

Rand will end up 5th, probably at or near 5%..but the nominee has not been chosen by Iowa very many times. While I'm disappointed about the outcome, I'm not ready to throw in the towel, still anything can happen..see John McCain.

im hoping the terrible showing of Christie and Kasuck and the top 5 showing in Iowa will give Rand some momentum to get into the debates in New Hampshire, I don't think Rand is ready to throw it in yet, I think he felt he had to do 5th or better to stay in.

In the end I will never vote for Trump or Cruz, two frauds

What exactly happened, with SRF and all the potential voters? I know he still wants to kick ass, just trying to figure out what happened.

 

[Jackie Moon]

Even months ago when he was down lower, saying that Cruz would go on to win Iowa wouldn't have been a surprise. He is 2016's Huckabee and Santorum, the perfect Iowa candidate.

Will he be able to hang on though?

He did terrible in the last debate when he was put in the center spot. Cruz is the kind of candidate that the more he talks, the less people will like him.

Huckabee, Santorum and Gilmore are gone... probably Fiorina too... and possibly Carson.

That leaves Rand is the only non-establishment, non-Trump alternative to Cruz. Still a lot of race left to go, and anything can happen.

 

[moraha]

..see John McCain.

I said this myself earlier, but after looking into it further, McCain won New Hampshire. Unfortunately, that won't happen with Rand. At this point, I hope others drop out and he gets into more debates to try to win people over.

 

[hells_unicorn]

Even months ago when he was down lower, saying that Cruz would go on to win Iowa wouldn't have been a surprise. He is 2016's Huckabee and Santorum, the perfect Iowa candidate.

Will he be able to hang on though?

He did terrible in the last debate when he was put in the center spot. Cruz is the kind of candidate that the more he talks, the less people will like him.

Huckabee, Santorum and Gilmore are gone... probably Fiorina too... and possibly Carson.

That leaves Rand is the only non-establishment, non-Trump alternative to Cruz. Still a lot of race left to go, and anything can happen.

The way I see it, the only obstacle that stands in the way of Rand making the next debate is Jeb, and his extremely poor showing in Iowa will hurt him, though the question is will it hurt him to the point that he drops below Rand in the polls, or to the point of him tying Rand or just edging him out. I don't think Carson has any appeal in New Hampshire and will be a non-factor, even if he opts to stay in the race until after the NH primary.

And agreed, Huckabee, Santorum and Fiorina are prety much toast at this point. I'm surprised that Santorum hasn't announced that he's dropping out yet considering that he did worse than Huckabee and has no national organization to speak of.

 

[Joeinmo]

What exactly happened, with SRF and all the potential voters? I know he still wants to kick ass, just trying to figure out what happened.

Step 1 - Bring in Trump to suck up voters who are fed up.

Step 2 - Talk up Trump and Cruz on talk radio, leave Rand out

Step 3 - Push Cruz the closer the voting is to begin, then dump Trump

Step 4 - old Bush campaign head and employee Cruz wins Iowa

Step 5 - Trump in it to win NH to spin Rand out

Step 6 - Trump loses South Carolina

Step 7 - Trump Out

Cruz/Rubio Priceless. So let's see what we can do in NH to stop this

 

[Joeinmo]

I said this myself earlier, but after looking into it further, McCain won New Hampshire. Unfortunately, that won't happen with Rand. At this point, I hope others drop out and he gets into more debates to try to win people over.

Oh I know - just saying Iowa doesn't make the cut when delivering a nominee

 

[mwkaufman]

If Rand wants to influence who the next nominee is, now is the time to drop out and endorse someone. He's not winning this cycle and he doesn't have any money to waste time losing in South Carolina or Nevada. He could help someone get 2nd in New Hampshire.

Cruz - Lots of policy overlap, I'd assume this is where he'd go.

Rubio - The most likely one to be the next POTUS, just having his ear is probably worth the endorsement, but he'd have to hate Cruz to go this route.

Trump - There's no justification here. He's not going to be POTUS, he isn't even a Republican politician.

