Cruz SuperPACs Surprise Friends, Enemies with Record Haul

PJ Media ^ | 04-08-2015 | Michael van der Galien

[Michael van der Galien]

When Ted Cruz announced he’d run for president, there were some self-declared experts who said he’d have a hard time competing because he wouldn’t be able to raise enough money. Well, think again:

"Ted Cruz’s presidential effort is getting into the shock-and-awe fundraising business.

"An associate of the Texas senator, a recently announced presidential candidate, tells Bloomberg that a cluster of affiliated super-political action committees was formed only this week, and among them they are expected to have $31 million in the bank by Friday."

That’s $31 million in less than a week. We already know that the eventual Republican nominee will have to raise as much as $1.5 billion; by raising more than thirty million in a few days, Cruz and his supporters prove he’s not merely the Tea Party’s sweetheart, but also a fundraiser extraordinaire.

Eat that, Rand. And Jeb.

Twitter users have already responded to the SuperPACs’ performances thus far. Some, like me, believe it’s fantastic and inspiring, others call it “grotesque.” In all cases, however, it’s clear that everybody is very impressed — if not shocked.

[Michael van der Galien]

Who said he's too conservative to raise enough money to compete?! Nonsense. Cruz is here to stay!

[conservativejoy]

Doing the Happy Dance!

[Patriot Babe]

May I join you in this Happy Dance? =)

[bray]

Must be more extremists in this country than they thought?

Pray America is waking

[Josh Painter]

“Eat that, Rand. And Jeb.”

And Marco.

But I suspect Gov. Huckabee and Dr. Carson and their backers will be the ones most discouraged by this news. Cruz intends to pick them off first to consolidate the Social Conservative leg of the GOP stool before going after another leg. Will it be the FisCon leg or the DefCon leg?

But you’re right. Also disappointed by this news are Perry and Bush supporters. Somehow Cruz managed to woo away some big money Texans who had previously bankrolled Perry and Jeb’s brother, George W. Bush.

Ted’s a persuasive guy.

;-)

[jsanders2001]

GO TED GO!!!

[gov_bean_ counter]

As I have previously posted, good litigators are persuasive people by nature and by trade...

[paratrooper82]

How long will it be before the communist that have infiltrated the IRS begin their assault on Senator Ted Cruz and the Tea Party Americans again?

4 . . . 3 . . . . 2 . . . . 1

The DOJ just released a statement that they would not be charging Lerner, just in time to begin the second front against conservative Americans!

Wait for it, the investigations against Ted Cruz and the Tea Party is coming, the only question is when the communist in this Country start their unlawful tactics.

The Tea Party only needs to make a claim on their tax filing, they are living in the United States of America illegally, the IRS will leave the Tea Party alone, pay the Tea Party, and then send IRS agents to educate them about their basic constitutional rights, and then drive them to the polls during the elections!

[jjsheridan5]

Will it be the FisCon leg or the DefCon leg?

Interesting, and insightful, question. I think it will likely be the foreign policy conservatives, first. Winning them over is, in a sense, simpler, because the issues are more straightforward. And hammering away on foreign policy issues will, over the long run, cause people to tune out to some degree.

But the primary reason I see him appealing to fiscal conservatives last is that it is the issue that resonates personally with almost every voter. Having won over social conservatives, and defense conservatives, he can hammer away endlessly at issues such as US debt, the implications of an easy money policy, the lack of an energy policy, the damages of crony capitalism, and the way that the democrats and the GOPe have allowed the fed, and the fedgov, to become troughs at which the connected and the wealthiest of the wealthy feed without pause. These are the issues that he wants to spend the bulk of his time on. Getting support among the defense-minded frees him up to pound away at the most fruitful issues -- the issues that are of primary importance to the Reagan democrats, and huge swaths of non-aligned voters.

[Fresh Wind]

[Dr. Sivana]

But the primary reason I see him appealing to fiscal conservatives last is that it is the issue that resonates personally with almost every voter.

He should also hold off on that because his support for the flat tax might provide an attack point. He will have to have all the details laid out and brace himself for the backlash.

[apocalypto]

Carl Rove must be having a fit.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Not just money:

Facebook less into Paul’s ‘16 rollout than Cruz’s
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3277038/posts

[gibsosa]

LOL!!!

[jjsheridan5]

He isn't the type to not have all the details laid out. And he also is the type to have a way of turning a "backlash" into a bloody and decisive counter-counterattack. But you are right, the economic issues in general are going to be more time consuming, and involve a bit of give-and-take. Far better to not tackle such issues until he has gotten other things out of the way.

The other angle is that foreign policy conservatives, like social conservatives, are a reasonably cohesive group, and tend to pay attention. Targeting them at the beginning, when they are the only ones really paying attention, is good strategy. It also also these reasonably cohesive groups to talk among themselves, so to speak. A great way of planting a seed and just letting it grow. By contrast, the primary target of economic issues are the voters that don't pay a lot of attention until later in the game. This too feeds into the idea of leaving such issues until later in the game.

The one thing I am certain of is that Cruz has planned all of this out. And he isn't just thinking in terms of the primary, but also has a good idea of his general strategy all the way up to the general election. He may not have settled yet on which tie he will wear to his inauguration, but to the extent that he can, he has a well-thought out timeline.

[SoConPubbie]

Ted Cruz Ping!

If you want on/off this ping list, please let me know.

Please beware, this is a high-volume ping list!

CRUZ or LOSE!

CRUZ or LOSE!

[oust the louse]

Donated today!

[don-o]

Donated today!

Ditto

and

In case you missed it

[I_be_tc]

Bump this, don-o. If only we could get a slightly bigger fraction to help.

[don-o]

Thanks. I am dropping it a few times a day - don’t want to over do it.