Tell us if your Governor is 2016 Presidential material and ready for Primetime..

[MisterMajestic]

Martin OMalley of Maryland is testing the waters amid rumors of a 2016 run. He is not particularly popular right now, though; the latest poll numbers reflect some bruising ballot fights, all of which he won.

I noticed Martin during the campaign season and he is one Good-Looking and Sexy Dude...He could be My Daddy any time of the day...I would Suck his Dick so Damn Good he'd make me the First African American Vice President....I wouldnt move into that House where Dabiden is staying, oh no, President O'Malley would move me right down the Hall from his Master bedroom....

I guess this pulls another rug from under the feet of the California haters on here. We could have a surplus in 2014-15 of $1 billion and in $9 billion in two years.

Welcome back GiancarloC........

[Kulindahr]

I think any governors from the Republican Party who go on to win the presidency will have emerged from base states for the Republican Party for a general presidential election.

I think the same with governors from the Democratic Party who go on to win the presidency will have emerged from base states for the Democratic Party for a general presidential election.

Republican base states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

Democratic base states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Okay, but consider Christie: he's a Republican with an approval rating of 72% in one of those Democratic base states. Assuming he could get the Republican nomination, isn't there a good chance he'd carry his own state, pulling it into the other column? and wouldn't that make for a darned good chance to win?

[Kulindahr]

I noticed Martin during the campaign season and he is one Good-Looking and Sexy Dude...He could be My Daddy any time of the day...I would Suck his Dick so Damn Good he'd make me the First African American Vice President....I wouldnt move into that House where Dabiden is staying, oh no, President O'Malley would move me right down the Hall from his Master bedroom....

I saw that phrase in my e-mail alert and was certain it was JayQueer posting.

You fooled me.

[MisterMajestic]

I saw that phrase in my e-mail alert and was certain it was JayQueer posting.

You fooled me.

I only care for Democratic Dick..I think JQ prefers Republican Dick....

[Kulindahr]

I only care for Democratic Dick..I think JQ prefers Republican Dick....

So true.

[GiancarloC]

^ Thank god we didn't get that other lady. Ugh. Romney with ovaries.

Meg Whitman is like the female version of Mitt Romney. She was so out of touch with reality. And she tried to purchase the office of governor like Mitt Romney tried to purchase the White House. Failed lol. Big time.

Meg Whitman would have bankrupted this state... much like that idiot Arnold Schwarzenegger almost did.

[palemale]

I only care for Democratic Dick..I think JQ prefers Republican Dick....

Not true. JQ wants to marry JayHawk.

[CoolBlue71]

Okay, but consider Christie: he's a Republican with an approval rating of 72% in one of those Democratic base states. Assuming he could get the Republican nomination, isn't there a good chance he'd carry his own state, pulling it into the other column? and wouldn't that make for a darned good chance to win?

Can Chris Christie separate himself from his party to get New Jersey to vote Republican for the presidency for the first time since 1988? Last year on record N.J. voted for a Republican nominee who did not win the presidency was when Gerald Ford carried the state and was unseated by Jimmy Carter. But Carter won primarily through the south, taking all of the former confederate states except Virginia.

In 2012, New Jersey was one of about a half-dozen states which actually had a Democratic shift for President Obama. He won it in 2008 by D+15.53. With re-election in 2012, the president carried N.J. by D+17.68. In 2008, N.J. was 8.27% bluer than how the country voted. (Obama beat John McCain by D+7.26.) In 2012, N.J. was 14.00% bluer relative to the national margin. (Obama defeated Mitt Romney by D+3.68.)

If we were to see a President Chris Christie, the way the map shakes out nowadays is that he'd have to become the first elected without carriage of his home state since Richard Nixon claimed New York as his residency, while it supported losing Democrat Hubert Humphrey, as the 37th president was also the GOP pickup winner of Election 1968.

For New Jersey to carry for an elected Chris Christie it would have to be either arbitrary (which I wouldn't buy into) ... or it would turn out to become a 40-state landslide (400-plus vote) victory in the Electoral College. States which vote like N.J. would also become flipped from blue to red (to elect Chris Christie). And these are populous states, in the Top 10 and Top 20, which over the last 100 years have colored the same at least in 80 percent of such elections. Given the current state of the Republican Party ... and how people are handling their presidential votes (which very much involves in chosing red or blue) ... I don't think it would happen. And since 1992, no candidate has carried more than 32 states (as won that year when Bill Clinton unseated George Bush and flipped N.J. into his and the Democratic Party's column).

Chris Christie should have no problem getting re-elected this year as the 55th Governor of New Jersey. Dating back to 1977, the state has been in the habit of electing governors from the party opposite a sitting president. And Christie's stance, with what he has said about Congress, has enough of a populous appeal that the Democrats likely won't have a challenger who is much of a challenge. In 2009, Christie unseated Jon Corzine with a statewide margin of about 5 percentage points. This year, with re-election, it will increase substantially.