 

[thatpeculiarcat]

Step 1 - Bring in Trump to suck up voters who are fed up.

Step 2 - Talk up Trump and Cruz on talk radio, leave Rand out

Step 3 - Push Cruz the closer the voting is to begin, then dump Trump

Step 4 - old Bush campaign head and employee Cruz wins Iowa

Step 5 - Trump in it to win NH to spin Rand out

Step 6 - Trump loses South Carolina

Step 7 - Trump Out

Cruz/Rubio Priceless. So let's see what we can do in NH to stop this

Exactly! Who's to say this entire thing wasn't the plan all along.

Trump: "I'm sorry, but Ron Paul will never be president." He doesn't like the Paul's, liberty...and gasp, neither does the GOP. Without Trump in this race, Rand would not be in 5th. I think on some level, the GOP knew this, went with it, and now they have the results they wanted.

2013-2015 showed that Rand was the front runner. The GOP knew he had a shot at winning. And they've successfully withered that away, and by doing so, will lose yet another election.

 

[Mani]

Exactly! Who's to say this entire thing wasn't the plan all along.

Trump: "I'm sorry, but Ron Paul will never be president." He doesn't like the Paul's, liberty...and gasp, neither does the GOP. Without Trump in this race, Rand would not be in 5th. I think on some level, the GOP knew this, went with it, and now they have the results they wanted.

2013-2015 showed that Rand was the front runner. The GOP knew he had a shot at winning. And they've successfully withered that away, and by doing so, will lose yet another election.

A number of people including myself have said Trump is nothing more than a loud clown, a sideshow Bob distracting and taking up air from other people who are NON-Establishment candidates from getting in.

He's been the perfect distraction to make sure none of the real non-GOP approved voices get heard. And when he fades away the GOP establishment guys are left to take the mantle.

I and others have been saying this for like 6+ months. It's working like clockwork.

 

[Joeinmo]

If Rand wants to influence who the next nominee is, now is the time to drop out and endorse someone. He's not winning this cycle and he doesn't have any money to waste time losing in South Carolina or Nevada. He could help someone get 2nd in New Hampshire.

Cruz - Lots of policy overlap, I'd assume this is where he'd go.

Rubio - The most likely one to be the next POTUS, just having his ear is probably worth the endorsement, but he'd have to hate Cruz to go this route.

Trump - There's no justification here. He's not going to be POTUS, he isn't even a Republican politician.

oh hell NO, Cruz is 100% fake - will never vote for Cruz...sorry

 

[devil21]

Step 1 - Bring in Trump to suck up voters who are fed up.

Step 2 - Talk up Trump and Cruz on talk radio, leave Rand out

Step 3 - Push Cruz the closer the voting is to begin, then dump Trump

Step 4 - old Bush campaign head and employee Cruz wins Iowa

Step 5 - Trump in it to win NH to spin Rand out

Step 6 - Trump loses South Carolina

Step 7 - Trump Out

Cruz/Rubio Priceless. So let's see what we can do in NH to stop this

If there's one thing to take out of all of this it's that the establishment has been working their asses off and spending a lot to divert the momentum that we were harnessing. Dunno about you guys but I'm damn flattered the lengths they've gone to to prevent us from winning. Getting Trump to run, Cruz the fake constitutionalist, etc. We have shaped the race a lot more than most people realize. Cruz said in his speech that DC wasn't scared of him but that DC was scared of us. Truer words never spoken, Ted.

 

[squirl22]

oh hell NO, Cruz is 100% fake - will never vote for Cruz...sorry

I won't ever the lying snake..he poached votes from Rand, he ran ads implying Ron supported him..he is a complete slithering snake...I will not be voting if he is the nomninee, which I seriously doubt he will be..but, then Goldman Sachs has a lot of money. I am assuming mwkaufman is a Cruz troll...please go away.

 

[Sujan]

Rand needs to hang in there. More candidates will drop out. Let's hope that the likes of Christie, Fiorina and Santorum will hang in the towels soon.

