Posted on 01/20/2016 7:17:07 AM PST by Isara
Why doesn't the establishment get behind Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) to stop Donald Trump?
I've been asking this question for months. As I wrote back in December:
The establishment can't stand Cruz because they believe he unfairly rips establishment Republicans for insufficient ideological purity. They think Cruz doesn't understand the necessary deals that must be cut in politics in order to "get things done"-they think he's more interested in posturing than in achieving practical policies to help Americans. They will have to put such concerns aside if they want to defeat Trump.
It's clearer now than it was then that Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) isn't going to be able to stop Trump. A new poll from ARG in New Hampshire today shows Trump on top with 27 percent of the likely vote - but then abominable Ohio Governor John Kasich following with 20 percent, followed by Rubio at 10 percent, Cruz at 9 percent, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at 9 percent, and Florida Governor Jeb Bush at 8 percent. That means, effectively speaking, that if Cruz wins Iowa, Rubio would finish no better than fourth, and perhaps lower than that.
Which explodes his primary strategy. Tim Alberta of National Review sums up that strategy here:
The strategy, dubbed "3-2-1" by some who have been briefed on it, forecasts a sequence in which Rubio takes third place in Iowa on February 1, finishes second in New Hampshire on February 9, and wins South Carolina on February 20. From there, Rubio would be well-positioned in the long haul to win a plurality of voters, and ultimately a majority of delegates, in a three-way contest against Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.
This scenario is highly unlikely. And John Kasich isn't going to carry any Southern states - he'll lose to both Trump and Cruz, in all likelihood. So why doesn't the establishment get behind Cruz?
Because the establishment would prefer Trump. They've been holding out, of course. They've been complaining endlessly about Trump's candidacy, because he has been holding back some of their favored nominee possibilities. But if given the choice between Trump and Cruz, they'd pick Trump. Just days ago, National Review reported that House GOP members find Trump more malleable and less polarizing than Cruz:
The developing feeling among House Republicans? Donald Trump is preferable to Ted Cruz. "If you look at Trump's actual policies, they're pretty thin. There's not a lot of meat there," says one Republican member in Ryan's inner circle, who requested anonymity to speak frankly about the two front-runners as leadership has carefully avoided doing all week. If Trump were to get the nomination, he would "be looking to answer the question: 'Where's the beef?' And we will have that for him," says the member.
Trump, in other words, has no ideas; Cruz has plenty, and the establishment doesn't like them. It's clear that Cruz has no sway in the Senate - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wouldn't even push a resolution proclaiming Cruz's presidential eligibility to help Cruz this year.
The establishment has always preferred northeastern Republicanism - soft on social issues, not averse to crony capitalism, friendly to Democrats. That sounds a lot more like Trump than Cruz. The only thing they truly can't stand about Trump is his immigration position, but they're willing to overlook that, since Cruz has largely mirrored Trump on immigration. Establishment Republicans believe that Republicans can only win if they win back blue collar workers and minority voters - and if they can't have Rubio to win Hispanics, they'll take Trump to win blacks and Rust Belt workers. As Reuters reports:
About one in 10 Americans who plan to cast a vote this election will do so for the first time in years, if ever, and Trump holds a decided edge with them, according to polling by Reuters/Ipsos....Cruz captures just 3.4 percent of these voters. And Senator Marco Rubio of Florida snags only 4 percent.
Trump may alienate voters in current polls, but he also draws the so-called Reagan Democrats. A Mercury Analytics poll released last weeks shows approximately 20 percent of Democrats would consider bolting the party to back Trump.
Trump is actually far closer to Mitt Romney as a candidate than he is to pure Constitutional conservatism. And the establishment likes that better than Ted Cruz's brand of purity.
Cruz wants D.C. to stop F@(KING Americans, but the RNC wants to compromise with the Democrats on how deep, how hard, and how often we get F@(KED!!
THAT is the difference, and the reason they HATE Cruz, because he wants us to return to actually USING the U.S. Constitution!!
