Could this be the year the GOP finally nominates a nut?

This week's new polls are a serious reality check and dose of bad news for the Republican Party establishment. For the first time this campaign season, maverick candidates are actually pulling more combined support than the establishment candidates. That's right, Donald Trump, Ben Carson and Ted Cruz are running 1-2-3 at the moment, well ahead of Jeb Bush, Scott Walker and Marco Rubio.

The nonestablishment wing of the party has been gaining strength steadily in recent years, and it's probably only a matter of time until it nominates a Tea Party-type candidate for president. I didn't really expect it to be this time around, but it's increasingly looking like that might actually have a chance of happening.

If it does, it's not good news for the GOP. For comparable elections, think 1964 (Barry Goldwater) and 1972 (George McGovern). If an establishment candidate does rally to win the nomination, it will likely be either Bush or Walker, but man, they are really going to have to find their A game after lackluster performances in the first debate.

Meanwhile, on the Dem side, I think concern is growing about Hillary Clinton's viability as a candidate. If she's serious about winning, she really needs to kick it into gear, and soon. The Dems do have a possible backup candidate in Joe Biden, who has high enough name recognition and support that he could probably even wait as late as early next year to enter the race. Problem for the Dems is that Biden may not be a much better candidate than Hillary!

Hmmmm. Could you imagine a Bernie Sanders-Ted Cruz race? I'd be VERY worried about the future of this country if a hard-core nut like Cruz even had a slight chance of being elected president. Trump looks fantastic compared to Cruz!

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/poll-republican-pre … 00571.html