The Rough Math Facing Ted Cruz

San Diego Union-Triune ^ | April 2, 2015 | George Will

[DoughtyOne]

If this was written by George Will, he is one seriously -——— up person.

Why does he think it has been almost impossible to win elections since Ronald Reagan, the candidates were too Conservative?

This guy should drop off his credibility card. It has expired.

[erod]

Isn’t this the same guy who was commenting on Obama’s pant crease a couple of years ago? No thanks George, I’m sticking with Cruz.

[a fool in paradise]

When Jeb Bush, the most conservative governor of a large state since Ronald Reagan...is called a threat to conservatism, Republicans are with Alice in Wonderland.

I'd say Rick Perry is more conservative than Jeb Bush and that isn't saying much.

Frankly I don't need to bother reading the rest of his fantasy screed.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Reagan should’ve chosen Paul Laxalt instead for VP.

[a fool in paradise]

The GOPe wasn’t happy with Goldwater or Reagan’s conservative rhetoric in the 1960s either.

[Impy]

You have one in AZ named John McCain.

Military people usually get a pass.

[Carry_Okie]

When Jeb Bush, the most conservative governor of a large state since Ronald Reagan...is called a threat to conservatism, Republicans are with Alice in Wonderland.

Man, talk about a straw-man. I've never seen such an inflated bogus premise.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Flake is even worse than McCain.

[Ohioan]

Thanks for the recommendation.

Actually, my own taste in fiction is for the Victorian novel. But I thought that writing something with what is only implied in Victorian novels, explicitly, might help disavow young readers that Conservative values would somehow interfere with the fun side of life.

Of course, the difference was taste. Victorians had a sense of privacy--keeping private matters private. While I really do agree with their approach, I decided on the one you describe for tactical reasons. (In my defense, however, you will note that the characters tend to develope in a constructive direction--just as in those Victorian novels.

Hope that your mother-in-law's recovery works out better from this point on. God Bless!

[Lake Living]

Oh, goodie! Now everyone can feel sorry for him - that way he can achieve “victim” status and then the left will vote for him. Problem solved! ~ s

[Verginius Rufus]

Maybe George Will should stick to what he is good at. Writing about baseball.

[RKBA Democrat]

Exactly.

[conservativejoy]

I don’t get it. On the day Cruz announced, Will called him a candidate that was “as good as it gets”. Why is he suddenly so negative?

[skeeter]

I'm with Cruz no matter what the inside the beltway fops think.

In fact, the harder they try to marginalize him the more I like him.

[BobL]

“much like how no GOP nominee was going to in in ‘08”

I know what you’re saying (people were tired of the GOP in 2008), but I don’t think Obama was unbeatable, had he run against a normal Republican. Hillary, on the other hand, back then would have been unstoppable, but certainly not today.

[MaxMax]

That's why the MSM want Jeb or anybody else they know will not win.
Actually, people are so tired of the Dems that Anybody but Dems "will"
win which is why "imo" the GOP wants somebody they can control.

That control consists of doing the bidding of the Dems even while they're out of power.
They are some nasty SOB's in the GOP, traitors all.

[x]

Actually, the middle is not small, least of all in the Republican nomination process. Henry Olsen of the Ethics and Public Policy Center identifies “four faces of the Republican Party” — evangelicals, very conservative but secular voters, somewhat conservative voters, and moderates. He says the largest group, about 35 percent to 40 percent of the national party, are the somewhat conservatives. And in presidential years, moderates are the second-largest (25 percent to 30 percent). The somewhat conservatives “are found in similar proportions in every state” and “always back the winner.”

So if a candidate can sweep the moderates and also pick up a third of the conservatives and somewhat conservatives, that candidate can win the nomination.

It gets easier with time because voters flock to the front runner. It's not some conspiracy or evil magic.

All the same, though, I don't think Jeb will be the nominee. He's too tired and too hostile to conservatives.

That moderate group isn't what it once was either. A lot of them have gone over to the Democrats.

[GeronL]

Cruz might be able to bring conservatives back to the party

[discostu]

There’s a difference between unbeatable and unwinnable. Obama was clearly beatable, just not by a GOP candidate that year.

[Fiji Hill]

Will, at best, is very confused about what happened in 1964.

A number of factors contributed to Goldwater's defeat in 1964--Goldwater's reluctance to run, strife within his campaign team, the refusal of the Rockefeller wing of the party to actively support him, etc. The election was hardly a repudiation of conservatism.