Posted on 01/01/2016 4:06:41 PM PST by BlackFemaleArmyColonel
National Review's Tim Alberta and Eliana Johnson report a potentially important development: The emergence of an Anybody-But-Cruz-(Except-Trump) movement from the soon-to-be ashes of the Iowa campaigns of Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum. It would seem that some social conservatives, including a few currently supporting the last two Iowa winners, consider Sen. Ted Cruz a "phony opportunist" -- and would rather see Sen. Marco Rubio do well if their own candidates don't have an unexpected late surge.
This suggests that reporting indicating that Cruz has wrapped up the support of Iowa Christian conservative leaders may have overstated the strength of his hold on that large faction of the Republican vote.
It's worth looking at the numbers, however. Huckabee and Santorum combined have a whopping 2.8 percent of the Iowa vote in the latest HuffPollster estimate. Even if that support transferred to Rubio, he'd move up from a distant third to a not-quite-so-distant third. At the moment, he's about 16 percentage points behind Trump, and 18 behind Cruz. And as long as Huckabee and Santorum remain active candidates, they'll probably keep most of that support anyway.
The real question, then, is whether the Anybody But Cruz folks have any significant sway not only among current Huckabee and Santorum supporters, but within the important Iowa Christian conservative networks that backed those two politicians in 2008 and 2012. If they do have influence, they might be able to also pick off some votes now headed toward Ben Carson (7.7 percent in HuffPollster's Iowa estimate), Cruz and perhaps even some of the other candidates.
(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...
The Anti-Cruz movemen IS Rubio.
Bad cess to him. May Rubio soon be forgotten.
So far, the only anti-Hillary movement I see is Donald Trump. Who the Republican party seems to dislike.
By “Anti-Cruz movement” do they mean the GOPe and the Media?
Actually majority of REPUBLICANS favor Trump. It is the party elites and career politicians who dislike Trump, because the donor class loses control over their agenda with Trump.
It goes without saying. Rubio is the only establishment hack left standing.
Exactly right. It is Cruz’s greatest asset - the GOP’s vitriolic hate for him.
The GOP establishment hates Trump and Cruz equally. Cruz has been a major pain in their behind since he got elected to the Senate. He made the GOPe pay a political price for every betrayal of conservatives, and there were a lot of them. It was Cruz who opened the curtains of politics and showed exactly how the GOPe works with Democrats and tries at the same time fake it as if they are fighting for conservative principles.
To the extent that Huckabee and Santorum throw their support behind Rubio, they will show once and for all that they are proud carrying members of the GOPe, and that they therefore have joined with the betrayers of social conservatives.
They were all ready to unite against Cruz during the primary. They never saw Trump coming. While Trump did not fight the GOPe for years, he is definitely not part of their cozy club. He therefore is as hard to control as Cruz. Trump has not directly challenged the GOPe as Cruz does, but his very existence threatens the GOPe.
Can Marco Rubio Even Win a Primary?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/3368499/posts
No Rubio No Matter What
______Actually majority of REPUBLICANS favor Trump. It is the party elites and career politicians who dislike Trump, because the donor class loses control over their agenda with Trump.
This is not true and you know this. When he polls over 50% in Iowa, NH or SC you will have a case for that.
Trumpees exaggerate more than their hero.
I am speaking the truth and smiling for Teddy.
I can see Huckabee going with Rubio; Santorum, more likely to go with Trump.
Well so much for my maybe Trump did it himself, I hope Trump at least sends the guy a thank you note for the bump he will surely get from the attack.
Donald Trump's Strongest Supporters, A Special Kind of Democrat>
This is all about the Cruz position on Ethanol
Thanks!
The folks that need to sort out their differences are those who polarize between Cruz and Trump....
Local talk show host bashes Trump every chance he gets, praises Rubio as the only one that can beat Hillary. I change the channel when he starts that noise.
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