Posted on 12/29/2015 9:20:38 PM PST by Isara
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The crowd was so large that when Cruz spoke the Wilkses had to open the pool patio doors to accommodate about 100 guests who stood in 28 degree weather to listen to the senator.
Cruz allies said the two-day gathering, capping off with a rally where Cruz delivered his standard stump speech, followed by a performance from the Christian rock band The Newsboys, was an overwhelming success. By the end of the six-hour meeting Monday, dozens of the visitors lined up outside a closed room to tape video endorsements of the Cruz presidential bid. Some attended Super PAC and campaign fundraisers held Tuesday in Cisco that were timed to coincide with the fly-in.
The gathering could have been even larger. Mike Gonzalez, who leads the South Carolina Pastors Alliance, was disappointed that some of his fellow clergymen were not able to make it because bad weather caused flight cancellations.
However, when he arrived at the ranch he was stunned to see a crowd of about 300, "including many of the most prominent spiritual influencers in the country."
Those in attendance at the Monday sessions included prominent televangelists, such as John Hagee, pastor of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, and James Dobson, founder of the Focus on the Family organization. Richard Land, president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary and a longtime leader of the Southern Baptist Convention, was there, according to interviews with attendees, most of whom were not authorized to discuss the off-the-record session. They said that there were a number of Hispanic and African American clerics in the audience, including Gonzalez and Voddie Baucham, a well-known pastor in Texas.
"It was a very diverse group of national leaders who have significant standing," said David Barton, a Texas Republican author and activist...
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(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I need to remind everyone that our own Sarah Palin drew huge crowds as McCain’s running mate, and they lost the election.
Perot drew large crowds, also.
The size of the crowds before a primary are nice, but the primaries will tell the tale.
There are a certain segment of the population that went to rallies for all 3 of these people, just to hear if they were going to say something outrageous.
I am a Cruz supporter, but I do like Sarah and I do like Trump, but some people go to hear them just for the theatre.
This is a straw mans argument.
Politics has no memory when dealing with positions of power.
You honestly think previous disagreements do not reset once Cruz is elected President?
Additionally, you seem to think Trump is above taking money. If he gets the nomination, he’ll get plenty dirty with “filthy donor money” during the general.
By the way, Cruz’s donors are mostly small grassroots style donations... I guess money from the average joe is bad in your opinion?
You mean Trump the original crony-capitalist, Clintonista fascist?
Right. Only wealthy people are qualified to run for public office. People like Trump and Soros and Al Gore. Because they’re not “beholden” to anyone.
Normal people need not apply.
Wow! You’re going to take some heat from Trump fanbois for that! :-D
“They become owned by those few people ...”
You’re a cynical ass.
Trumptards’ hypocrisy is bewildering.
Money is only good money if it belongs to Trump, the opportunistic showman.
And the insult adds to the discussion how?
Not trying to insult. Just trying to provide clarity. Your comment was over-the-top cynical. And to say such a thing makes you come across as an ass.
And Cruz still owned by his monied supporters.
Plus, they will wheel out Cruz's attempt to destroy planned parenthood which half or more of the Christians and all of the liberals support...He won't be able to overcome that...
You mean like this
We are all well aware of Cruzs’ “flexibility” on issues that hurt him in the polls. We have seen him change his positions to ones more popular with the voters many times. So many times in fact that some of us wonder just that the heck Cruz really believes.
The donor money that troubles me about Cruz is coming out in a slow and painful way. Below is a NVT article talking about the wealthy and the ways they avoid taxes. Renaissance Technologies has given 10 million, thus far, to the Cruz campaign. A great return on investment, $10 Mil to save $6.8 Billion.
Renaissance is a “Club for Growth” major donor. Club for Growth has spent plenty to run attack ads against Trump because, Trump would like to stop hedge fund tax underpayments utilizing “carried interest” definition in the IRS code.
“Renaissance Technologies, the hedge fund Mr. Simons founded and which Mr. Mercer helps run, is currently under review by the I.R.S. over a loophole that saved their fund an estimated $6.8 billion in taxes over roughly a decade, according to a Senate investigation. Some of these same families have also contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to conservative groups that have attacked virtually any effort to raises taxes on the wealthy.” http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/30/business/economy/for-the-wealthiest-private-tax-system-saves-them-billions.html
The new FEC filings should be out soon. This story will get louder.
...”say-it-as-it-is Trump.”
Now, say it as it is now. The stuff he says now...not the stuff he said 2 years ago..before he was trying to get conservatives to vote for him...or 7 years ago. When he said Reagan was a conman, he wasn’t saying it how it was, but now he is.
7 million evangelicals didn’t vote in 2012. Cruz is mobilizing his base.
You’ll get flamed for writing that, but I have seen posts from Trumpets musing that he should be emperor.
And Trump is our nation’s Messiah because he’s yugely wealthy. And therefore beholden to nobody. And therefore has only pure motives. Immanuel Trump; God with us.
Mike Gonzalez, another Cuban with political aspirations of his own. Isn’t ANYONE born on US Soil anymore??
[snip] âI see our nation going in the wrong direction, and many of our legislators are kind of taking it in that direction, so I feel that we really need righteousness in the nation and the Bible says righteousness exalts a nation,â Mr. Gonzalez said. âSo what we are looking for is righteous leaders to enter in the political field, and I am a pastor. I have not received that call to leave that yet per se into this field, but I want to be trained and ready to go if that is the case.â
If these preachers had their way we would be a Theocracy. That they have in common with the Muslims. There almost became a State of Franklin. In their constitution they forbid any LAWYER or PREACHER from holding office. WITH good reason!
With Cruz you get both!
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