Posted on 02/24/2016 8:30:17 PM PST by TigerClaws
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. â The âsouthern firewallâ Ted Cruzâs presidential campaign has been building for months appears to be crumbling under the weight of Donald Trumpâs staying power and Marco Rubioâs resurgence.
The Cruz campaign told Yellowhammer Wednesday night they are pulling out of the Presidential Forum set to be held at Samford University in Birmingham on Saturday, and will not be holding any other events in Alabama ahead of election day. Senator Marco Rubioâs campaign, however, reiterated their commitment to the event.
The move is one of the most open indicators to date that Cruz has failed to pick up steam in the Bible Belt South, once believed to be his geographic stronghold and his most likely path to the nomination.
Numerous southern states and almost a quarter of the Republican delegates are up for grabs in the so called SEC Primary on March 1st.
Yellowhammer CEO Cliff Sims said Cruzâs exit from the state so close to election day is unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected.
âDecisions like this are difficult for any campaign to make, but they have to do what they think is best,â he said. âOnce a campaign goes into survival mode, sometimes they have to cut their losses and move resources where they can be most effective. A candidateâs time is the most valuable resource any campaign has.â
South Carolina Republican strategist Hogan Gidley said Cruzâs lackluster performance in his home state was the first public sign that Cruzâs southern strategy was not coming together.
âIt does definitely put a dent into the manufactured reputation that Cruz is coalescing all conservatives,â he told National Review. âI think we can put an end to that myth.â
A longtime Alabama political consultant who is not working for a presidential campaign but has seen presidential campaign polling numbers through other state-level campaigns told Yellowhammer Cruzâs path to the nomination could be disappearing.
âIf Cruz â the Texan, the staunch evangelical, the anti-Washington guy â canât win in Alabama and across the South, he canât win,â the consultant said on condition of anonymity so he could speak freely. âIâve seen polling in the last week that shows Cruz in third in Alabama, far behind Trump and behind Rubio, too. It might become apparent after March 1st that Cruzâs goose is cooked.â
Senator Rubio is scheduled to be in both Birmingham and Huntsville on Saturday. Donald Trump is scheduled to be in Huntsville on Sunday. No other Republican candidates are currently scheduled to campaign in the state ahead of the March 1st primary.
What the Cruz supporters can’t seem to understand is the establishment is willing to do anything to stop Trump. That is reason enough for me to support him.
“I agree that itâs no fun to watch anyone, especially FR, take joy in someoneâs demise. I donât know why we canât just move on without gloating or ridicule. Weâre fighting for our country here and each person supports who they think can take us forward.”
Taking “joy in someone’s demise” is the only reason this group of people come to FR; and they are not the mainstay of FR - they are outliers who only come here to destroy. They are either a bunch of union thugs (as in Bush v. McCain primary), and their only goal is to destroy Senator Ted Cruz.
They first claimed some super-dooper support for Trump. But now, they have descended into just bashing Cruz. They don’t care what you think, and they will hound you all over the threads to challenge anything you say that even remotely supports Cruz.
“War Games”: “The only way to win is NOT TO PLAY”.
One of their main goals is to GOAD you into challenging them. But it’s only so they can laugh at you.
As in, don’t play their game. If you ignore them .. they get tired and leave the thread. They only want to stir the pot (so to speak).
It’s called “free speech”. However, I’m not required to respond to slanderous, defaming statements about Cruz.
Remember one of Trump’s 1st big events was in Mobile. They had to move to the stadium because the civic center couldn’t hold the amount of people wanting to attend.
Trump has never lost that momentum in the deep South. I never believed Cruz could win down here. I don’t believe Rubio can either.
“I think it may have something to do with how cruz supporters have treated Trump supporters.”
It is easy to see the the leader in insults, your TV Star & his lemmings.
Not cool to use God to win a campaign.
I prayed for George Bush to win. Prayed it like my life depended on it. Huge mistake on my part. But I’ve learned from my mistakes. Jesus prayed to the Father not My will but Yours.
