Posted on 01/04/2016 7:10:30 AM PST by conservativejoy
It's the ethanol, Sherlock.
Ted Cruz thinks he's going to win Iowa, and will compete for the nomination with whichever of the establishment candidates wins New Hampshire. But he's selling himself short. He should also win New Hampshire, allowing him to wrap up the nomination on March 1st.
For if he wins Iowa, he will have defeated the ethanol lobby. And beating Big Corn on its home turf is what can propel him to a win in New Hampshire.
People in New Hampshire hate ethanol. Ethanol is corrosive, it destroys engines. If ethanol-laced gasoline is more than a couple months old, it can't be used in high performance small engines. It is hydroscopic, attracting water, another problem with performance.
A lot of guys have a personal problem with ethanol. Go to any tavern in New Hampshire and you'll hear an earful. There's nothing worse than getting all rigged out with your chain saw, ready to rip, and your saw won't start. Your ports and jets have been clogged by residue released by the ethanol in your fuel, a solvent. So you haul your saw down to the mechanic, cursing ethanol the whole way.
Ethanol is despised and resented. In 2014 the New Hampshire House overwhelmingly passed HB 1220, which would have reduced the ethanol in New Hampshire gasoline. It was a futile gesture, but a sign of the anger people feel toward this junk.
Ethanol is different than almost any other government boondoggle, in that everyday Americans have to put up with it on a daily basis. Some government handouts, such as those to Rubio's favorite, Big Sugar, are easy to ignore. But a whole lot of people, working class people, actually hate ethanol, in ways that coastal elites don't understand.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
“It is hydroscopic, attracting water...”
Hygroscopic.
It’s all about turnout.
Ethanol can be a killer, too! Thousands of small boat engines have been damamged by ethanol laced gas that screws up the engine. I’ve had fellow boaters tell me of engines that dies OUT ON THE WATER, the problem traced to bad gas.
I’ve been forced to disconnect the fuel line while my 4 stroke is running and let it run out of gas and quit. Anything left goes into my car tank.
Imagine the engine dying as a storm comes up and you are 5 miles from port.
Border control, Refugees terrorist, American Jobs, Drill Baby Drill, build new refineries, lower taxes, repeal 0’Care, all gun control 0 is going to shove on us today, audit all departments, get rid of many like EPA, Dept of ED. IRS. Defund Planned Parenthood. COMMIE CORE. CORE VALUES to Conservatives, libertarian, and Indy’s. Preach good JOBS, kicking out illegals anchor baby and all. Drug testing for Welfare, go for Workfare. Sterilize these repeat welfare moms. No welfare for any but US Citizens. Rebuild our Military and get rid of the unwanted ones 0 let in.
Trump tickles the ear and 2nd Timothy warns of that. We watched Seal Team 6 last night, there sat Trump laughing his butt off at O’s poor attempt at jokes. He’s donated to the VA Dem gun grabbing Gov while running for the GOP Ticket. Man can’t make up his mind, changed parties 5 times most all his donations go to Dems from Carter,Clinton on.
I doubt ethanol is in the top twenty issues outside of a few farm states, and there Trump's pandering stance is more popular.
If Cruz wins Iowa it will be on the strength of his conservative religious supporters, the same constituency that carried Huckabee and Santorum to victory.
I am Cruz supporter but this article is idiotic.
Good analysis. It is amazing how so many never get past the wrestling promoter persona to weigh the actual substance.
Idiotic seems a bit harsh. I think the author over-emphasizes the New Hampshire voters’ hatred of ethanol. Is it a valid political issue? Certainly, but I fail to see the math on how ethanol anger overcomes predominantly moderate lean of NH Republican politics.
Well winning all these primaries is going to be a real feat with Trump 11-20 pts ahead in the polls. LOL!
At this point in the race last election, Gingrich was ahead of Romney 37% to 22% nationally. I’m not sure how much can actually be gleaned from polls this far out.
Ethanol isn’t going away anytime soon. Drop ethanol mandates, and the price of corn crashes, farmers respond by cutting back on corn crops to reduce supply and prop up prices, or switch up to something else altogether. Also, with oil prices tanking, US producers are now allowed to export oil. All of these efforts are designed to push commodity prices back up, which have essentially crashed due to lack of demand in 2015.
2016 will only be worse. Investors gambling in the commodities markets has far worse consequences than gambling in the stock markets.
Had Gingrich led big for six or seven months?
If ethanol is the biggest and most dire issue our country faces, Cruz has it in the bag. No doubt his massive, arena-sized, wildly enthusiastic rallies will soon reflect this fact.
Gingrich was pulling crowds of 500-800 on average and nobody was excited about Mitt. 2012 cannot be equated to 2016. This is a very different scenario.
Cruz may win Iowa but after that I see Trump pretty much running the table. Here in GA all anybody is talking about is Trump.
Not necessarily. I live in farm country and the farmers, mechanics, and land scapers all hate ethanol with a passion because of the damage that it does to engines. It’s one of those exceedingly annoying federal programs and regulations that everyone hates except corn farmers, but is not as openly discussed as a prime political issue.
Being also here in GA, I can affirm what you said. For example, I saw a friend I haven’t seen in a while ~a week ago. I asked him who he was rooting for in the primary. He got so loud and excited about his support for Trump, I thought he’d burst right out of his pickup. Not in my lifetime have I seen people this fired up about a presidential candidate.
I hear ya. We were at the mailboxes etc last week. Five people in the place of varying demographics. Mr gg2 mentioned Trump and everybody was Oh yeh Trump is going to change things back. We were amazed.
I not only live in farm country but live on a farm. Yes, ethanol is destructive and I haven’t met too many people that like it but...
The economy, national security, government spending and a million other things come to mind for me and for nearly everyone else voting whether they live in New Hampshire or not.
Trump was mentioned as an afterthought in the article while he has a dominating lead in NH. Ethanol isn’t going to sway Trump voters to a Cruz victory there. By focusing the article almost exclusively on ethanol as being the Trump giant killer in NH, it is being oblivious to what will likely drive voters this primary season.
It is hard to imagine the huge crowds that Trump is getting so early in the contest. I'm old, I remember Eisenhower's campaign and especially Nixon and Kennedy. Eisenhower was a wonderfully popular general. His name was in the headlines nearly everyday in the late 40’s. Everybody liked Ike but there was nothing of the enthusiasm for him as there is now for Trump. There was a lot of enthusiasm for Kennedy but nothing like what we are seeing for Trump.
I worked in local government for 15 years. The government mindset is absurd. Everybody wants more money, better equipment and higher salaries, they get it. They get all this stuff at the expense of those who provide the money for it and have contempt for those people. Governments think they know best in every situation. I think that Trump is likely the only person running right now that really understands this and potential voters realize it.
If Trump wins I at least hope he makes Cruz VP, Cruz will then have a chance to learn a little about business from a real business man.
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