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Why the Establishment Fears Cruz More Than Trump
Conservative Review ^ | December 28th, 2015 | Robert Eno

Posted on 12/28/2015 2:33:48 PM PST by Isara

Read these two quotes carefully: The first: “Cruz cannot win because the Washington elites despise him.” The second goes: “[T]here are a lot of good candidates – I like nearly all of them… …except Cruz.” Which one of the similar quotes is from a pro-Cruz Super PAC and which is from a former Republican nominee for president? 

The first quote is from an ad from Keep the Promise I, a Cruz Super PAC.  The second is from Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican nominee and war hero, who got trounced by Bill Clinton. Both purport to highlight a negative of Senator Cruz, but do they really?

The answer is hidden in an examination of the conservative insurgency in Massachusetts, of all places.  Five years ago this very week, things were starting to turn around for then-State Senator Scott Brown (R–MA).

Knowing how much of a train wreck RomneyCare had become, the voters of Massachusetts were drawn to Brown’s singular campaign message: “I will be the 41st vote to stop Obamacare.”  Attorney General Martha Coakley’s team misread the electorate and put out ads that in effect said, “If you elect Scott Brown you will stop the president from giving healthcare to millions of Americans.” Two different candidates, same message, and we all know who won that race.

That same dynamic is playing out in the presidential race this year; be it with Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.  The establishment keeps telling the voters how awful these two candidates are, but that just makes the voters gravitate to them even more. 

Nowhere is this playing out more clearly than in Iowa where a series of establishment allies are swinging hard at Cruz in advertisements and mailers. All of this comes as Cruz further cements his lead in the state. On Christmas, CNN reported that a collection of five independent groups, aligned with the establishment and Mike Huckabee have begun attacks on Cruz in Iowa.

The attacks are being spearheaded by two people with ties to the establishment: Nick Ryan, who is an establishment activist in Iowa, and Sean Noble, another establishment hack who is backing Rubio.  Mark Levin wrote of Noble’s Alinsky-like tactics back in November.  Regarding Noble’s attacks on Cruz’s vote for the America Freedom Act, Conservative Review’s own Daniel Horowitz said: “Mr. Noble worked for Sen. Jeff Flake who also voted for the Freedom Act.  I guess his boss and all of Rubio’s backers are also weak on national security.”  Noble boasts, on his own website, of his ties to the “elite” of the party. He says “…or nearly 20 years, a pretty elite cast of characters has been doing just that [paying attention to Noble].”

Ryan is a longstanding force in Iowa politics, allied with the moderate Governor Branstad.  On his website, Ryan describes himself as having investments in renewable energy—i.e. ethanol—in Iowa.  Ted Cruz is very much against ethanol mandates. 

When you scratch under the hood of the attacks on Cruz, and ask why they are more pointed than the attacks on Trump, a common theme begins to emerge.  That is self-interest.  It can be as plain as someone who has financial stakes in ethanol running ads against an anti-ethanol candidate, or it can be more complex, like with Noble—someone trying to hold onto the power they’ve carved out in the political industrial complex.  Therein lies the real truth of why the attacks are stronger against Cruz than Trump, even though they really aren’t working against either candidate.

Trump is a dealmaker running a campaign as a disrupter to the status quo.  Cruz is a proven disrupter to the status quo. That is a very big difference indeed.

The political industrial complex believes deep down that they can negotiate with the author of The Art of the Deal; they know they will lose the levers of power with Ted Cruz.  You can see it in the voracity and frequency of their attacks. 

The establishment consultants and chattering class know they have the most to lose with a Cruz presidency.  What do they lose with a Cruz presidency? The very levers of power by which they enrich themselves: the Republican Party apparatus. 

It goes much deeper than Cruz holding the reins of the executive branch. With a President Cruz, the positions of the self-described elite within the GOP power structure are in jeopardy.   As much as the establishment screams electability from the rooftops, deep down they know that Cruz can and will win in 2016 if nominated.  That is an existential threat to business as usual and the ruling class itself.

Rule #1 of the political industrial complex is: maintain power at all cost, even if it means torpedoing an electable conservative like Cruz.  Here is how it would play out badly for them were Cruz the nominee:

Cruz is the larger threat to establishment because, if he wins, they lose all the levers of power. McConnell and his allies would be tossed out of organizations such as the Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, etc...  If history is any guide, the sitting president of a political party has a large leeway in choosing those in key power positions.  That puts the earning potential and power of the current political industrial complex in complete jeopardy.

That is why, come January, the establishment will continue to turn all their guns on Cruz because they would rather Trump win the nomination and lose to Hillary than for Ted Cruz to have a chance of being president.  If that happened they would attempt to blame a Trump loss on the Tea Party, and keep their cushy jobs.  As Cruz inevitably gains on Trump, the establishment will go after Cruz 110%, even if they are currently waging a rhetorical war on Trump. 

