Could Sarah Palin beat Mike Huckabee in a Republican Nomination?
I am convinced that woman is working for the Democratic Party under cover. Has to be. Huckabee is pretty much finished anyway but most people are not going to take him seriously..and same goes for Palin.
If nominated, which one of the other Republican candidates would/should Ben Carson select as his running mate (if his choice was limited to them), and why?
Well for starters Carson would be most likely to choose someone who shares his ideological positions and that leaves only a few candidates: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, and Marco Rubio (more centrist than the others, but still has a Tea Party streak). Carson has openly criticized Trump, and Trump has openly criticized Carson, so its unlikely that Carson would choose Trump. Ted Cruz is ideologically fairly aligned with Carson, and could bring the exciting personality that Carson lacks to the campaign. Cruz would be a good choice in that respect. Bobby Jindal would be a good choice, but Bobby Jindal's time was back in 2012 really. Since then the economy in Louisiana (where he is governor) has collapsed and his approval rating has fallen to a 27%. Bobby Jindal, despite campaigning all summer, has been unable to bring his own poll numbers up, and its hard to imagine him being able to do so for a Carson campaign if he is unable to do it for himself. Marco Rubio is more centrist than Carson, but still more conservative than many other members of the field. He, like Cruz, would bring the electrifying personality that Carson lacks to the campaign and could help them get Hispanic votes, a demographic the GOP otherwise has failed to excite. Ultimately, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are his two best options, but Cruz is more aligned with Carson's views. On the other hand, Marco Rubio could carry Florida for the campaign much easier than Cruz would (because Rubio is the senator there), and Florida is a critical state to win. Unfortunately, neither one of those would bring experience to the campaign, something Carson already lacks. If Carson was willing to sacrifice ideological similarity in exchange for bringing experience to the ticket, he could pick someone like Huckabee, a former governor who is not too, too far from his far-right positions and both value the presence of religion and Christian values in deciding social issues.
Does Bernie Sanders actually believe that only 5-10% of the US would be Republican if they paid attention to Republican policies?
I have relatives in Texas. A man and a woman in their late 50s / early 60s, husband and wife. Both white. He is local, she is a naturalized citizen.Last I heard they were making something like $18k/year and that was high for them. Half of the time one or the other is without a full time job. (Not for the lack of trying. There are simply no decent jobs there for people without college degrees. I don't think either of them held a full-time job that paid more than $10/hour in their entire lives.) They can barely make ends meet and get no help from the government. He has VA, she has no health insurance at all because this is Texas and their local government refused to expand Medicaid, leaving the infamous coverage gap for people between 44% FPL and 133% FPL, where one is no longer eligible for Medicaid but not yet eligible for Obamacare subsidies. (She was eligible for Obamacare a year or two back, but found it borderline useless, because the insurance company was simply denying all her claims and then ended up dropping her altogether on a technicality.)The guy votes straight Republican ticket. (As does pretty much everyone they know. Their county went 82% Romney / 16% Obama in '12.) Why? Of course, because Democrats are godless and for abortion.The gal finally saw the light and wants to vote for Sanders this year.You tell me who is being duped here, and by whom.
Politics of the United States of America: Are there too many people running for the GOP 2016 presidential nomination? Why or why not?
Personally I am very pleased as more GOP candidates means more chaos and disorganization.The crowded field of clones bodes ill for the 2016 GOP presidential campaign prospects.Each GOP candidate is forced with the prospect of having to best at least 10 other very similar candidates.All these candidates are fighting for air, trying not to suffocate, trying to be noticed, trying to be relevant and each trying to win the hearts of rabid right wing voters.They should be careful what they wish for.For the GOP candidate this typically means taking public conservative outrageous stances just to survive the primaries. They mutually drive each other further into the weeds of the far right.These are the firm, unambiguous and clear public stances that candidates are forced to take to achieve the precious crucial primary victory. These stances also often directly cause defeat in the general mainstream election because these stump speeches will be the basis of attack ads in the general election.The cost of winning the battle is often losing the war. What appeals to the political fringe is a toxic abhorrence to the mainstream.The pressure to take these fringe stances is directly proportional to the number of competing candidates.In politics the worst thing that one can do is to willing take a long term losing position in return for a transient short term gain.If you do not survive today then there is by definition no tomorrow hence the rationale for each candidate.Political suicide now or suicide later is the question at hand.