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Ted Cruz — stealth front-runner
MySanAntonio ^ | 11/21/15 | Rich Lowry

Posted on 11/21/2015 12:42:02 PM PST by VinL

Ted Cruz gets no respect.

At least no respect in keeping with the impressiveness of the campaign he's built and his increasing odds of winning the Republican nomination.

The press and the political class are beginning to catch on to Cruz's strength, and there has been more talk of a prospective Cruz-Marco Rubio race, but his coverage and his buzz have been lagging indicators.. and they are still lagging.

After the GOP debate in Milwaukee, a Politico survey of Republican insiders had as many respondents saying Cruz won (6 percent) as Ben Carson and John Kasich (6 percent each). This is extraordinary.

Cruz tends to be an afterthought in the Sunday show chatter and on TV generally.

The Atlantic tracks candidate mentions on cable TV. In the past 100 days, Cruz ranks ninth among all candidates from both parties, well behind Chris Christie and just above Kasich, both of whom are throwing Hail Marys for the nomination.

A Washington Post analysis looked at the cable TV coverage devoted to each candidate compared with his or her position in the polls. It found that Cruz got 60 percent less coverage than you’d expect from July through October.

Donald Trump, as you might expect, gets more coverage than warranted by his polling. So does Jeb Bush. It's as though the media haven't been able to adjust coverage of the former Florida governor to account for his diminished stature in the race.

The indications of the strength of Cruz's operation and the shrewdness of his positioning are mounting.

He had more cash on hand at the end of the third quarter than any other Republican. He has major super PAC backing.

He assessed the anti-establishment mood in the party more accurately than any of the other traditional candidates.

He reacted to the rise of Trump very deftly for his purposes. He has seen a couple of key potential competitors, Scott Walker and Rand Paul, hit a wall or badly underperform.

He has a discernible ideological and geographic base.

He has, relatedly, a path to the nomination that is simple and intuitive (win Iowa, consolidate the right and beat an establishment that might be too fractured and unpopular to prevail).

He lights up pretty much every conservative audience he addresses. He is an excellent debater, and he doesn’t make tactical or rhetorical mistakes.

And yet he doesn’t really get his due. Why?

The political press corps made up its mind about him — too divisive — as soon as he showed up in Washington and has never gotten over its dismissiveness about his campaign.

The appeal of Cruz’s conservative populism is lost on most reporters and political insiders, who have a natural reflex to roll their eyes at the message and the messenger.

Cruz is not as interesting as Trump and Carson, and he doesn’t feature in any personal drama like the Bush-Rubio mentor-mentee showdown.

Finally, he is graded on a bit of a curve. He routinely performs so well at Republican cattle calls that his standing ovations tend to get discounted.

Cruz is hardly a cinch. Trump and Carson are significant obstacles in Iowa. His theory that he will inherit Trump and Carson’s support if the outsiders deflate is too simplistic. So is his schematic of the race as coming down to two candidates, one representing conservatives (him) and someone representing moderates.

Nonetheless, it should be obvious that Cruz is a serious threat for the nomination.

Be warned, and get over it.


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 2016election; cruz; election2016; elections; tedcruz; texas
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To: CatherineofAragon

I’m afraid his support is simply “Cult of Personality”. Anyway, I support Cruz.


121 posted on 11/21/2015 3:14:41 PM PST by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: DJ MacWoW

Yes, I agree.


122 posted on 11/21/2015 3:15:30 PM PST by CatherineofAragon ("A real conservative will bear the scars...will have been in the trenches fighting."--- Ted Cruz)
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To: ripnbang

Don’t have a problem with it and it could happen. Also may not. Time will tell.


123 posted on 11/21/2015 3:19:02 PM PST by GrouchoTex (...and ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free....)
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To: CatherineofAragon; Starstruck
Trump is a master at re-branding. Re-branding could very well be that you change the package / look and feel / messaging of a product without really changing what is inside.
124 posted on 11/21/2015 3:19:07 PM PST by Moorings
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To: DoughtyOne; All

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/RCP_PDF/Marist071106.pdf

WNBC/Marist Poll
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601 􀂊 Phone 845.575.5050 􀂊 Fax 845.575.5111 www.maristpoll.marist.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday November 6, 2007

Hillary and Guiliani led the polls in Nov 2007


125 posted on 11/21/2015 3:19:12 PM PST by MEG33 (God Bless America And Our Troops)
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To: CatherineofAragon

I’m quickly getting turned off by Trump. Too much “TV Star” and “In your Face” stuff....a lot like Obama.


