An Iowa win might make the Trump train unstoppable

politico.com ^ | Eli Stokols and Mike Allen

[RoosterRedux]

Ted Cruz and Donald Trump do agree on one thing--if Trump wins Iowa, he might be unstoppable on his way to winning the Republican presidential nomination.

And they are not alone.

A wide range of senior Republicans told POLITICO that if Trump wins Iowa, he'll more than likely be the nominee. One factor they repeatedly pointed to: An Iowa victory over Cruz would validate opinion polls showing him in command of the race. The Trump phenomenon would officially become a reality.

Mike McSherry, a longtime campaign consultant and former executive director of the Republican Governors' Association, said: "If Trump wins Iowa, I don't know how you'd stop him. All these guys are going to be chewing each other's throats out for second place."

A top official of a rival GOP campaign, speaking anonymously to avoid offending his candidate, said: "If Donald Trump wins Iowa, I think he has won--period. Ted Cruz is supposed to win Iowa. If Trump wins, he'll be on a trajectory to come out of the SEC primaries [March 1] with close to triple the delegates of anyone else."

One of the nation's best-known Republican strategists, speaking on condition of anonymity because of his close connections to the leaders of several of the campaigns, said: "Only Trump can stop himself. All his opponents can do is cause him to do things that make him less appealing."

For weeks, Trump has been telling his crowds here that he thinks a win in the Feb. 1 caucuses would enable him to "run the table."

[longtermmemmory]

The comments on the site remind me of the actor pal of John McCain who was just a red herring conservative vote splitter for the establishment.

Sadly, cruz is dull as dishwater. He is not charismatic or inspiring unless you are in a lawyer convention.

jbush has the “e” support but he only comes alive when he can win by default.

Rubio is another “e” candidate but not ready for prime time.

the rest are non capable of winning a national race.

[bolobaby]

And Trump seems trustworthy to you? LOL!

[wyowolf]

Well Palin endorsed Trump??

[bolobaby]

So? I like Palin, but she basically endorsed McCain too, didn’t she? And Romney. Now Trump.

Just because I was pleased with Palin, doesn’t mean I was happy with McCain, Romney, or, now, Trump.

Is this hard to figure out?

[Paul R.]

There is considerable reason to doubt Trump’s conservatism, at least on some issues. On others he’s been more consistent. (I read a couple of his books, several years back.)

However, to keep the bulk of his “loyal followers” (among whom I do not presently count myself) loyal, he almost HAS to try to blow up the uniparty. That alone does seem worth the risks...

The curious thing HERE is how persons who say they are open to Cruz or Trump vs. the Dems are attacked by (some) Cruz supporters in such fashion as to drive the “either might be ok” people away from Cruz. Cruz supporters seem to have had some of Cruz’ personality rub off on them, but cannot see it, or cannot see why it causes that reaction. This happens with some Trump supporters too (they might actually drive people away from Trump), but their numbers seem to be lower.

Just an observation. Have a good weekend, regardless. :-)

[Paul R.]

Maybe I was just spoiled by Reagan “The Great Communicator”.

[CottonBall]

Mire than a career politician.

[GilGil]

And that is the difference between Trump and the others.

Trump is clear that he cannot do it all himself and he better be real good at delegating to the right talent.

That is why his entire business conglomerate is humming along without him having to micro-manage. That is how he runs his campaign. I’ll bet also that his campaign lieutenants have been dangled some pretty juicy carrots if Trump becomes the nominee and the prez.

I am certain Trumps knows how to fire but also how to reward handsomely.

[longhorn too]

This is exactly why the country needs a national primary day where all states get to vote on same day keeping small states like Iowa and New Hampshire from picking the winners!