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Ted Cruz Is the Only GOP Candidate Who Knows How to Handle Donald Trump
New York ^ | 8/26/15 | Marin Cogan

Posted on 08/28/2015 6:54:52 AM PDT by VinL

Of all of the curiosities this presidential campaign has produced so far, add to the list a joint-candidate rally featuring two of the most polarizing candidates in the GOP. On Thursday, Ted Cruz announced that Donald Trump would join him at the Capitol next month to protest lawmakers supporting the Iranian nuclear deal. “Glad @realdonaldtrump accepted my invitation to rally in DC to stop the catastrophic #IranDeal,” Cruz tweeted from his campaign account.

It was the surest sign yet that Cruz's apparent strategy of wooing the controversial candidate — and positioning himself to win over Trump supporters if (or when) the businessman flames out of the race — is starting to pay off.

However Trump’s magic-carpet ride through GOP primary season ends, it will be remembered for (among other things) just how ill-prepared his fellow candidates were to take him on. Jeb Bush tried this week, in his characteristically genteel way, to respond to the insults that Trump has been hurling at him like spitballs all summer: “There’s a difference between Donald Trump and me: I’m a proven conservative with a record,” he told a gaggle of reporters last week with his hands clasped uncomfortably in front of him. Trump, not just undeterred but energized by the reaction, told the New York Times that Bush was a “low-energy person” — a phrase he’s repeated several times, knowing that it tweaks the younger Bush brother — and took to Twitter to mock him for rarely using his last name. Scott Walker has tried to ignore him, refusing to answer whether or not he supports birthright citizenship and declaring himself “unintimidated” so often it’s hard to believe him. But the Donald’s diatribes have caused him to slip in the polls, too.

Not so with Ted Cruz, who may be the only top-tier candidate willing to embrace Trump. Yes — Ted Cruz is a top-tier candidate — even though he’s been more or less ignored by the rest of the field since he launched his campaign back in March. The most important poll numbers right now come from Iowa: They’re the first state to caucus, and the momentum a candidate is able to pick up there will be important in determining who moves forward in the race. In Iowa, Cruz is averaging fourth place in polls. (He’s running fifth in the national poll averages.) In the last fund-raising quarter, only Jeb Bush out-raised him in the Republican field.

A key part of Cruz's gambit seems to be maintaining friendly personal relations with Trump. While everyone else is busy dodging, ignoring, or attacking him, Cruz has welcomed the Donald with open arms. "I am proud to stand with Donald Trump,” Cruz recently told one of his TV interviewers. “I like him and respect him." They’ve managed to keep it positive even though both are famously unfriendly with the other figureheads in their party, and even though Trump raised the uncomfortable fact that Cruz was born in Canada when he launched his campaign back in March. The affection goes beyond publicly stated admiration, too: As the Daily Beast’s Tim Mak reported, Trump and Cruz have met up at least five times and continue to keep the back channels open between campaigns. Trump’s madcap trip to the border was almost a joint press event, but Cruz had a scheduling conflict get in the way. Cruz is now trying out the unusual Trump strategy of attacking one of the right’s most beloved journalists, Megyn Kelly. On Tuesday, he responded to Kelly’s line of questioning about how he’d deport undocumented families with an attack: “Megyn, I get that that’s the question you want to ask,” he said when Kelly pressed him. “That’s also the question every mainstream-media liberal journalist wants to ask.”

But for Cruz this is all part of a bigger strategy and a longer game. He’s been working to secure the same voter base as Trump since being elected to the Senate in 2012 — the base of voters who hate the political Establishment so much that being a villain to Democrats and Republicans alike is the entire point. It’s the strategy that motivated his publicity-raising faux filibusters, his efforts to lead a government shutdown, and his most bombastic public statements.

Trump’s temporary advantage over Cruz is that he’s leveraging a well-established and decades-old public persona to appeal to many of the same voters, and he’s doing it in a wildly entertaining (and fact-free) way. But in the long run Trump's strategy can't work: Winning a fifth of the GOP primary electorate and actually being able to win the general election are two very different things, especially if the candidate has shown no allegiance to the party he’s trying to represent, as Jonathan Chait points out.

Cruz surely knows that Trump isn’t built to last, and when Trump finally exits the race, Cruz will be there to pick up his base. Unlike Trump, Cruz is a real conservative — and it’s not inconceivable that he could win the primary. While the rest of the party spends the fall trying to tear Trump down, you can be sure Cruz will keep up the good relations, all while raising millions of dollars behind the scenes and preparing for the inevitable moment Trump exits the race. If the rest of the Republican field isn’t worried about Cruz yet, they should be.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: allies; cruz
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To: Catsrus

I hear ya on that.

I know it’s crazy...but what if....

what if, Cruz is just trying here to do what needs to be done: derail the Iran deal. It’s not like mitch is going to help him.

So, he’s giving it his best shot.

And clearly Trump has some muscle. So why not ask him to join? It increases the chance for doing what is in the vital interest of the nation.

Your skepticism is more than warranted.
But...what if...


21 posted on 08/28/2015 7:13:52 AM PDT by ConservativeDude
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To: skeeter

Trump is a fine wrecking ball.


