#MonaLog: Rand Paul’s Fiery New Year’s Resolutions & the #CarlyCurse
Welcome to the #MonaLog – a PolitiChicks Insider into the 2016 race.
#MonaLog Countdown Clock- 30 days to Iowa, 38 days to New Hampshire, 49 days until South Carolina…
Happy New Year… its finally 2016, a presidential year and the last year for President Obama. For today’s agenda: GOP hopefuls give last message in 2015; Rand Paul’s New Years Resolutions; Candidates 4th Quarter fundraising; Ben Carson Campaign Shakeup, and #CarlyCurse
GOP hopefuls and One Democrat Usher in 2016 with Resolution and Wishes
Ringing in the New Years with Fox News ‘All-American New Year’ hosted by Kimberly Guilfoyle and Eric Boiling, certain candidates participated to share their plan live for 2016 before the ball dropped in Times Square.
Here are the candidates’ messages either taped or live of their resolution.
Rick Santorum (Taped)- “My resolution is to stay off the ice cream in Iowa that has been an expansive affair for me.”
Jim Gilmore (Taped)- “I resolve this year to be as obnoxious and loud as possible so I can get invited to the next Republican presidential debate.”
Marco Rubio (Taped)- “My resolution is to do everything I can to not just to restore the American dream but to expand it and to reach more people and change more lives than ever before. So that this, the greatest country in the world, can be greater than it has ever been.”
Mike Huckabee (Taped)- “I hope you’ve had a good 2015 but I am hoping you will have a better 2016. Hey, I am hoping I will have one too. Look forward to having a great year.”
John Kasich (Taped)- “Well I’d like to wish you, your family, your loves ones, a very, very, happy new year and I hope everybody will use this opportunity for a great new start in a new year with all the success, and I hope you all have peace.”
Carly Fiorina (Live)- “We have to take our country back. Honestly I think as citizens we have lost our power… All our problems can be solved; all our wounds can be healed. We need to take our country back.”
Jeb Bush (Taped)- “To all my friends, I hope that we have a prosperous, healthy & secure New Year’s.”
Rand Paul (Taped)- “As 2015 comes to an end, I want to wish everyone watching a successful New Year. America is the greatest, freest, richest, and most humanitarian country in the history of mankind. To keep America great, we need to protect the liberty our founders’ enshrined in the Constitution. Both parties has let us down. They forgotten that their first duty is to defend the Constitution and that means balanced budget, and a government so small you cant barely see it. If Washington continues to ignore the constitution then maybe 2016 is the year to limit congressional term once and for all. The year my resolution is to preserve our liberties and restore prosperity across America. 2016 needs to be the year of real change in Washington and I’m ready to make that change if you stand with me.”
Ted Cruz (Taped)- “2016 is going to be an incredible year. 2016 is going to be the last year of the Obama presidency. 2016 is going to be the last year before Hillary retires permanently to Chappaqua. 2016 is going to be the last year that we have Obamacare. 2016 is going to be the last year until we abolish the IRS. And 2016 is going to be the last year until we utterly destroy ISIS and defeat radical Islamic terrorism. Like 1980, 2016 is going to be a very, very good year.”
Cruz goes on to tell a story he heard on the campaign trail:
“The date is January 20, 2017. A little old man walks up to the Marine guarding the front gate at the White House. He says excuse me sir, is Barack Obama here. The Marine says no, I’m sorry, Barack Obama is no longer President of the United States. The next day, same little old man, same Marine, walks up, says excuse me is Barack Obama there. The Marine sighs, a little bit frustrated, and says no, Barack Obama is no longer President of the United States. The next day, January 22, the same little old man, same Marine, same question. This time the Marine is visibly frustrated. He sighs and says sir, I’ve told you 3 days in a row; Barack Obama is no longer President of the United States. The little old man smiles and with a twinkle in his eye says I know that, I just love hearing you say it. And the Marine promptly salutes and says see you tomorrow sir. 2016 is going to be a very, very good year.”
Ben Carson (Live)- “We are incredible fortunate to be in a country where you still have control over what happens to you. You know if you get a good education in this country, it doesn’t matter what your background is, you basically get to write your own ticket. So what that means for our nation is to make sure that we afford a good education to all our people.”
Democrat Martin O’Malley: “As we reflect on 2015, I think we should also be grateful to all of our military families for their service to our country and also I look forward to 2016 being a year that we can realize as a nation that there’s more that unites us than divides us and we can move forward again as a people.”
Donald Trump (Live)- “We are going to have a great time next year. It’s going to be a great year. We have to really work to make our country great again. We are going to do that, we are going to have a lot of fun doing it, if its is Hillary Clinton that is in the race I look forward to going against her.”
Trump’s message to Hillary Clinton- “I think I’ll be her worst nightmare but we’ll find out.”
Trump’s message to other candidates- “We have a very big lead and I intend to keep it. Not because I want the job but because I want to do something great for the country and great for the people.”
Trump’s resolution- “My resolution is to make America great again.”