As the calendar turns to 2016, and the political industrial complex realizes they can’t field a winning candidate on their own, they will increasingly turn their fire on Cruz over Trump.  When they do so, be very aware that it isn’t for the “good of the country” or even because of “electability.”  It pretty much boils down to what they have to do to keep food on their tables and their pockets lined.

A very powerful motivator indeed.  


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 2016elections; 2016winner; antiestablishment; authentic; bestcandidate; canadian; conservative; cruz; dealmaker; disrupter; eligible; establishment; evangelicals; ineligible; personalitycult; power; realconservative; statusquo; tcruz; teaparty; tedcruz; trumphater; washingtoncartel
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans
Cruz is not a leader, he is only a follower

Joke post?
Cruz has been an overachiever and a natural leader at everything he's done since he was a kid.
Trump's led nothing apart from a business that daddy handed over to him.

161 posted on 12/28/2015 4:40:15 PM PST by SmokingJoe
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To: skeeter
I know you’ve been told that before, too. To no effect.

Of course, because I documented that not even Jeff Sessions opposed legalization at the time.

If Sessions ever actually responded to the specific charge of Cruz supporting legalization (I am not convinced Sessions was even responding to the correct question), and denied it, he is proven wrong by Cruz's own stated support for legalization stemming from 2013 to 2015.

162 posted on 12/28/2015 4:40:33 PM PST by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: SmokingJoe
Cruz has been an overachiever and a natural leader

Pfff, Cruz is an Ivy league student who apparently even pissed off his own roomates and wouldn't study with people from lower schools. His "natural leadership" abilities include talking about how great he is while accomplishing relatively very little.

Trump's led nothing apart from a business that daddy handed over to him.

Hahahaha! Did you see the link I posted where CNN of all places-- after claiming for months that Trump was lying about his financials-- had an independent group estimate Donald Trump's revenue for the year last year at 9.5 billion with over 22 thousand employees?

What a loser Trump is, eh?

163 posted on 12/28/2015 4:43:26 PM PST by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

Your capacity for self delusion is impressive, if not your ability to delude others.


164 posted on 12/28/2015 4:43:59 PM PST by skeeter
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To: LS
No, and you know that’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying Cruz has yet to win any argument, if by win I mean actually doing something.

You might want to read Cruz's record at the FTC(post # 48). You might also want to read his record as Solicitor General of Texas and all the vital Supreme Court cases he argued and won.

165 posted on 12/28/2015 4:44:40 PM PST by SmokingJoe
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To: skeeter
Your capacity for self delusion

Notice that I actually have evidence, while you base your opinions entirely on what other people tell you to believe :). See the difference?

166 posted on 12/28/2015 4:44:45 PM PST by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

“Your denial does NOT prove anything.”

Really...is that the best you got??? Cruz’s policy papers do prove EVERYTHING!

“Your denial does NOT prove anything.”

Maybe you should retake grammar 101. Most of the piece that you’re talking about is nothing but opinions supported by assumptions. Cruz’s position has never changed and he has NEVER supported legalization. Rush even supported Cruz’s strategies in trying to stop amnesty with a poison pill.

So you prefer to vote for a liberal like Trump than a true conservative like Cruz??? It is a free country, but it does not show any objectivity. You criticize Cruz, though falsely, for not supporting 1-3 (your count) conservative principles strong enough, but you blindly support the only candidate that has adamantly fought against EVERY conservative principle for 30 years. That is just like supporting Obama just because he said he was conservative.

But really...you consider Obama a patriot? You must if you consider Trump a patriot because they both share the same liberal agenda and policies for the last 30 years. Nothing Trump has ever done makes him a patriot. He is nothing but hot air and a loud mouth. Just because Trump now sings a different song to pander to the reality tv masses does NOT make Trump a conservative or a patriot.


167 posted on 12/28/2015 4:45:28 PM PST by TXDuke
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To: LS

Many of the current Trump supporters are former Perot and Buchanan supporters. Some even go as far back as John Anderson and George Wallace. It’s the old angry radical moderates. Some are labor union protectionists.

Many are not Conservative.


168 posted on 12/28/2015 4:45:57 PM PST by Oklahoma
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To: SmokingJoe

Arguing a case? Great. Trump has built an empire. Next comparison.


169 posted on 12/28/2015 4:46:17 PM PST by LS ("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: LS
You’re so funny. You’re killin me. How about you start with the specifics of how Ted is going to succeed? Yeah, tell me about all the things in the senate that he stopped? All the Iran deals he killed, all the Obamacare he stopped.

We know that you believe that Cruz has not disrupted anything. I won't bother you by trying to dispute that. But you claim that, unlike Cruz, a President Trump will be disrupter-in-chief and I'm asking how. So let's take the Iran deal and Obamacare for a start. How will President Trump halt the Iran deal and end Obamacare?

If you can't answer that OK, and not at all surprising. But I figured I'd at least give you a shot.

