Lucky 13?

Bobby Jindal has announced that he's running for President, bringing the number of declared Republican candidates to 13; aides to Chris Christie are saying that his official announcement "could" come as early as next week.

In other candidate news, something to consider. A question: Is this man our next president?



Answer, thankfully: When pigs fly. Simon Maloy at Salon.com has some thoughts about The Donald, which I'm posting because the words "big glitzy doofus" need to be disseminated as widely as possible:

There’s a tendency among voters to confuse “rich” with “good at business,” and “good at business” with “capable of managing the largest economy in the world.” This confusion is at the heart of the Trump brand, which is based on relentless, soul-withering self-promotion of Donald Trump: super-rich business genius. As Matthew Cooper notes at Newsweek, that image holds a certain appeal for the white working-class voters who’ve decamped to the Republican Party as manufacturing jobs have disappeared or moved overseas. If you’re an unemployed factory worker who’s frustrated over outsourcing and a persistent lack of economic opportunity, the big glitzy doofus who makes grandiose promises about his job-creating abilities (and who promises to punish China and Mexico) might not seem so outrageous at first glance.

Read the article here.

Declared GOP Candidates

1. Ted Cruz (March 23) 
2. Rand Paul (April 7)
3. Marco Rubio (April 14)
4. Dr. Ben Carson (May 3) 
5. Carly Fiorina (May 4) 
6. Mike Huckabee (May 5) 
7. Rick Santorum (May 27)
8. George Pataki (May 28
9. Lindsey Graham (June 1) 
10. Rick Perry (June 4) 
11. Jeb Bush (June 15)
12. Donald Trump (June 16) 
13. Bobby Jindal (June 24) 

Possible Republican Candidates
Chris Christie
John Kasich
Scott Walker

Officially Not Running
Rob Portman (Dec 2)
Paul Ryan (Jan 12)
Mitt Romney (Jan 30)
Rick Snyder (May 7)
John Bolton (May 14) 

Mike Pence (May 20) 

Days until Election Day: 502