The top Republican candidate to replace Paul Ryan is an avowed white supremacist

[HomerJS]

Ok so let's see what Republicans do about this one. Bets?

Ryan says he plans to retire when his term ends, leaving Wisconsin Republicans scrambling to find someone to run against likely Democratic candidate Randy Bryce. Which means for now, Nehlen is the most likely GOP nominee in a district Donald Trump won by 10 points in 2016.

https://thinkprogress.org/paul-nehlen-gop-frontrunner-16e1882f2beb/

 

[dank69]

I think that is great and exactly what America wants.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

I think it's great. Looks like a Dem in Ryans place. Just do what we did with Ole' Roy in Ala. Fund the shit out of his Dem opponent and bring his racist past up and hammer.

 

[interchange]

Has anyone in the GOP came out and supported him? Per the article:

For its part, the Republican Party of Wisconsin has disavowed their new frontrunner. “Nehlen and his ideas have no place in the Republican Party,” said party spokesman Alec Zimmerman in February.

Is this an indictment of the GOP or America? I guess it's some of both for the GOP to have allowed Trump/incorporation of Trumpism into their party.

 

[glenn1]

Top current candidate; the news of Ryan declining to run again just came out today. Might want to give other potential GOP candidates at least a couple hours to decide if they’re going to run now that Ryan is out of the picture before declaring this nut job the front runner.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Top current candidate; the news of Ryan declining to run again just came out today. Might want to give other potential GOP candidates at least a couple hours to decide if they’re going to run now that Ryan is out of the picture before declaring this nut job the front runner.

Why is someone like this even in the running? :\

 

[glenn1]

Why is someone like this even in the running? :\

I'm guessing you can't legally prevent someone from running for office based on their views instead of some value-neutral qualification factor like age, having a home in the district you're running in, etc.

I'm sure if the major parties had their way they'd probably limit a bunch of nuts from running under their banner because of views that were politically toxic.

 

[zinfamous]

Has anyone in the GOP came out and supported him? Per the article:


Is this an indictment of the GOP or America? I guess it's some of both for the GOP to have allowed Trump/incorporation of Trumpism into their party.

Of course it is. Until the GOP refuses to let these racists run under their banner, it is an indictment of the racist GOP. 40-60 years of constant race-baiting and dog whistling has kept their followers in a simmering state of perpetual race-based anger, and this is merely the slumbering beast that has woken to the siren call of Trumpism. It is the GOP, has been since the Southern Strategy, and nothing has changed. They are just louder.

The GOP needs to embrace this fact of their party through bold admission, and actually deal with their fundamental racist problems rather than run away and point their fingers at everyone but themeselves for the proud, loud racists that wave the GOP flag, and whose votes they wholly depend upon to win elections.

 

[bshole]

Top current candidate; the news of Ryan declining to run again just came out today. Might want to give other potential GOP candidates at least a couple hours to decide if they’re going to run now that Ryan is out of the picture before declaring this nut job the front runner.

Have to admit that post made me laugh....

 

[zinfamous]

I'm guessing you can't legally prevent someone from running for office based on their views instead of some value-neutral qualification factor like age, having a home in the district you're running in, etc.

I'm sure if the major parties had their way they'd probably limit a bunch of nuts from running under their banner because of views that were politically toxic.

Of course you can't, but why can't the party make their own decisions into who can carry their flag? Dems and Pubs have their own independent rules when it comes to primary elections, so I can't imagine that there is a constitutional challenge that would prevent either party from explicitly disallowing any candidate that they wish not to represent them. They are their own party, and they make their own rules. This racist is probably free to run under any third party that would have him, I'm sure.

The real problem is that these people have a real reason to claim themselves as republicans, because republicans have been courting their ideology for decades. Until the GOP deals with its abject racism, racists will continue to proudly fly that flag. ...but I guess they desperately need those votes, eh?

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Top current candidate; the news of Ryan declining to run again just came out today. Might want to give other potential GOP candidates at least a couple hours to decide if they’re going to run now that Ryan is out of the picture before declaring this nut job the front runner.

Gotta agree with this here. Someone will come out. I'm sure the GOP will see to it even if it means moving someone across the country just to avoid Nehlem being the nominee or even having to acknowledge his existence.

 

[IronWing]

Republican Paul Nehlen got 10,864 votes (15.9%) in the 2016 Republican primary. Not a bad showing against a sitting Speaker of the House.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Nehlen

 

[bshole]

Gotta agree with this here. Someone will come out. I'm sure the GOP will see to it even if it means moving someone across the country just to avoid Nehlem being the nominee or even having to acknowledge his existence.

And that the candidate will have the hands of a few powerful oligarchs shoved up his ass.....

 

[glenn1]

Of course you can't, but why can't the party make their own decisions into who can carry their flag? Dems and Pubs have their own independent rules when it comes to primary elections, so I can't imagine that there is a constitutional challenge that would prevent either party from explicitly disallowing any candidate that they wish not to represent them. They are their own party, and they make their own rules. This racist is probably free to run under any third party that would have him, I'm sure.

