Posted on 11/30/2015 7:44:46 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
None of us knows how this election is going to play out, but the one thing that we can say is that this has been the most entertaining presidential primary season ever. By far the most amusing part has been the utter state of panic the GOP establishment has been in since the voters took a look at their "electability" candidate, Jeb Bush, and started laughing. Since then one nightmare has followed another. If I'd had the foresight, I could have financed my children's college expenses by selling brown trousers to the US Chamber of Commerce and the GOP Senate caucus.
Right now the GOP establishment is panicking over the specter of a Donald Trump candidacy. But if that wasn't sufficient to get those panties wetted, now a fear of Sen. Ted Cruz is setting in.
Mainstream elected Republicans now see Cruz as a bigger threat than Donald Trump or Ben Carson to clinch the nomination - but equally damaging to their party's chances of winning the White House and keeping the Senate next fall. Rubio would be a much stronger general election standard bearer, they believe.
This, of course, is patent nonsense. For the first time in my memory none of our top tier candidates has an "electablility" issue. Rubio does poll stronger against Clinton, but Clinton is either behind or in a statistical tie with the top six GOP hopefuls.
Cornyn, Thune and Coats have not endorsed in the presidential primary, and lawmakers interviewed for this story said many senior Republicans do not want to embarrass long-shot presidential hopeful Sen. Lindsey Graham by endorsing Rubio while the South Carolina senator is in the race. They're also aware that endorsements from top GOP lawmakers at this point in the primary wouldn't help Rubio's cause with the Republican base.
This is the most delicious part of the entire season. Though the establishment is very unhappy at the thought of Trump or Carson or Cruz, they know they are so toxic with GOP primary voters that their endorsement will sink their candidate. So they are forced to keep quiet, stand on the sidelines and hope for the best.
Cruz scoffed at the notion that Rubio is more electable, telling POLITICO that that's precisely the logic that paved the way for Democrats to win five of the past six popular votes for the White House.
"Democrats also told Republicans Bob Dole was more electable, Democrats also told the press Sen. John McCain was more electable, Democrats also told the press Mitt Romney was more electable," Cruz said. "Then the Democrats were quite happy to go to their inauguration balls."
Cruz predicted that millions of blue-collar Democrats would rally behind him in a general election, like they did with Ronald Reagan three decades ago. Rubio's earlier support for comprehensive immigration reform - or a "massive amnesty plan," in Cruz's words - would preclude that kind of crossover appeal, the Texan said.
But congressional Republicans say the truest indicator of Rubio's strength is the abuse he's getting from Democrats. They've been pounding him daily over missed votes and briefings, while dissecting his policy plans. Cruz, by comparison, has been getting kid-glove treatment, to the extent Democrats mention him at all in opposition dumps from the party apparatus and outside liberal groups.
This last paragraph is meaningful only if you assume that Sen. Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer know what they are doing, electorally. There has been precious little evidence that any Democrat senator has a good grasp on the mood of the nation given their drubbing in 2014. Rubio is attacked because, until now, he has been the highest ranked traditional Republican candidate. As Cruz rises in the polls they will begin attacks on him. Right now, you will note, is the attacks on Rubio are focused not on his conservative credentials but on the times he has voted with the Democrats.
The fundraising reports show that Cruz is running a savvy campaign that is both frugal and results oriented - very much like how we'd like the federal government to operate. Nearly alone among the non-Trump candidates, Cruz is financially positioned to fight the battle to the end. He is in that position because he is not acting as a life support system to RNC endorsed consultants that are sucking the other candidates dry.
The establishment is right to panic over Cruz. There are five or six others who could be more than adequate presidents, certainly - and in this they are like my dog - they would be superior to Obama. Alone of the GOP field, Cruz is the guy who could be a game-changer as president. The more the establishment panics the more my optimism grows.
Voted for Cruz to congress as my State Senator. Would love to vote for the man as my President as well. BUTT -still under the belief that there are doubts about his US citizenship. Just as the same doubts of the Won’s citizenship years ago. Never having believed the Won was actually ‘legal’ ~ the only difference is the fact that Cruz’s legal citizenship status is still unknown. Dear Lord send some type of sign that the man is All American, made in America. When looking for answers to important decisions it is best to go to the top.
GO TRUMP! GO CRUZ~ ~ YOU WIN OR WE LOSE!!
Yes...
Let’s just let people who have at least $500 million of their own money to campaign with ever be elected president.
/sarcasm
Looking at the Realclearpolitics average
Cruz does better than Trump.
