Ted Cruz meeting with his most important supporters during a debate break.
Posted on 10/29/2015 12:04:14 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
There is no doubt as to who was the gold medal winner of the CNBC GOP presidential debate last night: Ted Cruz. The silver medal winner was Marco Rubio. They both scored major points by blasting the major losers of the night: the outrageously biased panel of moderators of CNBC. These moderators made Rachel Maddow look like the epitome of fairness.
Conservatives have for years asserted that mainstream media has a blatant liberal bias. Nothing did more to prove this assertion than the performance last night of the CNBC moderators.
Another major loser was John Kasich. His bitterness at his lagging poll numbers was obvious. In this time of angst in the American electorate, candidates need to inspire optimism. Kasich was a doppelganger of the character Howard Beale in the movie, Network – mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.
It was not a good night for Donald Trump and Ben Carson, although they performed adequately. Trump and Carson exemplify the declining viability of the lane they occupy, along with Carly Fiorina – the outsider lane. Nothing happened in the debate that will reverse this trend.
Most pundits inaccurately analyze the GOP presidential sweepstakes as having two lanes: an outsider lane and an establishment lane. In reality, there are three lanes: 1) The outsider lane; 2) the center-right lane, where the major players are Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush; and 3) the movement conservative lane, where Ted Cruz has total control. Cruz’s control was guaranteed with the meltdown of the campaign of Scott Walker.
This is the first GOP presidential campaign in which an outsider line has materialized. It is a development resulting from grassroots disillusionment with the Congressional leadership of Outgoing House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Yet the outsider lane is only as viable as its candidates. And serious problems are developing for all three outsider candidates. Fiorina has never been able to sustain double digit poll numbers.
Donald Trump continua to be in a state of meltdown, as shown by his declining national and Iowa numbers. His previous sexist comments have caught up with him – he is falling way behind in the competition for women and Evangelical voters. And the Evangelicals are on their way to the campaign of Ted Cruz.
Ben Carson has a continuing problem with his lack of depth on national issues, except for health care. His inartful comparison of present circumstances in American politics with aspects of life in Nazi Germany amplifies his superficial approach to these issues.
So my analysis is that the three outsiders will decline, and their supporters, particularly the Evangelicals, will, for the most part, henceforth back Cruz. Ted Cruz has the ideal positioning in this campaign. He is the “insider-outsider†– he is inside government, but outside the establishment. He has the virtue of governmental experience, while at the same time being consonant with the Republican grassroots anti-establishment mood.
A word is in order on two other candidates last night: Chris Christie and Jeb Bush.
Chris Christie performed well, although not as well as Cruz and Rubio. Furthermore, nothing in his debate performance will enable him to overcome his burden of failure and scandal as governor of New Jersey. And his inconsistencies and judicial appointees continue to make him an object of deep suspicion among conservatives. Chris Christie will never be a top tier candidate for the GOP presidential nomination.
Let us not mince words: Jeb Bush performed very poorly last night. Yet he is the opposite of Chris Christie – Jeb has a stellar record as governor of Florida, rich in accomplishment and devoid of scandal, which amply exhibits his fitness for the presidency. And he is not out of it yet – his SuperPac has the monetary resources to broadcast his record of accomplishment to voters in the early caucuses and primaries. Still, there is no doubt that his campaign has been badly hurt.
My prognosis of the campaign this morning is as follows: The outsider lane candidates of Trump, Carson, and Fiorina will decline, as will the viability of the outsider lane. The campaign will be a two lane competition, with Ted Cruz commanding the movement conservative lane, and Rubio and Jeb competing for ownership of the center-right lane. Unless Jeb does something dramatic soon to reverse his decline, however, Rubio will win ownership of the centerright lane. In a contest between Cruz and Rubio, Cruz would be the favorite.
Ted Cruz is the most effective Republican communicator since Ronald Reagan. The best tribute to him was given by his former law professor at Harvard, the liberal Alan Dershowitz, who said the following:
“He (Ted Cruz) was always very active in class, presenting a libertarian point of view. He didn’t strike me as a social conservative, more of a libertarian.â€
“He had brilliant insights and he was clearly among the top students, as revealed by his class responses.â€
The most tantalizing possibility: A Cruz-Rubio ticket: Two Cuban American Republicans. This all-Hispanic ticket would dramatically change the image of the Republican Party!
Happy Cruz finally had a moment to get through the noise.
This line seemed ridiculous, though. “Trump and Carson exemplify the declining viability of the lane they occupy” Don’t these two own close to 60% of the vote? If anything the outsider vote is growing. Trump may have come down a bit, but Carson gained much more than Trump’s voters. Those two are dominating at the moment.
Ted Cruz meeting with his most important supporters during a debate break.
That’s a good photo.
TED CRUZ is on his way UP! (Go, TED, go!)
However, it is ludicrous for Steinberg to predict front-runner TRUMP will decline and be out of contention less than 100 days before the first primary.
Feel free to spread it around the web, especially to WOMEN.
It is. If anybody is wondering what’s so great about being “Daddy” ... that photo answers the question.
They all called the kiddy table debate for Lindsay - is he going up in the polls too? The last debate they called it for Carly - and she has tanked. Let’s see what happens.
"My touchstone for every question is the Constitution." Ted Cruz
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I happy to see Ted getting some well deserved applause. And I’m a Trump supporter.
Go Ted - Go!
Exactly. And it didn't take a genius to see that coming months and miles ago. It is the Carson Fatal Flaw. And, to a lesser extent, it is at least the Trump Weakness. He may survive it but I wouldn't bet my house on it.
It is looking more and more like a Trump-Carson-Rubio-Cruz Fight To the Finish. I'm betting that will evolve to Cruz-Rubio and then, hopefully, to Cruz-Clinton.
Awesome photo. Cruz really exposed the media’s dark and smelly underbelly last night. I can’t imagine how many Americans woke up last night. Kudos to Cruz!
NO!
Consider how different the country -- and the world -- would be if Ronaldus Magnus had been followed by another conservative.
Can we afford to let that happen again...???
Ted Cruz has reconfirmed my insticts.
I stated Ted was my guy before the whole Trump phenom.
Sitting back in the cut and watching the world find out what you already knew is pretty cool.
Cruz!
Agreed. I’m a Cruz fan but this article just shows the bias confronting all conservatives. I will give him credit for his analysis of the candidates as to the 3 lanes. I think that is an accurate assessment.
Cruz gave the MSM a MAJOR slapdown last night, which should permanently erase any doubts about their leftist bias (except among those who are so ignorant they probably should not be allowed to vote anyway;)
I’m glad Cruz did not fall for the stump question about equality of pay. Gender should not determine pay. Qualifications, earnestness of work and being a real team player are far more important. Equal pay is a socialist mantra. What happens is the quality of work for ALL employees goes down and the company suffers. If a woman outperforms men, then reward her with better pay. If the man is the better employee is more productive, then reward him. This is how it should be, and to be honest, as Jesus said in the story of the farmer who paid all the workers the same wage, even though some started early and others came later. He offered a denarius and they all agreed to that. The employer has the right to set wages on his terms. You don’t have to work for an employer who you feel underpays women.
I know the female questioner wanted to trap Cruz into spouting either a socialist mantra, or free market so they could say that he was NOT really on the side of women in the workplace. These guys are pretty transparent in that you can see their agenda.
Cruz was the solicitor general for the State of Texas and has argued 5 or 6 cases in the Supreme court. He is engaging in an argument now with people who are in journalism because they aren’t smart enough to do anything else. This should be fun to watch.
bttt
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