“Going after Cruz makes Trump look nasty. This is the kind of thing Obama and the Clintons do.”
Nonsense. Trump hasn’t “gone after Cruz” at all. He’s simply pointed out a problem the Cruz obviously has, and told him what he needs to do to make the issue go away.
And even if he HAD “gone after Cruz” - so what? They’re political rivals! Do we really want to live in an age where you’re not allowed to criticize your opponent? Personally, I had enough of that with McCain’s “you have no reason to fear Obama” and that kind of squishy blather.
Personally, I believe Trump when he says he likes Cruz - in fact, he’s said it over and over again. I could see him listening intently at one of the debates when Cruz was giving an answer, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump pegged Cruz to be his running mate. The thing is, in order to do that, Cruz CAN’T have the cloud of citizenship hanging over his head. So, once AGAIN, Trump’s right - the courts should rule on the matter once and for all, and do it quickly so the issue can either disqualify Cruz or go away.
You stated this very well. I’m cynical enough to believe the whole birther issue is plan between trump and cruz to garner a bunch of free media putting their faces all over the place and taking an issue away from the dems/socialists.
Trump is putting Cruz in the fire now for several reasons. First, it is dramatically raising his level of press exposure to Trumpian levels. Second, it is diffusing what would otherwise be a wedge issue that the Democrats would most certainly use if Cruz is on the ticket in either position. And third, he's testing the character of the man under fire. If Cruz comes through this unscathed, a Trump/Cruz ticket is all but assured of victory. If he stumbles, then Cruz will find another role to play off the ticket.
This also has the effect of continuing to suck the oxygen out of every other campaign's efforts to gain press attention.