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Cruz won’t attack Trump, but why won’t Trump attack Cruz?
Hotair ^ | 12/11/2015 | AllahPundit

Posted on 12/11/2015 1:23:38 PM PST by SeekAndFind

A thought inspired by this morning’s skirmish. Everyone understands why Cruz is laying off Trump. Cruz wants his voters and he’s afraid that if he attacks, those voters will turn on him viciously. It’s painful to watch a guy who built his career as a fearless warrior against RINOs fawning over the biggest RINO in the race out of naked self-interest, but you can’t fault his strategy. Trump doesn’t just have a base, he has a cult of personality. Attack him and they’re apt to treat you as an outright enemy. You tread lightly around a man like that when you want something from his supporters.

That calculus doesn’t apply to Trump, though. Cruz has lots of fans, some very devoted and some less so, but he doesn’t have a cult of personality like Trump does. That’s because, I think, Cruz’s personality isn’t much of an asset to him. (It may be a liability.) Cruz fans like him because he really is a dogmatic conservative who’s on the right side of nearly every issue. Their loyalty is to the cause more so than to the man. Not so for Trumpers. Which means, if he wanted to, Trump could unload on Cruz without alienating the entirety of Cruz fans the way Trump fans would be universally alienated if Cruz went after Trump. Some Cruz fans would hold a grudge; if Cruz started to slip in the polls because of the attacks, many of them would opt for Marco Rubio over Trump on the theory that Rubio is a good conservative on most issues. But some Cruz fans, I think, would shift to Trump for a reason articulated by Cruz himself this morning:

The Establishment's only hope: Trump & me in a cage match. Sorry to disappoint — @realDonaldTrump is terrific. #DealWithIt

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 11, 2015

Not a word about conservatism there, just “the Establishment.” Some Cruz fans probably prefer him to Trump because they’d rather nominate a populist who’s conservative, because they respect Cruz as a man of faith, because they like Cruz’s polished speaking style more than Trump’s, etc. But those people aren’t “Cruz or bust” voters. Primarily, as Cruz said, they’re against “the Establishment.” And if Trump could prove to them that he’d be better at bringing down the Establishment than Cruz would, some would shift to him. To put it another way, what Cruz fans and Trump fans all have in common is that they’re populists. Some Cruz fans are more populist than they are conservative. Those people are gettable by Trump. So why isn’t he trying to get them?

One possibility is that Trump is playing the same sort of game Cruz is. Why risk alienating another candidate’s supporters by attacking before you absolutely have to? But Trump has never followed that logic. He ripped Jeb Bush apart, went after Rubio as a “lightweight,” attacked Ben Carson — whose voters also want an “outsider” as nominee — as borderline nutty because of his youthful violent behavior, and so on. Trump’s always been willing to risk annoying other candidates’ committed supporters in the name of shaking loose the not so committed ones. Jeb is an especially instructive example because Trump’s main line of attack on him is that he’s a weakling. He’s “low energy,” he seems reluctant to fight back when Trump attacks, he’s not the sort of strong, self-assured leader America needs in troubled times. For all the ink spilled about why Trump’s fans are so dazzled by him, I think the alpha-male factor continues to get short shrift. Trump’s takedown of Jeb resonated because it exposed Jeb, the supposed 800-pound establishment gorilla, as a beta male who didn’t know what to do when he got slapped. He’s never been the same.

So here we are in December and there’s another guy who reeks of weakling jitters around Trump. It’s not the same type of jitters as Jeb — Cruz’s toadying to Trump has a tactical purpose whereas Jeb’s hesitance seemed more a product of his character. Even so, Trump seems to relish diminishing the men around him and Cruz’s reluctance to attack is an inscribed invitation to begin the diminishing. No one is more contemptuous of a beta male than the alpha to whom he’s toadying. Even some Cruz fans are disgusted with how far Cruz has gone to avoid conflict:

It's official. I'm embarrassed that I spent so much time helping this man get elected. Not sorry. https://t.co/1jAmiOB0X4

