Rubio, Jindal Showing Alternate Approaches To 2016 GOP Nomination

By On November 19, 2012 · 8 Comments

The 2012 election just ended, but we’re already seeing some serious positioning from two 2016 GOP hopefuls. Both Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubio have taken some obvious political directions over the past two weeks that reveal a lot about what they think the path to the 2016 GOP nomination will be.

Jindal is betting that the Tea Party/far-right wing of the Republican party will be marginalized by 2016, and that the party will want a more centrist, Washington outsider who doesn’t use red meat rhetoric or pander to the lowest common denominator. Someone who is more of a reformer, more willing to give specifics, and even willing to offend wings of his own party. He has shown this outlook constantly over the past two weeks by blasting Mitt Romney over his “gifts” comments every chance he gets and even labeling factions of the Republican party as “stupid.” He’s building a national brand for himself that attempts to put him above partisan politics, a brand that aims to establish himself as an Obama-like post-partisan figure who is looking for common-sense solutions and will speak out against his party. Chris Christie established this same type of branding in the aftermath to Hurricane Sandy with his praise of Obama and general disregard for what’s best for the Romney campaign, but it’s hard to say for sure if that was political maneuvering or a sincere reaction to the events. Jindal’s, on the other hand, seems like pure political positioning (he never said one word about any of his sudden issues with the GOP until after Romney lost).

Rubio, on the other hand, is trying to position himself as the establishment candidate. He has already made a trip to Iowa. He gave a more more political response to Romney’s “gifts” comments where he tries to have it both ways — not agreeing with the comments but still praising Romney (who has a huge fundraising base and will be a big money asset to whoever he supports in 2016). He even began pandering to the far-right religious wing today by expressing doubt about how old the Earth is (and seemingly saying that the Bible and established science regarding the age of the Earth are on equal footing). Rubio is calculating that regardless of all the talk in the party right now about moderating itself — moving away from the far-right, rallying behind someone who is more of a non-partisan, non-social issues reformer — that at the end of the day, the GOP primary will pick exactly who it picks virtually every four years — the establishment guy. And becoming the establishment guy means giving political responses that aim to give vague answers that don’t offend anybody (without really saying what he thinks), kissing up to establishment figures who can raise big money (like Romney), trying to secure the support of the very powerful religious wing of the party, etc. John McCain, after blasting the religious right in 2000, went through a very awkward process of kissing up to them before he went on to secure the 2008 GOP nomination.

To Rubio’s credit, the route he is taking is the one that produces most Republican nominees. Romney did it. McCain did it (after trying — and failing — with the Jindal route in 2000). The list goes on and on. How 2016 turns out remains to be seen.

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8 Responses to Rubio, Jindal Showing Alternate Approaches To 2016 GOP Nomination

  1. Mr. Ballistik says:
    November 19, 2012 at 8:47 PM

    It just never stops with these people. Unemployment could be 20%, I still would not vote for someone who makes pandering, idiotic statements like the one Rubio uttered.

    Defund public schools while trying to wedge “intelligent design” into them. Blindly support Israel because of a religious connection. Disavow science to the point of mocking the failure of an alternative energy company, when alternative energy should be THE ISSUE dominating political discourse.

    Please, let the Tea Party split away from moderate Republicans. Please?

    Reply
    • Ray says:
      November 21, 2012 at 7:51 PM

      That’s the real question. The GOP got their ass handed to them in the election, not necessarily in the popular vote (Romney did better than McCain), but in the pundit game. The entire right wing media was predicting a blowout, then didn’t understand when he got whopped.

      And yet, the radical right is already back in the saddle and calling shots as if they weren’t incredibly wrong. We got five minutes of Hannity playing with the idea of negotiating on immigration, now we’re back to “Obama stole the election because black people voted”.

      Reply
  2. willia451 says:
    November 20, 2012 at 5:00 AM

    A lot will depend on what happens in the next 2 years and the 2014 elections after that. In the coming mid-terms, if the Republicans take a broad based thumping (so to speak) or, they at least make no gains, they may be more inclined to move towards someone like Christie or Jindal.

    However, if they do even moderately well, someone like Rubio will be very attractive.

    One thing to watch are the Senate races. The Republicans in the Senate have put Jerry Moran (R-KS) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) in charge of the NRSC. Both are very conservative Tea Party guys. And both are Freshman Senators.

    If those two recruit very conservative Tea Party candidates and they do poorly (as we’ve seen over the last two cycles) that could help folks like Jindal and Christie. The reverse is probably true as well.

    Reply
    • scott says:
      November 20, 2012 at 12:57 PM

      Bingo on the effect of the next 2 years on the nomination fight. Gingrich and Co. nailed their flag to the mast of ClintonScandal!! from 1997-99 and lost House seats in ’98, which rarely if ever happens for the “out” party. Admittedly, they then went with the establishment guy, Bush, but he was a guy devoted to blurring the ideological edges, pretending he was a compassionate conservative with a “humble” foreign policy (ie, pretending not to be a Republican conservative). If things don’t go well for them the next 2 years, the sheer desperation not to lose again may force them to embrace a guy (ironically) who’s willing to distance himself from The Crazy.

      Reply
      • Ray says:
        November 28, 2012 at 7:36 PM

        It’s already happening. They are trying to turn Susan Rice into a foreign policy equivalent of Monica Lewinsky. Problem i, they’re focused on this person who was, at best, only vaguely tangentially involved in what happened, meanwhile McCain is not even turning up to hearings where he could ask about the real issues in the Banghazi scandal.

        Reply
  3. H8Red of politicians says:
    November 20, 2012 at 2:25 PM

    I live in Louisiana, and I can tell you right now I wouldn’t vote for Jindal for dog catcher. He has been a disaster as a governor, and I cannot comprehend why this jug head gets any national press. Every claim he makes is a lie, and he’s a piss-poor manager. He fires anyone who dares disagree with him.

    Reply
  4. Brian says:
    November 20, 2012 at 7:15 PM

    I can’t wait to see which Not-Ready-For-Prime Timer the GOP pushes out to give the Republican response to the State of the Union address. The last three (Jindal, Gov. Bob McDonell, and Gov. Mitch Daniels) were billed as presidential contenders, and all three til now have fizzled on the national stage.

    Reply

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