It seems three tiers are emerging in the GOP

[YouKnowNothing]

So far into the 2016 presidential race, it would seem there are three tiers of candidates. The rule of thumb is the lower the tier, the less the candidate's electability.

Tier 1- Mainstream

What the mainstream media labels the "safe" or "establishment" candidate. Their policies are acceptable to the party elite and corporate donors. They do not seek to radically alter the course the country is on, but instead move it towards incremental change. Candidates in this tier have broad appeal across most wings of the GOP.

1. Jeb Bush-

The candidate whose last name indicates he is THE top establishment pick

2. Scott Walker-

A dark Wisconsin horse until relatively recently. His barrage against public sector unions has united all the wings of the GOP behind him.

3. Marco Rubio-

While many would think that the only reason this guy is up here is because he's a young Latino, I would not underestimate Marco Rubio. I read a story in the NYT just yesterday that said Clinton's team is scared to death that he will be the GOP candidate and destroy the Obama coalition

Tier 2- Party Wing Leader

Although they are the de facto leaders of one of the wings of the GOP, they are NOT acceptable to the Establishment wing. If elected president, each of these candidates would move the country in a radically different direction.

1. Rand Paul- Leader of the increasingly growing libertarian wing of the GOP

2. Ted Cruz- Leader of Tea Party wing.

3. Mike Huckabee- Leader of the Christian conservatives.


Tier 3- Acceptable Governors


1. Chris Christie

2. John Kasich

3. Rick Perry

4. Bobby Jindal

Tier 4- Celebrity Candidates looking to peddle books



1. Carly Fiorina

2. Ben Carson


Tier Troll

Enough said.

1. Donald Trump

2. Lindsay Graham

[Origanalist]

That's five.

[SpiritOf1776_J4]

great. so rand paul is a wing nut now.

[Suzanimal]

That's five.

Math is hard.

[YouKnowNothing]

I meant three tiers of candidates that realistically have a chance of getting the nomination

[Suzanimal]

I meant three tiers of candidates that realistically have a chance of getting the nomination

I'm sorry. I was just teasing you.

[SpiritOf1776_J4]

fyi - I disagree that Bush is the establishment's top pick. He rather has the Bush political machine to support him, as Clinton has their machine.

I don't think how royalty established itself was ever really taught in school. We all learned that people had these quaint outdated ideas about inherited bloodlines, and we didn't believe those ideas anymore, so problem solved. On the contrary, we still have the same problem, and it is growing. It's not the bloodline, it's the social network these people were the head of, and when you remove one, the social network remains, and typically replaces its head just this way. Royalty is a machine problem.

How you word something has meaning. There are many you would consider establishment that don't like these candidates either. However, they have the biggest machines, and just like you can't go wrong buying IBM (sic) because it is so big. picking one of the big existing machines is favorable too.

But times are changing. Just like technology enabled grassroots to do more then it could before, the need for establishment to pick big machines has disappeared as well. It may be taking longer to appear, but what you call establishment is just inertia from low technology days with bad communication favoring big machines. Many "establishment" people may discover they don't have to kowtow to some hicks with big machines - that they now have better options for themselves.

[dude58677]

Saying that Rand Paul has no chance is sour grapes because he won the Kentucky Senate race and the same BS was said about him then. Anyone who says that doesn't like him in the first place.

[idiom]

I want to know what the play is with Paul Ryan.

I was absolutely sure he was the establishment pick until about four months ago.

[YouKnowNothing]

I want to know what the play is with Paul Ryan.

I was absolutely sure he was the establishment pick until about four months ago.

He is the chairman of the Ways and Means committee. There is absolutely no reason for him to leave a plush job like that.

[Vanguard101]

Walker is definitely not your mainstream Republican. While he is leaning more establishment by day, he is still a Conservative and would cut spending. I can also see him taking the middle ground on the Federal Reserve. Someone like John Taylor would be his pick I believe, and he is no wall street dove by any form. Christie is more mainstream than Walker. I think they should be flipped. Walker and Perry seem to be the only decent "Acceptable Governors". I also think the establishment would be fine with Huckabee

[Suzanimal]

Where's Rubio?
N/M I see him now.

[Jan2017]

In the top three tiers designated here, Rand, Cruz, Rubio, Christie and Jindal all have jobs . . .
the others are all ex's - literally and figuratively, imho

and don't forget ex-Senator Santorum - officially third on the first ballot of the GOP National Convention delegate tally in '12 -
with all of nine delegates - woo-hoo ! - behind the Congressman from the 14th District of Texas - RP - officially second to Mittens in 2012.

[GunnyFreedom]

Math is hard.

[cindy25]

So far into the 2016 presidential race, it would seem there are three tiers of candidates. The rule of thumb is the lower the tier, the less the candidate's electability.

Tier 1- Mainstream

What the mainstream media labels the "safe" or "establishment" candidate. Their policies are acceptable to the party elite and corporate donors. They do not seek to radically alter the course the country is on, but instead move it towards incremental change. Candidates in this tier have broad appeal across most wings of the GOP.

1. Jeb Bush-

The candidate whose last name indicates he is THE top establishment pick

2. Scott Walker-

A dark Wisconsin horse until relatively recently. His barrage against public sector unions has united all the wings of the GOP behind him.

