Posted on 02/13/2016 9:32:01 AM PST by SoConPubbie
These rivals are itching for a fight as South Carolina settles into a two-man race.
Ted Cruz and Donald Trump enter Saturday's debate locked in a two-man race for South Carolina, and to prepare, both have gone full negative.
After splitting the first two votes, the New York billionaire has relentlessly hammered away at Cruz on everything from his campaign's tactics to what Trump sees as the Texan's character flaws. And on Friday, Trump warned that he has standing to sue Cruz over questions of his birth and constitutional eligibility to serve in the White House.
"If @tedcruz doesn't clean up his act, stop cheating, & doing negative ads, I have standing to sue him for not being a natural born citizen," Trump tweeted of his rival, born in Canada to an American mother.
Asked about the threat, Cruz did not back down. "There's more than a little irony in Donald accusing anybody of being nasty given the amazing torrent of insults and obscenities that come out of his mouth on any given day," he told reporters. "Suddenly every day he comes out with a new attack."
Trump is expected to carry these attacks onto the stage on Saturday at the final candidate forum before South Carolina votes. It's a fight Cruz's allies say they are ready for, as they prepare to assault Trump's Republican credentials with an eye on the conservative, religious and security-focused voters throughout the south.
"There's a Himalayan mountain of evidence out there that Donald Trump is not a conservative," said Charlie Condon, a former South Carolina attorney general and a Cruz surrogate, pointing to Trump's past positions on issues including abortion, health care and Wall Street bank bailouts. "I'm confident that everything I'm telling you will be discussed at the Peace Center."
Condon said that the more Trump attacks Cruz on Saturday, the more the Texas senator will come across as the Trump "alternative."
"It's a recognition of what we think the reality is: This is becoming a two-man race," he said. "So if you're not comfortable with Donald Trump being president, whether for temperament reasons or judgment reasons or the fact that he really is a campaign conservative—he's been a Democrat almost his whole life…if you're uncomfortable with that…Cruz is the alternative."
Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler said the candidate would be "prepared" for Trump, whose campaign he dismissed as unserious. "This is the Seinfeld candidacy," he said. "It's a campaign about nothing."
The escalation of the conflict between the two leading candidates for the Republican nomination comes as they contest a state that has refined the political dirty trick to a fine art and where the mogul is accusing a "dishonest" Cruz of orchestrating anti-Trump robocalls.
Already, in Iowa, the Cruz campaign came under fire for spreading inaccurate reports that Ben Carson was suspending his campaign on the day of the Iowa caucuses and sending out high-pressure mailers intended to shame inconsistent voters who were likely to support Cruz into turning out.
In South Carolina, where polls show Trump with a double-digit lead over Cruz, the senator and his supporters are not holding back. "I've worked campaigns for long time and I've never seen the stuff Cruz is putting out," said one Trump campaign staffer in the state, referring to mailers that question the businessman's conservative credentials.
According to the Real Clear Politics average, Trump is running a solid first in South Carolina with 37 percent, followed by Cruz at 20 percent. (Marco Rubio sits a distant third at 14 percent.)
"As we approach South Carolina, Trump's competitors will grow increasingly desperate," said Seth Weathers, a Trump supporter who briefly served as the businessman's George state director. "Trump's tweet was a reminder that he doesn't take attacks lying down. He never attacks first, but when he responds, he unleashes hell."
Bush is the desperado in the group.
He needs to take down all four, so I am expecting Bush to try to be the big, tough macho man (which ought to fail) but for the stacked Establishment audience.
Given that Trump leads all polls, he’ll be the recipient of
attacks from all so he will surely counter.
I agree with both of you. The Left, which includes MSM, and the Establishment and its punditry all want Cruz and Trump to destroy one another.
Trump will play rope a dope and come out unscathed.
I agree. The candidates should just announce this is the last one they are doing. Nine is plenty.
It is more about the moderators than the GOP.
I don’t think Ted will have a good night tonight. Just a hunch.
And the punches will not be coming from Donald...
I used to LOVE Cruz. Now I can’t stand him. He is very different from the man I thought he was.
With the dirty fund raising tricks the RNC/NRSC/NRCC is pulling on Trump supporters, I imagine it might be a bitter debate tonight.
Mr. Trump isn’t pleased that these outfits are scamming his supporters to finance THEIR SENATE candidates.
From the RNC page you go to to contribute to Trump:
The RNC does not accept contributions earmarked for any candidate or other committee. Contributions are used to fund all RNC programs, and will be spent as the RNC determines within its sole discretion.
They actually tell us after you search for it, that none of the $$ will go to Trump, same thing with the NRCC & NRSC scams.
But Ted gets $$$ from them. From open secrets...top contributors to Cruz
2. Senate Conservatives Fund $315,991
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/3396571/posts?page=19#19
Lose with Cruz
Yeah, all the pundits are saying it will be a real bloodbath. Sounds like a beer and popcorn night...
And they'll both take down the chances of either won winning against the Democrat. These debates are stupid.
I’ll be tuning in cause I want to see the face of God once again.
If they do not ask Ted about the porn star, I am boycotting them.
It will be veiled, so that we can withstand it.
Not only does the Left want the Right to destroy itself, the Right in many ways obliges them. Don’t think that I mean this stupid “unity” thing which means “move more to the left.” No. That’s more like the GOPe against the true lovers of America. That’s really the quasi-Left against the true Right.
It’s when the true lovers of America on the Right attack each other viciously - that’s among other things, the work of the Accuser of the Brethren. I’m all for a lively, substantive debate - we need that. But in good faith, not mean, vicious, and destructive.
I hate to see this sort of thing, Trump and Cruz are my two preferred candidates. I’d hate to see them tear each other apart and pave the way for Rubio or the Jebster.
Yep with another GOPe Pro Jeb and Pro Rubio loving audience to give the FALSE PERCEPTION that everyone loves Jeb and Rubio.
And trump will come across as a arrogant gasbag. Like always.
Six
I think the more likely outcome is Jeb v. Ted v. MiniMe.
Kasich will act nice.
Ben will act dejected.
Donald will stand there and take shots when necessary.
Yeah, you never can know what's going to happen. This isn't in the playbook, they're making it up as we go along, hoping it will turn out all right, but everything about this race is unlike any other election in my adult lifetime.
I actually got my degree in political science, and I've remained a Political Science nerd ever since. This is like watching a train wreck in slow motion - I'm afraid to watch but I can't stop looking.
(I am lovin' this unpredictable soap opera while cheering on Trump) Who can be sure about anything in this amazing nomination contest? I'd like to think that's correct, and there's one thing that could emerge to speed it up.
So many times I've said since I've stopped being a Cruzer that "Cruz is so smart that he outsmarts himself". Could this trait fully emerge tonight? It isn't just Trump who has endured Cruz's wrath in the past few weeks. It's Dr. Carson because of the stolen or cleverly acquired (take your choice) votes in Iowa and it's Rubio now being accused of not being 100% solid pro-life. What if these other candidates say "enough" and all pile it on Cruz? Who's there to defend Cruz? Kasich and Jeb?....that would frame Cruz as becoming part of the establishment.
One thing we've all learned. That would be how Cruz got his reputation for being nasty.
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