Polity by Rob Salmond

FiveThirtyEight point out that his lead in the endorsement primary is unimpressive because 80% of both the most conservative third and the central third of the party have not committed their endorsements yet. They agree that Jeb! is probably toast.

I think Rubio is the most likely candidate now too, though a month ago I would have picked Bush so what do I know?

Who thought a Bush after GW could possibly be less impressive?

Hell, who thought a Bush after George Sr could possibly be less impressive?
The whole family seems to exist to lower expectations for Republican leaders.

Strangely enough, Trumps "Low Energy" thing is right. His family made him do it. Doesnt seem that interested.

Speak 'Beltway': Lesoon#23...

...they called in Ackbar (“It’s a trap!”)

Aaaah!

So this is The Full Ackbar

What other Star Wars references underpin political commentary these days?

...I am of course au fait with Star Trek Public Relations maxims like:
'Set your phrases to stun.'*

*Warning: Recycled pun,
may contain traces of nuts.

Lesoon#23…

Let that be a 'lesson' to me...
to have less on during the edit window!

With Carson, Cruz, and Trump collectively catching about half of all stated Republican voter support, they have to be very worried.

Neither of those candidates are electable by a plurality of voters. Too many negatives. Bush was thought to be, but in his absence only Rubio really stands out.

Is it even possible for a headless chicken to clutch at straws? In my limited experience their preferred course of action is to run around like, well, a headless chicken.

Rubio may seem less extreme than some of his rivals, but his policies are straight out of the neolib book - see this for example.

That slide set is amazing.

Let’s assume some competency for a change. What if the slide set is achieving its desired effect? What effect does it have? Is this what they were aiming for?

The slide set is an impermeable wall of metrics, graphs, and charts. It appears to have a staggering amount of information. If it is achieving its purpose, its purpose is to suggest that Jeb! has an overwhelming amount of data and analysis; that elections (particularly presidential primaries) are really complicated, and that Jeb! is in control. The general rhetoric would be: we are the clever guys.

Bamboozle them with Jebberish...