Although most Americans are tired after a presidential election campaign that lasted almost two years, it is still fun to guess who is going to throw their hat into the ring for 2016. Many pundits criticized the 2012 Republican Party for having a thin bench of presidential candidates; however, in 2016 it is Democrats who will have a dearth of qualified candidates.

There is only one real name worth mentioning for the Democrats in 2016 and that is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The former Senator is highly qualified for the nomination after serving as First Lady and Secretary of State, as well as running for the nomination in 2008.

After twenty years in the public eye, Clinton has had enough, and she should be taken at her word when she says she is retiring from politics. If Hillary does not run, Democrats will be scrambling for someone to take her place. Many people think that Joe Biden of “Republicans are going to put y’all back in chains” fame will run for President for a third time.

This is laughable because he will be 74 by the time he is inaugurated. Also, the vice president will probably stick his foot in his mouth within hours of announc-ing his nomination and be forced to bow out. The only other serious Democratic contender is Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York. His is untested on the na-tional stage, so it is hard to predict how a Cuomo candidacy would play out across the country.

Although Republicans are still in mourning from Romney’s crushing defeat, the Grand Old Party has a lot to look forward to. The no-brainer Republican ticket in 2016 is Chris Christie and Marco Rubio.

Rubio solves the “old, white men” stereotype of the Republican Party. If Repub-licans want to compete for the presidency in the future, they must be able to court the Hispanic vote and Rubio helps tremendously in that regard. New Jersey Gover-nor Chris Christie has helped himself in the past few weeks, appearing bipartisan by working with President Obama in the response to Hurricane Sandy. Christie has also built a reputation for being a no nonsense straight shooter, which should play well nationally if he decides to run.

A Christie-Rubio ticket would be formidable and should trounce anything that the Democrats have to offer.

If Christie decides not to run, the bench of Republican candidates is still im-pressive. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal is Indian-American and has amassed a solidly conservative agenda in his home state. Congressman Paul Ryan was one of the few bright spots for the Mitt Romney campaign. Former Florida Gover-nor Jeb Bush is popular and has the name recognition and connections to run a national campaign.

Four more years in the wilderness for Republicans will be unbearable. There are many young bright spots in the party, and it is only a matter of time before they come to light.

The tide is shifting against the Democrats and they will be the ones who have to endure the embarrassment of running the liberal equivalents of Rick Santorum and Michelle Bachman.

My prediction for 2016 is that Christie-Rubio defeat Cuomo-Castro 356-182 and the end to Democratic supremacy.

Contact Kyle Gavin at [email protected].