The “anyone but Cruz” hysteria grows to a crescendo

Hot Air ^ | December 2, 2015 | Jazz Shaw

[Isara]

The latest Q-Polls (which Ed already covered for you) solidified a recent trend which more than a few people had been predicting. The Donald may still be on top, but Ted Cruz is circling like a shark and is rapidly moving withing striking distance. And don’t think that people haven’t noticed… they have, and more than a few are beyond unhappy over these recent developments. As long as it was just Trump and Ben Carson at the top of the heap with everyone else in single digits, both the media and the GOP establishment seemed content to simply ignore the Texas senator as one more member of a choir nobody was really listening to. But now Cruz is in double digits, joining a very small, elite club, and is nearing a statistical tie with Trump in Iowa. Sweaty palms inside the Beltway and around Manhattan have ensued.

Ed cited Chris Cillizza, who described Cruz as the “sleeping giant” in the race.

Dig deeper into the findings and things look even better for the senator from Texas. Although Cruz is at 16 percent among all Republicans, he runs significantly stronger among three subgroups: "very" conservative voters, tea party supporters and white born-again/evangelical voters. Those subgroups are also the three most important and powerful when it comes to deciding the GOP nominee in 2016.

When it comes to the mainstream media, however, Cillizza’s may be the only kind (or at least objective) voice out there in terms of evaluating Ted Cruz. As a counterpoint, take a look at Frank Bruni’s 25 paragraph long hysterical diatribe against Cruz in the New York Times. To read the man’s panic-stricken ranting you’d think Godzilla had just shown up in Arlington and was headed for the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bridge.

More and more Republican insiders talk about a battle between Cruz and Marco Rubio for the nomination, or about a three-way, if you will, among Cruz, Rubio and Trump.

And in the voices of these insiders I hear horror, because Trump and Cruz are nasty pieces of work.

Cruz will work overtime in the months ahead to persuade you otherwise. The religious right already adores him, but to go the distance, he needs more support from other, less conservative Republicans, and he knows it. Expect orchestrated glimpses of a high-minded Cruz, less skunk than statesman, his sneer ceding territory to a smile…

Anyone but Cruz: That's the leitmotif of his life, stretching back to college at Princeton. His freshman roommate, Craig Mazin, told Patricia Murphy of The Daily Beast: "I would rather have anybody else be the president of the United States. Anyone. I would rather pick somebody from the phone book."

It's not easy to come across on-the-record quotes like that, and Mazin's words suggest a disdain that transcends ideology. They bear heeding.

That was, as I alluded to above, only a sample from a long, long essay. All of it is of the same distinct flavor. This sudden movement to Crucify Cruz (Cruzify?) is really just the next phase of the GOP establishment and their liberal critics doing just what they’ve been attempting to do regarding Donald Trump. The real irony in all of this is the same thing I mentioned back in the spring, long before Trump was officially on the scene. At that time, Cruz was supposed to be “the crazy man” in the race. Everyone hated him… and by “everyone” I mean the people who didn’t want to see a conservative firebrand who would rock the establishment boat running off with the nomination. Cruz has made so many enemies inside the Republican Party power structure that I doubt even he can keep track of them all.

He also built a reputation for being the sole person to blame for the government shutdown, though I’ve never been entirely clear as to how one freshman senator ever accumulated that sort of earthshaking power. He’s definitely had a take no prisoners attitude from day one, though, and that makes people nervous. The rather humorous point of all this is that Cruz may have been one of the biggest benefactors of Trump’s rise. As I suggested above, Cruz was supposed to be the crazy horse in the field. But once Trump arrived everyone forgot about him and Trump’s bodacious antics actually made Ted Cruz look more mainstream.

It’s not just the political Left like Frank who are on board with this theme. Here’s a tweet from this morning by Bill Kristol.

is the GOP establishment mobilizing to fight the last war? Panicked about @realDonaldTrump, but probably should worry more about @tedcruz.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) December 2, 2015

I’m not sure if the panic button has actually been pushed yet, but it’s getting close to that point. If this race were to come down to a choice between Trump and Cruz I think you’d see some GOP power brokers jumping off the Washington Monument.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Panic baby, panic.

The shark is circling.

[conservativejoy]

Obama was going to do the Iran deal without Congress. The Corker bill assured that Congress had the right to approve or disapprove of the deal. The fact that the deal has not received Congressional approval means the next President can nullify the deal.

Trump has said he would not tear up the deal but enforce it. There is no way to make the Iran deal anything but a disaster for the Free World. Cruz said he would shred the deal on Day 1.

[Slyfox]

His freshman roommate, Craig Mazin, told Patricia Murphy of The Daily Beast: "I would rather have anybody else be the president of the United States ...

Sounds like Ted got himself another roommate after his freshman year because his first one was an @$$hole.

