Posted on 01/29/2016 6:51:36 AM PST by RoosterRedux
Ted Cruz and Donald Trump do agree on one thing--if Trump wins Iowa, he might be unstoppable on his way to winning the Republican presidential nomination.
And they are not alone.
A wide range of senior Republicans told POLITICO that if Trump wins Iowa, he'll more than likely be the nominee. One factor they repeatedly pointed to: An Iowa victory over Cruz would validate opinion polls showing him in command of the race. The Trump phenomenon would officially become a reality.
Mike McSherry, a longtime campaign consultant and former executive director of the Republican Governors' Association, said: "If Trump wins Iowa, I don't know how you'd stop him. All these guys are going to be chewing each other's throats out for second place."
A top official of a rival GOP campaign, speaking anonymously to avoid offending his candidate, said: "If Donald Trump wins Iowa, I think he has won--period. Ted Cruz is supposed to win Iowa. If Trump wins, he'll be on a trajectory to come out of the SEC primaries [March 1] with close to triple the delegates of anyone else."
One of the nation's best-known Republican strategists, speaking on condition of anonymity because of his close connections to the leaders of several of the campaigns, said: "Only Trump can stop himself. All his opponents can do is cause him to do things that make him less appealing."
For weeks, Trump has been telling his crowds here that he thinks a win in the Feb. 1 caucuses would enable him to "run the table."
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
A couple of observations:
1) When Trump first announced, he was not leading, now he is virtually in every state...in most, by a lot.
2) When Trump first announced his unfavorables were horrible, that has steadily changed and many polls show he is more favorable than other candidates
3) The nomination must be secured first, however, there is a lot of time before the general election. As the time goes on, I believe his numbers will increase to where he leads the Dem candidates.
Trump is leading for the primary and losing the general in head-to-heads. Your second and third points apply to Cruz as well.
Pick a candidate who is showing strength in the general NOW and things will only get better.
Trump’s trash will get dragged out once the MSM is sure he has the nomination secured and he’ll get clobbered, especially since there are plenty of us who simply won’t vote for him.
Hmmm...maybe YOU should be giving that some thought.
Did give it thought, as did all the other people I mentioned. All votes Trump will have lost.
You can’t live with the fact that Trump will DRIVE AWAY voters.
We. Won’t. Vote. For. Him.
you keep saying Trump will get smashed but that’s all been said for the last 6 months and he’s destroying everybody..
so sorry to burst your bubble but the country(that’s 50/50 and elected Obama twice) isn’t going elect a far right ideologue that can’t get along with any member of Congress and thankfully enough primary voters already know that if you look at the polls.. if a President can’t work with Congress he’s useless to the country.. the one thing we do know about Cruz is he’s generally disliked by the people he works with..
not good presidential material to getting things done,, but I’ll give you he’s a zealot for the cause,, if he gets the nomination I’ll vote for him,, good luck
That married to the Elitist Establishment, are ya?
I think that's much more a commentary on you and yours than Trump.
Which tells you that Ted Cruz knows he isn’t qualified.
Trump has beaten, is beating, and will continue to beat the media, the pundits and the GOPe at their game. As he continues to do this they will become more irrelevant and he will become more popular. Whatever “trash” there is on him, has already been dragged out ad nauseam, especially here on FR as part of the vetting process. There are no more skeletons...he is an open book. Americans like strength, bravado and leadership. Trump, warts and all, exhibits all three. This is only an observation, not a judgment of whether it is right, conservative, etc., etc.
Cruz, on the other hand, has been withering under the more intense scrutiny that comes with being a contender. He will continue to come under more and more heat and I do not think, in my humble opinion, his campaign will be able to withstand it and it will only get worse and he will lose badly in a general to any of the suspected DEM candidates.
How very GOPe to demand loyalty to your candidate, but refuse to reciprocate.
Do what you want, but deep deep down you'd really like to see Trump do to Hillary what he's done to the rest of the GOP field.
That should tell you something: you find Cruz acceptable enough to vote for him. Many of us cannot say the same about Trump.
Cruz lost simply by not standing by Trump and skipping the debate. I am positive that Cruz would have benefitted from doing so, way more than Trump. Trump Won, Cruz lost. Trump was way smart, Cruz.....well the results speak for themselves. Trump is clearly in control, all the hallmarks of a true leader
Yes. Yuuge mistake. Maybe not a correctable mistake.
That’s right if you hold your breath and don’t get your way...just burn everything to ground to hell with the rest of the country...
i heard Trump has the same guy in Iowa that got Santorum the victory in Iowa in 2012.....
Please, Laz. Cruz is hardly what I’d call establishment.
I believe Trump represents more of the same. More 6,000 page bills created through creative “deals.” More pork. More crony capitalism. More unconstitutional, king-like authority wielded from the White House.
Trump is more “establishment” in those respects than Cruz will ever be. Vot for Trump, get more of the same, regardless of his rhetoric now.
make him Attorney General...Hillry goes to jail then....garanteed.
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