It's gonna be Jeb! v Hillary.

[Atman]

The Military Industrial Media will get what they want either way. We're just here to watch the advertising.

[Dawgs]

1. Nah. I'm going with Rubio or Cruz versus Bernie.

People want real change, good or bad, and the "meh" candidates will fade (Bush already there) very soon.

[cherokeeprogressive]

2. No. It isn't.

[UglyGreed]

3. Win win for them

how nice

[KaryninMiami]

4. Yup. I've been saying this all along.

And given the many ways they will steal and cheat, unless we have a landslide, we will loose. This is why I'm so frustrated by the Hillary and Bernie bashing. Winning this election means WE ALL must vote for the Democrat who gets the nomination regardless of whether he/she is our first choice.

[Nay]

8. I've been saying it all along, too, but you know what? Bush himself has

singlehandedly bounced himself out of the race by --- visibly demonstrating that he does not want the job! It's the most amazing thing I've seen so far. He has no energy, nothing to say, and acts as if someone dragooned him into being a candidate. The only way he will be the GOP nominee is if the convention appoints him, and never mind the delegates or raw vote count. It's certainly possible he may get the job that way.

Oh, and BTW, I'm not terribly concerned about 'bashing' unless it includes total lies. We need to assess the candidates by talking about them, even if there is some vitriol. No need to worry that infights will have any influence on voting; 99% of voters have never heard of DU.

[Atman]

9. You're assuming that we actually have a voice.

Do you honestly believe The Powers That Be, those who actually run this country (CIA, Wall Street) are going to hand over the reins to a Socialist, or Donald Trump? At least Marco Rubio could be manipulated and played like a cheap fiddle (like W), but nobody gets the nuclear codes without being vetted by the people who actually make all the decisions. We don't actually vote for the candidate we want. We vote for the candidate they provide for us. It's always just two, and more and more the two are virtually indistinguishable. So this time around, it will be Jeb! (CIA daddy) or Hillary (already part of the game). That's just the way it is.

[smirkymonkey]

13. I want to have hope, but this sinking feeling tells me you are right.

It will end up being the two establishment candidates, and either way, nothing will change. Wealth will continue to trickle upward and the war machine will continue to hum. God, I'm depressed.

[RKP5637]

29. Voting in the USA is an illusion. We think we have choice, some think so, but really it's IMO

generally a rigged system fueled by huge financial resources/interests and many people the public has never even heard of. Just the fact Citizens United exists is very telling.

The presidential candidates we get are a product made so the SOS continues, much like investing in a stock and wanting excellent financial returns.

In the US it's all about $$$$$$'s and brainwashing the public. And a horse is bred and put up that will win the race for a good return on $$$$$'s invested. And, what is the legitimacy of voting machines and the like. Many in this country could be excellent presidential candidates, but they are often eventually weeded out of the system.

I'm depressed too.

[Nay]

22. Oh, I'm assuming no such thing. As I said, I still think it can easily be Bush vs.

Clinton (who I chose long ago as the winners of the respective nominations), when stuff starts percolating in the back rooms of the GOP convention. What's been amazing to me is that Jeb is such an obviously reluctant and forcibly drafted candidate that one wonders why they did not find a more eager candidate. Then I think about who Jeb's father is and go "aha." Dad, as head of the CIA, has everyone over a barrel -- I bet he wants himself and his two sons to go down in presidential history, and not even the death of the country will stop them.

[brush]

27. Hillary maybe, but Bush — nah he doesn't have the "it" factor.

Whatever "it" is, Jeb Bush just doesn't have it. He's just not presidential material, doesn't inspire people.

Even the repug powers-that-be know that if they, through backroom machinations, force Bush on the people he's a sure loser. There's just no pizazz there.

Not gonna happen.

[Brother Buzz]

5. Just as soon as the men behind the curtain can get him out of the starting gate

Methinks they are still searching for batteries for the cattle prod.

[NowSam]

6. I think many suspect that what you say is so.

This is theater. This is Wrestling. BUT I am going to cast my vote for Bernie. Then no matter what happens I can sleep at night knowing I made the best possible choice.

