Making the Move...Kasich to Rubio

During my hiatus I've made a shift.  Although I started out liking John Kasich as a Presidential candidate, I've come to realize he's just not a viable contender.  Unfortunately his message comes across as yesterday.  I still think he'd make a great President, but I don't see it happening.

As I've looked at the Republican field, I've settled on Rubio (or maybe Christie as a long-shot).  I'm wary of another first term Senator with no executive experience, but I really like his message and I think he has the smarts and personality to make a good President.  But there is a long way to go.  The Gas Bag and Slick Ted will continue to make noise and it should be a pretty interesting run up to the convention.  My thinking regarding the Gas Bag is reflected in a post on a blog I follow.  You can read it here.  Fundamentally though, while they all have plusses and minuses, they are all infinitely better than Hillary.  I continue to marvel that she is doing as well as she is.  How any thinking person could vote for her is beyond me.  But I guess that's what makes the world go around.

Here's another perspective from the same blog I linked to above.  This is a guest blogger predicting how it's going to go.  Pretty interesting.  I'm going to copy it here and a year from now we can look back and see how accurate he was.

1. Ted Cruz will win the Iowa caucuses on February 1st. No one will drop out.
2. Eight days later Donald Trump will squeeze out a narrow victory in New Hampshire which will force most of the weaker candidates to quit. Cruz, Rubio, Christie and Bush stay in. Jeb will receive less than 4% of the vote and be under tremendous pressure to do well in South Carolina. 
3. Trump will win South Carolina by nearly 20 points resulting in Christie dropping out. Cruz will have a respectable outing but Bush and Rubio will be hanging by a thread hoping to do well on Super Tuesday. 
4. Trump runs the table on Super Tuesday apart from Colorado (Rubio), Virginia (Bush) and Alaska (Cruz). 
5. Everyone hangs around until March 15 when Trump wins North Carolina, Ohio, Missouri and most importantly Florida (by 20 points). Rubio and Bush drop out. It becomes a two man race with Trump in a commanding position. 
6. Cruz does respectably well but it's an uphill battle. Trump wins the nomination. 
7. Senator Ted Cruz makes the ticket. 
8. Hillary breezes to the nomination in spite of the relentless attacks from Team Trump. Bill Clinton proves to be a weak campaigner due to ill health and past indiscretions. Chasms emerge within the Democratic Party similar to what the Republicans have endured throughout the election cycle. 
9. Trump wages an anti-Wall Street, anti-open borders, anti-government campaign advocating a near isolationist foreign policy with an emphasis on re-industrialization and job growth. Trade protectionism will be a key theme. Big Business chooses Hillary, much of labor chooses Trump. 
10. Trump wins with a solid South and important rust-belt states such as Ohio and Michigan. 

I'll continue to track it, look for interesting articles and insights, and when I see something worth sharing will link for you to see.  If this stuff interests you, great.  If not, well then just move along.  But if you're not interested or you don't vote, then no bitching.