The real problem is that these people have a real reason to claim themselves as republicans, because republicans have been courting their ideology for decades. Until the GOP deals with its abject racism, racists will continue to proudly fly that flag. ...but I guess they desperately need those votes, eh?

IANAL and I have no idea what requirements (if any) a political party can impose on who would run under their banner. I'm guessing they can't be that onerous otherwise we wouldn't see things like Bernie Sanders running as a Democratic POTUS candidate despite not being a member of the party.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/feb/23/bernie-sanders-democrat/

 

[zinfamous]

IANAL and I have no idea what requirements (if any) a political party can impose on who would run under their banner. I'm guessing they can't be that onerous otherwise we wouldn't see things like Bernie Sanders running as a Democratic POTUS candidate despite not being a member of the party.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/feb/23/bernie-sanders-democrat/

Right. I don't think either party has definitive rules set in place to prevent this, but at the same time I don't think there would be a solid legal challenge that would prevent them from establishing such a system. Well, look at the evil Dems and their evil "Super Delegates" Evil! That's more or less what this model is meant to address, as corrupting as it can be.

If the GOP had a super delegate system, there is absolutely zero chance that Trump would have been nominated. Not sure if the same rules apply at the Congress/state level elections, but it might also work to keep these Nazis out...or maybe not. These districts are so tiny, and these guys get such a staggering amount of support within their districts already, that I'm not sure each one would have enough such delegates to make a difference.

However, the national party can (and often does) withhold funding from campaigns that they object to (like they did with Roy Moore...until they didn't object to him and sent him some 8 million dollars....but then objected to him again and promised not to send him any more money--because principles and all)

 

[HomerJS]

How does a party prevent this? It ain't hard. Just make it publicly known by rhetoric and actions this party had no room for white supremacists and if you try to run under our party we will make you miserable as humanly possible within the bounds of the law.

 

[IronWing]

How does a party prevent this? It ain't hard. Just make it publicly known by rhetoric and actions this party had no room for white supremacists and if you try to run under our party we will make you miserable as humanly possible within the bounds of the law.

10,864 Republicans in Mr. Nehlen's district think he's A-okay. It's a hard sell to claim he isn't a Republican when thousands of Republicans voted for him. It's like the Illinois Republican Party trying to disown the nazi who got thousands of Republican votes.

 

[Commodus]

I agree with glenn1 in that the Republicans will likely do whatever they can to field a viable alternative to Nehlen. Even the party that backed scum like Roy Moore is mortified at the thought of having a proud white supremacist as its main candidate for a House seat.

The problem isn't really the Republican party's willingness to endorse an overt racist, because it clearly isn't. Rather, it's that racists are attracted to the Republican party's policies. If you have to repeatedly fend off neo-Nazis who are really, really eager to support you, your policies need a major rethink.

 

[zinfamous]

I agree with glenn1 in that the Republicans will likely do whatever they can to field a viable alternative to Nehlen. Even the party that backed scum like Roy Moore is mortified at the thought of having a proud white supremacist as its main candidate for a House seat.

The problem isn't really the Republican party's willingness to endorse an overt racist, because it clearly isn't. Rather, it's that racists are attracted to the Republican party's policies. If you have to repeatedly fend off neo-Nazis who are really, really eager to support you, your policies need a major rethink.

Really? They proudly supported Strom Thurmond for some 5 decades and more!

 

[Commodus]

Really? They proudly supported Strom Thurmond for some 5 decades and more!

The modern party, I meant.

Even thought there's some not-so-subtle racism in the current GOP, it has at least advanced enough to not court publicly declared white separatists and segregationists.

 

[theeedude]

Corporate whores being replaced with white supremacist corporate whores is what GOP is going through now.

 

[interchange]

10,864 Republicans in Mr. Nehlen's district think he's A-okay. It's a hard sell to claim he isn't a Republican when thousands of Republicans voted for him. It's like the Illinois Republican Party trying to disown the nazi who got thousands of Republican votes.

Or they're unhappy with Paul Ryan. I really have low confidence that voters have much actual knowledge about who is running for political office.

 

[IronWing]

Republican Paul Nehlen got 10,864 votes (15.9%) in the 2016 Republican primary. Not a bad showing against a sitting Speaker of the House.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Nehlen

The things one learns when reading about Republicans…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_parentheses

I had no idea this was a thing. It's sort of like Pepe for making no sense.

 

[Fern]

Of course you can't, but why can't the party make their own decisions into who can carry their flag? Dems and Pubs have their own independent rules when it comes to primary elections, so I can't imagine that there is a constitutional challenge that would prevent either party from explicitly disallowing any candidate that they wish not to represent them. They are their own party, and they make their own rules. This racist is probably free to run under any third party that would have him, I'm sure.
-snip-

So, back to the smoke filled rooms where party bosses make decisions for the rest of the people?

Fern

 

[ch33zw1z]

The things one learns when reading about Republicans…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_parentheses

I had no idea this was a thing. It's sort of like Pepe for making no sense.

So L337