Posted on 12/28/2015 2:33:48 PM PST by Isara
Read these two quotes carefully: The first: “Cruz cannot win because the Washington elites despise him.” The second goes: “[T]here are a lot of good candidates – I like nearly all of them… …except Cruz.” Which one of the similar quotes is from a pro-Cruz Super PAC and which is from a former Republican nominee for president?
The first quote is from an ad from Keep the Promise I, a Cruz Super PAC. The second is from Bob Dole, the 1996 Republican nominee and war hero, who got trounced by Bill Clinton. Both purport to highlight a negative of Senator Cruz, but do they really?
The answer is hidden in an examination of the conservative insurgency in Massachusetts, of all places. Five years ago this very week, things were starting to turn around for then-State Senator Scott Brown (R–MA).
Knowing how much of a train wreck RomneyCare had become, the voters of Massachusetts were drawn to Brown’s singular campaign message: “I will be the 41st vote to stop Obamacare.” Attorney General Martha Coakley’s team misread the electorate and put out ads that in effect said, “If you elect Scott Brown you will stop the president from giving healthcare to millions of Americans.” Two different candidates, same message, and we all know who won that race.
That same dynamic is playing out in the presidential race this year; be it with Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. The establishment keeps telling the voters how awful these two candidates are, but that just makes the voters gravitate to them even more.
Nowhere is this playing out more clearly than in Iowa where a series of establishment allies are swinging hard at Cruz in advertisements and mailers. All of this comes as Cruz further cements his lead in the state. On Christmas, CNN reported that a collection of five independent groups, aligned with the establishment and Mike Huckabee have begun attacks on Cruz in Iowa.
The attacks are being spearheaded by two people with ties to the establishment: Nick Ryan, who is an establishment activist in Iowa, and Sean Noble, another establishment hack who is backing Rubio. Mark Levin wrote of Noble’s Alinsky-like tactics back in November. Regarding Noble’s attacks on Cruz’s vote for the America Freedom Act, Conservative Review’s own Daniel Horowitz said: “Mr. Noble worked for Sen. Jeff Flake who also voted for the Freedom Act. I guess his boss and all of Rubio’s backers are also weak on national security.” Noble boasts, on his own website, of his ties to the “elite” of the party. He says “…or nearly 20 years, a pretty elite cast of characters has been doing just that [paying attention to Noble].”
Ryan is a longstanding force in Iowa politics, allied with the moderate Governor Branstad. On his website, Ryan describes himself as having investments in renewable energy—i.e. ethanol—in Iowa. Ted Cruz is very much against ethanol mandates.
When you scratch under the hood of the attacks on Cruz, and ask why they are more pointed than the attacks on Trump, a common theme begins to emerge. That is self-interest. It can be as plain as someone who has financial stakes in ethanol running ads against an anti-ethanol candidate, or it can be more complex, like with Noble—someone trying to hold onto the power they’ve carved out in the political industrial complex. Therein lies the real truth of why the attacks are stronger against Cruz than Trump, even though they really aren’t working against either candidate.
Trump is a dealmaker running a campaign as a disrupter to the status quo. Cruz is a proven disrupter to the status quo. That is a very big difference indeed.
The political industrial complex believes deep down that they can negotiate with the author of The Art of the Deal; they know they will lose the levers of power with Ted Cruz. You can see it in the voracity and frequency of their attacks.
The establishment consultants and chattering class know they have the most to lose with a Cruz presidency. What do they lose with a Cruz presidency? The very levers of power by which they enrich themselves: the Republican Party apparatus.
It goes much deeper than Cruz holding the reins of the executive branch. With a President Cruz, the positions of the self-described elite within the GOP power structure are in jeopardy. As much as the establishment screams electability from the rooftops, deep down they know that Cruz can and will win in 2016 if nominated. That is an existential threat to business as usual and the ruling class itself.
Rule #1 of the political industrial complex is: maintain power at all cost, even if it means torpedoing an electable conservative like Cruz. Here is how it would play out badly for them were Cruz the nominee:
Cruz is the larger threat to establishment because, if he wins, they lose all the levers of power. McConnell and his allies would be tossed out of organizations such as the Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, etc... If history is any guide, the sitting president of a political party has a large leeway in choosing those in key power positions. That puts the earning potential and power of the current political industrial complex in complete jeopardy.
That is why, come January, the establishment will continue to turn all their guns on Cruz because they would rather Trump win the nomination and lose to Hillary than for Ted Cruz to have a chance of being president. If that happened they would attempt to blame a Trump loss on the Tea Party, and keep their cushy jobs. As Cruz inevitably gains on Trump, the establishment will go after Cruz 110%, even if they are currently waging a rhetorical war on Trump.
As the calendar turns to 2016, and the political industrial complex realizes they can’t field a winning candidate on their own, they will increasingly turn their fire on Cruz over Trump. When they do so, be very aware that it isn’t for the “good of the country” or even because of “electability.” It pretty much boils down to what they have to do to keep food on their tables and their pockets lined.
