Posted on 01/15/2016 4:38:45 PM PST by conservativejoy
They're framing this, cleverly, in Trumpian terms. Trump likes to say that he never attacks, he only counterpunches. A man who attacks without provocation is a bully; a man who counterpunches is simply defending himself. We're the ones counterpunching now, though, says Team Cruz. It was Trump who hit us below the belt by attacking Cruz's eligibility. The bully wanted a fight and now he's got one.
Buckle up.
"If Donald wants to have honest, open policy contrasts, we're ready for that," campaign chairman Chad Sweet said. "If, on the other hand, he's going to engage in discussions over nonsensical issues, over birther issues or who's the real evangelical-which, by the way, someone from his background should be careful about questioning the faith of our candidate," something Trump has also done recently.
Asked what he meant by Trump's "background," Sweet continued, referencing a Trump appearance at a cattle call in Iowa last summer. "I think it's interesting that Trump ... basically said at [a] family values forum he's never asked for forgiveness, but yet he is Christian. I would ask most Christians the question, 'What is the first thing you do to become a Christian?' Christians know what the answer to that question is."
"A thrice-married man is going to come into South Carolina expecting to be the Republican nominee?" [Charlie] Condon asked incredulously. "He's pro-choice. He's pro-gay marriage. He's against traditional values. He's New York, and he's got to talk about that."
Newt Gingrich was "thrice-married" when he won South Carolina in 2012 but Gingrich's conservative record is a bit sturdier than Trump's is. Million-dollar question, then: Why now? Cruz has spent six months scrupulously avoiding perceptions of conflict with Trump in order to stay on the good side of Trump fans. His spokesman tells Politico that they think they can maintain their second-choice status among Trumpers based on the fact that it was Trump who started this, not Cruz. I don't know - attacking him as a pro-abortion, pro-SSM phony Christian is about as rough as it gets in a primary. There won't be many Trump fans shifting from Cruz to Rubio as a second choice, I assume, but there may be some who, when the dust settles, decide that they'd rather stay home now if Trump's not the nominee than go to bat for Cruz.
I think Matt Lewis is right that this is more a matter of timing than anything else. Cruz sat back for months on end waiting for Trump to fade and for his fans to stampede over into Camp Cruz when he did. It didn't happen. Now he has to choose: Continue to hold his fire and risk losing Iowa, which may ruin Cruz's chances at the nomination and render the "second choice" issue moot, or throw the kitchen sink at Trump and hope that Trump fans forgive him for it later this spring? (If and when Trump fades, Cruz's conciliatory charm offensive towards Trump and his fans will, I assume, be completely, obsequiously insufferable.) He can't afford to hold back any longer now that Iowans are starting to make up their minds. At least if he loses he can tell himself that he left it all on the field. Imagine if he had continued to hug Trump and ended up in second place because of it.
There's some truth to this too:
Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, and Lindsey Graham hit Trump repeatedly when they were polling a combined three or four percent in the polls. It was a plea for attention and may have been seen as desperate by voters. Cruz is strong enough in Iowa and elsewhere that he can do it without fear of being accused of a publicity stunt. He's attacking Trump alpha to alpha. I wonder if, a few months from now, Trump will look back and wonder why he didn't start attacking Cruz much earlier, explicitly in terms of his beta-male toadying. Oh well.
Exit question: Will this start a pile-on of Trump among the rest of the field? So long as Cruz (and Jeb Bush) are taking the brunt of Trump's wrath, there's really no reason for Rubio not to join in. Via BuzzFeed, Rand Paul is now saying things like "my every waking hour is to try to stop Donald Trump from being our nominee." That's a sentiment widely shared among Republican pols.
that is an act of 1790 which was repealed in 1795, taking out the natural born citizen.
“Instead of making vile criticisms, maybe a better idea would be to pray for Trump to accept Christ, if he hasn’t done so already.”