Cruz vs Hillary——Hillary +1.3
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_cruz_vs_clinton-4034.html
Trump vs Hillary-—Hillary +4.4
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/us/general_election_trump_vs_clinton-5491.html
P.S. If you want to see some of Ted Cruz’s policies, go to...
TedCruz.org.....that’s TedCruz.org :-)
"Maybe..." "Could be..." Are we going to attack candidates based on unfounded speculation?
What if I said "Maybe Trump is running to help Hillary get elected. It could be that he is trying to turn off conservative voters because he and the Clintons are friends." Would that be a fair criticism of Trump, barring any actual evidence to support it? What if I said those things about Ivanka, and suggested that we should consider Trump suspect as a candidate because of something his daughter MIGHT do?
And those numbers? I'm not convinced, and here's why (I've expressed this before). Veterans and military and those closely connected to them like Trump. Those over age 60 (or so) who grew up in the better US Trump talks about like Trump. Young voters who are as yet unaffiliated are liking Trump's message. Those pockets of excessive support won't show up in a poll.
Logic says match hillary against Trump and Hillary has nothing to offer. With Cruz, I'd suspect there will be voters who take the known over the unknown.
You might want to take a look at the head to head polls between Trump and Hilary and Ted Cruz and Hilary. Those polls don't support your contention.
He may be a grandstanding idiot but he is right.
This comment pretty much puts your opinions in perspective!
I agree, 4-8 years of a Cruz vice-presdidency would a gross waste of mind and leadership.
If you look at Trump’s positions on certain issues, he has been on both sides.
Even on his signature issue of illegal immigration, he had said that Mitt Romney’s “self deportation” stance was “mean-spirited”.
As far as the polls...
A lot of Trump supporters will come here and say look at this poll or that poll...
Trump is “pre-president elect” is how one poster put it.
All the polls can’t be wrong. There may be some out-liers, but all are not wrong.
Now to look at the general election this far out may be problematic.
But 4 years ago, the RCP average had Obama up 0.7%
Of course he won by almost 4.
In the RCP average trump does worse than some of the other candidates against Hillary.
In that poll, Trump performs worse than at least...Carson, Cruz, and Rubio.
If you look at Trump’s positions on certain issues, he has been on both sides.
Even on his signature issue of illegal immigration, he had said that Mitt Romney’s “self deportation” stance was “mean-spirited”.
As far as the polls...
A lot of Trump supporters will come here and say look at this poll or that poll...
Trump is “pre-president elect” is how one poster put it.
All the polls can’t be wrong. There may be some out-liers, but all are not wrong.
Now to look at the general election this far out may be problematic.
But 4 years ago, the RCP average had Obama up 0.7%
Of course he won by almost 4.
In the RCP average trump does worse than some of the other candidates against Hillary.
In that poll, Trump performs worse than at least...Carson, Cruz, and Rubio.
What I’ve just stated is that I don’t think the polls tell the whole story. Military, veterans, senior citizens, and new voters seem to be for Trump in higher percentages than a general poll would pick up on.
Maybe some new voters will vote for Trump because of his celebrity status.
But military and veterans will usually vote republican anyway.
And also remember in 2012...many commentators, pundits, media personalities, and even FreeReoublic posters said that the polls were skewed to over represent democrat votes or to under represent GOP votes.
Turns out most of the polls were right.
Thanks so much! You are part of the many here on FreeR that makes me want to ping to Cruz daily. It’s a labor of love and I hope we can see President Cruz in 2017!
Well then Trump needs to stop complaining and having kissy fits about a "fair" playing field, and stop threatening law suits against those who disagree or oppose him which other candidates don't have the priviledge of doing.. his wealth affords him a huge edge not possible for other candidates without fundraising .....so from the get go Trump hasn't himself been playing "fair".......
Trump complains about everything from media to audio issues and downplayed crowds...to un-'fair' debate questions and when any candidate takes a swing at him....so maybe if the "kitchen is too hot for him" now...he shouldn't be thinking of being President who needs a thick skin........
If he gets a hearing, all hell will break loose. Court after court told Republican after Republican -- including Alan Keyes, who was actually a candidate against Obama in 2008 -- that they have no standing to beef about Obama's ineligibility.
Then let's see them stiff us all on the Obama document trove.
...Said "Dollar Marc" Hanna, about then-VP Theodore Roosevelt. Or, as the English ambassador later on warned his relief just off the boat from Old Blighty, "The thing you have to remember is that the President of the United States is about six."
Wonder what ever happened to old Teddy? Did he ever make anything of himself?
The polls were accurately "adjusted" to anticipate Democrat vote fraud. Great job, guys.
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