I think the citizens are sending a very loud message here and yet the tone-deaf establishment don't want to hear it and they continue to try the old "gotcha" methods to destroy candidates they would like to disqualify from the running.
If these post-debate polls are true, and I have no reason to believe they are not, based on Twitter trends I will post below, than the effort to run Trump out of the race has backfired badly.
Now most of us Freepers know that the best conservative in this race is probably Ted Cruz. And there are flame-wars going on right now between the pro-Cruz and pro-Trump camps.
Hate to see that. Everybody should calm down. The primaries are still nearly half a year away. A lot can happen between now and then so no need to make enemies of each other just yet.
I think no matter how things turn out this cycle, Ted Cruz is going to go nowhere but up and will be part of our movement for years to come. But right now, it's time to break some eggs and you know that you need to break eggs to make an omelet. Or something like that.
Anyway, behold the Twitter numbers as they stand yesterday. I did update Trump's numbers for today as he's going absolutely gangbusters - he's been gaining 30,000 followers a day since Saturday.
| Name | Twitter Handle | 8/1/2015 | 8/9/2015 | Gain |
| Donald Trump | @realDonaldTrump | 3,409,127 | 3,646,324 | 237,197 |
| Marco Rubio | @marcorubio | 772,150 | 806,802 | 34,652 |
| Rand Paul | @RandPaul | 654,236 | 665,417 | 11,281 |
| Ben Carson | @RealBenCarson | 393,107 | 468,639 | 75,532 |
| Ted Cruz | @tedcruz | 443,426 | 464,381 | 20,955 |
| Carly Fiorina | @CarlyFiorina | 384,524 | 441,906 | 57,382 |
| Mike Huckabee | @GovMikeHuckabee | 378,172 | 389,206 | 11,034 |
| Rick Perry | @GovernorPerry | 305,523 | 311,354 | 5,831 |
| ¿Jeb Bush | @JebBush | 239,197 | 256,770 | 17,573 |
| Rick Santorum | @RickSantorum | 236,439 | 239,246 | 2,807 |
| Bobby Jindal | @BobbyJindal | 203,428 | 207,928 | 4,500 |
| Scott Walker | @ScottWalker | 167,564 | 184,908 | 17,344 |
| John Kasich | @JohnKasich | 80,497 | 95,032 | 14,536 |
| George Pataki | @GovernorPataki | 45,350 | 45,716 | 366 |
| Chris Christie | @ChrisChristie | 40,234 | 41,556 | 1,322 |
| Linda Graham | @LindseyGrahamSC | 23,043 | 24,031 | 988 |
| Jim Gilmore | @gov_gilmore | 356 | 851 | 495 |
“Now most of us Freepers know that the best conservative in this race is probably Ted Cruz. And there are flame-wars going on right now between the pro-Cruz and pro-Trump camps.”
That’s why I’d like to see a Cruz/Trump or Trump/Cruz ticket with Palin, Carson, et al added to cabinet positions.
Carson is another guy I want to see more of. I would hope that Carson plays some role in a future administration at the least.
It’s time we get people in there who aren’t politicians by trade.
Jim Gilmore has 851 followers??? Maybe they thought he was the guy from Pink Floyd.
I still am voting Cruz in the primaries. The man has earned that from me for his heroism in the senate against the most vicious attacks.
The fact is though, even if Trump collapses, the backup candidates (Cruz and Carson) are right now 2ND AND 3RD!!!
Yeb and the rest lag. Barring any major screwup, no establishment candidate is positioned to win this election. That is a good thing, Trump or not.