170 posted on 12/28/2015 4:46:31 PM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: Isara

171 posted on 12/28/2015 4:46:52 PM PST by FourPeas (Chocolate, sugar and lots of caffeine. Hard to beat that.)
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To: TXDuke
Most of the piece that you’re talking about is nothing but opinions

Which proves, like most Cruz-bots, you didn't even read it, and are just lying to me now because you don't want your golden calf melted down and shoved down your throat.

Well, you're going to have to eat it sooner or later! But hopefully not at the cost of Hillary Clinton winning the Presidency.

172 posted on 12/28/2015 4:47:02 PM PST by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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To: conservativejoy

‘The Gang of 8 bill was in 2013. Dave Brat unseated Cantor in 2014, due in large part to the continued opposition of that legislation, opposition that was spearheaded by Cruz and Sessions, even in their many meeting with House Republicans.’

The Gang of Eight bill passed the senate. Cruz didn’t even undermine its support.

In June of 2014 Boehner’s whip, McCarthy, counted votes and reported the Gang of Eight bill would pass the House. Boehner was going to call for a vote that very week. Then Cantor was defeated by Brat, Amnesty support radically eroded overnight, and Boehner shelved the bill/didn’t even bring it up for a vote.

Btw, Cruz did not campaign for Brat any more than he campaigned for, or even had a good word to say for, Chris McDaniel.


173 posted on 12/28/2015 4:47:38 PM PST by Fantasywriter (Any attempt to do forensic work using Internet artifacts is fraught with pitfalls. JoeProbono)
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To: altura

<<<< “I think that the unpleasantness in the Trump posters is generated out of fear. “ >>>>

The clarity is a little wobbly in your post but to answer the above, I would say that TRUMP supporters are not fear filled. They are promoting their candidate.

NONE are personally bashing Cruz. This is a TRUMP thread title to the same degree as it is a Cruz thread title. The only bashing going on is in response to the bashers. Read the thread. See for yourself.

TRUMP supporters give chapter and verse, favoring their candidate. We get back insults and hear “lies” about TRUMP. So, the jury is clearly out on WhoTH is fear filled.

Cruz supporters have no case to hold together their argument for their choice, but for slandering TRUMP, for his past liberal proclivities, or riling up TRUMP supporters and generally whining about everyone’s intelligence but their own.


174 posted on 12/28/2015 4:49:58 PM PST by RitaOK ( VIVA CRISTO REY / Public education is the farm team for more Marxists coming)
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To: DoodleDawg
Easy. You can abrogate any non-treaty agreement by exec order. Since Obama went out of his way to NOT call this a treaty, problem solved.

Obamacare? Easy. You begin by rescinding every Obama exemption, which were all put in by exec order. The howls that would come up to congress would have this repealed in a month. But Teddy says he'll do the same thing. So not sure you'd have a point of difference here.

How about stopping Muslim immigration? Easy. Done through exec order, perfectly Constitutional. . . except Cruz doesn't think that we need to stop all Islamic immigration does he? So, hmmmm could be a problem.

175 posted on 12/28/2015 4:50:46 PM PST by LS ("Castles Made of Sand, Fall in the Sea . . . Eventually" (Hendrix))
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

You have cherry-picked quotes, taken entirely out of context, that support your preformed opinions.

That is all you have.

But carry on.


176 posted on 12/28/2015 4:51:13 PM PST by skeeter
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

Actually I did read it, which is why I know it is a puff piece. Have you read the policy papers yet? Of course not because you would have to read instead of watch it on tv.

I can assure you that I will not vote for Trump. There is no difference between Hillary and Trump as far a policies...well unless you count his dramatic 180 on immigration last year. His true colors will keep coming out and hopefully he won’t win the nomination, but if he does, he won’t win the presidency because most true conservatives will stay home. I have yet to meet a Texan in person that will hold their nose and vote for Trump.


177 posted on 12/28/2015 4:51:21 PM PST by TXDuke
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To: mkjessup

Actually I doubt Trump would like or approve of being put on a Marlboro sign. He’s never smoked. Nor has Cruz for that matter, who’s commented that a muscled, tattooed, hip, bare chested poster of him was wrong in one particular, “I don’t smoke.”


178 posted on 12/28/2015 4:52:31 PM PST by JohnBovenmyer (Obama been Liberal. Hope Changed)
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans
I read the billionaires issue of Forbes with Trump on the cover. They proved why Trump is worth just over $4 Billion instead of the $10 Billion he likes to boast about. Every single asset he owns or part owns was listed as well as the mortgage owed on each asset. They went over everything with Trump himself.
Be that as it may, my point still stands. Trump has never disrupted anything in his life, preferring instead to do corrupt deals with corrupt Democratic Party politicians. And the only thing he's ever led is a business his daddy gave him.
179 posted on 12/28/2015 4:52:37 PM PST by SmokingJoe
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To: skeeter
You have cherry-picked quotes

Lie! They are full quotes with sources for full analysis.

180 posted on 12/28/2015 4:55:43 PM PST by Greetings_Puny_Humans (I mostly come out at night... mostly.)
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