Posted on 12/14/2015 10:42:35 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Perhaps you have watched one, two, three, four or even all five. Perhaps you haven't watched a single one.
But regardless of what group you fall into, you might want to watch tonight's Republican presidential candidate debate, which will air on CNN. It will be the sixth held this year and it will give you a chance to take either an initial or second look at Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who now seems to have the best chance to overtake front runner Donald Trump and win the party's nomination.
The GOP establishment has watched on with unease as Trump has seized the top spot in the polls and stubbornly held on to it for the past five months. While the appeal of the outspoken Trump has shown some signs of slipping as of late, the Republican brass has come to take his candidacy seriously. They realize he could be their candidate come November, and are seemingly worried it would harm their party's chances to topple the assumed Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton.
Part of the reason behind Trump's staying power is no mainstream candidate has emerged as a serious threat. Many GOP insiders had hoped Jeb Bush would supply that threat, but he has failed to inspire the electorate and it is now obvious that a third man named Bush will not be elected president, at least not in 2016.
So, as they put preferences aside and develop more of an "anyone but Trump'' approach, Cruz, who is hardly a friend of the establishment, has to be considered or reconsidered. He has taken the lead in the polls from Trump among Republican voters in Iowa, which will kick off the primary season when the state holds its caucus on Feb. 1.
Cruz seems bound and determined to transform the Republican party. He is an unabashed conservative and tea party darling, who became the national face of the 2013 government shutdown. He openly feuds with his party mates, and has been known to describe GOP leaders as spineless and feeble.
As a result, he has developed numerous enemies in Washington, and to this point, does not have a single Senate colleague backing his campaign. He might be considered an insider merely because of his elected position, but he also could just as easily be considered an outsider looking in.
This might present a quandary for traditional Republicans, but it also presents an alternative and opportunity to those who cringe at the idea of Trump being nominated. Cruz has enough of a bad boy reputation to appeal to the disenchanted, and enough of a link to traditional government to appeal to the mainstream.
Iowans go to the polls in six weeks. New Hampshire voters one week later. The Illinois primary will be held March 15.
It's obvious the campaign is heading into a critical phase. While voters are coming closer to settling on a choice, many have not made up their minds, and many have not given much thought toward Cruz yet. If you want to make an informed choice at the ballot box, you might want to start tonight.
or 15 years, if you want play Trump again, and claim i can’t subtract.
“Bravo, sir (or ma’am!)”
Thank you. I am a male in my early 60s.
I don’t mean to say that Senator Cruz is a perfect man or that he has God’s endorsement (God alone knows hearts). However, I am saying that if one wants to be logical and social/morale issues are of prime importance to them (which they are to me), then Senator Cruz is the logical choice of those candidates in the top tier.
I would also consider Governor Huckabee or Senator Santorum to be good choices for a social/moral conservative voter to pick, but they just don’t have enough support which leaves Senator Cruz. Senator Cruz is indeed a consistent social/morale conservative in addition to being fiscally conservative. He also strikes me as being strong on national defense, but in a balanced way.
Regarding Mr. Trump. I genuinely have extreme misgivings about him, and especially so because he is absent on social/moral issues. IMO he does not care about those things because he perceives they would not advance whatever agenda he has. Mr. Trump says he wants to make America great again. I will not call him a liar and say he is just saying this. However, I will state clearly that he is horribly misguided if he thinks any country can be “great” while suffering from Godless moral rot. To paraphrase scripture, you labor in vain to build a house without God’s help and blessing. God will not bless what is totally contrary to His revealed will. Open homosexuality enshrined in legal legitimization as is the continued slaughter of the innocent unborn? How can God bless what He clearly condemns?
So how can Mr. Trump make America great again when he only gives token attention to building a solid moral foundation that God would approve of? The answer is he cannot.
It grieves me to see so many of my fellow conservative Christians being deceived by Mr. Trump and the pragmatism of supporting him because “he is more electable.” It seems foolish to me.
Amen. It's why I voted third party in 2012 -- I fear God way more than I fear a skinny fraud like Obama. Voting for Romney -- er, excuse me, "against" Obama -- meant voting FOR all of those abominations (see my tagline). So I voted for a plurality, to weaken whichever leftist was bound to win, Romney or Obama.
If I have to do the same in 2016, so be it.
I live on the front lines in So Cal. I am a fifth generation native of California from agricultural roots and will tell you straight out: illegal immigrants from Mexico have always been part of the landscape. ONLY in the past 15-20 years or so have they become a serious problem, as branches of law enforcement take "sanctuary" status and refuse to depart illegals when they find them, as minimum wage has gone up up up up up (a king's ransom to an unskilled young man from a cardboard box village in Mexico), and as government welfare/benefits/services for illegals has gone out the roof.
Trump's answer? More government force, more government intrusion, but in a way that smacks of retaliation for all those dirty rotten job-stealing Messicans.
The better solution is Cruz's solution -- steady, measured, conservative use of government enforcing laws that already exist
And I cannot stand before God and say I voted for a false Christian Cruz. At least I know where Trump stands. We have lost the social war already. I do seek God’s kingdom first, politics has NOTHING do to with that and I am appalled at the number of so called “Christians” (right back at you) who equate politics with faith. They are not the same nor should be confused as many do.
Cruz will lose and we have lost so many times already. Cruz is not the logical choice for Conservatives because it will end up like Dole, McCain, and Romney. Every fiber in my being screams that Cruz is not a person to be sitting in the chair of POTUS. The general will all be about how he is not eligible (true or not that will be the narrative) and people will not vote for him. Hence Hillary.
Their not stealing jobs, GOPe establishment donors and the Chamber of Commerce want cheap labor. As long as you support them this issue will not be resolved. A wall and deportation is the way to start.
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