Donald Trump is Going to Win the Presidency, and It's All Your Fault

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Following another cluster of a debate, billionaire business mogul, reality television star, awful wig enthusiast, and sudden voice of middle America, Donald Trump is sitting pretty heading into next week's Super Tuesday collection of primary elections.

Sure, every pundit says Florida Senator Marco Rubio won last night's debate, after he and Texas Senator Ted Cruz came out on the offensive, finally pointing out that Trump has no actual health care policy other than "allow competition over state lines," and no foreign policy other than "be tough and make deals."

But guess what guys? We already knew that, and he's still killing you both in national polls! RealClearPolitics, an organization that weighs and averages most national polls to give a "true" poll, has Trump holding 33.2 percent of Republican voters nationally, well ahead of Cruz (20.3), Rubio (16.7), Ohio Governor John Kasich (9.3) and surgeon/guy who just woke up from a nap Ben Carson (7.5).

Making matters even more hopeless for this clueless Republican field is that, heading into Super Tuesday, polls show Trump leading in nine of the 12 states holding primaries that day. Only Cruz' home state of Texas, Arkansas (though Cruz' lead is a measly four points there) and Colorado (where Ben Carson is leading, because he looks like a guy about to make a 2 am Taco Bell run) stand in Trump's way of a complete sweep.

While Trump has under-performed his polling a bit (see Iowa), it's hard to believe he won't capture at least half the states on Super Tuesday, especially when he's leading by 27.5 points in Massachusetts, 21 points in Alabama, 15.7 points in Georgia, 15 points in Vermont and 10 points in Virginia. Those leads all seem pretty insurmountable at this point.

So, how the hell did we get here? How did a man totally devoid of policy ideas, with ever-changing opinions on social issues, who has lied repeatedly, and spewed hate and vitriol become an inevitability for one of America's two major political parties?

I'm glad you asked. It's all your fault America, but more specifically, it's these people's fault.

The Over Thought Podcast: American Politics

In honor of election season, the gang is over thinking the American political process. Just what is a caucus anyway, and do we still need things like the Electoral College? Plus, this race has been particularly crazy, so you know we had to talk Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders and a whole host of current political characters.

So, join Jeremy Conlin, Joe Blake and Joe Parello for another edition of the The Over Thought Podcast below, and be sure to give the new pod a "like" on Facebook.

Your GOP Primary Power Rankings: Debate Number 3

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

The first GOP Debate was great television, the second was a marathon, and the third one left us all pondering one question: Why are ALL of these people still running?

Since we last left our heroes, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker has left the fray, but there are still 10 Republican hopefuls fighting it out on the big stage for the party's nomination (plus a few more polling at under 1 percent who were not invited to the big kid debate).

At the top of the polls sit a megalomaniacal billionaire who may actually be Lex Luthor, and our new leader, a brain surgeon who speaks like he has just been put under general anesthesia.

Basically, 48% of likely Republican voters are currently throwing in with two guys that have zero political experience, and have said some zany things these past few months, and that's in a poll where 13% of respondents said "nobody" or that they were undecided.

Maybe that's why every candidate is thinking, "if I can just hang around long enough until a few more people drop out, I'll have the chance to be heard, and then they'll realize I'm a better choice."

Unfortunately, everyone thinks that, and we still have an overly crowded field, where many candidates are parroting each other on most issues, then spending the rest of the debates engaging in sophomoric personal attacks. That's a problem.

Did I say problem? Sorry, I actually meant to say "amazing TV that simultaneously cracks me up and terrifies me."

Your GOP Primary Power Rankings: Debate Number Two

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Last night's GOP Primary Debate on CNN probably didn't live up to the first on FoxNews back in early August, but it did have its moments.

The big stories coming in were the surprising surge of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, and the continued dominance of billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump, along with the falls of "establishment" conservatives Jeb Bush and Scott Walker.

Carson had jumped from just 6% in the polls in late August to 23% pre-debate, and between his share and Trump's 27%, half the Republican primary voters favored a candidate with zero political experience. Throw in upstart Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of HP, and her 4%, over half the likely conservative voter base seems to not value experience at all when electing the highest office in the land.

Would these three "outsider" candidates keep their momentum in Wednesday's debate, or could one of the good 'ole boys get back into it? Find out in our Power Rankings below.

Ed. Note- We have stopped watching those silly JV debates and won't be ranking candidates that don't make it to the big dog stage. Deal with it.

Also, our poll numbers come from a CBS News/New York Times poll released Tuesday.

Your Post-Debate GOP Power Rankings

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Last night was the highly anticipated first Republican primary debate of the 2016 election cycle, and boy did it not disappoint. Donald Trump was in full-on "F-you" mode, Rand Paul pissed everybody off, Jeb Bush went back and forth between relatable and robotic, Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz appealed to their ultra-conservative bases and, somewhere in there, political points were made/earned.

I won't waste any more time with introductions. Here is where I rank the Republican presidential hopefuls after one debate.

Note that all poll numbers come from a CBS News poll of likely Republican voters conducted earlier this week. I have also specified which candidates took part in the 5 pm forum, rather than the actual 9 pm debate.