A very powerful motivator indeed.
Our constitution does not cover anyone but citizens.
Yes, a president CAN limit immigration for ANY reason.
Look it up.
You are still watching FOXNews, aren’t you. Or you are a savant?
Obviously, a shut in somehow, you missed the Obama presidency entirely, on his immigration for Open Borders, right?
He skipped around congress. Ever heard of an Executive Order. Check it out and get back to us.
TRUMP will do what can be done, or there will be Hell to pay for resistance.
TRUMP, 2016
He supported poison pills for those bills and supported a vote on a bill that he was assured would not pass. He didn’t vote for final passage and he never supported the tenants of the bills themselves. Again, you are distorting and misleading as a way to deflect away from your liberal candidate Trump.
How can you possibly criticize Cruz when you support a candidate like Trump that is pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, pro-TARP, pro-porkulus, pro-sensible gun control, pro-auto bailout, pro-amnesty until last year, pro-Clinton, and a 30 year liberal supporting democrat???
So the solution is to elect someone with a history of buying favor with politicians?
Cruz has distinguished himself as a Constitutionalist and a Statesman.
No, the president does not have the authority to ban all blacks from entering the country anymore than he can ban all muslims. He would have to have the support of Congress and the courts, which would quickly overrule Trump on this.
As I stated before though, this idea would not work from a practical standpoint so it is nothing but hollow, feel-good, rhetoric that will never and can never be enacted.
I’m thinking you are really having to REACH, now. Slandering TRUMP is just not the best selling point for your guy.
Besides, nobody cares. TRUMP’s hassles with the Union are par for any given day in NYC. No one cares. It holds about as much interest as, say, an Iowa caucus. If TRUMP wins the IOWA caucus, no one would care.
I don’t watch Fox, thank you, but you clearly are an complete idiot or you’ve missed the last 30 years of Trump’s history.
So you believe, Trump, a lifelong liberal that supported amnesty just two short years ago, supports pro-gay marriage, pro-abortion, pro-gun control, and every other liberal agenda for the last 30 years is now, miraculously, a born again conservative??? You must be living in fairy land then or have a serious mental disorder.
Trump won’t have the luxury of skipping around congress. republicans never do. Besides, true conservatives would not support Trump bypassing congress anymore than they approved Obama doing it. Wrong is wrong, which is why I will never vote Trump and I have yet to meet a Texan, outside of Austin, that will.
About a half dozen Trump sycophants post repeatedly in these forums and the message is always the same, blind faith in whatever Trump just said.
It IS a personality cult like Jim Jones in Jonestown, Guyana.
****Cruz is the larger threat to establishment because, if he wins, they lose all the levers of power. McConnell and his allies would be tossed out of organizations such as the Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, etc..**
This would make me vote for Cruz.. something I’ve waited for for a long time!
You’re a liar.
But other than the fact that you’re a liar, TRUMP is where he needs to be on Life, liberty and Religious freedom. That’s why he holds the evangelical vote just fine.
He is opposing Hillary Clinton.
You’re going to need to step it up some to get out of the sewer and onto the real field.
That’s a good comparison!!!
Cruz opposed the pathway to citizenship: Cruz NEVER opposed legalization, which he advocated for as late as March of this year.
He didn’t vote for final passage and he never supported the tenants of the bills themselves.
Cruz VOTED for the Corker bill, and to this day supports TPA and TPP in principle, except now he claims to have problems with individual aspects--- which, of course, doesn't matter, because TPP can pass without him thanks to his vigorous campaign on behalf of the establishment to pass TPA.
How can you possibly criticize Cruz when you support a candidate like Trump
Get back to me when your opposition to Trump isn't so primitive and pathetic! It's 6 months in. Learn something about your candidates.
How did I slander Trump? Trump Brags about buying politicians.
BTW, I haven’t mentioned unions, so you may not have been replying to me.
Is that what trump zombies, trumpkins, trumpees consist of? Persuasion?
How am I a liar? Facts are facts.
Typical Trump supporter that can’t refute the facts so you resort to name calling. I think the DU is calling your name.
Cruz has a majority of the evangelical vote. Trump barely has any. Trump is so far left that you’re too stupid to see it. The only difference between Trump and Hillary is the hair.
Very interesting article and seems to be holding true as people like Trey Gowdy go for Rubio.
Go ahead and post your opinions but try very hard to make them less stupid.
Well hells bells all this time I was more worried about these public servants getting rich. People in business to make money don’t concern me as much as those supposedly in it to “serve” lol
I agree, but this guy is going to do so much more.
He has said he wants to put his money men in to fix things.
Why bother saying that if it isn’t his goal?
It would make him look very bad, and this guy is vane enough to want to avoid that at all costs > IMO.
He’s not fooling around > (again) IMO.
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