— C. Whalen Stephens (@CorieWStephens) December 11, 2015

If you like Cruz because he’s willing to tell Mitch McConnell to go to hell, watching him rapidly backpedal from Trump — who’s really not even pretending to be conservative at this point — is gross, whatever the strategic considerations. Which brings me back to the question: Why won’t Trump needle Cruz for acting like a beta the way he needled Jeb? He’s hinted at it before. He pointed out this morning that Cruz seems willing to criticize him in private but not in public, and he likes to note when asked about Cruz how Cruz seems to agree with literally everything he says. Painting Cruz as a beta male instead of criticizing his positions would also spare Trump from saying anything that might be taken as a criticism of conservatism, which would be a dangerous move. Again, if it’s true that Cruz’s fans are mainly loyal to the cause more so than to the man then Trump can get personal with Cruz without hopelessly alienating too many of them — weakling! toady! dumb shutdown idea! bought and sold by his alpha-male donors! — so long as he doesn’t get political. And Trump has good reason to do it. Now that polls are showing Cruz ahead in Iowa and with him having just landed Bob Vander Plaats’s endorsement, the sooner he tries to start taking Cruz down, the better for him.

If Trump launched an attack on Cruz, it would put Cruz in a bind. If he continues to hold his fire to appease Trump voters, even with Trump giving him both barrels, he’ll look even weaker than Jeb. If he decides he has no choice but to engage then he’ll probably end up alienating Trump voters even though Trump started it. That’s how cults of personalities work, after all; the leader is always right. That is to say, Trump could force Cruz into a situation where he has little to gain no matter what he does and much to lose. I think Cruz would have no choice but to hit back and to do it as politely as possible, hoping that the spectacle of him RINO-stomping Trump would appeal to some undecided anti-Trump voters on the right and boost his numbers that way. There may be voters out there who are leaning towards Rubio over Cruz but who hate Trump and would give Cruz a second look if he led the charge (reluctantly) against Trump. After all, it’s not as if Rubio’s been some warrior against Trump thus far — although he’s been tougher on him than Cruz has. How could he not be?

One more thing. The “true conservative” theory of elections for years now has been that the party will only win when it finally nominates a principled conservative who’s skilled at preaching for the cause. That’s Cruz. That’s the “bold colors, not pale pastels” strategy. Supposedly there’s a winning conservative majority out there but those voters aren’t showing up because you’re not connecting with them. You can’t win with a squish like McCain or Romney because guys like that aren’t selling full-spectrum conservatism. Go out there, show people that you’re going to govern like they want, and you’ll win every time. How come that approach isn’t working with Trump voters? Cruz is out there, preaching the good news of Reaganism, and not only is Trump leading nationally and in most states but Cruz is terrified that calling him out as a RINO, which he is, would backfire horribly. We’ve got the right messenger here, supposedly, and he’s offering the right message. Trump fans aren’t buying (yet). Why not?


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: New York; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: 2016; 2016election; canadian; donaldtrump; election2016; elections; immigration; m2t; newyork; tedcruz; texas; trump; trumpwasright; twister
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To: nopardons

I’ve read 7 of Trump’s books. He still echoed every position Cruz already had. I took notes and checked them off.

As time goes on, Trump’s volatility has become more of a problem for me. He also takes too much stuff personally and wants to get revenge. I want someone with a more steady disposition who knows when to get tough, but doesn’t make every single thing to be about him. That can be dangerous in a leader, as Obama has proven.


101 posted on 12/11/2015 3:51:08 PM PST by conservativejoy (Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God,,,, We can elect Ted Cruz!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Trump/Cruz is the perfect President/VP combo. Trump has the mouth, the management & economics experience, while Cruz has the legal & political experience. Both are brilliant men. Neither will abide incompetence nor corruption.

Trump will spend 8 years screwing the political elite, firing the incompetent bureaucracy, securing the border, turning around the economy, bringing good jobs back to America, & making this country great again.

Cruz will then follow him with another 8 years of common sense, frugal government; in the process burying Liberalism & Socialism forever.


102 posted on 12/11/2015 3:51:47 PM PST by Mister Da (The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
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To: SeekAndFind
Cruz won’t attack Trump, but why won’t Trump attack Cruz?

Maybe 'cause he's sitting back and watching Cruz destroy himself with remarks about other people's campaigns.

