Posted on 02/24/2016 8:30:17 PM PST by TigerClaws
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The “southern firewall†Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign has been building for months appears to be crumbling under the weight of Donald Trump’s staying power and Marco Rubio’s resurgence.
The Cruz campaign told Yellowhammer Wednesday night they are pulling out of the Presidential Forum set to be held at Samford University in Birmingham on Saturday, and will not be holding any other events in Alabama ahead of election day. Senator Marco Rubio’s campaign, however, reiterated their commitment to the event.
The move is one of the most open indicators to date that Cruz has failed to pick up steam in the Bible Belt South, once believed to be his geographic stronghold and his most likely path to the nomination.
Numerous southern states and almost a quarter of the Republican delegates are up for grabs in the so called SEC Primary on March 1st.
Yellowhammer CEO Cliff Sims said Cruz’s exit from the state so close to election day is unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected.
“Decisions like this are difficult for any campaign to make, but they have to do what they think is best,†he said. “Once a campaign goes into survival mode, sometimes they have to cut their losses and move resources where they can be most effective. A candidate’s time is the most valuable resource any campaign has.â€
South Carolina Republican strategist Hogan Gidley said Cruz’s lackluster performance in his home state was the first public sign that Cruz’s southern strategy was not coming together.
“It does definitely put a dent into the manufactured reputation that Cruz is coalescing all conservatives,†he told National Review. “I think we can put an end to that myth.â€
A longtime Alabama political consultant who is not working for a presidential campaign but has seen presidential campaign polling numbers through other state-level campaigns told Yellowhammer Cruz’s path to the nomination could be disappearing.
“If Cruz — the Texan, the staunch evangelical, the anti-Washington guy — can’t win in Alabama and across the South, he can’t win,†the consultant said on condition of anonymity so he could speak freely. “I’ve seen polling in the last week that shows Cruz in third in Alabama, far behind Trump and behind Rubio, too. It might become apparent after March 1st that Cruz’s goose is cooked.â€
Senator Rubio is scheduled to be in both Birmingham and Huntsville on Saturday. Donald Trump is scheduled to be in Huntsville on Sunday. No other Republican candidates are currently scheduled to campaign in the state ahead of the March 1st primary.
“if Trump gets this and spits in the faces of those who supported (him)”
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Oh, you mean like the elected tea party conservatives have done for the last 8 years ? See, that’s the problem.
Cruz has always been a stealth establishment candidate - their backup plan if Jebisito or RubiNO fails.
When Cruz joined the executive team of NRSC at the behest of McConnell, it spoke volumes when Cruz remained silent during the Mississippi fraud.
Cruz’s choice of the lunatic Beck indicates Cruz’s overstated “pseudo intellect”.
Sarah Palin saw Cruz as a phony and chose to not endorse him.
As an aside, when I mentioned this fact, one Cruzer tried to equate Sarah to Beck - an indication that Cruzers are in denial and living in their pretend world.
Bottom line, Cruz is just as despicable and phony as the Bushies and it’s not surprising Cruz joined the Bush administration. Birds of a feather....
Is there any truth to the rumor that Cruz is barricading himself in the Alamo?
——Cruz has always been a stealth establishment candidate-—
Translation: Cruz is not an irrational purist zealot
Self-righteous? Get over myself? My statement was an observation. The only personal interjection was that I found it “strange.” It was not meant as a personal attack on supporters of Donald Trump. 95% of the responses to my statement were not vitriolic. Some were.
My feelings aren’t hurt. You are only speculating there. I hardly need a Safe Space.
My apologies if I misread your post.
Who’s mocking? I just think it’s ludicrous that some crazy dominionist claims their son is anointed by god to be president.
I suppose Cruz decided to go for the Mormon vote and Romney is probably for Rubio now; it is the only reasonable explanation.
Mark Levin, while sane, cannot seem to quit cheerleading for Cruz. In his trademark loud and hysterical tone, he attacks anyone who says anything negative about Cruz. His show has grown into a 3 hour bore fest about how Trump and Rubio are evil. He does this, all the while saying that he hasn't yet made an endorsement.
Concur
Trump is worse.
[Boy that has to suck Teddy...]
Can I just point out the importance that a correctly placed comma would have made in this sentence...
A college newspaper is Breaking News?
That is indeed true. My old man was WWII Airborne. He took one of those buckles from some dead German Landser and brought it back (along with other things) and I still have it. And it clearly has "Gott Mit Uns" on it, over the eagle w/swastika.
Cruz is not US NBC. There are many sources on the net that explain how he is a naturalized citizen. You could research it yourself if you care to do so. Cruz was born Canadian NBC. Instead of suing the guy, I just won’t vote for him. Have a great day.
Woohoo, the principled, limited government conservative is losing to the lying New York liberal fraud! Yay!
It’s a new day around here.
Cruz’s ticket to the White House was on Trump’s coattails and as his VP. The nation needed more time to get to know Ted and to get used to him, and he could well have been elected president after four or eight years as VP.
That’s how it looked for a time until the truce between the two came apart.
Everything happening with Cruz was predicted once his campaign turned nasty. I tried to point that out to several Cruzers that what Cruz Inc was doing wasn’t going to go over well. I said weeks ago Cruz will end up battling for third place. I didn’t celebrate it and don’t celebrate it. I wanted it to be a clean fight and find it ironic the one guy holding himself out (or maybe with supporters holding him up) as being so Christian is the one who is found with the dirty campaign team. Weeks ago many of us were saying ‘fix that!’,,but nope. The responses were just Trump-hate-venom.
I voted for Cruz in Texas. I am one of the people who helped put him where he is and now I’m called all sorts of BS names on FR by people who act all ‘holy’. That doesn’t work people. It needs to stop. Not of one of us here is more or less a sinner than the other.
If you don’t like Trump fine, pull for Cruz. That’s cool. Leave it at that. Cruz needs the positive support. His campaign team set a very negative tone and it has not served him because honestly, I don’t think it’s a genuine reflection of who he is. It was not authentic and it may be too late to salvage his reputation.
Like I said, sue him if you are so certain about it.
Of course, you’re not, because you know its garbage.
I’m going to keep trashing Trump until it’s passé.
Well look at you.
Wanting to fund PP just to get back at someone who supports Trump?
How many children should be killed in order to satisfy you?
That attitude pretty well sums up the typical Cruzer.
I don’t recall any Cruz supporter telling Trump supporters to leave this site
Well you may not have seen the Cruz supporters posting to me that I should go back to DU where I belong. That’s just one example. It has happened.
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