Posted on 02/03/2016 12:26:22 PM PST by conservativejoy
In the aftermath of Monday's Iowa caucus results, political pundits have had plenty to ponder. One of the biggest headlines of the night was Ted Cruz's resounding defeat of Donald Trump, the unconventional front-runner widely expected to win in the state.
Some blamed Trump's second-place finish on his decision to skip last week's debate, which not only gave his competitors an extra chance to address voters but gave some Iowans the impression that they had been "snubbed" by the billionaire candidate.
Syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh, however, had a different hypothesis, asserting Tuesday on his program that he does not think "skipping the debate had a thing to do with" the Iowa result.
The root cause of the Hawkeye State standings is much deeper, the host explained.
"This is a Republican primary," he said. "It's Iowa. Conservatives win in Iowa."
Specifically citing the negative barbs being hurled at Cruz, Limbaugh concluded that Trump has not been looking too conservative in the eyes of more and more GOP voters.
"Donald Trump ... went out and tried to criticize Ted Cruz," he said, reiterating that such intraparty squabbles are antithetical to the common mission of everyone in the Republican primary race.
"Ted Cruz isn't the enemy," Limbaugh insisted. "Hillary Clinton is not the enemy. Ted Cruz is not a nasty guy. Ted Cruz is not a Canadian."
Not only do Trump's allegations fall flat, the host concluded, they are also hopelessly unconvincing in their current packaging.
"Nobody is going to believe that," Limbaugh said, "especially when you offer that criticism sounding as though it could come with Bernie Sanders. In a Republican primary, you do not win if you're going to sound like a liberal Democrat criticizing Ted Cruz."
you made it by a minute and a half! lol
“Last time I checked, Cruz was/is a US citizen.”
He is. But, by birth, he’s a Canadian, and was up to a couple of years ago.
If I moved to Italy - even if I became an Italian citizen, it would be perfectly understandable for people to refer to me as “The American,” because that was my country of origin and the country where I came from.
Same thing as calling Cruz “Canadian.”
With 13 candidates in the race 4 percent is indeed a big margin. That's one seventh of his entire vote count.
Exactly! Iowa does not have a good history of selecting the nominee. It does have a good history for elimination of the bottom tier of also rans.
It takes a difference of 120+ delegates to even make 1% difference in the delegate count. Iowa was essentially a three way tie.
Noting that I will vote for either Trump or Cruz, somebody please send me a message the first time that Rush mentions Congresss constitutional Article I, Section 8-limited powers.
Rush is digging a very big hole for himself.
Last week, Rush was shilling for Cruz. This week, it's all about how great Rubio is. Rush is constantly telling his listeners that he doesn't endorse in the primary but his actions say otherwise.
I've been listening for 16 years and I'm astonished by what he has been saying the last week or so.
Rush’s BOMB days are fading. I think we are beginning to witness his decline.
Rush used to set up us the BOMB. For great justice!
Rush has gotten so big and so comfortable with being “the big voice on the right” that he has also become establishment IMO. He cannot endure a radical right change or he is out of business. He needs the leftward rot to continue relevance. A radical right revolution that casts off the chains of socialism is not good for his business. That being said, I love Rush. Listen almost daily. And pray for the day his services are no longer needed.
Agreed.
Wrong. It might well have cost Trump the victory. He could have held the benefit on a different night.
Trump narrowly missed getting the most votes because some of his supporters stayed home. Not his solid supporters. But those on the fence. We’re only talking a couple thousand supporters.
Not attending the debate was the right move for Trump. But I would guess that the fence-sitters were influenced by Fox News’ slanted coverage and their agenda to get good ratings for the debate that they were hosting.
Trump’s childish attacks on Cruz probably had little influence on the fence sitters. Those attacks didn’t help Trump, but I doubt they hurt him. Rush has been pushing the “11th commandment” for decades, but it doesn’t apply here.
Also, Rubio flooded the state with effective flyers and TV ads. One woman said that at her caucus young men mentioned that they were registered Dems but switched to vote for Rubio.
“This is a Republican primary,” he said. “It’s Iowa. Conservatives win in Iowa.”
Specifically citing the negative barbs being hurled at Cruz, Limbaugh concluded that Trump has not been looking too conservative in the eyes of more and more GOP voters
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PRECISELY!!
I have listened for 20+ years. But we don’t need anymore hosts with loud voices urging us to fight while they hold our coats. We need real leaders to clean out the rot.
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