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.
Does a champion debater necessarily make a good president? I’m not so sure of that. He just can’t get any traction - although I like the fact that the GOPe despises him. He has the aura of a know-it-all. I think his wife even said that. None of us really know these people on a personal basis - and we shouldn’t project what we think they will say or do in any given situation. We must not fall into the trap that the DEMS did with obama - and project onto a candidate our own thoughts and wishes. I support Trump for his strong stand on illegal immigration and his leadership skills. I have no delusions that he is the perfect canddiate - I don’t know any of these people and probably never will. So,it’s a crap shoot.
Debates don’t win elections. They can lose an election if someone makes a major gaffe. The most important criterion is being able to connect to the voter. So far, Trump is far out ahead in that regard. He attracts voters beyond Reps.
If you haven't read this I recommend it as the full history of the Kelly war. She started it back when The Daily Beast wrote an article on Trump's first wife saying during their divorce she felt as though he molested her. Very revealing about Kelly and Trump's strategy for dealing with his attackers.
Yes, and he wants to increase H-1B visas by 500% when we have Americans who needs jobs. I think he is maybe being deceptive about his real views on the subject. I don’t know, just speculating what I hear from him. As I have said - he is my 2nd choice, but sometimes he stutters a lot when asked questions - that makes me nervous. Then he uses the phrase, “you’re exactly right,” with people, which makes me wonder if he thinks he is the full authority on any given subject.
Here’s the link!
yup you nailed it
No. Cruz is pro wall. And Trump gives money to Democrats.
He says he wants to do both an amendment and enact legislation...essentially do whatever works to eliminate birthright citizenship. You don’t know how the black robes will handle this so the prudent leader is prepared for either.
He sees the legal arguments both for and against birthright citizenship but he is 100% opposed to the policy.
What will Trump do if the courts reject using legislative means? Throw his hands up and give up just like he did on same sex marriage. Trump is a socialist and a social conservative who submits to the will of the black robes every time.
Good point. I agree
I felt that way, too, and then I found out that his wife is a Goldman Sachs executive on leave and she is (or was) a member of the Trilateral Commission/Council on Foreign Relations. I’m not one for big conspiracy theories but I do measure people by the company they keep. Those affiliations definitely smack of New World Order philosophies and big money influence. Maybe she’s a spy for our side, who knows? So far, I like Cruz but more will be revealed, as with all of the candidates.
It really doesn’t matter what conservative is pro anything.
Conservatives do not seem to be able to enact into existence anything that they are for.
And they don’t seem to be able to stop anything that they are against.
I agree. All the rest, including Carson who is an honorable guy but can easily get twisted up by the media, are easy pray by them to finagle, trip up, walk into setups and traps, and elicit apologies for stuff they shouldn't ever apologize for. Cruz and Trump are above that, Cruz because of his book smarts and Trump because of his street smarts.
Cruz is my choice. I’m glad he’s in the race. Every time I watch unedited video of his interviews, I like him more. Trump is wildly entertaining, and he is saying things that need to be said. We’ll see how long he lasts. Maybe he can ride this surge all the way to the White House. But if not, Cruz. Cruz. Good stuff.
I love Cruz and I support both Trump and Cruz. Too bad the hard-core Cruzers here can’t follow the lead of the man they say they admire (Cruz) and cut out the Trump snark. It’s just not necessary.
The two of them are setting an example of a team right now. We should all be working together.
Respectfully, don’t let speculation vitiate a certainty.
When Cruz was Texas Solicitor General, the Bush Administration sided with the World Court and ordered that Texas release a Mexican national (murderer,rapist) from prison because his “international” rights have been violated.
Cruz opposed Bush and the World Court, and won the case for American sovereignty before the Supreme Court.
Sound like a New World Order type of guy to you?
Yep, those who listened on radio thought Nixon won and those who watched it on TV thought JFK had won. JFK won the election albeit not without some hint of voter fraud. Nixon was eventually elected twice to the WH.
I love Cruz and I voted for him TWICE! However, there are some hard-core Trump haters that want to blame Trump for Cruz not doing better against Ben Carson, or against Jeb, etc.
Then they mock everyone else about not being in touch with ‘reality’ or being ‘stupid’ or ‘worshipping’ Trump.
Trump has pretty much tied the media in knots and that is something Cruz has never done. They are a complimentary set and I wish the hard core Cruzers would follow Cruz’s lead and embrace the situation rather than act all high and mighty and post screeds against Trump all day long. Why not follow Cruz’s lead if you admire him? I would say a person who likes Cruz and doesn’t follow Cruz’s example is a hypocrite.
But that’s just me.
I agree. However, having started many Cruz threads, I know that the “snark” works both ways-—
“JFK won the election albeit not without some hint of voter fraud.”
No “hint of voter fraud”, it was shear unadulterated fraud perpetuated by Daley and the Chicago Machine. That election was stolen and Nixon got robbed. Almost happened again in Florida, but times were different.
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