[Dave W]

The reason Trump is discounted is because a significant amount of support are from people who don’t usually vote. No one knows if Trump can really motivate them enough for him to win. Almost no one thinks Trump will win in Iowa because 40% of the ones who vote in the caucus are evangelical and are more conservative than the average Trump supporter. But I do think he has a chance in New Hampshire, since the voters there are more moderate...not nearly as many conservatives as in Iowa.

[subterfuge]

Why the long post? You support Trump. Don’t be afraid to say it.

[Duchess47]

Well said.

[VanDeKoik]

“The reason Trump is discounted is because a significant amount of support are from people who don’t usually vote”

And people that arrogant deserve to have whomever they support lose. That would be an irresponsible thing to rely on.

” Almost no one thinks Trump will win in Iowa”

Which is not true. And you have to remember, no one “wins” Iowa. It isnt a winner take all state.

“...because 40% of the ones who vote in the caucus are evangelical and are more conservative than the average Trump supporter.”

A goofy assumption that just because someone is “evangelical” that they will vote X way guaranteed. Trump can easily take 10% of them and 50% of the rest. And this is also assuming that the darling of the christian vote in Iowa for weeks, Carson, gets no votes. He is very likely to still pick up something.

[VanDeKoik]

“Why the long post? You support Trump. Don’t be afraid to say it.”

I’m not hiding it. But if I was still on the Cruz side, I would be a bit annoyed at what it has come down to in order to get my guy over the top.

I just wonder why someone on that side isnt sounding at least some concern at this plan?

[heshtesh]

Frankly it’s embarrassing. If Cruz had been Trump back in August, then we would not be in December having to have pedantic blog posts breathless trying to convince everyone that this was all part of a brilliant plan and it’s about to happen “any minute now”, or the numerous attempts at shaming people for being behind Trump.

I’m not the least bit nervous,lots of time before the first vote is cast.

[Lisbon1940]

Trump is bodacious, not Cruz.

[heshtesh]

Trump is bodacious, not Cruz.

Thanks that’s the leadership quality i was looking for.........guess i’ll have to switch to Trump now!!////

[caww]

As the article states....Sweaty palms inside the Beltway and around Manhattan have ensued over Cruz....and right on schedule...

Ted is one of the few people who have stood up to Obama and politicians on both sides of the aisle for years, is fearless and talented to do so and has the intelligence to deal with very complicated issues...Every once in a while there comes along a candidate who is head and shoulders above the rest...that would be Ted Cruz... He's the rare candidate who stands his ground, and not through intimidation rather he doesn't come unhinged and always maintains his cool...a thinker and a doer.

“Ted Cruz has no fear!” as has been stated.....when Ramos went after him in the interview ring early on Ted never allowed him to get the gotcha moment Ramos was so intent on getting.... Cruz wasn't about to take the bait.. from marriage to immigration Cruz brought up the Constitution, rights of the states, and made the case that certain supreme court decisions were unconstitutional because they took powers away from the states.

Katie Couric was another hit.... Couric asked Cruz if he has “any empathy” for immigrants as he opposes Barack Obama. Not missing a beat, Cruz zinged the liberal Couric, reminding her that it was Hillary Clinton who first started the birther campaign.

He's wonderful to watch as the press leans in for those moments he won't give them!...and He's a constitutional genius.... He can think circles around the mainstream media!!!

[papertyger]

Not sure I buy that line.

I don’t know why the Senate needs to “insure” future reversibility of executive overreach on something they are Constitutionally empowered to stop all on their own.

I’m certainly open to explanations that don’t “presume and excuse” the Senate’s duplicity.

[papertyger]

Trump has said he would not tear up the deal but enforce it. There is no way to make the Iran deal anything but a disaster for the Free World.

I certainly trust a world-class deal maker to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear with regard to Iran, as I do Ted's "explanation" of Corker.

[georgiarat]

Trump and Cruz are both acceptable. Cruz will be better off not to take a polling lead until the primaries start. If he leads too early the establishment will go after him hard. Right now they want him to bring down Trump as soon as possible. To this point Cruz has played it perfectly.

[conservativejoy]

Enforcing that the U.S. has to protect Iran from Israel taking out their nuclear facilities can’t be fixed. Iran monitoring themselves with no inspections that include a U.S. representative can’t be fixed. There’s more, but you get the point.

[conservativejoy]

Enforcing that the U.S. has to protect Iran from Israel taking out their nuclear facilities can’t be fixed. Iran monitoring themselves with no inspections that include a U.S. representative can’t be fixed. There’s more, but you get the point.

[papertyger]

Please address why the Senate can’t put a stop to a treaty regardless of what the Executive tries to camouflage it as.

Furthermore, “can’t be fixed” for a guy that buys bad contracts for a living is rather conceited.

[NeoCaveman]

Does this mean the attack poodles will be called off of Trump.

[conservativejoy]

If Trump enforces the Iran agreement, it will still be a disaster. It’s like trying to polish a t*rd. The agreement says that the U.S. has to defend Iran from an Israeli attack.

What’s conceited is comparing an arms agreement with a real estate deal.

The President has authority to negotiate agreements. This Congress hasn’t stopped him from doing anything yet.