Posted on 04/10/2016 7:35:25 PM PDT by Strac6
At the outset, let me assure all the Trump supporters, the Cruz supporters, the Kasich supporters and anyone else interested in the outcome of the Republican presidential primary that this article is not written with the intent to help or hurt any candidate. It is simply a dose of reality in an often confused political knife fight.
In trying to advance the case that Sen. Cruz is not eligible to be President of the United States because he was born in Canada, the Trump forces are on what is undoubtably a fool’s errand. I’m not going to take the time here explaining the legalities of United States Code 1401 and related statutes, nor the difference between a “natural born citizen” and a “native born citizen,” or how some Supreme Court decision of 114 years ago is not applicable today or any of the other legal arguments some Trump supporters try to advance…. AND THAT IS NOT WHAT THIS ARTICLE IS ABOUT!
The reality is that the “citizenship’ issue may be a well-laid Cruz trap.
The problem with all these “Sen. Cruz is ineligible” arguments is that none of them have advanced in the courts. On every question of when a presidential candidate was not a native born citizen, but was a natural born citizen under the law, the courts have always decided in favor of the candidate. As an example, Sen. McCain was born in Panama while his father served there in the Navy, George Romney was born in Mexico to American citizen Mormon missionaries, and other presidential candidates have not been native born.
If there was any validity to these arguments, three things would be happening. First, well-founded and well-funded law teams PAID FOR BY OTHER CANDIDATES would be advancing the matter through the courts. Secondly, other candidates than Trump would be screaming the issue from the rooftops, finally, and most importantly, the serious money donors that contribute heavily to the presidential campaigns would’ve abandoned Cruz a long time ago.
Reality check: Even Trump rarely mentions the issue any longer.
But there is a real danger to the Trump supporters in trying to concentrate on the citizenship issue, regardless if it is real or not. By concentrating their efforts on this, they are wasting time and effort they could spend in other ways to advance Mr. Trump. Ted Cruz is far from the perfect presidential candidate, but by devoting time and energy to the citizenship issue, Trump supporters are missing dozens of opportunities to attack him on other issues.
More importantly, I’m sure some senior Cruz supporters are glad Trump supporters are concentrating on the citizenship issue, because there is a natural tendency among voters, that when one line of attack is proved to be false or foolish, the candidates other lines of attack tend to go down with it.
The classic example of this was the 2004 George W. Bush reelection campaign. You’ll remember that CBS News, in the persona of Dan Rather, highlighted a supposedly huge story that then-Air Force reservist Bush had used his father’s political influence to avoid service in Vietnam. It was a huge story when it ran on CBS, and in fact, it totally overshadowed anything else for days.
But the Bush people were very smart. They knew the story was totally false and they led CBS and Kerry into a huge ambush over it.
You may remember that CBS called the White House asking for a comment or a denial. The WH quietly said, “we’ll get back to you.” The WH didn’t, and the story ran with much hoopla that night.. and for nights afterward.
Bush polls were down.
But simply put, CBS and Dan Rather had put all their eggs in that BS story’s basket.
Various entities around the country, FR leading them, soon started poking holes in the CBS story.
Rather, or more correctly, Rather’s ego led him further down the primrose path of journalistic destruction.
When the story was proved false, Bush ratings went higher than they were before the "story" broke. Bush had "stood up" to Rather... and Bush won.
I won’t go into all the history, but in the end, it cost Rather his job, his reputation even among the liberals, and it cost CBS any semblance of respect that had going into the story.
Bottom line. If you are against Cruz and for Trump, don’t waste your time on this Flat Earth argument. It hurts very badly when the door gets slammed shut on what you thought were facts, and you find you have wasted all your effort on a false hope.
Just ask Dan Rather.
Great piece..!
Thank you!
Sigh. Thought so.
The Dime Minister of Canada thanks you.
Hmmm... so Cuz really isn’t natural born.
Thanks for the confirmation.
This election is not like any other election, except maybe for the one Andrew Jackson won back in the 19th century. There is no candidate like Donald J Trump. No weapon formed against him will prosper. Relax, watch and learn.
So reading comprehension in 3d grade was a problem, eh?
There are Kasich supporters?
I met one.... once.
:)
When I do it, it’s bad, but when a Trumpet questions a poster’s sign-on date, it’s legit?
Thank you. I was sure the flamers would be out in force... they probably didn’t get past the 2d paragraph.
Be well.
So Article 2 doesn’t really mean anything? I suppose the bill of rights doesn’t mean anything either.
My worry is not about DJT in the primary. I just worry about us giving Hillary/etc. ammunition in the General.
Maybe that’s why he couldn’t even give Buckhead honorable mention.
This is about Cruz’s character, and his love for the constitution and flip flops.
Of course the courts and Senate are going to allow Cruz to run.
Trump has been very clever in creating doubt.
Thank you for your confirmation that my post is correct. Why else would you attack the poster, “rather” then the logic of the post?
But the number of pro and con for both joining the parade recently here and possibly being paid for it is becoming ridiculous.
2nd, you're always okay. :)
There is some truth to that, but I think that doubt was among those already inclined to support Trump.
DJT will win the nomination. I just don’t want to see him blindsided in the General.
PS, my point exactly. Why waste time on the non-starting citizenship issue, when Cruz has so many other vulnerabilities.
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