Free Republic Straw Poll (November edition)

Donald Trump. I like Cruz too (and think he would be fine for VP), but I think Trump has a much better chance of both winning the election and really shaking things up in Washington and the country as a whole should he win.

I’ve heard from several Independents (usually very anti-Establishment) and Democrats (mainly blue-collar workers) who support Trump. I haven’t come across even one of these types who like Cruz. Some I’ve seen don’t really know who he is, but many do and they seem to hold him in scorn (as part of the Christian Right or the Tea Party, which the press has taught them to hate).

The electoral college is, of course, the only thing that really matters in the election, and Trump’s pathway to victory looks a lot clearer and easier than Cruz’s. His populist message of bringing back companies/factories/jobs and stopping illegals from depressing wages and taking jobs is really resonating with blue collar workers, including in the typically Democratic rust belt. I think several states will be in play that we usually don’t win (PA, WI, MN, MI, etc.), and I believe he would be more likely to win in important states we have to win like FL and OH. NH may come back into the Republican fold too with Trump.

Beyond this, though, I just think we are in desperate need for a real overhaul in Washington. Trump has a history of taking control of difficult, screwed up projects and turning them around in record time and under budget. He really knows how to get things done. Cruz is a fine man, but a politician nonetheless. Even if he were to somehow get in, he’ll be firm but still play nice and maybe get a few important changes dealt with here and there—but what we need is someone who will kick butt, twist arms, and get some radical changes made before it’s too late. Teflon Don also knows how to manipulate the press like a master. Finally, voting for Trump is the best way of saying “up yours” to the establishment.

You’re preaching to the choir with me.

He will put their plans back at least four years. With a good V.P., it could be as much as 16 years.

They aren’t just panicked, their downright suicidal over it.

The Republican Party would sooner commit Harry Carry than let Trump win.

And in fighting him, that’s just what they are doing.

The more they fight, the less likely we’ll every trust them again. I never will, but the general public might come back if they’d knock it off.

Thanks, what you say makes sense. But Cruz and Trump agree pretty much on the same issues. It’s just that I trust Cruz a little more than Trump at this stage. Time will tell if Cruz is able to sway more votes his way or if Trump will get them as the other candidates drop out of contention.

For now I’m sticking with Cruz. If Cruz fades, Trump is my next choice. BTW the media polls are crap. I believe Cruz is much stronger than they indicate. And Hillary is so weak any of the leading conservative candidates could beat her if the election were held today.

Cruz is better than all others running , however in 2016, it must be Trump. The situation is urgent!

Here is excerpt from Wapo today, explaining how they plan to take Cruz down should he become the nominee.

[Time magazine had one of many reports clarifying his immigration posturing:

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz declined to close the door to a potential pathway to legal status for the 11 million people in the U.S. illegally Friday, saying he wouldnâ€™t elaborate on his plans for them until after the border is secure.

Seeking to carve out a space between real estate mogul Donald Trump, who is calling for the forcible deportation of those in the U.S. illegally, and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who co-authored the Gang of Eight comprehensive immigration reform bill that included a pathway to citizenship, Cruz would not explicitly rule out a pathway to legal status for the undocumented.

That, plus his previous support for a huge increase in H1B visas, stymied him as he tried to launch an attack on Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who was a co-author and major mover on the Gang of 8 immigration bill that passed the Senate overwhelmingly. On one level, Rubioâ€™s team is simply pointing out that if anti-immigration types want the real deal, Cruz is not the one. Rubio, of course, benefits if Cruz cannot capture the anti-immigration segment of the electorate to whom Donald Trump panders. On another level, however, what is at stake is a larger argument about Cruzâ€™s character. Essentially. the argument goes: He is not a hard-liner; heâ€™s an opportunist whose positions are no different, and in some cases worse, than those of other Republicans.

On immigration, for example, the entire anti-â€œamnestyâ€ crusade is a canard unless, like Trump, you want to round people up and kick them out. Otherwise, you are exactly where other candidates are â€” fix the border, reform legal immigration and then regularize the 11 million here. Cruz spends his time excoriating other Republicans for squishiness, but when you get down to it, heâ€™s exactly where they are â€” unwilling to undertake a massive, expensive, intrusive deportation program. In other words, heâ€™s not an anti-immigration extremist; heâ€™s just posturing as one.]

Cruz can defend himself as the plot begins to thicken. Either he or Trump will get us the POTUS in 2016. Let the liberals plot their strategies. They know they will have to divide and eliminate one to get to the other.

But it’s a new ballgame in 2016 with real conservative players. The liberals are desperate. Trying to play Cruz and Trump against each other is not working. Hate, lies, and political correctness are the only tools liberals have to win the voters to their liberal causes. The ugly truth is facing them and they cannot hide behind their lies anymore. Given Obama’s eight-year track record and facing another eight years of a Hillary administration, the voters are turning away from the failed liberals of the sixties and their policies.

I hope Cruz and Trump can continue to work together to unite this nation against the liberals and restore the great experience we once knew. And in the end, I think one or the other, maybe both, will prevail.

In the meantime I’m sticking with Cruz. Listen to what the candidates say, not what the MSM says about them.

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