Five Republicans who will not win the GOP nomination in 2016

Paul Ryan, the Budget Committee chairman and Congressman from Wisconsin, has one major historical pattern going against his odds of being the Republican nominee in 2016. James Garfield in 1880 was the only sitting House member to get elected directly from the House to the presidency. Other sitting house members who have sought the presidency have failed to win their party's nomination. Otherwise John Anderson, then a House member, sought the presidency as an Independent candidate in 1980. While Republicans often do like to defer to the sitting vice president or the running-mate for vice president on the immediate last GOP ticket, this was not a stepping stone for Sarah Palin to run in 2012 nor will it be a path to the nomination for Paul Ryan in 2016. Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, may run again in 2016 but his heaviest baggage will be the memories of his 2012 run in the primaries. Most notably was that night in one of the debates where he mentioned, as he had written in his book, that he proposed eliminating three federal departments, and after mentioning the first two, he could not remember the third department. Members of both parties credit Perry for being an effective governor and leading a state that has one of the strongest economies among the 50 states. But his 15 minutes of fame on the national stage in 2012 will be too much for him to overcome should he seek another campaign for the Republican nomination for president. Chris Christie was perceived by conservatives of being far too enthused about President Obama helping him lead his state to recovery from Hurricane Sandy last Fall just a week before the election. Just a few days, Christie was the honored guest of the president at a dinner held for the National Governors Association, in which the governors of all the states were invited. Perhaps Christie is now Barack Obama's favorite Republican governor or perhaps he's playing politics and do what he can do to diminish the odds that Christie could be the Republican nominee in 2016. Christie himself perhaps is seeking a bipartisan image that could almost assure his reelection as governor of New Jersey this year, but it might provide some optics that other GOP candidates could use against him in 2016.View the list »
Christie with Michelle Obama at the White House

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Chris Christie “snubbed by key Republican group” is reported today by the Daily Mail, a newspaper from the United Kingdom. Christie is widely seen as losing support from key conservative groups among the Republican base. Even though the 2012 just finished not too long ago, many of the potential candidates for the next presidential election. The 2016 will feature open contests for the nomination of both major political parties. President Barack Obama is ineligible to seek another term due to the 22 nd Amendment to the United States Constitution.

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These five candidates on this list are prominent Republican office holders who have already been mention as possible candidates in 2016. But for a variety of reasons unique to each candidate, they will not win the Republican nomination in 2016.

Coming soon: Five Democrats who will not win the Democratic nomination in 2016.

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  • Chris Christie was perceived by conservatives of being far too enthused about President Obama helping him lead his state to recovery from Hurricane Sandy last Fall just a week before the election. Just a few days, Christie was the honored guest of the president at a dinner held for the National Governors Association, in which the governors of all the states were invited. Perhaps Christie is now Barack Obama's favorite Republican governor or perhaps he's playing politics and do what he can do to diminish the odds that Christie could be the Republican nominee in 2016. Christie himself perhaps is seeking a bipartisan image that could almost assure his reelection as governor of New Jersey this year, but it might provide some optics that other GOP candidates could use against him in 2016.
  • Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, may run again in 2016 but his heaviest baggage will be the memories of his 2012 run in the primaries. Most notably was that night in one of the debates where he mentioned, as he had written in his book, that he proposed eliminating three federal departments, and after mentioning the first two, he could not remember the third department. Members of both parties credit Perry for being an effective governor and leading a state that has one of the strongest economies among the 50 states. But his 15 minutes of fame on the national stage in 2012 will be too much for him to overcome should he seek another campaign for the Republican nomination for president. 
  • Paul Ryan, the Budget Committee chairman and Congressman from Wisconsin, has one major historical pattern going against his odds of being the Republican nominee in 2016. James Garfield in 1880 was the only sitting House member to get elected directly from the House to the presidency. Other sitting house members who have sought the presidency have failed to win their party's nomination. Otherwise John Anderson, then a House member, sought the presidency as an Independent candidate in 1980. While Republicans often do like to defer to the sitting vice president or the running-mate for vice president on the immediate last GOP ticket, this was not a stepping stone for Sarah Palin to run in 2012 nor will it be a path to the nomination for Paul Ryan in 2016. 
  • Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and 2008 candidate for vice president with John McCain, is one of the most polarizing and divisive political figures. Palin has little support among Democrats and independents while remaining extremely popular among Republicans, especially the most conservative and Tea Party oriented factions of the Republican base. But Palin has a lot of baggage, most notably her decision in resign in 2009 and not finish the one and only term as governor for which she was elected. She resigned after what she regarded as abuse of the ethics complaint process by alleged political opponents. But it raised questions by critics, if she could not successfully fight off allegedly frivolous ethics complaints filed by partisan opponents, how could she withstand the rigors of a tough presidential election against the Democratic Party's nominee and campaign. Conventional wisdom suggests that Palin wasn't ready for prime time in 2008 or 2012 and likely won't be for 2016 either. 
  • Jeb Bush, the former two-term governor of Florida, is being mentioned more often as a possible candidate for 2016. Bush has many factors going in his favor as a candidate for 2016. He is perceived by many to have been a more effective and successful governor than his brother George W. Bush, who served six years as governor of Texas before getting elected president in 2000. He is seen by members of both parties as having been an effective two term governor of Florida, who could get a lot of support among Hispanic voters. But he  has one major liability, his last name. Many Republicans do not want to yet nominate another Bush for president.
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, Arlington Political Buzz Examiner

Dean Chambers is an independent journalist who was founder and editor of two independent campus newspapers while in college. As an independent journalist, Dean covers current events especially in politics and also the current state of American politics and American society in general. Dean...

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