Now, all of what I said could be reconsidered if Chris Christie switched from the Republican to the Democratic party. Which I don't believe would feasibly happen.

[xbuzzerx]

Meg Whitman is like the female version of Mitt Romney. She was so out of touch with reality. And she tried to purchase the office of governor like Mitt Romney tried to purchase the White House. Failed lol. Big time.

Meg Whitman would have bankrupted this state... much like that idiot Arnold Schwarzenegger almost did.

Really says something when since she took control of Ebay, the shareholders were happy but absolutely none of the end users were. Would have undoubtedly played out the same way with politics and the voters.

[Kulindahr]

Can Chris Christie separate himself from his party to get New Jersey to vote Republican for the presidency for the first time since 1988? Last year on record N.J. voted for a Republican nominee who did not win the presidency was when Gerald Ford carried the state and was unseated by Jimmy Carter. But Carter won primarily through the south, taking all of the former confederate states except Virginia.

In 2012, New Jersey was one of about a half-dozen states which actually had a Democratic shift for President Obama. He won it in 2008 by D+15.53. With re-election in 2012, the president carried N.J. by D+17.68. In 2008, N.J. was 8.27% bluer than how the country voted. (Obama beat John McCain by D+7.26.) In 2012, N.J. was 14.00% bluer relative to the national margin. (Obama defeated Mitt Romney by D+3.68.)

If we were to see a President Chris Christie, the way the map shakes out nowadays is that he'd have to become the first elected without carriage of his home state since Richard Nixon claimed New York as his residency, while it supported losing Democrat Hubert Humphrey, as the 37th president was also the GOP pickup winner of Election 1968.

For New Jersey to carry for an elected Chris Christie it would have to be either arbitrary (which I wouldn't buy into) ... or it would turn out to become a 40-state landslide (400-plus vote) victory in the Electoral College. States which vote like N.J. would also become flipped from blue to red (to elect Chris Christie). And these are populous states, in the Top 10 and Top 20, which over the last 100 years have colored the same at least in 80 percent of such elections. Given the current state of the Republican Party ... and how people are handling their presidential votes (which very much involves in chosing red or blue) ... I don't think it would happen. And since 1992, no candidate has carried more than 32 states (as won that year when Bill Clinton unseated George Bush and flipped N.J. into his and the Democratic Party's column).

Chris Christie should have no problem getting re-elected this year as the 55th Governor of New Jersey. Dating back to 1977, the state has been in the habit of electing governors from the party opposite a sitting president. And Christie's stance, with what he has said about Congress, has enough of a populous appeal that the Democrats likely won't have a challenger who is much of a challenge. In 2009, Christie unseated Jon Corzine with a statewide margin of about 5 percentage points. This year, with re-election, it will increase substantially.

Now, all of what I said could be reconsidered if Chris Christie switched from the Republican to the Democratic party. Which I don't believe would feasibly happen.

You think that the 72% approval rating wouldn't carry over to a vote for president?

[Kulindahr]

Really says something when since she took control of Ebay, the shareholders were happy but absolutely none of the end users were. Would have undoubtedly played out the same way with politics and the voters.

She ruined eBay. It used to be a friendly place to sell things to other people without being in it as a business -- a free market at its best. Now it's shaped for those who expect to make their money on volume, because eBay gouges horribly to get a rapacious cut.

Good Republican practice: fuck the regular guy, exalt the big operator.

[xbuzzerx]

She ruined eBay. It used to be a friendly place to sell things to other people without being in it as a business -- a free market at its best. Now it's shaped for those who expect to make their money on volume, because eBay gouges horribly to get a rapacious cut.

Good Republican practice: fuck the regular guy, exalt the big operator.

PRECISELY what happened. It changed Ebay from a reputable Craig's List into companies pretending to be small vendors offloading their warehouse stock. It shut everyone else out.

[GiancarloC]

She ruined eBay. It used to be a friendly place to sell things to other people without being in it as a business -- a free market at its best. Now it's shaped for those who expect to make their money on volume, because eBay gouges horribly to get a rapacious cut.

Good Republican practice: fuck the regular guy, exalt the big operator.

I used to be a seller on there until the fees shot up substantially... and Paypal has turned into a pile of shit too with their endless fees. Thanks to Meg Whitman. Ugh.

[TX-Beau]

You think that the 72% approval rating wouldn't carry over to a vote for president?

Hmmm, what is his national approval rating?

[TX-Beau]

I used to be a seller on there until the fees shot up substantially... and Paypal has turned into a pile of shit too with their endless fees. Thanks to Meg Whitman. Ugh.

