As Donald Trump and Ted Cruz Soar, G.O.P. Leaders Exasperation Grows

NY Times ^ | 1/26/16 | JONATHAN MARTIN and ALEXANDER BURNS

[jimbo123]

Republican leaders are growing alarmed by the ferocious ways the party's mainstream candidates for president are attacking one another, and they fear that time is running out for any of them to emerge as a credible alternative to Donald J. Trump or Senator Ted Cruz of Texas.

Leaders of the Republican establishment, made up of elected officials, lobbyists and donors, are also sending a message to the mainstream candidates, such as former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, that they should withdraw from the race if they do not show strength soon.

The members of the party establishment are growing impatient as they watch Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz dominate the field heading into the Iowa caucuses next Monday and the New Hampshire primary about a week later.

The party elders had hoped that one of their preferred candidates, such as Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, would be rising above the others by now and becoming a contender to rally around.

Instead, they have a muddled field of battered mainstream candidates: Mr. Bush, Mr. Rubio, Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.

[jimbo123]

[RummyChick]

You should put racist under that pic since he admitted he was a racist.

[Robert A Cook PE]

And Devito is an extremist hater of even the “mainstream” repubbie mainstream, let alone the conservative wing of (what used to be) the repubbies.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

If they’d been following Free Republic they wouldn’t be half so clueless.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Instead, they have a muddled field of battered mainstream candidates: Mr. Bush, Mr. Rubio, Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.

And Trump will continue to batter whichever of those the establishment chooses to rally around.

[GodGunsGuts]

Stick a fork in the establishment...THEY ARE DONE!

[Mouton]

“Instead, they have a muddled field of battered mainstream candidates: Mr. Bush, Mr. Rubio, Gov. John R. Kasich of Ohio and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey.”

Well, the Times gets one right, except for missing the quotes around mainstream.

The party elite better get a grasp around this simple fact: if they don’t begin to support one of the two who can win for this party, they should leave and take their mainstream bunch with them. By continuing to fight the majority of those voters who say they are republicans, they are doomed.

[20yearsofinternet]

Good. I’m Trump first, Cruz second, but whichever one wins.... good.

[MarMema]

Reap away GOP

[Psalm 144]

“We’re meltinggggggg!”

[Psalm 144]

“Good. I’m Trump first, Cruz second, but whichever one wins.... good.”

Same here.

[bassmaner]

Stick a fork in the establishment...THEY ARE DONE!

Look for the GOPe to attempt 'Mississippi redux' in SC: if they fail, you're correct.

[Dr. Sivana]

Stick a fork in the establishment...THEY ARE DONE!

No, they are like a lot of lefty organizations. They move underground, sabotage things here and there, and quietly wait for their opportunity. A lot of them marked time during the Reagan administration.

[i_robot73]

Too true.

Though, I would PAY if Trump would come out saying, “We need NEW blood in the halls of Congress. Please vote anti-incumbent for all!”.

Talk about PANIC in D.C. :D

[TWhiteBear]

The dodderers and drunks are leading the Republican Party in name only. They are lonely leaders with no followers, just paid staff and lobbyists.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Cruz are the leadership of the GOP.
TWB

[snarkpup]

Aaaahhhhhh ... The sweet smell of exasperation in the morning.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Trump WILL have to have a Bloody Tuesday firing of bureaucrats from both the Democrat Left and the GOP Establishment is he hopes to have any prayer of succeeding.

[GOPJ]

Reap away GOP

LOL - Good on Mema...

[Qiviut]

Personally, I think a “Bloody Tuesday” is necessary if the country is to survive. Of the crop of Repub candidates, I also believe he’s the only one who would/could do it. He values competence .... currently the government is infested with donors being rewarded & politically correct appointees (LGBT, Muslim Brotherhood, etc.) with no level of competence other than goose-stepping to the tune Omuslim & the Left/Progs/Dems are playing & it’s a funeral dirge for the destruction of America.

My 2 cents.

[Kenton]

The main problem with GOP leaders is that they've given up on leadership. There aren't many real leaders left in the party.

The base is craving strong leadership, and they will not be denied. The paradigm his shifted and the rino old guard will be replaced by the voters, and there's nothing they can do about it but whine.