The "Who is running?" tea leaves thread

[Lief 🗽]

Jamelle Bouie says the same thing: even compares him to Fred Thompson.

I've been saying for a while that the fact that Jeb Bush's two favorite issues seem to be the Republican base's two least favorite issues (amnesty and common core) makes him a complete non-starter. There's no way he'll be the nominee, even if he runs.

[Mr. Morden]

George Pataki allegedly thinking (again) about running for president:

http://pagesix.com/2014/09/29/george-pataki-mulls-2016-bid-meets-with-david-koch/

A timeline of Romney going from absolutely not to thinking about it on 2016:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/09/28/how-mitt-romney-went-from-absolutely-not-running-in-2016-to-thinking-about-it-a-timeline/

[Mr. Morden]

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/ted-cruz-banks-on-foreign-policy-as-his-2016-differentiator-20140928

[quote]Ted Cruz is running for president. The only thing left for him to do is say so.

According to sources close to the Texas senator, Cruz could be preparing for an end-of-year announcement and is now dedicating considerable time and effort to cultivating a foreign-policy foundation that might help his candidacy stand out in what is guaranteed to be a crowded field.

"At this point it's 90/10 he's in," one Cruz adviser said. "And honestly, 90 is lowballing it."
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Cruz's allies in the conservative movement have long obsessed over the timing of his decision. The senator told some supporters earlier this year that he planned to decide by the end of 2014, lending added gravity to every new hire and early-state visit.

[Averroës Nix]

George Pataki allegedly thinking (again) about running for president:

http://pagesix.com/2014/09/29/george-pataki-mulls-2016-bid-meets-with-david-koch/

Pataki's presidential ambitions are the strangest thing. He hasn't held office in nearly a decade, he's not well-known nationally, he's not much of a power within the Republican Party (even at the state level, he's almost invisible), and he's not running as an ideologue or to sell books (at least I don't think he is - he's not much of a personality, and  I have to imagine that consulting would be more lucrative for any former NY Governor).

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

George Pataki allegedly thinking (again) about running for president:

http://pagesix.com/2014/09/29/george-pataki-mulls-2016-bid-meets-with-david-koch/

Pataki's presidential ambitions are the strangest thing. He hasn't held office in nearly a decade, he's not well-known nationally, he's not much of a power within the Republican Party (even at the state level, he's almost invisible), and he's not running as an ideologue or to sell books (at least I don't think he is - he's not much of a personality, and  I have to imagine that consulting would be more lucrative for any former NY Governor).

I have been told by people who are "in the know" that Pataki was dead set on running, had agreed to be part of the next debate, and had a small list of respectable endorsements lined up. Then, out of the blue, he just decided not to run. Remember that he even had a very detailed Pataki for President website that was leaked online hours before his planned announcement.

[IceSpear]

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/ted-cruz-banks-on-foreign-policy-as-his-2016-differentiator-20140928

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YES!!!!!

[Mr. Morden]

Congrats Phil:

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/rick-santorum-returns-111408.html

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[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

George Pataki allegedly thinking (again) about running for president:

http://pagesix.com/2014/09/29/george-pataki-mulls-2016-bid-meets-with-david-koch/

Pataki's presidential ambitions are the strangest thing. He hasn't held office in nearly a decade, he's not well-known nationally, he's not much of a power within the Republican Party (even at the state level, he's almost invisible), and he's not running as an ideologue or to sell books (at least I don't think he is - he's not much of a personality, and  I have to imagine that consulting would be more lucrative for any former NY Governor).

Maybe he'll pick Buddy Roemer as his running mate in irrelevancy.

[Mr. Morden]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/social-conservatives-supply-core-of-ted-cruzs-support/2014/09/29/f02661d0-4743-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html

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[RogueBeaver]

Ryan says he'll decide next spring, with family being the most important factor.

[Mr. Morden]

Ryan says he'll decide next spring, with family being the most important factor.

He also says he won't run if Romney does:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/30/paul-ryan-mitt-romney-2016_n_5907468.html

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[NewYorkExpress]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/1/british-bookmaker-lowers-presidential-odds-for-geo/

Oddsmaker William Hill actually lowered the odds for actor George Clooney to enter the Presidential race in 2016 (They're now at 20-1), following his recent marriage.

While Clooney does have a strong interest in politics, I have no idea what they are thinking here.

[Vega]

Yeah, Condi isn't going to run.

[Mr. Morden]

http://newday.blogs.cnn.com/2014/10/01/gov-christie-i-really-havent-decided-on-2016-presidential-run/

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[Mr. Morden]

More on Christie's decision:

http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2014/10/01/chris-christie-presidential-race-three-questions/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=usatoday-newstopstories

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Meanwhile, Ben Carson:

http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2014/09/ben_carson_likelihood_is_that.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Apparently one person who's been egging Webb on is fellow Vietnam vet Bob Kerrey:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/jim-webb-former-senator-from-va-takes-on-his-partys-hawks-and-maybe-clinton/2014/09/28/ba12f572-43f1-11e4-9a15-137aa0153527_story.html

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[Mr. Morden]

Oddly enough, Rubio's communications chief, Alex Conant, and Portman's communications chief, Caitlin Dunn Conant, are husband and wife.  Their respective bosses are dispatching the pair to Iowa, to help out Joni Ernst between now and the election:

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/10/rob_portman_aide_and_her_husba.html

This could be a sign of further presidential interest from both Portman and Rubio.  If both of them run, then that creates a collision course of political interests within the Conant household.

[RogueBeaver]

Graham says he'll explore a run if no one takes up the hawkish mantle - and he says Rubio's too inexperienced to do that.

[Phony Moderate]

Graham says he'll explore a run if no one takes up the hawkish mantle - and he says Rubio's too inexperienced to do that.

This is becoming a bit silly. Shall we just assume that every current member of Congress is a potential candidate?

[IceSpear]

Graham says he'll explore a run if no one takes up the hawkish mantle - and he says Rubio's too inexperienced to do that.

This is becoming a bit silly. Shall we just assume that every current member of Congress is a potential candidate?

There were posts about Carly Fiorina, so include every failed Congressional candidate from the past 50 years as well.

[Mr. Morden]

Perry was in Iowa on Friday night to campaign for Ernst.  Both Clinton and Romney will be visiting Iowa in the coming weeks to help their respective sides in the Senate race, as well as other races.  Trump will do a fundraiser for Steve King in Des Moines next Friday:

http://www.kcrg.com/subject/news/politics/election/campaigns/mitt-romney-hillary-clinton-plan-iowa-visits-20141003

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I think Trump's sole purpose is to make the other batsh**t insane Republicans look good by comparison.

[Mr. Morden]

Rubio says that his decision on whether to run for president or not won't be influenced by whether Jeb Bush runs (but what else would he say?):

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/219692-rubio-decision-to-run-in-2016-wont-depend-on-bush

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[MadmanMotley]

Heard over word of Facebook Dennis Michael Lynch announced his run for 2016.

[politicus]

Heard over word of Facebook Dennis Michael Lynch announced his run for 2016.

lol