22 posted on 08/28/2015 7:15:38 AM PDT by cripplecreek (Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.)
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To: winner3000

Cruz didn’t “attack” Kelly— that’s a media spin.


23 posted on 08/28/2015 7:15:50 AM PDT by VinL (It is better to suffer every wrong, then to consent to wrong.)
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To: VinL

“But in the long run Trump’s strategy can’t work”

Says who? Maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t but the finality of “can’t work” is BS straight from the “Obama is a 1 term senator with a questionable past. He can’t win” line.


24 posted on 08/28/2015 7:16:38 AM PDT by Personal Responsibility (Trump campaign ad: Trump, in his Apprentice chair, saying "America, you're hired")
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To: VinL

Has Trump ever withdrawn easily from a challenge?


25 posted on 08/28/2015 7:19:07 AM PDT by Raycpa
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To: VinL

I watched the segment and he did NOT attack her. He, did however, let it be known that he was quite aware of the tactic she was using - acting like he was on the witness stand and only wanting him to answer with a yes or no. He called her on that, as he should have. She kept interrupting him several times as he attempted to answer her question.


26 posted on 08/28/2015 7:19:20 AM PDT by Catsrus (The Great Wall of Trump - coming to a southern border near you.)
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To: ConservativeDude

...two of the most polarizing candidates in the GOP...

Polarizing? In other words, Democrats, GOPe, and the media are having apoplectic fits about these two.
That’s opposed to those who are disgusted with the broken promises, outright lies, and politics as usual. That number is growing.


27 posted on 08/28/2015 7:22:01 AM PDT by Sasparilla (If you want peace, prepare for war.)
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To: ConservativeDude

I like Cruz, and he is my 2nd choice, but, dang, I just can’t get past this deep gut feeling that something isn’t ringing true with him. I can’t put my finger on it either. sure, he’s probably more conservative than Trump, but right now we need someone to whack down the Beltway insiders and get our country back.


28 posted on 08/28/2015 7:23:14 AM PDT by Catsrus (The Great Wall of Trump - coming to a southern border near you.)
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To: Right Brother

Don’t these statements bug the heck out of you? I’m getting so sick of the meme that Trump is going to leave the race or fade out or be taken out. It’s as though they know this for absolute certain and yet they are proven wrong day after day. Their smugness makes me want Trump to succeed even more.


29 posted on 08/28/2015 7:26:48 AM PDT by Rona Badger (Heeds the calling wind.)
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To: VinL

Some play chess when others are playing checkers.


30 posted on 08/28/2015 7:27:10 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: Catsrus

Now if Dr Ben stops by we will know the trio has been in place since the gitgo


31 posted on 08/28/2015 7:31:20 AM PDT by hoosiermama ( Read my lips: no more Bushes)
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To: Rona Badger

What’s funny is that this “exit the race” meme just emboldens Trump and makes him stronger.


32 posted on 08/28/2015 7:31:24 AM PDT by Right Brother
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To: VinL
Cruz just isn't able to connect to the majority of voters like Trump can. And Cruz is bad on immimgration.

IMO Trump and Cruz are working together to winnow down the field, especially the GOPe candidates. Hence the focus by Trump on Bush and Walker. If they are successful, then they will go head to head.

33 posted on 08/28/2015 7:31:45 AM PDT by kabar
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To: Catsrus

I think you feel that way because Cruz isn’t a natural bull$I-I(++er, he is naturally a conservative academic and champion debater. I assure you however: He is the only candidate that could totally wipe the floor with any Democrat on any subject in any national debate. I love Trump, but Trump can’t do that - he can’t perform when he can’t control the topic.


34 posted on 08/28/2015 7:32:21 AM PDT by golux
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To: grumpygresh
Obviously, Cruz is the superior candidate,

Using what metrics?

35 posted on 08/28/2015 7:33:20 AM PDT by kabar
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To: stanne

VP is presiding president of the Senate.


36 posted on 08/28/2015 7:33:50 AM PDT by hoosiermama ( Read my lips: no more Bushes)
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To: VinL

The reason Cruz is not picking up the votes is Cruz. Time to stop blaming other for your failures. I thing Cruz should be at least second to Trump but nowhere to be found. Biggest mistake he can make is trying to handle Trump.


37 posted on 08/28/2015 7:34:10 AM PDT by Logical me
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To: Catsrus

Cruz lost me for good when he told Greta Van Sustern he would prefer to try to re-define the illegality of “birthright citizenship” by passing an amendment, rather than enforcing the interpretation of the existing 14A as the founding fathers intended, as Donald Trump and Mark Levin do.


38 posted on 08/28/2015 7:35:37 AM PDT by ObozoMustGo2012
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To: stanne

The VP is the President of the Senate. Cruz is knowledgeable enough that I am sure he could retain considerable influence over the body in that role.


39 posted on 08/28/2015 7:36:35 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: stanne

The only future Ted has is as president or Trump as president. There is no Senate future is a Democrat or GOPe is president.


40 posted on 08/28/2015 7:36:50 AM PDT by wolfman23601
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