Posted on 12/15/2014 1:36:04 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
To hell with the independents. That’s not usually the animating principle of a presidential campaign, but for Ted Cruz’s, it just might be.
His strategists aren’t planning to make a big play for so-called independent voters in the general election if Cruz wins the Republican nomination. According to several of the senator’s top advisers, Cruz sees a path to victory that relies instead on increasing conservative turnout; attracting votes from groups — including Jews, Hispanics, and Millennials — that have tended to favor Democrats; and, in the words of one Cruz strategist, “not getting killed with independents.”
Twenty-three months from the presidential election, it seems all but a given that the freshman senator, who has been in Congress just two years, will mount a bid for the White House. “He’s looking at the race very seriously,” says a senior adviser, who confirms that Cruz’s campaign headquarters would be based in Houston. Cruz strategists see a way to win both the nomination and the general election. They are assiduously cultivating the party’s top-dollar donors, almost all of whom remain uncommitted. Internally, the senator has shaken up his staff to address problems and to set the stage for a presidential bid. All that’s left, it seems, is an official announcement.
It’s almost conventional wisdom now that presidential candidates woo the party faithful in primary contests and tack to the middle in the general election to attract more-moderate voters. Not Cruz......
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
That was how Reagan did it. He locked down the based, and then reached towards the center a bit near the end (i.e., promising to “put a woman” on the Supreme Court - hurt the country with that, but there are other options).
Bush-41 did that in 1988 with “Read my Lips...”
Bush-43 did the same when he talked about “a new tone”
Bush-Jeb will try realize he needs to talk that way soon enough.
Bush-41 lost that credibility when he raised taxes, the base was gone, and we got 8 years of Clinton. Dole, McCain, and Romney never had that credibility and their results showed reflected that.
He starts with the issue of taxes [THIS IS STILL THE top reason we're falling apart - jobs moved overseas and welfare rolls growing].
Here’s the thing about the “base”.
The Democrat base is 75% of their party. What is referred to here as the Republican “base” is no more than 30% of their party, if that.
What this means is that the Democrat base is an engine to win elections, under certain circumstances (Obama, Warren, etc).
It also means that the Republican base cannot win elections, but only (by sitting out) can lose them. Now, I believe the conservative element within the GOP can grow into a national majority coalition, BUT NOT AS PART OF THE GOP.
That’s because the interests of the national GOP, what we call here the GOPe, are irreconcilably opposed to the interests of our people.
It will be very hard to beat RINOs in the primary.
Thanks to that perfidious snake, John Boner, the amount of contributions that corporations and private individuals can give to candidates has been VASTLY inflated. MOST big corporations are NOT conservative. Social issues mean nothing to them. Even their perspective of fiscal issues is not positive for America. And a large number of the uber-rich also fall into that category. Additionally, surveys have indicated large corporate contributors vastly prefer to contribute to incumbents as they represent a better opportunity to win elections and a more prudent investment for political patronage.
The net effect of this is bad for conservative challengers. And it dilutes the influence of the majority of the conservative base.
I like Scott Walker.
So what are your suggestions?
Nice turn of a phrase.
If Cruz pulls this off and gets elected President his campaign will go down in history as the first time anyone actually tried:
THE FREE REPUBLIC STRATEGY
I second the motion: Go Ted Go.
Dollars don’t vote, people do. But dollars translate into better advertising opportunities.
I don’t know the answer but term limits for these people are really needed. Too many of them view office holding as a career instead of a temporary interlude of public service which is what elective office should be.
John Boehner is an evil foul villain and needs to be replaced as speaker. If he is not, the midterm elections mean NOTHING
This writer is mixing terms. He is getting “independent” and “base” mixed up. I am an independent and a solid member of the conservative base. So to hell with me for being an independent but Cruz is going to rely on me as a member of the conservative base? Make sense? Why does this writer think independents are not conservatives? Independents used to be made up if people who couldn’t make up their mind, now the independent ranks are filled with disgruntled republicans, solid conservatives who will not contribute or identify with the GOPe’s left-leaning policies. Independents are a critical part of the conservative base and this writer is totally blind to that fact.
No, the 30% will still lose because it has no power nor money.
The solution is to first have a secondary to select the conservative candidate for the Republican primary
The cohesion required is to be provided by the GOPc, the conservative wing of the Republican party. Numbers on a thread yesterday show that there not only is promise for such a group in Congress but even more so in the new Congress.
The solution is not to form a new party, but to take control of the existing party. The solution will require political war
Very true.
Exactly. And I don't "consider" myself an independent....I've been registered as one since I got old enough to vote (I'm 67).
Why am I an independent.....because the Republican party is too liberal.
Even if 30% of the GOP could take control of the rotten husk (and I believe that could happen), the 30% cannot compel the 70%.
Most Republicans (meaning >50%) would rather vote for Hillary Clinton than Ted Cruz. It’s time to let them go in peace.
As a “registered independent” I can’t wait to go on full Cruz control...
HRC doesn't think so; she and the popular "Bill" will be in competition forever for "Best President" label.
I’m inclined to let them keep on making mistakes. : )
I do not believe this is the case.
The elections have already been nullified; didn't McC and Boehner say before Nov. 5 that NOTHING would change if they took full majorities?
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