103 posted on 12/11/2015 3:56:25 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks (Terrorism, the thing that shall not be named by the MSM)
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To: SeekAndFind

I suppose no one has heard the actual recording of what Cruz said about Carson and Trump. It really went against my grain. Yes, it sounds like a man who is very smart politically; like a weasel. He would never have said something like that in public. It doesn’t sound at all like the Cruz we’re supposed to know. I still think he’d make a great VP.


104 posted on 12/11/2015 4:19:59 PM PST by Aleya2Fairlie
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To: SeekAndFind

I suppose no one has heard the actual recording of what Cruz said about Carson and Trump. It really went against my grain. Yes, it sounds like a man who is very smart politically; like a weasel. He would never have said something like that in public. It doesn’t sound at all like the Cruz we’re supposed to know. I still think he’d make a great VP.


105 posted on 12/11/2015 4:20:35 PM PST by Aleya2Fairlie
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To: SeekAndFind

the reason allah pundit is to make a fool out of you


106 posted on 12/11/2015 4:21:57 PM PST by Thibodeaux (this time really is different)
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To: dforest
He has proven he ain’t no good at attacking

Chuckle!
Ask John Boehner. Ask Mitch McConnell. Ask Obama. Ted Cruz has proved to be by far the most vicious, most effective attack dog against the GOPe and Obama.
Trump? All he does is attack other GOP candidates. I have yet to hear him attack John Boehner or Mitch McConnell over any issue whatever. And there have been plenty of issues of grave importance to attack them over.

107 posted on 12/11/2015 4:25:52 PM PST by SmokingJoe
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To: Aleya2Fairlie

Huh?
He said exactly the same thing he’s been saying in public for months: That the Trump and Carson poll numbers will go down and when they do, he Cruz will pick up their supporters. He compared their poll numbers to a parabola. He said he’d be a better commander in chief than either of them(which happens to be true). What’s new about any of that?


108 posted on 12/11/2015 4:37:57 PM PST by SmokingJoe
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To: BlueNgold; Anitius Severinus Boethius; ClearCase_guy
Evidently there is a misplaced conception of the role of the vice president as president of the Senate. The President of the Senate has no constitutional, legal or historic power other than to cast a vote in the event of a tie.

The very first vice president, John Adams, thought that the role was bigger than that and he was rudely disabused and nearly shunned by the Senators whenever he sought to lecture them or to master them in any way. That reality has obtained to this day. That is why vice president Texas Jack Garner famously said, "the vice presidency isn't worth a pitcher of warm piss." The vice president has no constitutional role other than to cast a vote in the Senate in the event of a tie, and to keep his heart beating one heartbeat away from the presidency.

Historically, presidents have shunted their vice presidents away into powerless corners and only rarely does a personality like Dick Cheney exert substantial influence and or even construct a power center within an administration. However, although every vice presidential candidate makes a solemn vow to his running mate that he will support the administration and every modern vice president has done so, the vice president remains a constitutional officer. That means he is constitutionally and legally independent of the president and need not support the president and can't be fired by the present. It is only party politics and the word of the men that keeps vice presidents on the reservation.

As to "mastering the Senate" that has rarely been accomplished in a body in which controlling the Senate has been compared to herding cats. It is a body with 100 egos all of whom think that they should be president rather than the man who happens to occupy that office. It takes a political genius like Lyndon Johnson to "master" the Senate and he did that as a senator, not when he was vice president.

I see no reason why Ted Cruz would surrender his office in the Senate to become vice president except as an office to hold place to run for president himself in 4 or 8 years and he can do that nearly has well from the Senate. While vice president, he will find himself in the same position as Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton, tainted with the record of the president and the record of a loose cannon in the example of President Donald Trump. Cruz is a doctrinaire conservative, Trump is an ego on the loose with no philosophical ties to conservatism. Cruz would be crazy to submit to the kind of administration that a narcissist is likely to produce. If he did become vice president and the Trump administration proceeds as erratically as I predict, Cruz would have to violate his verbal pledge and associate himself to the lunacy or exercise his independence as a constitutional officer and openly run off the reservation and repudiate Trump's follies.