Rand Paul Tweetstorm his New Years Resolution
This year my resolution is to preserve our liberties and restore prosperity across America. #NewYearResolution
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 1, 2016
It continued with Paul resolving, to not let the mean things people say about his hair get to him:
I resolve to not let the mean things people say about my hair bother me. #curlyhairdontcare #newyearsresolution pic.twitter.com/HVMr0vYbOj — Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 1, 2016
Then Paul resolved to be more like Donald Trump:
I resolve to speak in vague but bombastic generalities more #newyearsresolution pic.twitter.com/AR741BUOvQ
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 1, 2016
To Paul’s fellow Senate colleagues and GOP hopefuls Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio:
I resolve to spend less time voting in the Senate so @Marcorubio & @tedcruz don’t look bad bc they don’t show up for work. JK. Do your jobs. — Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 1, 2016
Paul’s most direct tweet attack was to Cruz where he accused the Senator of stealing his political positions:
I resolve to give @TedCruz more lead time before I announce my policy positions, so he can replicate them faster #NewYearsResolution
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 1, 2016
Lastly, the resolutions were about liberty and the Bill of Rights…
My wife @KelleyAshbyPaul tells me I need to resolve to be nice to the media in 2016. I don’t think so Kelley! #newyearsresolution *hides* — Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 1, 2016
End of 2015 was Fourth Quarter Fundraising Deadline
So far Ted Cruz and Ben Carson has released reports of how much money its campaign has raised in the fourth quarter from October 1 through December 31, 2015. Official fundraising reports are not due until January 31, the day before the Iowa caucuses.
Ted Cruz raised nearly $20 million, the highest total to date for his campaign. His total for the year is more than $45 million. In the 3rd quarter, Cruz raised $12.2 million during a period that showed Cruz was rising in the polls to become a top-tier candidate in part from his stellar debate performances.
Ben Carson raised around $23 million according to his former campaign manager Barry Bennett. However, the campaign might have blown through half the $11.5 million in reserves they had during the start of the 4th quarter according to Carson campaign treasurer. The impressive fundraising haul comes during the time Carson’s poll numbers have collapsed. Gaining momentum in mid-October to one time becoming the front-runner beating Donald Trump have plunged when the Republican presidential race turned to national security in the wake of the Paris attacks in November.
Ben Carson’s Campaign Shakeup Rings up the New Year
Ringing in the New Years with a month left to Iowa, three of Ben Carson’s presidential aides resigned. Carson’s campaign manager Barry Bennett, deputy campaign manager Lisa Coen and communications director Doug Watts all resigned amidst the changes all didn’t accept.
After fallen to 10% nationally behind Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Carson announced a major shake up would be occurring within his campaign operation. The move, Carson said was needed to jumpstart his campaign with a “strategy that more aggressively shares my vision and world-view with the American people,” Carson said in a statement.
The infighting with Carson’s campaign team against Carson’s longtime friend Armstrong Williams, who doesn’t have an official role, marked in part of his aides to resign. Williams attacked Carson’s team for putting the candidate in situations where he was ill prepared. In the Republican Jewish Coalition speech in the beginning of January where Carson read off from a prepared speech as he repeatedly mispronounced the name of the Palestinian terrorist group “Hamas.”
“His campaign has to do a better job at preparing him,” Williams said in an interview with CNN. “Don’t give him speeches at the last minute. It’s not only on him, it’s on them.”
Carson’s campaign manager hit back. “I don’t think he is always helpful,” Barry Bennett, Carson’s campaign manager, said of Williams’ public criticism of Carson. “You always defend your candidate.”
Bob Dees, a foreign policy adviser to Carson, is now the campaign chairman. Ed Brookover, a senior strategist, will be the new campaign manager and Carson’s Iowa state director Ryan Rhodes will remain with the campaign.
#CarlyCurse Trends From Carly Fiorina’s Rose Bowl Tweet
Carly Fiorina tweeted her support of the Iowa Hawkeyes prompted a twitter storm of pandering and a curse as the Cardinal crushed the Hawkeyes 45-16.
Before Iowa played Standford, Fiorina tweeted that she was willing to cheer for Iowa’s football team to beat her own alma mater the Stanford’s Cardinals.
Love my alma mater, but rooting for a Hawkeyes win today. #RoseBowl
— Carly Fiorina (@CarlyFiorina) January 1, 2016
That tweet didn’t play as well as backlash rose prompting a new hashtag #CarlyCurse that spawned from Iowa losing big to Stanford. Those tweets accused Fiorina of putting a curse on Iowa.
75-yd TD reception on the first play of the game? Can we trend #Carlycurse yet?
— Kyle Gravlin (@kylegravlin) January 1, 2016
Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan tweeted his disapproval of Fiorina’s tweet calling it an insult to Iowa voters:
Why would you root for the Hawkeyes? This is insulting to voters in Iowa (and everywhere). https://t.co/4UvjIGYSun
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) January 1, 2016
Guess Carly learned the hard way that mixing sports and politics is not a good idea.
Follow The Candidates on the Campaign Trail for 1/2/2016:
Donald Trump in Biloxi, Mississippi (7:00 CST)
Marco Rubio starts the New Year in South Carolina with Meet & Greet in Hilton Head (1:30 ET) & Lexington (4:00 ET)
Mike Huckabee is in Iowa for Huckabee Huddle- The Huck Stops Here & Honoring our Veterans in Pella, Iowa (2-3:30 CT) and Newton (4:15-5:30 CT)
