Posted on 02/04/2016 12:30:40 PM PST by McGruff
Republican operatives from inside and outside New Hampshire agree: Sen. Ted Cruz is all but doomed to finish below the top tier in the Granite State.
The winning coalition Cruz put together in Iowa won't work in New Hampshire, they say, pointing to the fact New Hampshire has the second-lowest rate of church attendance in the country. So the edge that Cruz had among evangelicals isn't particularly applicable there.
"I would advise Cruz to skip New Hampshire and go to South Carolina. I believe you shouldn't compete anywhere where it's not a favorable battlefield to win," said Stuart Stevens, a top adviser to Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedailybeast.com ...
“If the marxists in NH like you... that’s actually a problem.”
Ronald Reagan suffered a surprise defeat by George H. W. Bush in the 1980 Iowa caucus, but the Gipper soon set about re-engineering his campaign and he pulled off a landslide victory just weeks later in New Hampshire.
Feb 4, 2016: “PPP’s newest national poll finds the race on the Republican side tightening considerably in the wake of Donald Trump’s surprise loss in Iowa on Monday night. Trump’s lead has fallen to just 4 points - he’s at 25% to 21% each for Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, 11% for Ben Carson, 5% each for Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and the now departed Rand Paul, 3% each for Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina, and 1% for Jim Gilmore. Rick Santorum had literally zero supporters on our final poll including him......
Cruz is actually pretty steady in his national standing even after his surprise victory in Iowa. His 21% standing is up just slightly from 18% in December and his favorability rating is basically unchanged - it was 59/27 then and it’s 58/28 now. One thing Cruz has going for him is that when you combine first and second choices he comes out ahead with 41% to 36% for Rubio, and 32% for Trump. That’s another metric indicating the difficulty Trump may have in growing his support. Additionally Trump trails Cruz 47/41 head to head, which bodes poorly for him if they end up being the finalists.....”
http://www.publicpolicypolling.com/pdf/2015/PPP_Release_National_20416.pdf
Bingo, the narrative about Cruz only being about religion may look good to the media but he has a very strong libertarian following based on things like his 10th amendment stance, taxes etc.
“...there could be a strong anti-Tang vote that we’re failing to take into account! “
Anti-’tang. Isn’t that the gay vote?
“I would advise Cruz to skip New Hampshire and go to South Carolina”
The simple fact that Cruz isn’t taking this advice and continues to fight regardless shows me a lot about his character. Which is why i support him. keep fighting Ted.
True. It the liberal northeast.
Congratulations on your position with the Trump think tank.
Ted did a long time ago. And remember that independents can vote in the GOP primary. I expect Ted will be talking a lot about the USA Freedom Act and a lot about Trump's love of eminent domain and his past support of the assault weapons ban - issues very important the libertarians up there.
I call them leftists, they are not liberal.
It’s time to get the debates to 5 or less on stage.
At one time I didn’t despise Ted, then I read his backers postings. Teddy’s backers work like Anti-Disciples.
With Ted's ground game, I don't expect that would help Trump. I'd be willing to bet that every potential supporter they have identified will be personally contacted 2-3 times this weekend to make sure they show up and vote.
Based on his performance in Iowa, where he overperformed, Cruz seems to be doing some interesting things with data-driven GOTV.
It’s easy to predict him getting blown out in NH. But it’s also hard to rule out the strong possibility of a much better than expected showing or even an upset that cant be predicted by polls.
Cruz opponants are taking a big risk here in predicting him being crushed. It serves to lower expectations, and if he exceeds those lowered expectations he wins.
Is that an interrogative examination of causality, or a double admission?
To clarify, not attending church makes you a heathen, not a commie.
I don’t think Teds voters would be dumb enough to fall for that. Plus Ted would correct it immediately.
LOL. Cruz only cares about Iowa, so he’s returning there to caucus again.
And that was the last time anyone even remotely conservative won in a contested GOP primary there.
New England is has the smallest sect of Christians in the country, outside of D.C.
So true, reminds me if what I used to say about the Grateful Dead, it's not the music I find bad, it's the fans/groupies.
Bernie is now 61-32% over Hillary.
http://www.whdh.com/story/31126831/hiller-instinct-7newsumass-lowell-new-hampshire-tracking-poll-day-3
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