It makes no sense for Cruz to accept a vice president opportunity from Trump. Likewise, Cruz would be foolish to offer the office to Trump because Trump's ego is uncontrollable and he would undermine sound conservative governance being advanced by President Cruz.


109 posted on 12/11/2015 4:39:21 PM PST by nathanbedford ("Attack, repeat, attack!" Bull Halsey)
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To: conservativejoy
How then, can you claim that Trump steals from Cruz, when Trump wrote MOST of those books long before Cruz was on the public stage ?

Oh, I see, you don't understand that Trump takes things "personally" ( terrorists on American soil, Vets not being treated right, police in harm's way from the rabid BLM mob, ObamaCare, etc. ), he's taking it against AMERICA and is angry about that, on Americans' behalf. Okie dokey...fine.....NOT !

LOL...and you imagine that Trump fulminates and screams when making deals? And you've read his books? Boy, oh boy are you hampered by your biases.

110 posted on 12/11/2015 4:40:14 PM PST by nopardons
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To: SeekAndFind
I think it's fairly obvious - or at least I hope so. Also, a Trump/Cruz Ticket will give us essentially 2 presidents. Send for the other Resolute desk.

01699 full

cont ph 65364c8d1f43e82da6d0a3e3e28dded3

111 posted on 12/11/2015 4:49:59 PM PST by CaptainPhilFan
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To: St_Thomas_Aquinas
I thought this article would never end.

It's worse than that. I thought Allahpundit would offer his theory for why Trump won't attack Cruz. I mean, he sells this article by asking the question in the friggin headline.

But no, after 3000 words, no answer.

What a ripoff.

112 posted on 12/11/2015 4:54:57 PM PST by Vision Thing
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To: nopardons

No, I’m talking about his pettiness. Some of his positions have changed over time and I don’t hold that against him. I did find his mockery of a disabled man too much like a school yard bully, and certainly not Presidential.

I will vote for Trump if he wins the nomination, but not with the enthusiasm I had before the last month or so.


113 posted on 12/11/2015 5:12:21 PM PST by conservativejoy (Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God,,,, We can elect Ted Cruz!)
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To: conservativejoy; nopardons

joy....you keep posting about Trump mocking a disabled man.

That’s been pretty much disputed, here and on other sites. So, why do you keep posting that?


114 posted on 12/11/2015 5:13:51 PM PST by Jane Long (Go Trump, go! Make America Safe Again :)
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To: conservativejoy
You're an IDIOT ! Which MSM member is paying you ?

Trump had NO idea that that lying reporter, who has now crawled back under his rock, is disabled.

How old are you...as in which generation ?

115 posted on 12/11/2015 5:19:15 PM PST by nopardons
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To: Jane Long

Yes, it most assuredly been rebutted...and Trump’s name cleared.


116 posted on 12/11/2015 5:20:09 PM PST by nopardons
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To: Jane Long
I saw the video clip. It was too obvious. Trump was mimicking the man's arm and hand movements which are a result of a neurological disease he has that effects the voluntary muscles. Here's the clip: You Tube
117 posted on 12/11/2015 5:21:29 PM PST by conservativejoy (Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God,,,, We can elect Ted Cruz!)
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To: libbylu

I don’t dislike Cruz...I do have my reservations about both Trump and Cruz.

My assertion is based on “If I were a betting man”, I would bet on Trump being the winner. This is subject to change.

But, at this point never say die. Cruz could easily supplant Trump. He’s working hard and has a great organization.

I am a little less invested either way, because by the time my state gets around to having a primary, it really won’t much matter who I vote for as things will have been decided long before then.


118 posted on 12/11/2015 5:23:56 PM PST by Ouderkirk (To the left, everything must evidence that this or that strand of leftist theory is true)
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To: conservativejoy

I’ve seen the clip, thanks.

I’ve also seen Trump make the same moves when talking about completely different subjects.

That’s why it’s a non-issue.


119 posted on 12/11/2015 5:24:14 PM PST by Jane Long (Go Trump, go! Make America Safe Again :)
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To: nopardons
Video clip of Trump mocking disabled man.

You Tube

120 posted on 12/11/2015 5:24:26 PM PST by conservativejoy (Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God,,,, We can elect Ted Cruz!)
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