Posted on 01/15/2016 5:58:19 AM PST by reaganaut1
...
Mr. Cruz did not just dominate much of the Republican debate, he slashed, he mocked, he charmed and he outmaneuvered everybody else onstage - but none as devastatingly and as thoroughly as this campaign’s most commanding performer, Donald J. Trump.
In the process Mr. Cruz - the high school student who once recited the Constitution from memory and the Princeton debater who dazzled judges with his ability to entrap less shrewd rivals - showed the American public that his surging candidacy is not a fluke.
Twenty six minutes into what had been a slug-free evening, a moderator asked Mr. Cruz about a question that Mr. Trump has mischievously injected into their neck-and-neck competition: whether Mr. Cruz's Canadian birth disqualifies him from serving as president.
Mr. Cruz was ready. He started off with an expression of generosity.
"You know, back in September my friend Donald said he had had his lawyers look at this every which way," he said, his hands sweeping the air to dismiss the topic.
"There was nothing to this, this birther issue," Mr. Cruz said, mimicking the man standing directly to his right.
He paused to let that sink in, as the crowd began to applaud. Then he delivered the blow.
"Now, since September the Constitution hasn’t changed," Mr. Cruz said, as the rising applause rose to a roar. "But the poll numbers have."
Hoots and hollers came from the convention hall in South Carolina.
A genuine and unfamiliar expression - nervousness - crept across Mr. Trump’s face. He clenched the podium. His leg jiggled.
But Mr. Cruz was not done.
He offered a law professor's allocution on the subject of foreign-born citizens' eligibility for the American presidency.
"The facts and the law here are really quite clear," Mr. Cruz said.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I thought Cruz had Trump in the corner reminding the people about what he said about gays in the army, partial birth abortion and how he as a New Yorker is sophisticated unlike people in Iowa, but strangely Trump got a very positive response from the audience for his 9/11 bit.
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