Saturday Open Thread [9.19.2015]

NEW HAMPSHIRE–PRESIDENT–REPUBLICAN PRIMARY–Voter Gravity: Fiorina 22, Hitler 18, Carson 10, Kasich 9, Bush 9, Rubio 7, Cruz 6, Christie 6, Paul 3, Walker 2, Huckabee 2

The National Journal has a good story about the opportunity that has opened up for down the ladder Democrats now that John Carney is running for Governor. Some new potential candidates are mentioned:

“If you’re an up-and-com­ing elec­ted of­fi­cial or any­one who’s in­ter­ested in elec­ted of­fice at the highest levels in Delaware, the golden ring doesn’t come around very of­ten,” said Ted Kauf­man, Vice Pres­id­ent Joe Biden’s long­time ad­viser and his ap­poin­ted suc­cessor in the Sen­ate. “When there is an open­ing, a num­ber of people come forward.” […]

“I’ve heard pretty clearly about the two can­did­ates [Bryon Short and Bryan Townsend], mainly be­cause these seats don’t come up very of­ten,” Delaware Gov. Jack Mar­kell told Na­tion­al Journ­al. “They are both cred­ible,” but, he ad­ded, “it wouldn’t sur­prise me if oth­ers got in.” Mar­kell, who is term-lim­ited, is not in­ter­ested in the con­gres­sion­al seat and said he hasn’t de­cided if he’ll en­dorse in the race.

Short said he’s “mov­ing to­wards” a bid, while an­oth­er po­ten­tial can­did­ate, former Demo­crat­ic state Rep. Den­nis Wil­li­ams, said he’s also ser­i­ously eye­ing a run. Marla Blunt Carter, a state dir­ect­or for Pres­id­ent Obama in 2008, and her sis­ter, Lisa Blunt Rochester, the first Afric­an-Amer­ic­an wo­man to be­come Delaware’s sec­ret­ary of labor, may also launch cam­paigns. (Marla Blunt Carter said the two would not run against each oth­er and would de­cide on the race early next year.) And 2014 state treas­urer can­did­ate Sean Barney, an Ir­aq War vet­er­an and former Mar­kell policy dir­ect­or, is lean­ing to­ward a run, a source close to the cam­paign said.

I just have to laugh at Dennis Williams’ getting into this race. Any progressive constituency he could win over is taken up by Bryan Townsend. And Sean Barney’s natural constituency is taken up by Bryon Short.

The National Journal says that this open race will be impossible to predict. LOL. They should have talked to me. This race is clearly Bryan Townsend’s to lose. He is the favorite.

“Vice President Joe Biden’s aides in recent days called Democratic donors and supporters to suggest he is more likely than not to enter the 2016 race, and their discussions have shifted toward the timing of an announcement,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“While the Biden team is still debating the best time to jump in, the vice president met Monday with his political advisers and talked about the merits of an early entry that would assure him a place in the Democratic debate scheduled for Oct. 13. They also are honing his campaign message and moving ahead with plans to raise money and hire staff.”

John Kasich: “I look at our friends in the Latino community as people that ought to be voting Republican. I mean, they’re very strong family. We could all learn a little from them about the importance of family, couldn’t we? Because they are great, they are God-fearing, hard-working folks. And a lot of them do jobs that they’re willing to do. That’s why, in a hotel, you leave a little tip, you know?”

The strongest possible general election Republican everyone! LOL. I am starting to get the feeling that each primary will be the close elections, when the general will be a landslide.