I’m a Cruz supporter and I do pray for Trump to come to a saving knowledge of Christ, that to me is far more important than whether or not he becomes POTUS. As for Trump as a candidate, I like A LOT of what he says, and I especially liked him last night owning the fact that he’s angry, and many of the rest of us are too about the way our country is being run. But in assessing the candidate I will support, I must look at the overall character of the man. And in Trump, I see someone with a lot of pride who is very boastful, has changed numerous positions in recent years (supported Obama in 2008, said great things about Hillary in 2007 for example), and yes, he does not seem to share all of my values. Doesn’t mean I hate the guy — I actually like him a lot, I think he’s entertaining, and I think he would be far better than any other viable GOP candidate this cycle besides Cruz. I just happen to like Cruz better because, despite a few minor issues such as his initial vote for TPA, he is by far the most consistent conservative in this race.
He was a citizen at birth, due to an act of congress. That is not NBC.
I like the Cruz surveillance position. So what?
Thank you.
Gov. Cuomo: Pro-life, pro-gun conservatives ‘have no place’ in New York... Sean Hannity just reminded me
Maybe this is part of the NY values Cruz spoke of
Ad hominem...We’d all be better staying out of each other’s perceived religious beliefs and practices as is it not our place. We have enough of our own faults to work on without speculating on others.
Cruz was not born on our soil. You MUST BE BORN ON OUR SOIL!!
_____________________
Uninformed statement on your part. If this were true how did McLame run for president. According to you, every dependent born to a U.S. military member would not be eligible.
Best advice I have for you to stop proclaiming yourself as an expert on these matters and just shut up.
Spit out the Kool-Aid while you still have half a brain left.
Tell that to your donnie.
But he is a great Christian. He even says so.
Trump can say and do anything and his worshipers will abandon their principles to adopt it.
If it makes you feel better about yourself, ok.
You are in for such a horrible fall. I wish you the best in your long recovery.
Trump is just a paler version of Obama. The Donald is just as conceited and vain as Obama. Donald will say anything in his quest to gain power.
I thought Cruz said he would run a clean campaign and didn’t need to be a typical politician.
“There were dozens of lawsuits on the birther issue against Obama. “
1. They were AFTER he was elected.
2. He had allies in the form of cowardly RINOs. Cruz will have no such allies on the democrat side.
“They could easily know that Reagan was against communism even when still in the Democratic party? And also knowing it is the ‘liberal’ that loves communism, they could make the connection.”
I’m sure that’s why Trump worked 16 hour days, so he could hand over everything he earned to a communist government. You see communists working their butts off all the time... no, not quit right - it’s those jealous of those that have been successful that are communists/progressives/liberals.
Trump has lived as a capitalist with everything he’s done. Politicians just talk about it, while living off the taxpayers.
“FR may not come back from its compromising conservatism for populism.”
You Cruzers sure are threatening FR a lot. Is that what adults do when they don’t like how things are - threaten and stomp their feet?
“Oh, the delusion and hypocrisy of Trumpettes is amazing. Trump insults and degrades people on a regular basis...”
Your sentence is an example of hypocrisy. Yours.
You didn’t answer my question about U.S. Military dependents that were born in other countries while their fathers were serving as to ‘not being eligible’.
If you can’t contribute valid documented facts showing that these children are not U.S. citizens then I suggest you just avoid responding.
I must warn you to be careful and thorough in your response, as I am quite well-versed on this matter.
It may surprise you, but I will vote for Trump if he is the nominee. Cruz is my first choice.
The issue is not and never has been “citizenship”. The issue is “natural born “ as apposed to “foreign born’. Statutes clearly state that US dependent children on military bases are “ NATURAL BORN” .there is a specific statute for the panama canal ( which we gave away!! Oddly enough that McCain jack ass was not born on base and was not eligible as “Natural born” as a matter of fact ( God what a horrible candidate he was). any way look it up on Google. I have posted the stature several times and not necessary for you.
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