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.
You lose. That is no argument, but one more fine example of one more insult to replace the absence of an argument.
I believe electability counts, I believe TRUMP is moderate, I believe he is all MAN, for a real change, and I believe he is still changing.
I do believe him on his platform and I am prepared for his moving to the middle on dots, and crossed T’s, but mostly I believe he saves us from Hillary, will rebuild the military, defeats ISIS, STOPS immigration, protects our economy, restores the damn Justice Department, and is the ONLY man who has a prayer at accomplishing any of it.
BOOMER!
COVER STORY
Inside The Epic Fantasy That's Driven Donald Trump For 33 Years
www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2015/09/29/inside-the-epic-fantasy-thats-driven-donald-trump-for-33-years
So now Trump is Jim Jones. Yes, the TDS is very strong here.
Yes it is.
I’ve known individuals with millions in revenue that went bankrupt because their expenses exceeded their revenue.
Wait.......Didn’t that happen to Trump?
Four times?
HA!
You don’t get “tossed out of organizations such as the Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, National Republican Congressional Committee, etc..”
YOU DEFEAT THEM!
TRUMP, 2016
www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2015/09/29/inside-the-epic-fantasy-thats-driven-donald-trump-for-33-years
4 businesses out of hundreds, and still employing more than 22,000 people? Nice try :)
Donald Trump is famous because he wanted to be a celebrity, was a billionaire, and marketed himself into fame using mainstream media of books, periodicals, and television. Otherwise, no one would ever have heard of him.
As Bette Davis said, "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night."
I’m a Conservative and a Cowboy. Pistol Pete Cowboy.
That's okay, since there's 9.5 billion, 22 thousand reasons why you don't either!
Maybe you SHOULD elect Trump’s history or at least take a closer look at it. So basically you just admitted to blindly supporting the man.
What guarantees do you have that Trump will deliver and actually do anything about immigration? Because he says so? I prefer to look at his actions, which do NOT speak well of Trump.
However, you Trumpets continuously attempt to tear apart Cruz’s past, while excusing Trump’s and saying you’re ‘not electing Trump’s past’. You can’t have it both ways. If Cruz’s past actions are an indicator of his future potential then Trump’s past is also an indicator.
I’m born and bred a Texas and, yes, we do want the illegals that are coming here gone and we don’t want them back. That has been pretty consistent for most Texas conservatives for decades so Trump’s support of amnesty is not excusable. Besides, you just admitted that Trump has been “for* immigration” aka amnesty, but then you condemn Cruz for not being hard enough on immigration. You can’t prove Trump won’t go back to his roots and become pro-amnesty again once elected. I’m just tired of the hypocrisy from the Trumpets.
Trump will get the same reception from conservatives for bypassing congress that Obama got. It is still wrong and won’t help anything. A good example is Trump saying he will build the wall, which we do need. He can’t do anything without congress and if he tries then nothing will get done because congress won’t fund the wall and Trump, for all of his bloated rhetoric, can’t fund the wall without congress. We are a republic for a reason; not a dictatorship.
I think you will find out Trump does not have anything other than reality tv shock appeal, which is always short lived. He will not appeal to conservatives (and no...libertarians are NOT conservatives) because the rest of his policies are liberal. That is why he is the only candidate polling behind or even with Hillary and the rest of the candidates are polling ahead of Hillary in the general election.
If electability is all that matters to you over principles and values then you are no different than an Obamabot. You are clearly not thinking in the best interest of this country.
And you call others deranged.
I am thinking that giving to politicians is not “buying” politicians in a criminal transaction. He knows them all. Well.
I took issue with the term, “buying” attributed to TRUMP, in the absence of the NRSC nefarious games with the Barbour boys “buying” the election in Mississippi. Absolutely the worst kind of “buying” elections to defeat the conservative who was leading in the polls. Criminal, as a representative of the people.
Could you possibly find a quote from Senator Cruz, (my senator), wherein he uttered even a word or a letter in opposition to the “Mississippi Treatment” scandal and the NRSC role in it?
Back to TRUMP, I am thinking that the Unions are political and that politicians are advanced by Unions, in NEW YORK.
To contribute to pols in NYC and NY state is vicariously to contribute to those in construction. TRUMP is nothing if not in construction, negotiating Union wages, and Union disciplines in order to build the best, in the worst conditions. I give him a HUUUUUUGE pass, certainly compared to dalliances with McConnell’s NSRC.
Cheap shot and hysteric much?
TRUMP is not pro-abortion. Facts are facts, as you finally belched up.
In Iowa, TRUMP should not be counted out. TRUMP has plenty of evangelicals, or he wouldn’t be polling great in Iowa and across the South.
Coolest is that he is actually electable to boot.
When Trump says he “Owns” politicians, I take it to mean he bought them.
Thats a great video! Thanks for that
Cheap shot?? Why...because I used your own words and Trump’s own words against you?
Yes, Trump is pro-abortion and pro-gay marriage. He is on recorded stating as much several times during the last 3 decades. Good grief, do Trumpets ever read anything from Trump prior to 2015???
Cruz has 90% of the evangelical vote. Trump is not polling well with them and it will only get worse over time. Trump won’t win Texas either.
I do find it funny that Trumpets support those polls that show Trump polling well, but then dismiss all of those polls that show him polling poorly.
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