126 posted on 11/21/2015 3:22:39 PM PST by DJ MacWoW (The Fed Gov is not one ring to rule them all)
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To: Greetings_Puny_Humans

Your problem is that you falsely dichotomize. That some folks at NR are wrong some of the time doesn’t mean that all of them are wrong all of the time.


127 posted on 11/21/2015 3:22:57 PM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: MEG33

Thank you for helping me make my point.


128 posted on 11/21/2015 3:23:33 PM PST by GrouchoTex (...and ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free....)
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To: sitetest

“Your other points, the Founders could barely understand as political issues. Who in the world would argue to the contrary?”

See post 110.

The Trump supporters are apparently becoming ignorant


129 posted on 11/21/2015 3:23:58 PM PST by bestintxas (every time a RINO loses, a founding father gets his wings.)
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To: MEG33

If you wish to believe that Trump is following in the footsteps of the Giuliani and Clinton failed efforts, be my guest.

He’s not.

Once again Ted Cruz cannot win the nomination.

A straight up Conservative hasn’t won it in 32 years, and this is no bell-weather year. For the rest of the pack, it’s a normal year. For Trump, it’s a slam dunk.


130 posted on 11/21/2015 3:25:23 PM PST by DoughtyOne (I support President Pre-elect Donald J. Trump. Karl Rove, the GOPe, and Leftist's worst nightmare.)
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To: sitetest

If you were correct that the founders did not understand the politics of the day, we would all be Brits now.


131 posted on 11/21/2015 3:28:04 PM PST by GrouchoTex (...and ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free....)
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To: CatherineofAragon

Good call by you and your husband. I voted for my last liberal in 2012, as well.


132 posted on 11/21/2015 3:28:12 PM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: GrouchoTex

My pleasure

;o)


133 posted on 11/21/2015 3:28:31 PM PST by MEG33 (God Bless America And Our Troops)
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To: DoughtyOne; MEG33
Well you all keep touting the poles, so Meg just gave an interesting example.

Trump is not inevitable. You can hang your hopes on to the poles if you wish. Nothing is for certain until people vote.

Trump is not inevitable.

134 posted on 11/21/2015 3:32:17 PM PST by Moorings
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To: Moorings
"Trump is a master at re-branding. Re-branding could very well be that you change the package / look and feel / messaging of a product without really changing what is inside."

Agreed. I think he knows his audience very, very well.

135 posted on 11/21/2015 3:32:52 PM PST by CatherineofAragon ("A real conservative will bear the scars...will have been in the trenches fighting."--- Ted Cruz)
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To: Hoodat

In an open primary where our nominee is being selected by Democrats, Independents, and Moderate Republicans, what’s your vision of a Cruz tactic that causes him to get the most votes?

Conservatives are only a dedicated few in the Republican party. We can’t even get the Republican party to join us.

You honestly think Cruz wins in the open primaries?


136 posted on 11/21/2015 3:33:05 PM PST by DoughtyOne (I support President Pre-elect Donald J. Trump. Karl Rove, the GOPe, and Leftist's worst nightmare.)
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To: DoughtyOne

You have admitted that a conservative did win, 32 years ago,which, trust me, isn’t that long ago,it can happen again.Have you also admitted that Cruz is a straight up conservative, unlike the others in the race?


137 posted on 11/21/2015 3:34:40 PM PST by GrouchoTex (...and ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free....)
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To: DJ MacWoW

I’ll be honest, he’s always turned me off. I knew what kind of person he was a few years ago, when he went after Michelle Malkin on Twitter, saying she was a dummy, born stupid, and implying she had a shameful secret in her past. He sat silently while his toadies called her an Asian prostitute.


138 posted on 11/21/2015 3:35:49 PM PST by CatherineofAragon ("A real conservative will bear the scars...will have been in the trenches fighting."--- Ted Cruz)
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To: sitetest

Thank you, sitetest. God bless you.


139 posted on 11/21/2015 3:36:31 PM PST by CatherineofAragon ("A real conservative will bear the scars...will have been in the trenches fighting."--- Ted Cruz)
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To: GrouchoTex

You missed the point. These virtues went largely unremarked because political opposition to them would have been unthinkable.


140 posted on 11/21/2015 3:37:07 PM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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