Is the crowded Republican field hurting the party?

2015-05-28T11:22:09-04:00

George Pataki announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination today. That makes for a large field of Repubicans. While most of them seem to more or less have the same message, some do have clear differences. I have to wonder of this hurts them later as surely leading up to the Parties actual Nomination their will be mud slinging, lots of money spent, divided voters. The other interesting thing is most of them identify with the Tea Party which while the Republicans made gains in the mid terms , the Tea Party itself lost seats to more moderate Republicans.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made May 28 at 2015 11:25 AM

2015-05-28T11:25:32-04:00

No, the fact that not many would vote for any of them is. Still unclear what their platform is and how they are going to make America better for Americans as opposed to the Queen of Benghazi who seems only interested in making America better for herself.

Response by CPT Zachary Brooks made May 28 at 2015 11:30 AM

2015-05-28T11:30:33-04:00

The fact that the majority of the candidates running for President from both parties are only interested in themselves and making their lives better is what is hurting the Republican party.

If they offered a real alternative to the general statist mentality of the Democrat party they might be worth voting for.

Response by CPT Ahmed Faried made May 28 at 2015 12:27 PM

2015-05-28T12:27:08-04:00

I actually think it is better to have more candidates. Voters deserve the variety. I think the Democrats are making a huge mistake all but conceding the field to Hillary.

Response by LCpl Steve Wininger made May 28 at 2015 12:39 PM

2015-05-28T12:39:19-04:00

The democrats had a fairly good sized field when Obama first one their nomination.
Most Americans have a short attention span and will forget about all that was said after their party chooses.

Whether a tea party politician is elected or not does not mean they are hurting the party. I think their influence keeps the whole party in check. Thus, in that regard they have tremendous influence and that influence bleeds over into the democratic party as well.

Response by Col Joseph Lenertz made May 28 at 2015 1:30 PM

2015-05-28T13:30:46-04:00

Not yet. The wide variety of thought, and the diversity of candidates and their positions, is good for America and for the Republican party. It forces us to consider the merits of new ideas. But they've just started bashing each other. As the mud-slinging grows to full battle mode, it hurts the party and leaves lots of ammo on the ground for the Dems to pick up and use.

Response by COL Ted Mc made May 28 at 2015 1:35 PM

2015-05-28T13:35:52-04:00

So - what's unusual about "mud slinging", "lots of money spent", and "divided voters"?

Remember, the only way to get elected is to be as vitriolically negative about your opponents as possible - actually coming out with a concrete program of action (as opposed to a set of goals dressed up to look like a plan) is a sure fire loser in today's political world where the voters are only interested in hearing politicians give speeches which break down to "Forward. Forward together. Progress. Progress together. Lots of free goodies. Someone else will pay for the goodies. Progress together. Forward together." with a couple of "America"s, "God"s, and "My opponent is a Dishonest, Philandering, Gay Commie Muslim Failure."s tossed in for good measure.

Response by SPC Andrew Griffin made Sep 29 at 2015 9:07 PM

2015-09-29T21:07:05-04:00

Not that the Field is Crowded! They are Tired of the Nonesense!

Response by PO2 Peter Klein made Sep 30 at 2015 9:13 PM

2015-09-30T21:13:11-04:00

We can only hope!

Response by MAJ Matthew Arnold made Oct 7 at 2015 9:29 PM

2015-10-07T21:29:25-04:00

No, this is what campaigning before the primaries is all about, finding the one candidate that the party can stand behind. After the primary elections and the party convention, then there is one candidate that we should all stand behind.