November 7, 2012: The Start of the 2016 Campaign

No matter what the outcome on November 6, there is only one certainty.  This is Barack Obama’s final campaign.  As the Democrats assemble in Charlotte this week, it shouldn’t be lost on anyone that there will be a number of party members that will be laying the seeds for their own campaign four years down the road – a campaign which might start as early as November 7^th. 

There will be some obvious contenders but looking at the Democratic bench, it simply doesn’t have the depth that the Republican one has.  There are no stand-out rising stars which, quite frankly does not bode well for the party in 2016.  There needs to be a nominee, of course and we here at I Need Politics feel that it could be anyone of the following:

Credit:  humanevents.com

Joe Biden:  As the Vice President, he is an obvious choice to run for the nomination.  He’s had Presidential aspirations since 1998 but he has a reputation of acting less than Presidential.  While those that support him love that he speaks from the heart and shoots fro the hip, this will be a liability overall.  Given that he’s already in the White House however, the chances of him securing the nomination are almost a lock.

Credit:  Daily Telegraph (UK)

Hilary Clinton:  Another obvious contender though she has not officially stated that she plans to run in 2016.  Clinton gave Obama a run for his money in 2008 and she was looking as good to win as he was.  She plans to step down as Secretary of State within the next year, which would leave her open to prepare for a 2016 run.  If anyone can take it away from Biden, it’ll be Clinton.

Courtesy:  Baltimore Sun

Martin O’Malley:  Currently the Governor of Maryland and the former Mayor of Baltimore, O’Malley has not been secretive of his Presidential aspirations.  He’s a moderate and a sort of rising star.  Expect him to throw his hat in the ring.

Courtesy:  Wikipedia

Andrew Cuomo:  Succeeding his father Mario at being the Governor of New York, Cuomo is expected to make a run as well.  He was secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Clinton Administration and the Attorney General of New York State.  He comes from a political family, married into the Kennedy’s and is familiar with Washington.

Courtesy:  Politico

Mark Warner:  Currently the junior Senator from Virginia, he is the former Governor of that state.  He’s a moderate Democrat that can have the appearance of a southerner if needed.  He could have some electability on the national stage of he breaks through during the primary season.

Courtesy:  Dallas Morning News

Julian Castro:  This is the closest thing the Democrats have to a Marco Rubio in their party.  He is the young Mayor of San Antonio, TX, a Harvard educated Hispanic lawyer that is incredibly popular there.  What’s going to help Castro’s rising star is that he is giving the Keynote address at the DNC this week – the same slot that Obama had in 2004.  If he knocks it out of the park, his name will be all over the media.  He might not be politically strong enough to slog him through campaign machines like those of Biden or Clinton, but then again, he might if he can nationalize the popularity he has in southern Texas.

This is not to say that these are the only people that can potentially be the Democratic nominee in 2016.  One never knows who can crop up after the election, during the midterms in 2014 or afterwards.  No one really had heard of Bill Clinton in 1989 or of Barack Obama in 2003 and for all anyone knows, some dark horse could emerge that the last moment.  It will be interesting to watch how things unfold, especially who ill begin to position themselves soon after the next election.

85 Days Before the Election and Lubbock Prepares for War

Remember the Alamo, er... the Buddy Holly Memorial

So Texas County Judge (I guess the equivalent of a County Mayor in

other parts of the country) said today that if Obama wins a second

term, there will be civil war.  He’s gone as far as to enlist the county sheriff to pull together a trained force to ward off the United Nations troops that will be unleashed.  No, this is not an Onion article – this man is apparently serious.

On a talk show out of Lubbock, Judge Tom Head said “regardless of whether the Republicans take over the Senate, which I hope they do, he [President Obama] is going to make the United States Congress and he’s going to make the constitution irrelevant.  He’s got czars in place that don’t answer to

nobody.”  He went on to say that Obama will “try to give sovereignty of the United States away to the United Nations.  What do you think the public is going to do when that happens?  We’re talking civil unrest, civil disobedience, possible civil war.  I’m not talking riots here and there, I’m talking Lexington, Concord, take up arms, get rid of the dictator… he’s going to call in the UN troops, personnel carriers, tanks, and whatever.”  Head went on talking about raising a

militia, standing personally in front of tanks and what have you.  When asked, the Sheriff seemed to have no idea what he was talking about and stated that they had had a discussion about Emergency Management matters and nothing about preparing for a civil war.

The Judge did backtrack somewhat on his comments, stating that they were misunderstood and that he was referring to issues of taxation.  The Judge was unreachable for furthe comment and his office stated that he would be unreachable for at least 1 to 2 more days.

* With quotes from CNN