I bought a computer part on EBAY last November - NEVER AGAIN!! The part was late - two weeks late (I used express shipping and paid for it) No refund, no comp. The part when it did come was not the part advertised - the seller had swapped it out because he's sold out of the original part - didn't tell me that until I asked why. Didn't offer to pay postage to replace the part, didn't even offer to replace it. Ebay was no help, it just kept being a drama - since it was only $70.00 I finally said fuck it and chalked one up to experience.

[GiancarloC]

I bought a computer part on EBAY last November - NEVER AGAIN!! The part was late - two weeks late (I used express shipping and paid for it) No refund, no comp. The part when it did come was not the part advertised - the seller had swapped it out because he's sold out of the original part - didn't tell me that until I asked why. Didn't offer to pay postage to replace the part, didn't even offer to replace it. Ebay was no help, it just kept being a drama - since it was only $70.00 I finally said fuck it and chalked one up to experience.

As a Seller I got scammed on a stick of ram... some guy ordered it, said it was defective and refused to return it... but he wanted his refund. Turns out the seller was sending those sticks of ram to China so they could be repackaged and sold as new... or something along that lines.

There are way too many scams, and luckily I was able to keep the money... after 2 months of hassle with paypal.

Now I only use Amazon if I have anything to sell.

[palemale]

You think that the 72% approval rating wouldn't carry over to a vote for president?

The 72% is more a result of the response to the hurricane than a true reading of where the public will be a year from now, although Christie is still likely to win. All the polls showed, however, that Obama would have won NJ even if Christie had been the VP nominee with Romney.

[CoolBlue71]

You think that the 72% approval rating [for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie] wouldn't carry over to a vote for president?

That approval may be for right now. Specifically in his home state. But it isn't concerning or applying to the presidency.

On the topic of job-approval numbers, they mean something but not everything. In the 2006 midterm elections, Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-Rhode Island) was unseated by Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who just won re-election for a second full term to the U.S. Senate. Chafee had a job-approval rating of 62 percent. (Chafee switched out of the Republican Party and became an independent. He won the R.I. gubernatorial election in 2010.) In 2012, Sen. Scott Brown (R-Massachusetts) was around 59 percent (according to ABC News' Jonathan Karl on election night) when he was unseated by Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). R.I. and Mass. are Democratic base states in presidential elections. R.I. has voted the same as Hawaii since the Aloha State first participated in 1960. (The two Republican presidential carriages of both states came with the 49-state landslide re-elections of Richard Nixon in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1984. Mass. has voted for every prevailing Democratic presidential candidate since Franklin Roosevelt unseated Herbert Hoover in 1932. Another example as to how and why ex-Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney made no impact on his home state, in 2012, in which he failed to reap even 40 percent of that electorate's presidential vote.)

In the 2010 midterms, Senate majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) had a low job-approval number (The Young Turks reported it was around 40 percent at best). He won re-election by nearly six points. (Yes, it was over Sharron Angle.)

The thing is: That "72 percent" doesn't tell enough. One should not forget there are people, there are states, that adhere to pretty consistent voting patterns — for preferred party ("Partisan ID") — which extends for a generation or two (or few). Gov. Chris Christie has an easier time winning his office in a non-leap year election than he would as a presidential candidate for his Republican Party in a base state for the Democratic Party. And, if he were to be the 2016 presidential nominee for his party (following re-election in 2013), he would not have a 72-percent job approval rating from the N.J. electorate heading into the general election for the presidency.

[Kulindahr]

I used to be a seller on there until the fees shot up substantially... and Paypal has turned into a pile of shit too with their endless fees. Thanks to Meg Whitman. Ugh.

Agree about PayPal. It's the avenue I used for my safety and conservation project, but most people refuse to donate that way because they know that if they donate $100 the not-for-profit project only gets $85.

[Kulindahr]

I bought a computer part on EBAY last November - NEVER AGAIN!! The part was late - two weeks late (I used express shipping and paid for it) No refund, no comp. The part when it did come was not the part advertised - the seller had swapped it out because he's sold out of the original part - didn't tell me that until I asked why. Didn't offer to pay postage to replace the part, didn't even offer to replace it. Ebay was no help, it just kept being a drama - since it was only $70.00 I finally said fuck it and chalked one up to experience.

I hope you reported the incident to some appropriate authorities -- a letter to your US Senator is always good, because they know where to send such things. As Sen. Wyden reminds people at town hall meetings, if you don't complain, things won't change.

[Kulindahr]

The 72% is more a result of the response to the hurricane than a true reading of where the public will be a year from now, although Christie is still likely to win. All the polls showed, however, that Obama would have won NJ even if Christie had been the VP nominee with Romney.

That's 'cause Romney was such a dit. Christie could have had a 98% approval rating and been the veep candidate, Romney still would have lost.