Posted on 03/09/2014 1:38:39 PM PDT by smoothsailing
March 9, 2013
Drew Zahn
When it comes to picking a presidential candidate for 2016, the GOP elite is having a hard time getting the grassroots to toe the establishment line.
Top Republican strategist Karl Rove, for example, has repeatedly praised Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, as “a strong potential candidate in 2016,” whom Democrats fear will win the nomination.
And when other names gained popular attention, particularly attention among the so-called tea-party crowd, the man known as the “architect” was quick to criticize.
Rove, for example, blasted potential presidential hopeful Ted Cruz for not playing ball with the GOP establishment, just as the Texas senator’s name started to gain traction with Republican voters.
Rove similarly opened fire on Sen. Rand Paul, R-Tenn., for talking about Monica Lewinsky and potential Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the same breath.
And even if Christie has fallen from favor among the establishment, other GOP insiders have floated names like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and even the return of former presidential candidate and Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as possible nominees in 2016.
But now a poll on one of the Internet’s top websites, the Drudge Report, reveals the ground troops just aren’t buying it.
With over 234,000 votes counted, Rove’s “strong potential candidate,” Christie, was garnering less than five percent of the vote. Bush had just over six percent. Ryan had less than four.
But despite fiery criticism from the GOP establishment, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was registering over 28 percent in the Drudge Report poll, while Tennessee Sen. Rand Paul was leading the survey, with over 30 percent. Paul’s 72,297 votes compared impressively to Christie’s 11,437.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Let's tell it like it is. Cruz REFUSED to endorse Cornyn in the PRIMARY. Good for him!
However, he endorsed Cornyn for the general election against the Democrat...which is customary and done all the time by politicians.
Cruz's endorsement of Cornyn for the general election signifies a GOP united front against the enemies of the Republic, it takes away an issue Cornyn's Democrat opponent would be dying to use.....and it's a smart personal political move by the intelligent and canny Sen. Cruz.
Leni
How so? I don't detect any difference between them as speakers. And I've no idea what you're talking about so far as "personal 'gotcha' vulnerability" for Cruz.
Curious that Scott Walker didn’t make the list.
Can we please close the primaries? Why we would allow people who are not enrolled in our party take part in the primary is beyond me.
I’m telling you this, because I know what some of us have sacrificed, and it is vital that we win the Senate, and keep the House, and a few more Governorships.. But the Prize is still the Top Dog..
The President sets the agenda, and the dialogue, and I’d rather have a Republican that I could possibly influence, that a Marxist that could care less, what I think..
Simple. We exclude the grassroots from the nomination process.
Anything that smacks the GOP elite hard is a good thing. The only question is, and the only question that matters at all is ... what will happen during the 2016 Primaries?
Thats a fine idea. But it does not happen and history proves it. Do we influence even the 2nd tier dogs? Bohner who ignores us utterly? McColnel? Ryan? Cantor?
No we do not. That’s a set in stone fact. So it stands to reason that we are not going to sway their boss. History proves it. Ignore it and watch what happens...again.
Teh Paul and Cruz votes add up to a solid majority. Add the Palin people and you have about 2/3 of the vote. (With Santorum included, they’re clearly over 2/3.)
Unfortunately, as in 2012, that 2/3 is likely to be split — which is why it’s essential for more than one RINO liberal to be in the field. Otherwise, they win the nomination the way Romney did.
We cannot let that happen.
I prefer Cruz but accept reality and admit that we simply aren’t going to get everything we want. Getting both Cruz and Paul in either form would be about as ideal as it gets.
“I am the king of the party and you will do what I tell you.”
I’ve been struck by how many people there are who would not have been caught dead voting for Ron Paul who would happily support Rand Paul.
Imagine how many will be struck when they vote for Rand and discover instead they elected Ron.
Where the heck is Scaott Walker? The governor is a pit bull with a whole lot of cajones!! Why is he OFF the radar??
That’s not what the Buckley Rule says. If it were, he could not have supported either Barry Goldwater or himself when he ran for mayor. The test is “viability” which is a different thing from “electability.”
When you opt for “electability”, you usually lose.
You don’t think our voices haven’t made a difference in what the Republican leadership has done, or better yet, hasn’t done.. As bad as they are, and make no mistake, they are horrible, they are better than Liberals having both houses, and the Presidency..
This election will decide the balance on the Sup. Court, as well, if that doesn’t wake up the endorphins, nothing else will..
Lets see. The GOP -—TODAY-— is advocating amnesty, refuses to prosecute anyone for Bhenghazi, Fast and Furious, the IRS, the NSA, Ryan screwed vets with lots of GOP support, are fully funding Obamacare, sabre rattling for a conflict with Russia...
If they are listening, then we are a bunch of flaming leftists in the orders we give them dontcha think?
““I would not shed a tear if the “ignorant Bastard” Rove got run over by a street car””
_____________________________________________
Wow...Remember the days when the threads on FR frequently
called him a MAGNIFICENT Bastard? How times and views change.
Not really. The names change but the fanboyness remains. Witness the Rand Paul love dispite his BS. Some people just shifted idols.
OK, I see commonsense, or history, is not going to persuade you, how about your plan..? If the Primaries give us a Scott Walker, or Sen. Rob Portman? What then? What about Christie?
What your plan?
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