The "Who is running?" tea leaves thread (Part 2)

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Pataki may actually go with it this time because he realizes this is probably his last realistic attempt for a run given his age. That's the impression I've gotten, anyway. He may easily back out like the other times, though, and it would be no surprise at all.

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Romney has recently sounded the most open to another bid than ever before.

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Romney sounds like he's in.

When do you imagine Romney will announce if he does go through with it? Later this month or in February seems the most logical to me so that donors don't escape from his hands.

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Rand hires Rauner strategist Chip Eglander as campaign manager.

Surprising; what role (if any) will Jesse Benton have?

With luck, he'll be as far away from the campaign as possible.

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Tom Tancredo expresses interest in another run, focused on halting Muslim immigration.

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Paul Strauss, a D.C. shadow senator, visited Iowa.

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Rand set up a new campaign website in preparation for the launch, with a promotional video to boot:

http://www.randpaul.com/

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WaPo talks about potential launching spots for the candidates.

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Uh oh, Hillary!!!

Lincoln Chaffee considering a run.

End Game.

LOL! Move over Jim Webb!

Will former Republican Lincoln Chafee replace former Republican Jim Webb as the Atlas Forum's progressive savior?

Nah, most of you will defer to former Republican Hillary Clinton anyway.

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Uh oh, Hillary!!!

Lincoln Chaffee considering a run.

End Game.

LOL! Move over Jim Webb!

Will former Republican Lincoln Chafee replace former Republican Jim Webb as the Atlas Forum's progressive savior?

Nah, most of you will defer to former Republican Hillary Clinton anyway.

Quite a big difference between being a Republican in the 2000s and being a Republican in the 1960s.

And besides, Hillary is not considered a "progressive savior" here. In fact, I even recall people here attacking her for being a Republican in the 60s. So either way you slice it the comparison falls flat.

Elizabeth Warren was a Republican up until the 1990s, yet her "progressive" credentials are well established and you would surely acknowledge her as one too Or, am I wrong and she's too close to Chafee and Webb on the timeline? Does it really matter how much time has passed since your views have changed if your views have changed? This isn't something I need to explain.

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Uh oh, Hillary!!!

Lincoln Chaffee considering a run.

End Game.

LOL! Move over Jim Webb!

Will former Republican Lincoln Chafee replace former Republican Jim Webb as the Atlas Forum's progressive savior?

Nah, most of you will defer to former Republican Hillary Clinton anyway.

Quite a big difference between being a Republican in the 2000s and being a Republican in the 1960s.

And besides, Hillary is not considered a "progressive savior" here. In fact, I even recall people here attacking her for being a Republican in the 60s. So either way you slice it the comparison falls flat.

Elizabeth Warren was a Republican up until the 1990s, yet her "progressive" credentials are well established and you would surely acknowledge her as one too Or, am I wrong and she's too close to Chafee and Webb on the timeline? Does it really matter how much time has passed since your views have changed if your views have changed? This isn't something I need to explain.

Except, again, nobody touts Hillary as a "progressive savior" and she has gotten attacked on here for being a Republican in the 60s. It's just yet another double standard that I love to point out.

The people who attack her for that are being silly, but to me it reeks of desperation that you'd bring up something that trivial to defend your preferred candidate. Never mind the fact that Clinton enthusiastically supported Barry Goldwater of all candidates and not some random moderate Republican, which seems to be okay with you since it was the '60s. Yet you're still faulting others for this in the Chafee thread, so keep it up if you want to look like a hypocrite, I guess.

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Uh oh, Hillary!!!

Lincoln Chaffee considering a run.

End Game.

LOL! Move over Jim Webb!

Will former Republican Lincoln Chafee replace former Republican Jim Webb as the Atlas Forum's progressive savior?

Nah, most of you will defer to former Republican Hillary Clinton anyway.

Quite a big difference between being a Republican in the 2000s and being a Republican in the 1960s.

And besides, Hillary is not considered a "progressive savior" here. In fact, I even recall people here attacking her for being a Republican in the 60s. So either way you slice it the comparison falls flat.

Elizabeth Warren was a Republican up until the 1990s, yet her "progressive" credentials are well established and you would surely acknowledge her as one too Or, am I wrong and she's too close to Chafee and Webb on the timeline? Does it really matter how much time has passed since your views have changed if your views have changed? This isn't something I need to explain.

Except, again, nobody touts Hillary as a "progressive savior" and she has gotten attacked on here for being a Republican in the 60s. It's just yet another double standard that I love to point out.

The people who attack her for that are being silly, but to me it reeks of desperation that you'd bring up something that trivial to defend your preferred candidate. Never mind the fact that Clinton enthusiastically supported Barry Goldwater of all candidates and not some random moderate Republican, which seems to be okay with you since it was the '60s. Yet you're still faulting others for this in the Chafee thread, so keep it up if you want to look like a hypocrite, I guess.

LOL, yes, desperation. I'll be sure to bookmark this post for 9 months from now when Webb and Chafee destroy Hillary.

You seem to be missing the point. I don't really give a crap that Chafee and Webb used to be Republicans, at least to the extent where it may have shaped their current views. My initial reply in this thread was clearly tongue in cheek, directed at the people who bash Hillary for every little thing while overlooking every fault of their precious "anti-Hillary" joke candidates. You guys can dish it out but you can't take it.

FTR, I don't believe that either of them would even come close to beating Clinton in the primaries. I only bring this up because of your penchant for being Hillary's lapdog and coming to her defense in every related thread I see. Your post was tongue-in-cheek but part of a larger trend that's painfully obvious. Anyway, that's all I've got to say here.

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Trump now has a website up for his exploratory committee:

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/

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The completely hopeless Republicans (Bolton, Ehrlich, Gilmore, etc.) will likely declare their intentions by mid-June or so as many of the candidates will already have announced, so the campaign is well underway by then. I can see Biden teasing and stretching out his timeline to as late as August.

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In case there was still any doubt on Fiorina's plans:

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/presidential/caucus/2015/04/28/carly-fiorina-picking-speed-iowa-gop-activists-say/26543889/

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The first dropout of the election cycle: Dennis Michael Lynch lol

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Pataki will make an announcement this month in NH.

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Bolton is announcing his decision tomorrrow. He'll do it online, with a conference call soon to follow.

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Trump will be announcing next month.

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June 4 is Perry's announcement date.

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http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/lindsey-graham-make-very-important-2016-announcement?cid=sm_tw_msnbc

Graham to make important 2016 update Monday morning

Apparently it's not his announcement yet. If he's already 99.9% sure he's running, what else could he possibly have to update?

If Graham doesn't outright say he's running earlier than expected, he'll just give the date of his announcement, most likely.

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Looks like Pataki will be running after all.

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Chafee will announce on June 3:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/lincoln-chafee-2016-presidential-run-118415.html

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Virginia seems like a random place for him to announce. I would have figured he'd do it in RI or maybe NH/IA.

It's actually perfect because it's as random as him announcing his bid to begin with.

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Webb will decide within the next two weeks.

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According to HuffPo, Biden is still considering a campaign. A decision looks to now come by September rather than August.