Rather than spend time wondering who might be running for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, here’s a look at what potential candidates might campaign on as they look to persuade conservative primary voters. In alphabetical order, here are likely policy focuses for 16 possible GOP candidates.
Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz. Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Mike Pence, Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum, Scott Walker◼ Republicans Like Their 2016 Options, Assuming They Avoid Chaos - NYT
(The) era of Republican coronations appears to be over.
If it was not apparent by the sheer number of prospective Republican candidates — currently enough to field a football team, on both sides of the ball — it was underlined by Mitt Romney’s sudden declaration of interest in another campaign and the subsequent reaction: Get in line.
As the Republican National Committee gathered in this seaside enclave for its winter meeting, party officials attempted to strike a balance between accommodating their vocal conservative wing, which is in no mood for a coronation, and pragmatic Republicans consumed chiefly with finding the most viable candidate for a general election.
So the leaders happily extolled the Noah’s Ark quality of their presidential options, comparing their sprawling field favorably with the Democrats’ flavor of one, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
At the same time, they agreed to limit the number of primary debates to nine sanctioned forums and moved forward with calendar rules aimed at terminating the contest by the end of March — steps designed to ensure a short, orderly process.
“On one hand it’s exciting, and on the other hand it brings great risk,” Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, said of the approaching campaign’s uncertain nature. “It means that there’s even a greater responsibility on the national party to contain a process that could get out of control.”
