Posted on 12/30/2015 9:28:12 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Do supporters of the Christian right candidates Ted Cruz has eclipsed hate him so much they'd sabotage their own heroes?
The late stages of the invisible primary would not be complete without reports of intrigue and skullduggery in Iowa, with campaigns forming tactical alliances against common enemies. We have one today from National Review's Tim Alberta and Eliana Johnson, who report that supporters of the last two caucus winners, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, are so bitter at being eclipsed by Ted Cruz that they are conspiring to block the Texan and instead elevate Marco Rubio. There's only one problem with that scenario: Under Republican caucus procedures, there's no way the disgruntled social conservatives can achieve their alleged goal without damaging their own candidates, who will probably drop out if they don't do surprisingly well in Iowa.
The reason Democrats are usually featured in these Iowa intrigue stories is that their caucus procedures encourage tactical alliances via minimum thresholds for "viability" (i.e., the opportunity to elect state convention delegates, which is the only measurement of success), meaning that support can be loaned to favored candidates and denied to disfavored candidates on a precinct-by-precinct basis. Republicans, by contrast, have a simple candidate preference vote at their caucuses, so there's no way for would-be tacticians to loan or borrow support without hurting their own candidate's statewide tally...
(Excerpt) Read more at nymag.com ...
One of the silliest posts of the day
Um no. Because.if you listen to it, he says it isn’t his TOP priority. It shouldn’t be with debt and deficit, borders, and terrorism being what they are.
Moreover Ted is a constitutionalist. There is NO role for the Feds in this fight. It should be left to the states
Trump is Christian in the sense that he is American. He is not Christian in the sense that you actually repent of your sins and believe the gospel.
I would vote for that for president if I had enough agreement on other issues. Trump falls short for me.
Huckabee gets bashed for everything. Why not bash his religion, too? It is what the Huckabee haters do. They should be ashamed.
Huckabee is for Huckabee, but it is not ego. I’m just saying he is doing it to win, not to scheme.
Like Huckabee or don’t like him on the issues. To paint him as a schemer is to lie about him. That says nothing about him and a lot about the false accuser.
Huckabee is wrong when he says Cruz changed on marriage. I do not respect his lack of understanding on that, nor his own false accusation against Cruz. There is a difference between those two candidates on marriage. Huckabee’s position is better. But that does not mean Cruz changed.
I am for Cruz. I respect Huckabee overall. I loath the way candidate supporters smear the opposition. We wonder why we keep electing losers who stab us in the back. Well there you go. We elect people like ourselves, apparently.
Agreed. :)
Yeah, REALLY, you’re right. It’s bizarre out there, huh?
That’s right, so, we’ll soon see. I think perhaps Donald and his Iowa guy have agreed on when to strike. The rest had to bathe the state in green to even get a hearing early on.
Now comes Donald. Remember that scene (in virtually ALL Mel Gibson movies)...., where he says, .... “hold, Hold, HOLD,........FIRE!!!!!
Timing and calendar works here, if these voters scramble around until the last 48 hours, or so.
I think you might be projecting a little there. LOL
Pundits typically say there are three tickets out of IOWA. This is usually correct. I heard one reporter mentioning that there might only be two tickets out this year on the Rep side. One anti-establishment and one establishment.
There you go. I so agree to that rank possibility.
If the Establishment is relegated to have to try and co-opt Cruz, they will certainly give it the old college try. Meanwhile, the forces are arrayed to take him out of the running of a distant second to the gladiator of the whole field, TRUMP.
This is truly the globalists against the nationalists and the lines are drawn.
Huck & Ricky are languishing in low single digits. There is nothing to backfire. They are securely at the bottom and staying there. Me thinks they are gunning for a spot in the Trump admin.
I agree that it can’t backfire on them electorally. They’re already at absolute zero.
I was thinking more reputation-wise, but there again, upon reflection I agree that they no longer have much to lose on that score either.
If I were Trump, I wouldn’t touch either one with a 20 foot pole.
Yes, electorally, I dont think Santorum can deliver PA, and AR is already in Trump’s column.
My best guess is the GOPe will try every trick in the book at the convention to take nomination away from Trump. That is why his best VP pick would be whoever brings the most delegates won with him. And that could be Cruz.
You are getting way out in front of yourself. Trump has yet to win a single delegate. Of course, no one else has either, and Trump is unquestionably doing very well indeed, but this race is far from won.
Personally, I hope Trump falls aside or is passed because I do not think he is the best candidate, nor would he be the best President. That said, if Trump gets the nomination, I will have no problem campaigning and voting for him because the alternative is simply not acceptable to me.
Meanwhile, I will stick with my guy to victory or defeat.
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