Ted Cruz Questions Donald Trump's 'Judgment' to Be President (Uh oh)

NY Times ^ | Maggie Haberman and Matt Flegenheimer

[RoosterRedux]

Senator Ted Cruz raised questions on Wednesday at a private fund-raiser about whether Donald J. Trump, his bombastic rival for the Republican presidential nomination, has the "judgment" to be president and mused about "strength," according to two people who attended the event in Manhattan

The remarks from Mr. Cruz came as he has studiously avoided public criticism of Mr. Trump, who is handily beating the rest of the Republican field in opinion polls.

Mr. Cruz has positioned himself to be the beneficiary of any erosion of support for Mr. Trump. While he has said he doesn't agree with Mr. Trump's proposal for a ban on Muslim immigrants entering the United States, he has taken pains to praise Mr. Trump for making immigration a focal point of his candidacy.

But inside a conference room in a Madison Avenue office, with about 70 people pressed around a table, Mr. Cruz gave a candid assessment of the race, lumping Mr. Trump with another candidate whose supporters the Texas senator hopes to poach, Ben Carson, according to two people present for the remarks.

[Parley Baer]

It is from the New York Times. So major confirmation is needed. The NYT lies through its teeth.

[caww]

Mr. Cruz, questioned about the remarks on Thursday after a speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, said he was ...not going to comment on what I may or may not have said at a private fund-raiser.

What I will say is this,.... In the course of a presidential election, the voters are going to make a decision about every candidate. And ultimately the decision is, who has the right judgment experience and judgment to serve as commander in chief?... And every one of us who is running is being assessed by the voters under that metric. And that is exactly why we have a democratic election to make that determination.

PACKED HOUSE...CRUZ..Speaking at the Heritage Foundation on National Security...

[Dante3]

I doubt this is true. So far Cruz has ran a smart campaign, copying a number of Trump’s positions. Alienating Trump’s supporters or those leaning toward Trump with this type of nonsense, would be stupid - and Cruz is not a stupid man.

[LowOiL]

I think Ted senses (like everyone else did before him) that it’s slipping away. We’re now 50 days out, and in most polls he’s 20 points behind.

I thought the latest polls showed Cruz winning in Iowa. So 50 days away from a win? Yeah, that hurts /s

[Marcella]

"Equating a popular courageous figure such as Trump to Dewhurst is not the best way to manage expectations."

I was pointing out how Cruz's grassroots efforts in every county beat the other candidate who, by the polls, was expected to win. Right now, polls show Trump over Cruz but those polls do not show the effect of county by county workers - it only shows on the day of the election, the same way it happened in Texas. Will Trump win over Cruz - well, that is what the polls say.

[DoodleDawg]

Cruz is not connecting with the voters.

Trump is connecting by promising the moon and telling people what the want to hear without anyone saying, "Really? And just how will you do that?" I'd rather have someone like Cruz who advocated government reduction over government solutions. Who realizes that we can't enact the super spectacular Obamacare replacement, and at a cheaper cost, so we shouldn't even be trying. Who understands there are some limits to what can be accomplished so he doesn't promise he can do things he can't. In short I'd prefer a true conservative over a moderate like Trump.

He is a pariah within his own party.

As opposed to the overwhelming support Trump enjoys from the party?

[McGruff]

You going to believe the NY Times reporting what someone says they heard. I’ll believe it when I hear Ted say it.

[Bob Ireland]

***...according to two people present for the remarks [from] NYT***

I am suspicious of this whole thing...

[LS]

Actually, “latest’ one came hours after that one and showed Cruz down 11. So at the very least, he’s up or down in IA. I doubt that poll that had him up-—although I’ve been careful not to bash any poll-—but this was the same one that had Carson magically up in IA .. . before he was down.

[Jim Robinson]

Trump is using great judgement. He’s 100% correct that Muslim immigration should be halted until we have a system in place to vet them. And each and every one of them must be vetted, before being allowed into the country. The Muslims are at war against us.

Also, I see he’s spiking again in the polls after stating this policy. The people are agreeing.

[caww]

He knows he'll be taking fire and is accustomed to that....he's been taking it in Washington among Demorats, Republicans and the Obama administration for a very long time....

Cruz telling it like it is at his National Security Foreign policy speech......."History is a better guide than good intentions."......"Government will do what is in its nature -- amass power at the expense of the people"

[stanne]

“This country does not need someone with the temperament of a 3rd grader in a schoolyard smack down contest as its president.”

I guess you’re implying Trump has the temperament of a third grader. That’s just not true.

In any case, this country does not need someone obliged to attend fund raisers and tend to donors’ personal wishes when he gets into office. Not any more. These are billionaires. What do you think they want? Conservatism. You think politicians don’t owe them when they get in?

I like Cruz, but it takes a lot of dough to run for the presidency. He has stopped his grass roots efforts.

[jazusamo]

NY Slimes-two unnamed sources-private fundraiser.

Oh-Kay

[Marcella]

“And ultimately the decision is, who has the right judgment experience and judgment to serve as commander in chief?”

There is the “judgment” word, the word I think he will use from now on to separate himself from Trump and all other candidates.

[stanne]

“TPA, Corker Bill, H-1B.

Yeah, that’s Presidential Judgement all right.

And, then to publicly oppose two of them AFTER voting for them brings another criticism to mind.”

None of these guys are independent and won’t be after they get into office. They cannot take care of the country AND serve their masters, I mean donors, at the same time.

So Trump will get in. The country cannot survive another donor president from either side. Cruz’s best bet is to decide where he wants to be situated at the other side of Nov ‘16.

That’s everyone’s best bet.

To assume for a second that Trump can’t possibly get in, and position one’s self in a bad spot for after his election is bad judgment, not acceptable for the presidency.

I discern everyone of these public people by how they treat Trump, now. Anyone making assumptions that he is silly, lacks judgment, did not build his success on his own and can transfer those skills into other projects, like saving this faltering country or destroying the utterly corrupt GOP and Dem party, lacks good judgment themselves.

Someone has to do it or we’re going down like an ambassador working for Hillary.

And this is what it looks like. People screaming, “I’m melting.”

We all know what it looks like. It’s in our American psyche.

[caww]

Cruz is right as we know....Judgement is significant....you cannot fly by the seat of your pants as a Commander in Chief.

[elhombrelibre]

Thanks, Marcella. You’re right. Leaders are not clowns. Their spoken words have great consequences. Trump’s supporters, like Obama’s, seem incapable of facing truths about their cult leader. And one would think that the consequences of putting an amateur in the White House might have already been proven a very bad idea. Yet we have folks that think “our amateur” is the answer.

[elhombrelibre]

Comparing Trump to Churchill is like comparing a loud-mouthed, little league baseball player to Hank Aaron. Trump is more vain than Churchill, but he’s not cogent, quotable, and I don’t believe he’s ever read a book written by a conservative. He’s only a very recent convert to the conservative world view. He doesn’t really even believe in it. He’s in favor of a big government, a big state, as long as its in favor of doing big favors for him. He is, in short, a fraud.

[elhombrelibre]

http://spectator.org/articles/64902/trump%E2%80%99s-word-isn%E2%80%99t-worth-hot-air