I’m not worried about riots among GOP.
I am a bit worried that these guys have lost sight of an important point. Whoever wins in Cleveland will not win in November without the support of the other man’s supporters.
A scorched-earth campaign that leaves the opposing side bitter and unforgiving is a failed campaign. Trump can’t win without Cruz’s supporters and Cruz certainly can’t win without Trump’s people. This puts limits on what can be gained by a guerrilla campaign in Cleveland.
Both Trump and Cruz have proven themselves to be tough fighters and tough campaigners. Great. But a fight that leaves the party unable and unwilling to unite afterward is a failed campaign whoever emerges as the nominee. The enemy is Hillary, the DNC, the Soros mob. Not each other.
I’m impressed, really, with both men and their willingness to fight. But in the end each man has a veto over the other man, which means a dirty fight is a ticket to disaster. Especially, the Trump folks are particularly loyal on a personal level, which gives Trump himself a veto over Cruz if Cruz manages to pull out a victory in Cleveland. A victory in which half the hall walks out is no victory.
I don’t think this is going to happen. I think the two camps will come to an understanding before they get to Cleveland. I think in the end Trump is going to come out on top, simply because his people will not stand for anything else. Most Cruz people will support Trump if he is the nominee without any problem. Most Trump people will not support Cruz if there is any hint of dirty pool, and without Trump himself giving his blessing. So Cruz’s guerrilla campaign can only be effective if he is seen as in the end deserving of victory by his opponents, which is a tough barrier to get over.
There’s just nothing to be gained by courting the hysterically insane never Trumpers. They need to be escorted from the building and their political lands salted. They are working hand in hand with Democrats to defeat Trump and they must be politically destroyed ASAP. It’s that simple, IMO.
Cruz is the point man for #NeverTrump so he will bring the fight to the convention. Rules will be changed before the convention in an attempt to nominate someone other then Trump. All stops will be pulled to stop Trump.
I’m guessing there are a helluva lot of people in this country, and more every day, that wished they had cast their vote for the Don and will do so in the general.
The important goal, the real goal, is to beat Hillary. The odds of that decrease every day that Cruz stays in the race and forces trump to campaign against him. It deletes time, energy, strategy, focus.
I do not know how essential it is to have Cruz’s supporters. If they could take their votes back, I bet at least 1/3 to 1/2 of them likely would. So we are talking about a few million votes.
Of that few million, more than 1/2 of the votes are from Texas and Oklahoma (1.5 million). Trump wins both states easily.
So really Ted has about 1.5 -1.8 million votes spread out among states that are solidly republican.
Cruz brings little to the table in terms of voters. He loses very badly, every county and congressional district in every single swing state. Trump wins those.
What votes can Cruz bring from any state that Trump needs?