Cruz's Silent Success

US News and World Report ^ | Feb. 10, 2016, at 10:40 a.m. | Robert Schlesinger

[SoConPubbie]

Ted Cruz's strong third-place finish in New Hampshire is the most underrated story of Tuesday's primary – and the most ominous.

There's no question that Donald Trump scored an epic win last night in New Hampshire. But there's still a lot of primary season left, and one item that shouldn't be easily glossed over is Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's surprisingly strong performance in the Granite State.

New Hampshire is not Cruz country in the way that Iowa was: He appeals to the party's tea party and evangelical base, and they're simply not as prevalent in the flinty Northeast. The Iowa electorate was 62 percent evangelical and 40 percent "very conservative," according to exit polls – but only 27 percent and 25 percent respectively in New Hampshire. Cruz's people knew it wasn't friendly territory, so he didn't spend a lot of time there. And yet Cruz edged out the stumbling Floridians – former Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio – for third place in the state. Granted, he benefited from having a crowded field. As the insightful Ron Brownstein pointed out:

In NH @SenTedCruz wins 8% of non-evangelicals, 9% of somewhat conservatives. Not broad enough yet 2 go the distance @KevinMaddenDC— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) February 10, 2016

That is true. But remember that the next stop in the campaign is South Carolina, which is much more hospitable to his brand of politics, with evangelicals making up nearly two-thirds of the electorate there in the 2012 primary and strong conservatives making up more than one-third. And beyond that, much of Super Tuesday (or the "SEC primary" as some have taken to calling it) will play out across the Bible Belt.

And as the Washington Examiner's Philip Klein wrote last night, Cruz heads into the race's first southern contest with religiously focused competitors like Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania having bowed out and Ben Carson having proven himself an afterthought. Further, "Cruz has a ground game in place and the electorate is much more tailored to his strengths."

This while the non-Trump, non-Cruz scrum – presumably down to Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Bush and the faltering Rubio – not only failed to achieve much clarity last night but are gearing up to hammer each other in the famously brutal Palmetto State, each hoping for a clear shot at Trump. "Bush plans scorched-earth attack on Kasich, Rubio," Politico reported last night.

It's not like Cruz is getting a pass; Trump has gone up on South Carolina television with an attack ad painting him – implausibly – as a Washington insider. And the Texas senator's campaign is gleefully engaging the fight, unveiling a genuinely funny Web ad skewering Trump as a big government pretend-Republican. As Hot Air's Ed Morrissey notes, "Ridicule can be a powerful tool in politics, and it might be the only kind of attack that will work on Trump."

In any case, if you're Ted Cruz you're delighted to be in a scrap with the front-runner rather than trying to drag yourself clear of the also-ran knife-fight.

And in a conservative state like South Carolina, that fight could also play to Cruz's strengths. The Examiner's Klein again:

Furthermore, now that the field has narrowed down and Trump has won a primary and proven himself a serious threat, there will be a lot more focus on his liberal record – on abortion, guns, healthcare, property rights – among other issues. It won't dissuade his strongest supporters, but it doesn't matter, because it will discourage enough very conservative voters and evangelicals to give Cruz the victory.

Suppose Cruz manages to close the gap on Trump while Jeb! emerges from the rotating group of establishmentarians, leaving that lane as muddled as it is today. This could very quickly become a two-tier race.

[dynoman]

One more delegate for 3 million more in spending is “whipped his butt”? Cool!

[servantboy777]

Ok...so what? Cruz is my senator. He’z kept every promise he’z made to Texans. He has done a fine job. Love that he has pissed off the republican establishment in the senate...thrills me. As solicitor general of the great state of Texas, Cruz sued the Obozo administration dozens of times. Trump doesn't have the conservative credentials of Cruz. He just doesn't.

[dynoman]

I just carp when I see really dumb stuff.

This is the battle as I see it; illogical morons with their lips permanently fastened to government tits outnumber those of us who are paying for it all. That is a fact. Trump represents the only hope for getting enough crossover and independent votes to overcome those tit sucking parasites. Cruz simply will not pull in enough votes to do it. Trump is the only chance we have.

I will vote for whoever is the republican nominee but none but Trump stand a chance at winning this fall. The popularity of Sanders, and by default socialism, coupled with the fact the number of parasites outnumber those who make up the host proves that beyond any doubt in my mind.

[bubman]

"The South Carolina GOP is dominated by RINOs and all have endorsed either Rubio or Bush. SC used to be a fairly conservative state, but with the invasion of liberals from Yankeeland, especially in the coastal areas, liberal Lindsey Graham is sent back to the senate every four years to backstab the Republican Party"....

It's funny how you outed Trump as a Liberal based on your assessment of SC politics being RINO country and him being the only one that can win it.

