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.
You better begin figuring he is Trump without the baggage like mouth or arrogance.
Ted is the real deal.
I am a Cruz supporter, in word and donations. But I am not anti-Trump. I am amazed that these 2 camps fight each other so viciously on FR, when the 2 candidates themselves do not do so. But to bring up a plane? Really? We’re all doomed!
Yeah, I hear you.
Personally I knew we were doomed the day Terry McAuliffe got elected governor of my state, but that’s a whole ‘nother story entirely...
Rich Lowry’s support of Cruz goes back to touting Cruz against Dewhurst. I gotta laugh when you folks say Lowry is part of the establishment.
Yeah , we had Governors Bush, Perry, and now Abbott. Some disagreements, but all-in-all, it has been good in Texas.
Ted, like every other politician has donors. I’m sorry but I think TPA was payback. No other reason makes sense. And it has enabled the Iran deal and now TPP.
These are not small issues, it was outright betrayal. I don’t post all that much on it because if Cruz should be the nominee I’d want to support him. Unlike others on this board who repeatedly call Trump names and insult him.
But TPA was a big damn deal!
I would not mind a Trump/Cruz ticket, and believe it would be a winning ticket.
Perhaps in time, Cruz will join Trump and actually state that he is NOT against deportation of Illegals. I have not seen Cruz separate himself from the Republicans who want to give the Illegals amnesty.
I’m hoping Trump does not waste Cruz at VP. He would be an outstanding Attorney General.
He's the editor at National Review, a RINO Fortress of hell. If he's not establishment, nobody is.
Trump/Cruz or Cruz/Trump. I’m thrilled either way.
I miss the original NR. After Bill died, I quit subscribing
Tanks,almost be too many to choose from.
I kind likes the “crying blue”,but then I thinks of one in his jumpsuit,ya know
It’s all tight in the crotch and butt area and kinda make me think of my own sexy self.
Last I checked, Tom is not running, so you are correct.
I, as a Cruz guy, would be fine with that. Best 2 in the pack, so far.Time may even change my mind. A long way to go yet.
LMAO.
Trump needs to win the nomination and the general before he appoints anyone to anything.
Yes, Ted has his donors, like me.
I saw him firsthand when he ran in a runoff for Senator against a GOPe David Dewhurst over a friend’s house down the street from me in Houston.
He is a non-nonsense, family-oriented, Christian conservative.
He is one who need here in USA who will return us from the disaster called Obama.
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