Candidate Weaknesses

“Every candidate may be wonderful,” Mitt Romney said recently of the 2016 presidential field in a Fox News interview. “But they all have a but” — a pun the 2012 GOP nominee did not need to spell out.

The candidates tell us plenty about their strengths. They’re more reticent about their weaknesses (their “buts”), including the less obvious ones.

Here’s a list of some of the presidential candidates and their possible weaknesses — obvious and not so obvious:

JEB BUSH:
Obvious weakness: Voter fatigue with family name and disapproval of war prosecuted by brother
Other weakness: Terri Schiavo case

HILLARY CLINTON:
Obvious weakness: Trustworthiness, as measured by polls
Other weakness: Post-primary pivot

SCOTT WALKER:
Obvious weakness: Inexperience in foreign affairs
Other weakness: College dropout

MARCO RUBIO:
Obvious weakness: 2013 immigration bill, which he initially co-sponsored and later opposed
Other weakness: Bridesmaid

RAND PAUL:
Obvious weakness: Isolationist foreign policy tendencies
Other weakness: Potentially embarrassing dad

CHRIS CHRISTIE
Obvious weakness: Bridgegate
Other weakness: Atlantic City

BERNIE SANDERS:
Obvious weakness: Obama’s enemies claim he’s a socialist; Sanders is one
Other weakness: Gun control

DONALD TRUMP:
Obvious weakness: Remarks about Mexican immigrants — as well as prominent members of the party he hopes will nominate him, including John McCain, Mitt Romney, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Ronald Reagan, etc.

Other weakness: Hates to shake hands

TED CRUZ:
Obvious weakness: Widely despised by Senate colleagues such as McCain, who called Cruz and Rand Paul right-wing “wacko birds”
Other weakness: Trump

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