[JediJones]

NH is the least conservative state in the union. Meanwhile Kasich will find it hard to repeat his NH success anywhere else. The result tells you Cruz is likely to come in 1st or 2nd in nearly all the remaining states. That makes him a formidable competitor to Donny the Tramp.

[JediJones]

You nailed it there. That is the simple, indisputable truth that the Trampsters are desperately trying to lie about every minute of the day to defend their false god. Tell your Senator he’s got a friend in Pennsylvania!

[JediJones]

Trump represents the only hope for getting enough crossover and independent votes to overcome those tit sucking parasites.

YOU COULDN'T BE MORE WRONG! Democrats and liberals DESPISE Trump more than any other candidate. He has done worse than Cruz and the others in EVERY general election poll. You people can't keep spewing these baseless and wrong assumptions about Trump's general election viability when all the evidence says the opposite. Please research the facts before you post bad advice that will hand the election to the Dems.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trump-is-really-unpopular-with-general-election-voters/

Contra Rupert Murdoch’s assertion about Trump having crossover appeal, Trump is extraordinarily unpopular with independent voters and Democrats. Gallup polling conducted over the past six weeks found Trump with a -27-percentage-point net favorability rating among independent voters, and a -70-point net rating among Democrats; both marks are easily the worst in the GOP field. (Trump also has less-than-spectacular favorable ratings among his fellow Republicans.)

[dynoman]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiYX1igWwGY

[JewishRighter]

“Who you gonna believe, Your echo chamber or the fact of actions? “

So what are the “facts of Trump’s conservative actions”?

[BwanaNdege]

Excellent!

[Boogieman]

Well, a conservative winning 3rd place in NH is pretty strong. I don’t think it’s possible for a conservative to do much better than that in that primary.

[gg188]

We aren't stupid. We remember very recent events very well.

June 19, 2013 | press@cruz.senate.gov / (202) 228-7561

2 and 1/2 years ago

Sen. Cruz Files Additional Amendments to Immigration Legislation

Cruz 1324: Green Card (LPR) reform to modernize, streamline and expand legal immigration Provisions of his amendment include:

Doubling the overall worldwide green card caps from 675,000 visas per year to 1.35 million per year (not including refugees and asylees):

Employment-based green cards: Consolidates the 5 existing employment-based visas into a single high-skilled employment-based visa.

Family-based green cards: Creates a single family-based visa category that treats all immigrant families equally by redefining "immediate relatives" as "spouses, minor children, and parents of citizens or LPRs."

Treating immigrants from all countries equally by eliminating the diversity visa program and the per-country visa caps: Currently, immigrants of identical skill may experience drastically different wait times and burdens based merely on their country of origin. Not only is this inequitable, it hurts our ability to attract the best and brightest.

Reducing bureaucracy: Creates a user-friendly online portal where visa applicants can apply and obtain updates on their application.

Cruz 1325: Increase high-skilled temporary worker visas (H-1B visas) five-fold

This amendment would improve our nation’s legal immigration system by increasing the H-1B cap from 65,000 to 325,000. It would also help America retain the people it educates by authorizing dual-intent student visas and address the need for high-skilled labor by creating a block grant to promote domestic high-skilled workers.

Cruz 1326: Combines Cruz 1324 and Cruz 1325. Implements Green Card reform to streamline and expand legal immigration and increases high-skilled temporary worker visas five fold.

[NKP_Vet]

Trump has no one base of support. He gets conservatives, moderates, liberals, evangelicals. He gets people fed up with politics as usual. He got more “very conservative” votes in NH than Cruz did and more evangelicals than Cruz did. He’ll do the same in SC. He’s been leading there in the polls for months.

[SeaHawkFan]

Cruz and Trump are separated by under 10 delegates. The race is only beginning.

[r_barton]

According to the spin losing is the new winning, don’t you know? ;-)

[bubman]

The reverence that Trump supporters have for this candidate borders on the cultish. You disagree with them and they want to saw your head off yet Trump expresses himself in platitudes and slogans like a polished politician. Because he appeals to everyone, he believes in nothing but himself. I am reminded by Matthew 7.15. and Trump is the wolf.

[NKP_Vet]

“Because he appeals to everyone, he believes in nothing but himself”.

I support Trump because he said he would built a wall. All the others made fun of him when he said it, including Cruz, now Cruz copies him.

He said he would stop Muslims from coming into the country until we can figure out who the bad guys are. Now Cruz and others copy him.

I could go on. Cruz basically kept his mouth shut for months, never criticized a word Trump says, now attempts to steal all his ideas and tries to get people to believe they are his. In the meantime he goes around making up every lie he can about Trump. His days are numbered and they’ll come to an end in SC.Trump would have won Iowa if not for underhanded tactics from Cruz and the crooks he has running his campaign.