Posted on 02/03/2016 12:33:54 AM PST by springwater13
Trump's backers maintain that the most painful part of his loss to Cruz, by a 3.3-percentage-point margin, is that it never should have happened. Trump actually won the battle for supporters, they believe, especially among nontraditional Republican voters, but he lacked the tools to get them to participate in Iowa's Byzantine caucus system. As a result, a candidate who could have been vaulted into New Hampshire with huge momentum on top of an impressive polling lead is instead looking shrunken and chastened.
Trump's staff "got outclassed and outmaneuvered ― the Iowa team simply didn’t have the tools they needed, which is why they overpromised and underperformed," said a source close to the Trump campaign. "The Iowa team did an amazing job with the tools that they had, but that's like saying that Al Qaeda did an amazing job in a battle with the U.S. Army because some Al Qaeda fighters didn’t get killed."
At one point early in the campaign, Trump representatives talked to Cambridge Analytica ― the firm now being credited with engineering Cruz’s cutting-edge targeting operation ― about retaining the company’s services, but they decided it was too expensive.
The campaign's lackadaisical data effort is seen in some quarters as coming down to Trump's lack of willingness to use his own cash on something that's seen as essential in modern-day presidential politics. "Trump's a businessman," said Joe Rospars, who served as a chief digital strategist to President Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns. "He's not going to spend any more money than he has to, and he made his bet."
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Less than 1.6% of his campaign funds come from his own pocket.
Less than $250,000. If he's actually worth $10B, that's like someone who makes $60K spending $2.
If the difference between losing and winning was essentially pocket change, then this was incompetence.
I had been reading about Ted Cruz building a ground game in Iowa and other major primary states for 2 years now. He is prepared to run a very powerful ground game. If anyone came into this race with a ground game created as an afterthought they are going to get a good lesson in doing their homework early.
I don’t see the problem. No one has to tell me to vote. I just know that is what I’m supposed to do. What does money and organization have to do with getting out the vote? Trump has been in the news more than any other candidate. Obviously Iowans didn’t like what he had to say.
Ironically Trump was pandering to Iowans by claiming he was for ethanol subsidies but Cruz wasn’t in favor of subsidies. Cruz drew the ire of the Governor of Iowa and was accused of running a shady campaign in releasing voter names - yet he won. Go figure!
Exactly!...well said!
I’m amazed at how many freepers are focused on style points rather than policy positions. It’s like we’re having a race for prom king instead of president.
Cruz’s eminent domain and single-payer attacks against Trump were very effective and helped close the gap and sway undecideds.
You nailed it. Trump is unwilling to put his money where his mouth is. He finally “blinked”. Cruz has been willing to leverage his entire worth. As much as I agree with Trump, I’ve always had that ominous feeling, and now I see it clearly.
Thank-you!
Pretty doggone cogent thoughts before coffee : )
I am all in for the constitutional conservative (Ted Cruz) and not the salesman populist (Donnie Trump). However, I agree that these results mean very little. That said, it was a nice, if temporary momentum breaker.
I think you meant to say....
....Cruz’s innuendos and disinformation (lies)
about Trump’s position on single payer ( calling it Obamacare) and eminent domain ( telling voters he tore down some woman’s house)
...may have been very effective indeed in swaying voters
Correction..
Cruz has been willing to leverage ...other people’s ( bigtime donors) money....
let’s get the facts straight, OK
It’s too bad Trump didn’t win, but his 2nd place showing is OK. I hope he learns his lesson that he can’t run a campaign on the cheap.
Lest we forget, he did it the night of the caucus with flat out lies about his opponents.
Other posters have already mentioned that Cruz has been organizing for a long time. Think about all the posts here on FR announcing the name of an individual who had accepted a post in the Cruz campaign in some state. Anyone with any project management experience will tell you that getting the pieces in place in a timely manner is critical. Otherwise the project begins to unravel.
As to data mining. I think it is necessary because of all the noise in our daily life. TV, radio, social media, print media, mobile phones, tablets, computers. Go camping for a weekend without your devices and you will realize in a couple of hours how very “loud” our lives are. Data mining allows you to identify the ideas or things that are of sufficient interest to your targets to break through the noise.
I guess it’s just me, but I’ve never understood why a caucus is labeled Byzantine. You go to known specific location at a known specific time and listen and chat for a bit and then vote. Not difficult, sounds like it could be interesting.
Trump is not a career politician. He is what our founders envisioned how our leaders should be.
I think he has seen that light judging from the articles. He was very determined in a post IA article and says he “went through the motions” in IA. If he is indeed a great businessman, then he will adapt and overcome.
But the caucus system also is a much more intimidating structure for people who have dropped out. At one precinct, NO ONE spoke for Trump and the GOPe trash bloggers reported “the audience cheered.”
He wants it more than any one,cane for the right reasons.
It was big for Cruz, bigger for Rubio. But don’t lie to yourself: this could have been the game-endear for Trump with a big win.
Now, I will get heckled for saying this but it could be a very good thing for Trump. We’ll see if he adapts-—cause he will NEED these organizational skills in a general election.
No. But they will switch their votes to Hillary in the general because Trump supporters have moe in common with her than any Republican.
Because it makes the difference between being called a 'winner' and a 'loser'. Trump is a loser.
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