 

[mwkaufman]

I won't ever the lying snake..he poached votes from Rand, he ran ads implying Ron supported him..he is a complete slithering snake...I will not be voting if he is the nomninee, which I seriously doubt he will be..but, then Goldman Sachs has a lot of money. I am assuming mwkaufman is a Cruz troll...please go away.

Cruz is a snake, but he's a snake with a chance to be the Republican nominee alongside Rubio and Trump. Rand continuing to New Hampshire is just an exercise in futility to see how many fewer votes he can get than his father four years ago, it will only hurt his brand.

It's ridiculous to call me a troll, I've been on here for almost ten years and it's clear that Rand isn't winning as other candidates have successfully co-opted the parts of his message that made his father a star. Trump and Cruz have rejected the Iraq war and been fiery. Cruz brought the extreme positions such as abolishing the IRS, gold standard, etc. while Paul ran a policy-focused campaign eschewing anger or fire for seriousness pundits said his father lacked. That kind of stuff isn't working for anyone, Bush and Kasich are trying to run wonkish campaigns too and they've been soundly rejected. Nothing in the polling suggests Rand can have a chance going forward, and Iowa was the one place where perhaps organization could trump polling, but not for Paul, not this year. Paul hasn't brought nearly as much fundraising as his father did so he has no war chest to contest any state beyond New Hampshire anyways, he does have a substantial following here though, and it's the only time he can make a meaningful endorsement. He's going to support the nominee anyways, so might as well try to pick the best of these three jokers.

 

[Valli6]

Cruz is a snake, but he's a snake with a chance to be the Republican nominee alongside Rubio and Trump. Rand continuing to New Hampshire is just an exercise in futility to see how many fewer votes he can get than his father four years ago, it will only hurt his brand.

Cruz isn't merely a snake. He's liar who will say anything. Integrity-wise, he's the direct opposite of a Ron or Rand Paul and we are all aware of it! Rand will do nothing to help put a phony liar like Cruz in the White House and neither will any of Rand's supporters.

Get over this idea that Rand should urge his supporters to move over to Cruz! It's not realistic and it ain't happening!

 

[mwkaufman]

Cruz isn't merely a snake. He's liar who will say anything. Integrity-wise, he's the direct opposite of a Ron or Rand Paul and we are all aware of it! Rand will do nothing to help put a phony liar like Cruz in the White House and neither will any of Rand's supporters.

Get over this idea that Rand should urge his supporters to move over to Cruz! It's not realistic and it ain't happening!

Rand is a politician, he endorsed Mitt Romney, he'll endorse the nominee this time around. Choosing one now might influence who will be the next POTUS. Pressing on with his campaign will just hurt his credibility for any future run.

 

[Valli6]

Senator Paul must carry on!

Rand is a politician, he endorsed Mitt Romney, he'll endorse the nominee this time around.

I'll agree to that much - once it was already over Rand unenthusiastically endorsed Romney and will do the same for whoever the nominee is. But at that point, it's just a formality a party member must endure. Especially if he wants to be allowed to make a speech at the national convention. (Recall that Ron Paul was prohibited from appearing at the convention because he would not endorse Romney!)

But what's the point of having an influence on who the nominee is, when we already know that that person is a liar, constantly reverses positions depending on who he's talking to, funded his senate campaign with a loan from Goldman-Sachs (but pretended to be a tea party candidate), helped write GW Bush's amnesty policy (2006), has a wife who's worked for the CFR (where she wrote the manual on forming a North American Union http://www.cfr.org/canada/building-north-american-community/p8102) , worked at the US treasury, is a VP for Goldman-Sachs (therefore both Cruzs obviously support TARP, bailouts, etc.), has demonstrated that he will not cut spending, but wants to continue borrowing, AND is an ineligible Cuban-Canadian to boot?!

How can helping someone like that get into the White House be construed as a positive thing?!

I'd sooner vote for an honest man who supports policies I dislike, than a liar who also supports policies I dislike, but occasionally pretends to agree with me! At least, the honest man will adhere to the Constitution and therefore be bound by it's constraints and forced to work with congress. Cruz, Trump and Rubio will ignore the Contitution and do whatever they want and/or are instructed to do!