Posted on 03/23/2016 8:21:54 AM PDT by McGruff
Jeb Bush's endorsement of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Wednesday morning signaled a growing inclination in the oft-touted Republican establishment: that even Cruz would be better for the party than Donald Trump.
Leaders in the GOP have long and openly mused that neither of the primary frontrunners fits the bill of an ideal Republican presidential candidate, but the race has failed to yield any alternatives.
"It's a signal that there's only a plan A and a plan B," said Mark Jones, a political scientist at Rice University's Baker Institute. "There is no plan C."
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
For any Republican to win any general election, they need fellow Republicans (and non-Republicans) to endorse, donate, and vote for them. This includes people with whom they disagree.
For example, I am sure Donald Trump has or will have many supporters of abortion endorsing and supporting him; or people who favor a “pathway to citizenship” for illegals. I am sure Trump will welcome their support. Will you feel betrayed then?
Heck, his claim to fame is that he will bring Democrats into the fold and vote for him. These voters, supporters, and endorsers will have positions your or I and many conservatives abhor.
But as long as the candidate doesn’t change his or her principles for the endorsement then that’s fine.
The tactic of smearing a candidate by their endorsers is a lamestream media tactic, and I think it is bunk.
“The tactic of smearing a candidate by their endorsers is a lamestream media tactic, and I think it is bunk.”
Taken to its logical extreme, you wouldn’t blink, or have a single troubling thought, if Code Pink, MoveOn.org, George Soros, and BLM came out in support of Ted Cruz.
Your argument is weak, defensive, and just a bit petulant.
It may help with some voters; it may hurt with some.
What matters is that it signals to the vast Bush donor network that they may openly support Cruz. That's no small thing for a campaign that is bleeding cash.
Now... whether the added money will do any good or not, that is a different matter.
If Trump gets the nomination, he will inevitably have a wide variety of endorsers. And when someone grabs a bucket of those endorsers and says “see, Trump will never build that wall because of these endorsers who want a pathway to citizenship” then I will call that bunk, assuming Trump continues to hold the same positions.
And trust me, you’ll see that out there if Trump gets the nom. They’ll say “Hey, Trump fans, I told you so! Trump was just saying that stuff about the wall to get your primary vote, but he’s shifting away from that now — look at all the people who stand with Trump who aren’t for the wall. You guys are suckers!”
And as long as Trump is still about building that wall, I’ll know those endorsers are about bringing people on his team and not a lurch away from one of his principles.
“See, Cruz was GOPe all along!!!!!”
Just for the past 20 years orsos, his wife too.
You’re still not expressing the least bit of dismay or suspicion about the many establishment figures who’ve endorsed Ted.
Are you honestly comfortable with all those endorsements?
These endorsements have less gravitas than Johnny Bench endorsing Kit-Kat Candy Bars as nutritious for children under 10 years of age. Malarkey for morons.
Sure, taking endorsements from defeated opponents is normal despite disagreements. I expect whoever the R nominee is will recieve a whole bunch of “GOPe” endorsements, and if it is Trump he will welcome them with open arms and a smile.
Trump already has Chris Christie and will supposedly get Rudy Giuliani shortly. He has Scott Brown and Paul LePage too. None of these guys would be confused for holding the firm conservative principles of Jeff Sessions, that’s for sure.
Did you cringe when Chris Christie and Scott Brown endorsed Trump? It probably was a good thing, right?
Now I’m waiting for Obama to endorse Ted.
Let’s cut to the chase here.
What is your opinion of Jeb Bush’s Cruz endorsement?
“These endorsements have less gravitas than Johnny Bench endorsing Kit-Kat Candy Bars as nutritious for children under 10 years of age. Malarkey for morons.”
You can tell yourself that, because you want to deflect criticism away from your chosen candidate, but the vast majority of politically aware people are going to read these endorsements for what they are.
Ted is joining with the hated establishment, while simultaneously seeking the votes of those who despise them. It’s a stunning disconnect with everything Ted supposedly stands for.
” Cruz has pushed the party dialogue to the right across the board”
You’re either a liar or delusional. Here’s what REALLY happened:
Only a few weeks ago, Trump singularly upset the whole election apple cart! That’s what he’s done!
Trump set the national agenda by opposing illegal immigration and bringing up other issues that the GOPe and their allies desperately wanted to avoid, and now they can’t. No one would even be talking about illegal immigration today if Trump hadn’t forced the issue.
