In her Wisconsin debut as a Donald Trump surrogate, Sarah Palin was met with tepid applause and stone-faced silence Friday night at a Milwaukee County Republican gathering.
In contrast, the 750 Republicans at American Serb Hall cheered enthusiastically for Sen. Ted Cruz, who was introduced by Gov. Scott Walker and talk radio host Vicki McKenna.
The contrasting receptions illustrated why the Texas senator has surged past the real estate mogul and reality TV celebrity in the latest polls, especially in southeastern Wisconsin.
Sorry, dude, but I just can't get behind Cruz. He's so fake...and he really is a liar. He and Heidi are like Bill and Hillary all over again.
The DC people may be fine with that, but the American people are not.
Nationally in the past week Trump has a steep trendline that reflects he's stealing from Cruz, Kasich and undecided voters. Wisconsin is an outlier, reflecting millions of dollars of establishment support.
So whatever is happening in Wisconsin ... it's a little like Luke Skywalker saying 'woohooo as long as we get in bed with the dark side the Emperor will paint free racing stripes on our fighter ships!'
How can you argue it's anything different? That Trump, merely to hold his position - which he isn't, because he's surging nationally - is fighting both Cruz and the establishment? And is that something Cruz supporters should be happy about? That to challenge Trump, he needs to sleep with the enemy? Or ... is it simply true that he is the face of the enemy and he is the establishment? What kinds of promises has he had to make? What has he sold already?
Of course I could be wrong - but what other way is there to see it?
Standing ovations are Tepid responses in La-Migra Cruzville.