Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Cruz and Trump poised for the ugliest debate yet
Politico ^ | 02/12/16 11:46 PM EST | Katie Glueck and Ben Schreckinger

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."


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: cruz; donaldtrump; tedcruz; trump
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-117 next last
To: 20yearsofinternet

I think Ronald Reagan’s advice to never speak badly of a fellow Republican should be followed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eleventh_Commandment_(Ronald_Reagan)

We probably got LBJ, a war in Vietnam and more (including a peanut-hearted President) because of intra-party attacks.

Rubio’s talking point should be remembered too.


41 posted on 02/13/2016 10:14:22 AM PST by Brian Griffin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

I hope Trump asks Cruz what records are sealed and why.

Unseal the records!


42 posted on 02/13/2016 10:14:52 AM PST by IM2MAD (IM2MAD=Individual Motivated 2 Make A Difference)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: grania

Ted sure has turned out be a major league clymer.


43 posted on 02/13/2016 10:16:02 AM PST by jimbo807
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 40 | View Replies]

To: usafa92

Probably won’t be a Drudge poll, there wasn’t the last debate held on a weekend.
One poster had a point that Drudge does not work weekends.


44 posted on 02/13/2016 10:16:57 AM PST by mowowie (`)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: onyx

Bush needs to stop the attacks on his fellow Republicans, most especially on his fellow Floridian Rubio.

Bush should milk his experience as Governor of Florida the best way possible.

Examine how Kasich makes the most of his experience as a governor.


45 posted on 02/13/2016 10:19:27 AM PST by Brian Griffin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: virginia9000

Your very first post here stated that you are a Trump gal but could vote for Cruz as necessary. Is that your definition of LOVE?


46 posted on 02/13/2016 10:20:29 AM PST by Rusty0604 (1q)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: heights

“Cruz will come across as a Snarky, Preachy, Condescending jerk, you know, himself.”

Unlike the Donald, the Ivory Soap candidate, who never has a nasty thing to say about anyone. Why just the other day I was telling my preacher, if I want anyone to kneecap my own mother with insults, why it would be Donald Trump, light of the universe.


47 posted on 02/13/2016 10:21:19 AM PST by DaxtonBrown (wrote Harry Reid.s only biography www.futurnamics.com/reid.php)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie
Cruz has very limited appeal outside of his evangelical and very conservative base. There are simply not enough voters like that in this country for him to win. I understand his appeal but I don't understand why the Cruzers can't see this. Please don't compare him to Reagan. Reagan had a sunny optimistic demeanor and was no where near as overtly religious.
48 posted on 02/13/2016 10:21:51 AM PST by SoCar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: AuntB; nikos1121

A lot of us will be following the debate on last night’s Trump Rally thread, I believe. A least that idea has been kicked around.

I’m praying all day for Trump and his safety. And praying for God’s will to be done tonight, hoping that God’s will is another Trump win. With Jeb desperate, and Cruz quasi-desperate, it’ll be ugly.


49 posted on 02/13/2016 10:23:24 AM PST by MayflowerMadam (Romans 8:38-39)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: SoCar

Hard core religious types did not like Reagan. He was divorced.


50 posted on 02/13/2016 10:23:36 AM PST by jimbo807
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

“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.”

Oh really? Unleashes hell you say?

Would that be like asking Mr. Trump about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein?

Has Trump ever visited Epstein’s pedophile Island? Would he deny it in court?

Face it, Trump will NEVER get the nomination!


51 posted on 02/13/2016 10:27:22 AM PST by Beagle8U (Don't settle for Bill de Blasio's NYC 'values'.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

You hate America clearly.


52 posted on 02/13/2016 10:31:55 AM PST by napscoordinator
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: dfwgator

Yep. I’m so over it. It’s boring and juvenile. Take on Bernie and Clinton and quit the infighting. This is why we don’t win. sigh.


53 posted on 02/13/2016 10:37:05 AM PST by bonfire
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

Change the “or” to “and” and you’ve got it.


54 posted on 02/13/2016 10:38:01 AM PST by bigbob ("Victorious warriors win first and then go to war" Sun Tzu.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

Comment #55 Removed by Moderator

To: usafa92

The Texas establishment hated him in 2012. Most of us Texans love him.


56 posted on 02/13/2016 10:42:49 AM PST by SeaHawkFan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: SeaHawkFan

Secede and make him your president then.


57 posted on 02/13/2016 10:44:10 AM PST by jimbo807
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: FreeAtlanta

Wikipedia has a great page with details on the debates:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_presidential_debates,_2016

This will be a quickie debate. It is just 90 minutes long, starting at 9pm eastern on CBS.

Six candidates, plus grandstanding moderators to eat up time.

Carson and Kasich are there to run interference.


58 posted on 02/13/2016 10:44:47 AM PST by UnwashedPeasant (A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: SoCar

Agree. There is now way Cruz can pull in voters other than the committed conservatives and evangelicals. The general population will find him arrogant, condescending, and slippery. He speaks like a lawyer and doesn’t have any endearing qualities.


59 posted on 02/13/2016 10:46:30 AM PST by JudyinCanada
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: SoConPubbie

The “moderators” do not want an exchange of ideas on the issues.

They want a mudfight, and that benefits Trump, because that is his whole shtick.


60 posted on 02/13/2016 10:47:47 AM PST by UnwashedPeasant (A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 101-117 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson