The Top 11 candidates in the race for the Republican nomination and, in order from worst to best, how good of a choice each candidate would be to take on whoever the Democrats nominate (I'll do this for the Democrats after they have a debate, though that field is much less crowded and will make for a shorter post). Brief two-sentence notes (with 15-day polling average from 2016.republican-candidates.org)...
11th (polling 1st), Donald Trump: To understate it, this would be a nightmare for Republicans. He's a straight talker, and a lot of intelligent things come out of his mouth, but so do many, many terrible things that make most folks cringe.
10th (polling 3rd), Jeb Bush: His last name is Bush. That is all.
9th (polling 7th), Mike Huckabee: Standing next to Kim Davis is not a good political move. Or a good move in general, for any reason really.
8th (polling 8th), Scott Walker: A lot of people in Wisconsin don't like him very much, which is why he nearly got recalled. It's hard to see a reason why he would do a better job in Washington, D.C.
7th (polling 6th), Ted Cruz: Conservative for sure, but to the point of extreme absurdity. Polarizing and kind of creepy.
6th (polling 5th), Carly Fiorina: An intelligent and strong woman with strong views for sure, some of which I agree with, and others which I definitely do not. She has little political experience, which would be fine if not for her checkered past in the careers she has chosen to pursue instead.
5th (polling 11th), John Kasich: I don't mind Kasich so much, and I like that he's not afraid to disagree with fellow Republicans on some issues, but I have a hard time seeing him having any chance of getting the nomination. And his chances in the general election would be poor.
4th (polling 9th), Rand Paul: Paul is another one who's not afraid to disagree with others in his party on some issues, and he often seems to lean Libertarian. Unfortunately, he has the feel of a failed Independent candidate.
3rd (polling 10th), Chris Christie: He's running despite a scandal that nearly derailed his campaign before in started. But he's saying the right things, he's likable, and being a successful Republican in New Jersey has to count for something.
2nd (polling 4th), Marco Rubio: He's intelligent, he's done well in the debates, and many of his views make a great deal of sense. But he's a bit awkward.
1st (polling 2nd), Ben Carson: Frankly, finding the best candidate for this job is not even close. Ben Carson projects wisdom as well as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see what I did there?).
Because of the voter laws in Connecticut, as a registered Independent, I can't vote in the primaries, and I'm actually considering registering as a Republican just so I can vote for Ben Carson.
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