The GOPe was not prepared for this, and as a consequence they don’t have a clue about what to do, hence their almost universal collapse into a pile of quivering jello, flip-flopping like a bag of Mexican jumping beans dumped on a hot griddle. That’s what Trump has done.
Trump has exposed those who pretend to be conservative but are really just fronts for big money establishment campaign donors who purchase their candidates with campaign “donations”. Trump has ripped the facade off of the fake “conservative” websites that are really fronts for the modern aristocracy as part of the plan to fool the people into thinking at least SOME of the institutions are on their side.That’s what Trump has done.
Trump, by actually being a real man, has exposed the other candidates and their allies for the weak little sniveling sellouts that they really are.
Trump’s vociferous truth-telling and fearless neutering of the kommie media have been the catalyst that triggered a massive revolt amongst conservative voters who are infuriated at the GOPe Congress doing absolutely ZERO to stop Obama’s agenda, and suddenly the GOP RINO leadership is in full blown panic mode and in full blown retreat, and the SMALL conservative House contingent smelt blood in the water, took heart, and charged in against a weakened, frightened and paralyzed GOPe leadership, and Boehner was taken out as a sacrificial lamb. That’s what Trump has done.
Without Trump taking on the enemedia and beating them, the first time this has been done since Reagan, Cruz and the rest would be quivering before their concerted assaults and spending all of their time apologizing for having accidentally strayed into the shallows of political correctness and saying something Black Lives Matter or the Southern Poverty Law Center hate groups hated with consequent massive amplification by the enemedia as they pounded their PC drums against the GOP. That’s what Trump has done.
Trump is absolutely correct when he says that without Trump in the race, everything would be same-ol’, same-ol. The Joyful Tippy-Toes Turtle would be creeping closer to the finish line, Boehner would still be safely ensconced as Speaker, and there would be no mention of illegal immigration are any of the issues surrounding it by any politician in either party, other than possibly how critical it would be to pass immigration “reform”. That’s what Trump has done.
After only four state primary elections, Trump has already taken out all but one GOP RINO candidate. That’s what Trump has done.
Trump has used the enemedia against itself, exposed FNC for being Rupert Murdoch’s personal propaganda channel, and made the other cable networks realize they can grow their ratings by playing more fairly. That’s what Trump has done.
Trump has attracted the “big tent” coalition that the GOPe always professed it wanted, but never really did, by appealing equally to all demographic groups, whether they be rich or poor, educated or uneducated, old or young, male or female, blue collar or white collar, north or south, east or west. That’s what Trump has done.
The media are loath to make the connection, but it’s obvious that the Boehner resignation was yet another falling domino, toppling due to the Trump Effect, because Trump’s unabashed truth-telling and fearless neutering of the kommie media triggered a revolt amongst the great unwashed GOP masses which emboldened a few conservative Congress critters to grow a few pairs. That’s what Trump has done.
Trump’s coalition of voters have panicked the Senate into growing a backbone and standing up to Obama by refusing to consider any Supreme Court nominee until the next President is in office. That’s what Trump has done.
And our nation wouldn’t even be having ANY of these conversations about illegal immigration and the myriad of other Obammunist issues destroying our country if it wasn’t for Trump. Instead, we’d simply be debating which RINO, GOPe squish would be least likely to be stomped by Hillary, and the GOPe would once again be exhorting the “base” about how critical it is for us to once again vote for the “lesser of two evils”, that is, vote for the GOPe side of the Uniparty coin. That’s what Trump has done.
And do note that ALL of the oligarchs and plutocrats are frightened to death of Donald Trump because the billionaires and millionaires can’t buy him like all of the other politicians they routinely purchase, because Trump doesn’t need nor want their money, and the kommie media is frightened to death of him because he isn’t afraid of them either, the bottom line being that Donald Trump can not be controlled by the rich and powerful or the corrupt media, so for anyone who is truly for campaign finance reform and wants to take money out of politics, voting for Trump is the only reasonable choice. That’s what Trump has done.
Donald J. Trump is the very epitome of the anti-social-justice-warrior, and he’s galvanized an entire nation of the like minded who have been desperately waiting for years for a leader who could lead them from the desert of political correctness.
President Trump is really the last hope for this country: if he can’t undo any of the damage wrought by the Obammunists, the U.S.A. is done.
So least we forget, the above, and much more, are called “The Trump Effect”.
I don’t think it helps Cruz much at all, maybe it opens up some fundraising possibility. I don’t like Jeb Bush much, he was far down the list of candidates I would support. His policies are better than Kasich, I think.
