Posted on 02/02/2016 3:32:57 PM PST by conservativejoy
To listen to a number of folks in the media, Marco Rubio's third place finish in Iowa is just as good as finishing first. But bronze, no matter how you polish and spin it, ain't never gonna be gold.
Rubio was always expected to come in third, as evidenced by the fact that his own campaign was promoting their "3-2-1" strategy to the media only a few weeks ago. Meaning they hoped to place third in Iowa, second in New Hampshire, and first in South Carolina.
No matter. The real story isn't the brainwashing prowess of Rubio's communications team; the real story is that Cruz beat him with record turnout, something that was supposed to favor Donald Trump, and Rubio is nipping at Trump's heels having finished one percent behind him. And it's worth repeating: Cruz won more Iowa votes than any other Republican in history. In history.
And this isn't your daddy's Iowa caucus, either.
Cruz's win came amid an onslaught of unconventional and negative attacks from both Trump and the GOP establishment. Trump questioned his birth, his finances, his faith, his personality and policy positions. Trump rolled out endorsements, such as Sarah Palin and Jerry Falwell, Jr., that were thought to take support away from Cruz. Mike Huckabee happily assisted, labeling Cruz a phony Christian and questioning his tithing. The governor of Iowa, in an unprecedented move, said Cruz must be stopped at all costs to save Iowa's ethanol program. The list goes on. And yet, Cruz still won more votes than any previous Republican. Even with Ben Carson remaining in the field and taking a healthy 9 percent of the vote.
To be sure, Cruz's opponents will seek to marginalize his win by comparing him to others who won Iowa and later sputtered out. But heâs different. Cruz marches on to New Hampshire with more cash on hand than any other Republican in the field. (Save Donald Trump who could conceivably write checks to his heart's content.) Cruz has more money, nearly $19 million, than Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Chris Christie, and Marco Rubio combined.
Cruz has the money, the infrastructure, and endorsements from conservative influence leaders. Think about Iowa. Trump rolled out the Palin endorsement to drum up conservative support. While Palin is generally well-regarded among conservatives, at least until the Trump endorsement, she doesn't have millions of listeners each week like Glenn Beck who also endorsed Cruz in Iowa. Endorsements are great, but endorsements from influence leaders are the ones that matter.
To be certain, Trump is not done. And no one knows what he will do next.
Trump may be down, but he's not out and any Republican who is going to win the nomination will have to defeat him first.
Comfortable with his then-high poll numbers, Trump skipped the last presidential debate. But there's another debate coming on Saturday night that he will go into weaker than ever. Trump, after bragging endlessly about the polls, has lost the only poll that has mattered thus far: the Iowa caucuses.
Where does Trump turn his fury? It wasn't effective on Cruz. As it likely turns to Rubio, it may be harder for Rubio to execute his 3-2-1 strategy and secure second place in New Hampshire. Trump may be down, but he's not out and any Republican who is going to win the nomination will have to defeat him first.
Cruz has. The next question is, can Rubio?
And despite all that, Trump still finished second.
Good piece.
And his private sector experience from 2008-2013 was leading the firm’s U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice.
You can see the details of those cases here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz
Scroll down to the heading Return to Private Practice.
In 2 cases, the records were sealed.
1 case was thrown out.
1 case was settled out of court, but later won an appeal on the same case.
He lost 3 cases.
I think Cruz and Trump hurt each other with the negative advertising, and Rubio picked up the none-of-the-above vote.
He was acting as the Solicitor General of Texas when he tried those cases. The Supreme Court happens to be located in D.C. For the time it took to present oral arguments before the Supreme Court he had to be physically present. Oral arguments are usually limited to an hour or less. Sheesh!
The big hoopla over Rubio is simply because he is the GOPe chosen one to replace Bush.
Don’t bother wasting your breath. Ol napsy is a dyed in the wool barking moonbat trumpeter. Facts don’t matter to him/her. All that matters is the delusions he/she has managed to embrace. They’ll be on suicide watch when ol Orange Combover finally goes belly up.
Yes...and he would be beholden to so many kingmakers.
I totally agree with you....they complement each other in so many ways...it would be a big shot in the arm for the future of the country.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.