Time to Talk Primaries 2016 Sanders, Clinton, Trump, Cruz, Bush or Rubio?

[Cheshire Cat]

Back in November I posted two threads on this forum that listed the names of and gave information on the most of the recognized candidates running for the office of President on both the Democrat and Republican side of the isle.  Of course their are candidates running for the office of President who are not members of either party that people can research on line.  I will not spend time discussing them.  That is not an effort to devalue their efforts but in recognition of the fact that our nation is currently operating as a two party power and for now, that is that! .  If a person is not on the Democrat or Republican ticket they will not get the attention/funding required to win a race for president.  In fact for many who are running in both parties, their time in the race will have been wasted beyond giving voice to their ideas a few of which will be heard on a national stage.

The most recent listing on the official files for candidates in the race are as follows:  (Note, even the official record has not been updated to
show all who have dropped out of the race.

Democrats

Hillary Clinton
Bernie Sanders
Martin O'Malley


Republicans

Jeb Bush
Ben Carson
Donald Trump
Ted Cruz
Chris Cristi
Carly Fiorina
Jim Gilmore         (dropped out)
Lindsey Graham   (dropped out)
Mike Huckabee
John R. Kasich
Rand Paul
Marco Rubio
Rick Santorum

Going into the February Primary/Caucus there will be 3 Dems on the Ticket and 7 Republicans 


     The players to watch on the Democrat side are of course Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.  While O'Malley will pull some votes their only
     impact will be to pull at the numbers of the two leading candidates (which can have quite an impact on early reporting and spin from the   
     two main campaigns of Clinton and Sanders, to possibly giving and edge to Sanders or Clinton when and if O'Malley should chose to
     drop from the race and support either candidate.

     On the Republican side the players are currently Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.  However the fact that their are   still so many
     candidates on the ticket will also have an impact on who leads the pack and who can draw supporters from the low ranking campaigns.


The following is the primary schedule:


Date   State   Delegates   Open/Closed
Monday, February 1   Iowa caucus   52 D, 30 R   Closed
Tuesday, February 9   New Hampshire   32 D, 23 R   Mixed
Saturday, February 20   Nevada caucus (D)   43   Closed
South Carolina (R)   50   Open
Tuesday, February 23   Nevada caucus (R)   30   Closed
Saturday, February 27   South Carolina (D)   59   Open

Note: "Open Primary" means a primary election in which voters are not required to declare party affiliation.
          "Closed Primary" means a direct primary in which only persons meeting tests of party membership may vote.
          "Mixed Primary"  allows independents to vote in either party's primary but requires voters registered with a political party to vote in       
                                     their own parties primary


We are all aware of the many and varied polls out that are attempting to guess the lead candidates for both parties which in this race is quite a task.  Everyone should know however that the polls to watch are those which come out in March 2016 and on from that point.  Also know that there are polling agencies that are considered reliable and others that are not.  If you see a poll that interests you, check the record of accuracy for that polling organization.


Read more at http://www.uspresidentialelectionnews.com/2016-presidential-primary-schedule-calendar/#wrwDX4G8PpLy63Gp.99

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,25578.0.html  (Democrat Candidates)

http://www.metrojacksonville.com/forum/index.php/topic,25580.0.html  (Republican Candidates)