Wednesday Open Thread [11.4.15]

NATIONAL—Quinnipiac: Clinton 53, Sanders 35
IOWA—KBUR: Clinton 46, Sanders 32, O’Malley 5
IOWA—Gravis: Clinton 57, Sanders 25, O’Malley 3
FLORIDA—Bay News 9/News 13: Clinton 66, Sanders 24, O’Malley 3
GEORGIA—WXIA-TV/SurveyUSA: Clinton 73, Sanders 16, O’Malley 4
SOUTH CAROLINA—Winthrop: Clinton 71, Sanders 15, O’Malley 2

NATIONAL—Quinnipiac: Trump 24, Carson 23, Rubio 14, Cruz 13, Bush 4, Christie 3, Fiorina 3, Kasich 3, Paul 2, Huckabee 1, Santorum 1
NEW HAMPSHIRE—WBUR/MassINC: Trump 18, Carson 15, Rubio 9, Kasich 8, Bush 7, Christie 7, Cruz 6, Fiorina 5, Paul 3, Jindal 1, Pataki 1
IOWA—KBUR: Carson 28, Trump 20, Cruz 15, Rubio 10, Bush 9, Fiorina 4, Paul 2, Kasich 2, Christie 2, Huckabee 2, Jindal 1, Santorum 1
IOWA—Gravis: Trump 29, Carson 22, Rubio 18, Cruz 9, Bush 6, Fiorina 5, Kasich 3, Jindal 2, Paul 2, Christie 2, Huckabee 1
FLORIDA—Bay News 9/News 13: Trump 37, Carson 17, Rubio 16, Cruz 10, Bush 7, Fiorina 3, Kasich 3, Huckabee 1
GEORGIA—WXIA-TV/SurveyUSA: Trump 35, Carson 28, Rubio 12, Cruz 8, Bush 4, Fiorina 3, Huckabee 3, Kasich 2

Kyle Kondik argues that the ascendancy of Donald Trump and Ben Carson just might have cracked the window open for Democrats to retake control of the House of Representatives.

“It’s true that the Democrats’ odds of flipping the 30 seats needed to win back the House of Representatives are just a couple ticks greater than zero. But the two current polling leaders for the Republican presidential nomination, Trump and Carson, happen to be the two candidates almost perfectly designed to turn off voters in the districts Democrats need to retake the House.”

New York Magazine on the GOP candidates now turning on each other: “The Republicans presidential candidates first banded together on stage last Wednesday as CNBC moderators pelted them with questions they didn’t want to answer, and they managed to remain united through Sunday night, when campaign staffers forged a plan to cut the Republican National Committee out of the debate process. But several candidates have suddenly remembered that they’re running against each other, and have very different goals.”

“Rather than quietly backing out of the alliance, many candidates have taken the opportunity to cast their opponents as crybabies. Interestingly, several of them adopted this stance only after the rest of the group wouldn’t go along with their demands.”

Matt Taibbi: “When we reporters are introduced to a politician, the first thing we ask ourselves is if he or she is acceptable to the political establishment. We don’t admit that we ask this as a prerequisite, but we do. Anyone who’s survived without felony conviction a few terms as a senator, governor or congressperson, has an expensive enough haircut, and has never once said anything interesting will likely be judged a potentially ‘serious’ candidate.”

“If you’re wondering why no Mozarts or Einsteins ever end up running for president in America, but an endless succession of blockheads like Rick Perry are sold to us on the cover of Time magazine as contenders, it’s because of this absurd prerequisite.”

“Ultimately, what we’re looking for is someone who’s enough of a morally flexible gasbag to get over with the money people, and then also charming enough on some politically irrelevant level to attract voters.”

Jonathan Chait asks if Ben Carson is really running for President: “It is hard to tell. Conservative politics are so closely intermingled with a lucrative entertainment complex that it is frequently impossible to distinguish between a political project (that is, something designed to result in policy change) and a money-making venture. Declaring yourself a presidential candidate gives you access to millions of dollars’ worth of free media attention that can build a valuable brand. So the mere fact that Carson calls himself a presidential candidate does not prove he is actually running for president rather than taking advantage of the opportunity to build his brand. Indeed, it is possible to be actually leading the polls without seriously trying to win the presidency.”

“And the notion that Carson could be president is preposterous. The problem is not only that he has never run for elected office. He has never managed a large organization; he has not worked in and around public policy, and he lacks a competent grasp of issues. His stance on health care, the closest thing to an issue with which his professional experience has brought him into contact, is gibberish. He mostly thrills audiences by scoffing at evolution and insisting Muslims be barred from the presidency, stances he cannot even defend coherently.”