So I pray God’s will be done, because in truth it will be anyway, even if it means another horrible President because of justly deserved punishment, oqr a good President because He has heard our pleading for forgiveness for what we’ve allowed to take place in this Country.
Sorry to get so preachy, but God disciplines His own first, I’m much more concerned about that than politics.
Bizarre to me too. The best Conservative we have and people are wishing him ill; with friends like these, who needs enemies?
“If Cruz drops out, I believe he will endorse Rubio. It will expose his establishment-leaning credentials.”
That would certainly nail Ted to the establishment once and for all, in the minds of many. It would also tend to confirm that Ted is in the pocket of his rich, globalist donors.
Well, he has shown a wicked (can I use that word?) sense of humor throughout history.
I wouldn’t think so.
I think Cruz will keep his senate seat in 2018, if he chooses to do so.
For giggles, one can go back anytime from yesterday to last June, click on any post topic, and read for themselves who were/are the vitriol throwers.
Some of the more memorable ones are hard to forget.
That is about the dumbest and most asinine statement I have read. Cruz’s evangelical Christianity has nothing to do with why he isn’t the first choice of many.
“Not cool to use God to win a campaign.”
Agreed. Ted Cruz has been practicing his faith with integrity for years. His unashamed faith in God is not phony.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, hasn’t ever practiced his faith in any meaningful way. Now he shows up with his mother’s Bible and pretends for “the evangelicals” like he’s got some faith in God.
So, yes, it’s not cool for Trump to use God to win a campaign. But he’s getting away with it, apparently, for now.
Texas and Arkansas are the only states where Cruz is ahead of Trump. That's been true for weeks. After SC and NV I don't see any numbers improving for Cruz.
Just read a very long piece by a Texan listing numerous examples of Mr. Cruz’ lies, distortions and selective memories.
He’s no more honest that Trump and Trump doesn’t smear himself with “God jam” to cover up his bovine scat.
As for his alleged conservatism. I’m pretty sure that he’s just playing the “note” that he felt was most likely to bring sponsors aboard his Train to the WHITE HOUSE.
It has been my life experience that those who feel they HAVE to tell me what great christians they ARE, are speakers only because what they DO drowns out what they say.
As for angry...yes, but not to the point of cutting my own throat and from both my friend in TX and others here I’m sure enough to suit me that Cruz is NOT the real deal.
Such vitriol for Ted Cruz on a site that espouses fidelity to the Constitution and liberty. And such devotion to a carnival barker and chameleon who only does what he needs to promote himself and has absolutely no class. If you believe Trump’s the guy to carry the mantle of the Free Republic “to roll back decades of governmental largesse, to root out political fraud and corruption, to champion causes which further conservatism in America” I think the Freepers have lost their way. Trump is and has been part of the corruption. By his own admission he donates to anyone to buy influence, his conversation to conservatism is questionable at best and from where I sit, it’s the biggest political fraud in my life time
I had forgotten about his lead in Arkansas.
I hope that we see a lot of Super Tuesday polling covering done starting Wednesday thru Fri or Sat. It wouldn’t be surprising if Trump is found to be leading in AR, and maybe even in TX.
I doubt Cruz can beat Hillary. That's my only argument against Cruz. It's a big one. I don't worry about Cruz's conservatism. The anti-Cruz side has only a few talking points that they repeat endlessly, which is a sign that he's almost completely conservative on everything else, even granting that he was mistaken about TPP and so forth.
But all of Cruz's solid conservative ideas are worthless if he can't win. The primaries are a real life test of a candidate's ability to win. Right now Cruz is an F student.
That's not good enough to beat Hillary. It may not even beat Sanders.
***You are 100% correct.***
In what possible way can he be correct? He hasn’t even been elected yet, or he may not even be elected, and you’re already “complaining” about why are there still illegals here? Why hasn’t he done something about it? You’re not correct, you’re delusional!
You need to be asking those questions to the current administration, the current so called conservatives in the House and Senate, like Cruz and Rubio!
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