Your turn. Are you fully on board with the Christie and Scott Brown endorsements of Trump? I would assume so, but with your apparent concern on endorsements, I’m not sure.
Hi. My name is Eric. Calling me a liar and delusional are inappropriate and unwelcome. We probably have a lot more in common than most in this world. Perhaps you’re in some flame-war with other Cruz supporters on other threads or something, but they’re not me.
I’ve been on FR since 1998, very rarely posting for the last few years. I won’t go through your entire summary of current events because I frankly don’t disagree with the entirety of it.
If you’re angry that I credited Cruz with pushing the dialogue rightward, I’m happy to say that on Immigration, Border Control, and National Defense, Trump has also pushed the dialogue right in a substantial and excellent way.
I’ve met lots of nice people on FR, many of whom prayed for me and my family as we went through a very difficult time back in 2007-2008.
I’m a Bible-believing Christian and a Conservative with a “free markets” bent economically. I currently support Cruz but will almost certainly vote for the Republican nominee.
Some of the things Trump says I like. Some I don’t. Cruz’ positions are closer to mine.
Apparently we disagree on a few details, but take the namecalling elsewhere. If Trump wins the nomination, I recommend taking a different tactic to persuade the 50-60% of Republicans who didn’t vote for him in the primaries.
Trump has done more than anyone else to bring immigration to the forefront in the national debate, and that is an exceptionally good thing for America. Cruz is in a primary campaign against Trump, and his rhetoric ignores Trump’s positives, as it should.
However, Cruz also has major accomplishments in the areas of opposing Obamacare, opposing funding for Planned Parenthood, and in general opposing big government. Most of his efforts were negative, but a negative that reduces the rate of growth of our bloated federal government is a big positive. Trump is in a primary campaign against Cruz, and his rhetoric ignores Cruz’s positives, as it should.
The two candidates are the two best hopes for America. My preferred candidate is Cruz (a review of my posting history will reveal that (1) I despise Obama as the most evil and most dangerous threat to America in history, and (2) I prefer Cruz over Trump politically). However, Cruz cannot get a first ballot win at the convention, and I do not believe the establishment will permit a later ballot to go for Cruz. Because of that and because I consider Trump the second best choice and the only viable choice in our primaries, I will be voting for Trump in my primary. Trump can win in the first ballot, but I do not believe he has much of a chance after that first ballot. I believe the establishment will do all they can to stop Trump if they get a second ballot at the convention.
The bottom line: Both are good choices, although there is a sharp disagreement on which is the best of the two. I don’t see a point in arguing over that question. Time will provide that answer. We should look at both honestly, even our second choice, and try to stop the pro-Amnesty, pro-Obamacare, pro-big government insiders who are the alternatives and who want to see us fight.
“I don’t think it helps Cruz much at all, maybe it opens up some fundraising possibility. I don’t like Jeb Bush much, he was far down the list of candidates I would support.”
Thank you for finally addressing the topic at hand.
No, the Jeb Bush endorsement doesn’t help Ted. Not at all. In fact, he may as well have been endorsed by Bill Clinton. That’s about how much the Republican base despises Jeb.
It’s actually a harmful move. Coupled with the endorsements from Mitt Romney, Lindsey Graham, Stabby The Clown, National Review, Marco Rubio, John McCain, and other establishment luminaries, this simply cements Ted to the Washington Cartel.
As to Trump’s endorsements, I would have preferred Chris Christie’s to be a lot more low key, but I see it as an anomaly among the good endorsements Trump has gotten so far.
“I don’t see a point in arguing over that question. Time will provide that answer. “
agreed.
Yep, Jeb Bush spent $100 million and got about 4% of the vote. He is a real King maker.
Do you think it is a good tactic to spend your time disavowing endorsement when trying to win an election? Cruz needs to spend his time running against Trump, not Bush or Graham. It is down to the wire.
“Do you think it is a good tactic to spend your time disavowing endorsement when trying to win an election? Cruz needs to spend his time running against Trump, not Bush or Graham. It is down to the wire.”
In this particular election, it might well behoove a candidate in Cruz’s position to separate himself from the establishment, in the minds of potential voters.
From what I see, he’s either completely missed the underlying rebellion going on against the Washington Cartel, or he’s resigned himself to signing on with the old guard, in hopes that they can work their usual control over the process, and make him King through sheer force and intimidation.
Look closely, and you’ll see signs of which conclusion is driving his decision making process, at this time.
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