Posted on 02/05/2016 9:08:33 AM PST by SeekAndFind
One Red State diarist wonders whether Trump’s four-day journey from gracious concession to sober self-reflection about his ground game to shrieking about fraud and a do-over in Iowa to low-key “it’s in the past” dismissal means that he’s actually insane. Old theory: Trump is erratic. New theory: Trump is bananas.
I don’t think he’s bananas. I think this is what it looks like when a candidate decides to test out new lines of attack in real time, with the entirety of the media hanging on his every word, instead of with focus groups behind closed doors.
In a striking reversal of rhetoric, Donald Trump would not rule out Ted Cruz as his hypothetical vice-presidential pick.
“Well, I don’t know. Look, I have nothing against him. It was sort of a sad thing that happened, but I’ve always liked him,” Trump told Hugh Hewitt on his radio show Thursday, after weeks of trashing his primary rival as nasty, hypocritical and disliked.
Trump added that he has “always gotten along well” with Cruz, but that “I’m so much now focused on New Hampshire.”
What happened between Wednesday and now? My guess is that Trump concluded that crying “fraud!” over Iowa had backfired, partly because it made him look erratic and sore-loser-ish and partly because it risked annoying New Hampshirites who don’t want to spend their week listening to Trump re-run someone else’s election. That’s where the part about being “so much focused on New Hampshire” comes in. He said nearly the same thing verbatim to Anderson Cooper last night in the interview Ed blogged earlier, suggesting that that’s his new “message” when asked about the results of the caucus — even though that message, that the past is the past, is 180 degrees opposite his demand for a do-over 48 hours ago. What’s going to happen tomorrow night when he’s inevitably asked about fraud in Iowa, probably in the opening minutes of the debate? Even if he tries to duck it, Cruz is going to use it as evidence that Trump’s too unpredictable and prone to “Trumper tantrums” to be president. Does Trump double down on “fraud!” at the point or does he double down on “let’s move on”? There seems to have been no strategy here beyond him rashly tossing the charge about cheating out there, seeing if it stuck, and then dropping it cold turkey when it didn’t. It’s just like when he started calling Cruz a “maniac” for not being able to work with his Senate colleagues before the December debate, took some heat for it on the right, and then was all chummy with Cruz again on debate night. Given how serious the accusations are — election fraud! Cruz unhinged! — these aren’t trial balloons Trump is floating so much as trial zeppelins. And then, a few days later, when it doesn’t work out as well he planned, he turns around and essentially says: What zeppelin?
The really weird part of this, though, is that he’s backing off the personal attacks on Cruz too, not just the fraud claim. How can you say you’ve always liked a guy whom you’ve been calling nasty, corrupt, cronyist, a hypocrite, a “total liar,” and someone whom no one likes once they get to know him? And how can you not rule him out for VP when you’ve spent the past month arguing that he’s not constitutionally eligible to be president? Is Trump dropping that claim too? This whole weird backtrack smells like his campaign manager pulled him aside and told him that attacking Cruz relentlessly has started to hurt his own popularity, which is dangerous when he’s being threatened by a well-liked candidate in Marco Rubio. So now Trump’s going to chuck everything he’s been saying since New Year’s and try a new low-key “I’m serious and I’m staying on message” approach. Good luck, I guess.
Via the Right Scoop, here he is last night getting angry (and profane) in a much more productive way than he did with this week’s “fraud” digression.
A sawed off shotgun doesn’t throw as wide and erratic a pattern as The Donald.
Probably like when Oprah used to give stuff away to give people the impression that she had given it to them out of the goodness of her heart when the truth was all those cars were part of the marketing plan of the carmaker. They were the ones who gave the cars to Oprah to give to her audience members. Didn't cost her a dime. But she got the accolades.
Trump will finagle the wall to be paid by someone other than himself (note his reference to having Mexico pay for it) and then he trumps us the allusion that he was the one who built it.
I call it the oprah-nization of the American presidency.
Trump: I’ve always liked that nasty guy.
Cruz lives inside Trump’s malleable mind. Trump true believers will miss the latest flip flop by their liberal candidate. It’s a hoot watching Trump flop on the bank like a big mouthed bass.
Go Cruz!
I will vote for Mr. Trump.
5.56mm
RE: Cruz lives inside Trump’s malleable mind.
I have a strong feeling that what lives in his mind will suddenly be replaced by Marco Rubio after New Hampshire.
Yeah, this just shows he was being a self-serving hypocrite with the whole “Canadian anchor baby” schtick.
He’s got CDS... Cruz is living rent-free in his head!
If The Donald is the Republican nom.
Have to be specific for n00bs.
5.56mm
Now, Trump supporters will claim it was all a part of Trump’s brilliant plan. He sees the future and is way ahead of ordinary mortals. He’s like a God to them. No flip or flop will hurt him. The Leader is always right. The Leader is never wrong.
Those rulings haven't settled anything. Supposing Cruz gets the nomination, all hell will break loose on him from the leftists both in the media and the Democrat party. You ain't seen nothing yet.
It’s almost funny to see the liberties taken for these ssssttttreeeeettttccchhh stories, and the CReepy sycophants who glom on to every word of a headline, without doing any due diligence to see if there’s even a speck of truth to these hit pieces.
As I recall, the first "attack" that got the Trumpettes all worked up was when Cruz dared to say in an interview - I can hardly repeat it, it was so horrible - that he didn't think Trump would be the nominee! (I hope you shielded your children's eyes from such blasphemy!)
Herein lies a problem for me. If you spend your time trashing someone and saying they are not qualified, stupid, and not a citizen why would you offer them a job?
RE: he didn’t think Trump would be the nominee!
Well duh! Why would Ted be wasting his time running if he thought Trump would be the nominee!
Trump finally realized that Iowa wasn’t important enough to continue the feud with Cruz.
I think some one at HotAir (appropriate title) is just that, HOT AIR....
Trump has said in so many words he can’t have Cruz as his V.P. because he doesn’t think he is a legal U.S. Citizen for that position...
Until it comes out of his mouth at one of his speeches, I shall not believe a word of it....
But you don't understand! To the Trumpettes, Cruz was belittling and attacking Trump by not acknowledging Trump's eventual and pre-ordained triumph. For that, he had to be crushed, which of course led to the silly birther attack, the attacks from the left by Trump, the "nobody likes Ted" comments, etc.
Nobody can argue against Sessions really, but the state is sharply divided on candidates at this time (Cruz and Sessions) and Sessions knows this. Sessions defended Cruz back in December and has admitted he has heard neither hide or hair from Trump since. (Source: Friends of Jeff Sessions FB page).
I don’t know what the time frame would be to let public knowledge of the choices for VP out.....
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