“if he wins the primary, I’ll vote for him in the general.”
“For me, that indicates that most conservatives are still holding out hope that their favorite conservative candidate (Cruz, in most cases) will be the nominee, but that they’re grounded enough in reality to admit that it will probably be Trump. “
Isn’t that the same...THE VERY SAME...’logic’ that has resulted in a RINO dominated GOP? That elected Mitch and Jonbon?
Yes it is.
I’m plenty grounded in reality. I think he will be our next president. Not because he’s the best choice. Not because he is trustworthy. Not because of any reason we -should- want someone elected. I think he will be president for all the reasons you and I have discussed to death over the years.
Because it’s a lesser evil. No matter what. No different than 2012 or 2014 AT ALL. Remember my email to you predicting exactly this the day after Mitt threw the election?
Did I not call this to the letter? OK granted, I didn’t think the rush would happen till later. But it happened and for the same reason.
You’re in Texas. You know the first rule when cattle stampede. “Get the hell out of the way”. We get what we deserve. I want to be wrong. I want Trump to put us on the right path to fixing this mess.
I also want a pony.
The biggest difference is that the GOPe pushes RINOs with all their might—and their might is considerable, thanks to D.C. constantly grabbing more $ and power. With Trump, it is the electorate forcing Trump on the GOPe, while they panic and desperately seek ways to defeat him.
Whatever else he is or isn’t, Trump is anathema to the GOPe. The heartburn and consternation he is causing amongst the likes of Boehner and McConnell is monumental—and this is only the beginning.
Isn’t that the same...THE VERY SAME...’logic’ that has resulted in a RINO dominated GOP? That elected Mitch and Jonbon? Yes it is.
Mitch McConnell and John Boehner were both re-elected while in strong leadership positions. They held the home court advantage as powerful incumbents. People like that are hard to unseat.
Here in Texas, we elected Ted Cruz to the Senate over a sitting Lt. Governor who had the whole establishment party machine backing him. Then again, they were both running for an open seat. There's a difference between that sort of race, and the ones that Boehner and McConnell won.
I'm with you where it comes to explaining the mindset of the voters in Kentucky and Ohio. I mean, WTF, over. I can guarantee you, if I lived in either of those states, I would have voted for the conservative challenger, even if it looked like he might not make it. Congressional races can sometimes come down to just a few thousand votes, so it's well worth it to swim against the tide.
Your guy just might win, if you do.
Now, national elections can be close, too. Look at Bush vs Gore in 2000. If four million Republican voters had stayed home, like they did in 2012, Gore would have won.
Fast forward to the present and we're analyzing the current primary race - not the general. For several reasons, our number one pick isn't drawing anywhere near the level of support that the flamboyant outsider is. A lot of us think it's because:
1. He's only been on the national stage for three years.
2. He's seen as a hardline right-winger by many moderates and left-of-center voters.
3. He's committed three or four unforced errors since entering the race, which has greatly softened his support on the right.
4. He's being weighed against the perceived strengths of the front-runner, and is coming up short in voters' eyes.
5. He's fighting for oxygen like every other candidate.
6. He's consistently in the middle of the pack in polling.
For better or worse, this is all simply the way it is. Tens of millions of minds are rolling this over and are spitting out the results of their individual analyses in poll after poll. Over the last two months, we've begun to see a clear pattern, and unless something drastic happens, the numbers are going to be pretty similar til the voting starts (or folks start dropping out).
Again, we need to remember that we're talking about a primary race - not a general election. We're all still examining the candidates and judging them by their performances on the campaign trail, as well as their policy statements and records.
I know how you feel about Cruz. I do too. I'd like to see him as our president, but I've looked hard at this, and have concluded that it's not his time. Not yet. Perhaps after serving another four to eight years in Washington. Quite honestly, he needs to build a rep that's deep and wide enough to clinch the nomination. He's got to build a power base. I think he'll do that in another four to eight years.
I want to be wrong. I want Trump to put us on the right path to fixing this mess. I also want a pony.
Heh. At least you haven't lost your sense of humor :-)