Posted on 05/30/2016 8:23:43 AM PDT by conservative98
When Donald Trump collected a few unbound delegates last week, surpassing the 1,237 needed to clinch the Republican nomination for president, expectations that the national convention could be the most dramatic in modern times evaporated.
“Now, it will be the most entertaining,” said Randy Evans, a party-wise man from Georgia, with a nod to the reality TV star’s promise to “put some show biz” into the July convention in Cleveland.
But there remains an important, unscripted drama yet to unfold in the tempestuous relationship between Trump and his chief rival, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
Although Trump will arrive in Cleveland as the victor and Cruz the vanquished, the politics of the moment suggest that Trump needs Cruz — to reassure nervous conservatives — more than Cruz needs Trump, whose defeat in November would fulfill Cruz’s frequent prediction and best serve the 45-year-old Texan’s future presidential ambitions.
“If he does not endorse and Trump loses, Cruz gets to step out on Nov. 9 and say, ‘See what I said,’ ” said Evans, a member of the Republican National Committee’s Rules Committee who, as chairman of the Republican National Lawyers Association, stayed neutral in the race. +In Cleveland, Trump may need Cruz more than Cruz needs him photo Drew Angerer U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to the media as he returns to his office at the U.S. Capitol on May ... read more
“Cruz is a brilliant strategist, a long-term player. He’s got cards to play, and I fully expect him to play a few of those cards,” Evans said. “I think Cruz’s theme will be to say, `You’re the nominee, but I’m the party. You’re the name on the ballot, but I’m the one who represents, who epitomizes what it means to be a Republican.’”
Cruz ended his campaign May 3 after a bitter defeat in Indiana, dropping out shortly after lashing out at the man who had spent months calling him “Lyin’ Ted.”
“This man is a pathological liar,” Cruz said of Trump. “He doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies. He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth.” +In Cleveland, Trump may need Cruz more than Cruz needs him photo Nicholas K. Geranios Jennifer Fetters of Bellevue, Wash., works the Ted Cruz booth at the Washington state GOP convention May 19.
Cruz also called Trump “utterly amoral,” adding that “morality does not exist for him.”
“I don’t see how you can take those words back, particularly if part of your appeal is that you’re not a traditional politician, that ‘I tell it like it is,’ ” University of Houston political scientist Richard Murray said. “I can’t see how that would work.”
For many admirers of Cruz, the very thought of endorsing Trump remains repugnant. +In Cleveland, Trump may need Cruz more than Cruz needs him photo Rodger Mallison Delegates cheer as Sen. Ted Cruz speaks at the Republican Party of Texas state convention in Dallas on May 14.
“Cruz should maintain his sterling conservative brand and stay far away from the Trump train and its inevitable wreckage,” said CNN contributor Amanda Carpenter, Cruz’s former communications director in the Senate. “Even if Trump wins the White House, he’ll have done it in a low-down, dirty way that no one with any integrity should be proud to endorse.”
almost perfect minds......LOL!
“Cruz and Rubio are nothing but second rate con men. Exposed and finished off. A first rate con man is someone like a Bernie Madoff. Cruz couldn’t even shine Bernie’s shoes. He’s DONE.”
What does that say about certain politicians who are urging Rubio to run again for his Senate seat?
The war is over. We lost.
Loving to see FreeRepublic using Alinski tactics against Ted Cruz.
. It’s not enough to simply lie about your opponent. You must attack him where he has his greatest strength. If his appeal is that he is a good man, who keeps his word, loves his family, etc., then that’s exactly where he must be discredited. Alynski credits Lucifer in his book as one of the inspirations for his theory, and I can see why. Defamation is an evil on the same level as murder and adultery. They all made the 10 Commandments. Something to consider before going down that dark path.
It’s a different color sky in the land of Orange Wonderful.
What are you? 12? You used to post like an adult. What happened to you?
Tell it, brother.
Yes, I accuse Cruz of lack of character. My evidence includes his campaign tactics, his campaign manager, his allegiance with Glen Beck, his lack of disclosure on Goldman Sachs loans & his multitude of documented lies.
Yes, Cruz is the epitome of the GOPe, but that is not what it means to be a Republican. He is the epitome of the Bushes, McCain, Romney...not a conservative in the bunch.
Cruz, utterly amoral (ask the National Enquirer); a liar (ask Ben Carson); never a Conservative (Heidi - - - Goldman-Sachs, CFR, Globalist); a TPP sort of guy; etc.
How about you tell us what the lies that we’re telling about Cruz are before you start lecturing us, hmmm?
It says the politicians are corrupt to the core.
“I don’t post as much as I used to actually. I try to stay off the Trump threads. “
I suggest that you try HARDER.
Yep. Trump is calling on Rubio to run again for his senate seat.
Incidentally, what is this fairly new phenomenon of summoning all of the flying monkeys to your aid when responding to someone? It’s really strange; kinda gives the impression of insecurity.
Gee, project much?
Your guy couldn’t even break 70% percent running unopposed.
That spastic attempt at the old "I'm Rubber, You're Glue" defense notwithstanding, the point nonetheless stands. You're clearly in willing, glassy-eyed thrall to what the electorate ultimately (and quire rightly, I might add) came to recognize as a gibbering, self-aggrandizing lunatic; shying away from him electorally, en masse, as one might a proffered handful of live beetles.
Completely within your rights to do so, of course... but, still: wear it. Own it.
You have yet to answer my question.
What lies have we told about Mr. Cruz?
How shrewd you are. I guess my National Merit Scholarship, Magna cum lauds college degree and medical degree are all part of a huge ruse. I won’t list my IQ score (well above genius level).
Spare me the condescension, numbnuts.
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