If we actually re-instituted the use of the Constitution, all those rich, fat-cat RNC members and donors, and all those rich, fat-cat DNC members and donors would no longer be running the whole show!! Those in office do NOT want those spigots turned off!!
“Adult men do not talk like 4th grade little girls on liking and not liking someone.”
No they don’t. They cut to the chase. What they say is unprintable.
“What DEAL did he make with the newly moderate Sarah Palin?”
Probably promised Palin a cabinet position or a spot on his next reality show!
Her stemwinder yesterday was a bit on the incoherent side...being kind about it!
The establishment HATES Trump. They just happen to hate conservatives even more!
Trump is definitely a narcissist, that’s for sure, I mean, if you build a skyscraper and slap your name on it in giant letters, you are a narcissist.
I wouldn’t say he’s a “malignant” narcissist though, because he doesn’t show the necessary element of sadism.
Are you implying Trump talks like a little girl because he talks to little girls in language that can’t be printed?
I don’t think you’ll talk them back from the cliff man. Most have gone too far in their support of Trump, there is no way for them to walk it back and still save face.
“Did you hear him this morning? That was down right scary.”
Missed this morning, but have heard Trump speak a number of times...
He does not channel Lincoln, JFK, or Reagan in his speaking style!
The Donald’s style more like a combination of Milton Berle, Sly Stallone, and Yogi Berra!
Benedict Arnold is in there somewhere, I think.
Neither Trump or Cruz seem VP material, and uncertain Trump would even ask him or if they can get past their campaigning against each other?
So, if not Cruz, if not Palin, who will Trump pick?
He’d better choose wisely.
Because if an establishment hack winds up in the position, The Donald will be hauled up before impeachment hearings so fast it will make his head spin.
“Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed.”
C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew.
“The Donald’s style more like a combination of Milton Berle, Sly Stallone, and Yogi Berra!’
That’s on a good day. This morning he sounded like a child.
The Establishment GOP is still out there ripping off Trump and his supporters.
The NRSC, along with it’s house counterpart the NRCC, is corrupt. There is no other way to put it. I’m still waiting for Ted to condemn their current scam of stealing campaign money from Trump supporters, as he takes hundreds of thousands of dollars from them.
Here’s how it works. You see a NRSC prez poll on Facebook and vote for Trump and get on their mail list. Soon you are swamped with email selling Trump gear, stickers, tshirts, you name it. NOT ONE CENT ever goes to the Trump Campaign. This is where it goes:
From open secrets, donations to Cruz: 2. Senate Conservatives Fund $315,991
Here is the FB poll: https://yourvoice.nrsc.org/landing/presidential-poll/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=20160104_nrsc-lb-votetrumprubiocruz_facebook&utm_content=nrsc&utm_term=83920800
This is the National Republican Senatorial Committee and they are CONNING you to hurt the Trump campaign!
They have been doing this for months and it’s cost the Trump campaign likely millions. http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/2015/09/more-gop-fundraising-on-trump-name-now.html
And then there is this...you just can’t make this B.S.up! Trump is disgusting! FU Trump!
However, your comment gives me reason to bring up this comment which I believe applies to Obama:
Deuteronomy 28:37 And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples.
Psychiatry is not a science.
So tired of this Cruz thingie, “is he or isn’t he a citizen” merry-go-round. Round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows. Personally, I feel Cruz is not “natural born”, but would like it bounced to the courts for a definitive decision to finally cover Cruz and whomever in the future wants to run with dicey citizenship issues. It is obvious at this point it has winnowed down to Trump and Cruz. Cruz WILL face more and more court filings, and it looks likely if he becomes the nominee may have his nomination withdrawn at crunch time, sad but true, so it is a no brainer. It has to be Trump.
“Are you implying Trump talks like a little girl because he talks to little girls in language that can’t be printed?”
Are you trying to be cute, or are you just stupid?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.