I was for Bill Clinton in '92, Gore in 2000, Kerry in 2004, Obama in 08 and 12 and I have been yearning all this time for someone to say what needs to be said and finally: Along comes Bernie. Warren deserves great praise too. They have amazing courage to speak out and fight back against the corrupt bought and paid for system.

[Mnemosyne]

7. I am so excited to be able to vote, for the first time since 1976, without holding my nose. nt

[RKP5637]

26. Yep, it pretty much ended in later years. I know what you mean! n/t

[global1]

10. They Were Identified As The Presumptive Nominees Well Before This Primary Process Got Going....

We're just going through the motions now as I believe you are right. Either way the 1%, Wall St & the Corps win.

The head of Goldman Sachs said it - he is ok with either of the two.

[flamingdem]

11. Trump will get it

If the pukes don't do something to stop him.

Especially with the latest on immigration. I think he's softer than the others in the end because he doesn't mean what he says. And he's not latino.

Bush is a dud.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

12. Half probably wrong, half almost certainly right.

It's far too soon to say who the Republican nominee will be, but Bush is not a front-runner at the moment. If I had to place money, I'd go with 538 and say Rubio or Cruz, but a lot of other people are still in it.

You're right that the Democratic nominee is almost certain to be Clinton, though.

[Midwestern Democrat]

19. I still think Jeb is the safest choice for the GOP.

Cruz would be an outright disaster in the general. I don't think Rubio would stack up well against Hillary when it comes to gravitas. I think this election comes down to who can swing the independents/moderates and I think Jeb is probably the safest bet on their side to do that.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

23. That's a different question, and may have a different answer.

"Who are the GOP most likely to nominate?"

and

"Who, if nominated by the GOP, is most likely to win?"

are very different questions.

I think that good answers to the former include Rubio, Cruz, Trump, but not Bush.

I think that good answers to the latter include Rubio and, as you say, Bush.

[LiberalAndProud]

14. Judging by dollars collected, you would be right, according to the 3rd quarter FEC report.

The amazing thing to me is that Hillary has collected an amount almost equal to the top three Republican candidates combined. I could be persuaded to believe that the GOP prefers the seat of opposition rather than the mantle of leadership.

[restorefreedom]

15. even though the msm and mic wants him, jeb! is done like dinner. nt

[Vinca]

16. Hillary, maybe, but I think Jeb! is toast.

[reddread]

17. fair and square

right?

[bigwillq]

18. I hope it's neither.

I don't want another Bush or Clinton.

[Lizzie Poppet]

20. "We're just here to watch the advertising."

Sadly, that pretty much sums it up.

[RKP5637]

30. Yep, sadly, that's pretty much the bottom line. n/t

[femmocrat]

21. I have predicted jeb all along.... and Kasich for his VP.

Of course I'm usually wrong.

I'm just posting this for my journal and future reference.

[EL34x4]

24. The only way Jeb Bush gets the GOP nomination is

If Donald Trump's plane crashes in to Ben Carson's bus while at the same time the Supreme Court rules Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz ineligible due to having foreign fathers (a longstanding birther argument against President Obama).

Hey, it could happen...

[hobbit709]

25. In other words another election where you have to carry a barf bag and hold your nose.

[Renew Deal]

28. The voters so far aren't playing along.

But that can change.

[longship]

31. Well, the GOP Mixmaster will undoubtedly stir up a nominee.

It may be another Bush, but I doubt it. What is more likely is that the hugely insane theocratic underbelly of the GOP will promote some utter madness to the nomination. For instance, the theocratic Cruz or Carson. (No, I am not worried about Mike Hucklebuck, another overt theocrat.)

I think Carson implodes. He is as mad as a hatter. Yet Cruz is just as mad, but is less overt about it unless one catches him speaking to other insiders. He is the big danger for 2016.

Also Rubio, however I think he may be too thirsty to get the nomination. Still, he would willingly pander to the theocrats.

Which is the elephant in the room with the GOP. They are the Christian theocratic party, thanks to Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson in the late 70's. Nothing more and nothing less.

The extent that the Democratic Party does not unite for 2016 is the extent to which we lose in 2016.

The stakes are just too fucking high to infight now.

[Koinos]

32. I think they may "reanimate" Romney.