3. Marco Rubio-

While many would think that the only reason this guy is up here is because he's a young Latino, I would not underestimate Marco Rubio. I read a story in the NYT just yesterday that said Clinton's team is scared to death that he will be the GOP candidate and destroy the Obama coalition

Tier 2- Party Wing Leader

Although they are the de facto leaders of one of the wings of the GOP, they are NOT acceptable to the Establishment wing. If elected president, each of these candidates would move the country in a radically different direction.

1. Rand Paul- Leader of the increasingly growing libertarian wing of the GOP

2. Ted Cruz- Leader of Tea Party wing.

3. Mike Huckabee- Leader of the Christian conservatives.


Tier 3- Acceptable Governors


1. Chris Christie

2. John Kasich

3. Rick Perry

4. Bobby Jindal

Tier 4- Celebrity Candidates looking to peddle books



1. Carly Fiorina

2. Ben Carson


Tier Troll

Enough said.

1. Donald Trump

2. Lindsay Graham

the mainstream group should be called Neocon group, and should include Christie, and perhaps Perry. I think Fiorina and Carson are looking for more than book sales, maybe VP (not going to happen), 2018 Gov of CA for Fiorina (highly possible) or a senate seat for Carson (Mikulsi is retiring, he could take it)

[cindy25]

Walker is definitely not your mainstream Republican. While he is leaning more establishment by day, he is still a Conservative and would cut spending. I can also see him taking the middle ground on the Federal Reserve. Someone like John Taylor would be his pick I believe, and he is no wall street dove by any form. Christie is more mainstream than Walker. I think they should be flipped. Walker and Perry seem to be the only decent "Acceptable Governors". I also think the establishment would be fine with Huckabee

Walker is neo-con, he wants boots on the ground to fight ISIS, and surely would support Paul Ryan trade scams. he might cut domestic spending, but that's useless if he spends more on imperial dreams

[nikcers]

I believe we found Rick Perry guys. I didn't know he was a Rand Paul fan, but there is room in our party for him.

[Virgil]

I thought under walker his state free in spending.

-Virgil

[Henry Rogue]

That's five.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Origanalist again.

..

[georgiaboy]

Poppycock.

These are more categories than tiers, and the ranking by electability is hogwash. And the categories stink too. If anything, they reflect media constructs. "Mainstream"? Give me a break.

Rand is just as mainstream and electable as Bush, and way more than Walker and Rubio. To list Rand 4th on this rank ordering by electability is just wrong - look at how he's been polling vs. Hillary.

[euphemia]

Bump Jindal up one and Huckabee down one or two. The race will not happen with what you consider to be the top tier. It will be in the next tier (or category), and Jindal will be on everyone's short list for VP.

[SpiritOf1776_J4]

well, true about media constructs. From the point of view of the meanings of the actual words, Ron Paul is the actual mainstream candidate. The rest have nothing in common with normal people.

Then again, the gestapo act is called the patriot act.

[Sola_Fide]

The tiers can't be defined right now. Jeb is going to plummet. Walker may get some traction but he doesn't seem to have any new ideas....plus, he's too polarizing.

I've said ever since last year that the primaries are going to be the Rubio vs. Rand show. I still think I'm right about this. The establishment is going to coalesce around Rubio and the grassroots is going to coalesce around Rand. It is going to be a fight to the end, I think.

[sl7yz0r]

Quite a bit of Huckabee's Christian base have dropped him due to his outright support for common core

[anaconda]

When we had a "top tier" of Romney, Perry, and Bachmann, was it really a "top tier?" I'm looking for Jeb Bush to rather quickly turn into the Rick Perry of 2012 as the debates begin and comments to the media become scrutinized.

[acptulsa]

Poppycock.

These are more categories than tiers, and the ranking by electability is hogwash. And the categories stink too. If anything, they reflect media constructs. "Mainstream"? Give me a break.

Rand is just as mainstream and electable as Bush, and way more than Walker and Rubio. To list Rand 4th on this rank ordering by electability is just wrong - look at how he's been polling vs. Hillary.

You're talking to a prog. Their only hope in the general election is to convince the more gullible of the Republican primary voters that Rand Paul belongs in the same playpen as Cruz and Huckabee.

He, she or it considers this tripe 'strategic'.

[GunnyFreedom]

Quite a bit of Huckabee's Christian base have dropped him due to his outright support for common core

And they aren't really digging the Duggars either.

[Vanguard101]

Walker is neo-con, he wants boots on the ground to fight ISIS, and surely would support Paul Ryan trade scams. he might cut domestic spending, but that's useless if he spends more on imperial dreams

Wanting boots on the ground to fight ISIS does not inherently make you a neo-con. Let's not forget that Rand is hawkish on ISIS and wants war with them.

[thoughtomator]

meh, these are more "categories" than "tiers"

and if we're being honest, the political breakdown really looks like this:

Sons of Ron Paul: Rand Paul
Publicity Seekers: Trump, Fiorina, Carson
Establishment-owned Neocons: everyone else in the field

[acptulsa]

meh, these are more "categories" than "tiers"

and if we're being honest, the political breakdown really looks like this:

Sons of Ron Paul: Rand Paul
Publicity Seekers: Trump, Fiorina, Carson
Establishment-owned Neocons: everyone else in the field

You're right.

But I have my doubts about whether the OP came here to be honest. Seems to have come here to toss out a crumb of unwarranted arrogance and run away.