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Saturday, January 30, 2016

Why the GOP has hit Ted Cruz so Hard

It's been amazing to behold. It's actually the treatment of Cruz by his own party which has finally gotten Nate Silver to recant on his Trump skepticism.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/one-big-reason-to-be-less-skeptical-of-trump/

He had assumed the party would take out Trump and accept Cruz as the lesser of two evils. The party seems to think that actually Trump is the lesser of two evils.

Which makes sense to me-Cruz is too big a True Believer. You can at least negotiate with self-centered opportunist.

Indeed, that's Trump's' whole bag-The Art of the Deal. 

http://www.amazon.com/Trump-Art-Deal-Donald-J/dp/0345479173/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454178550&sr=8-1&keywords=trump+the+art+of+the+deal

However,  there may be a less innocent aspect of the way Cruz has been cut off at the knees by his own party.

It might just be a way to try to get Rubio back in it. As FiveThrityEight says, Rubio is the only real hope for the GOP:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/its-rubio-or-bust-for-republicans-who-want-to-win/

As I don't want GOP to win, of course, I don't want Rubio. I think Hillary can beat him-and I think he has been muddied up with the rest of the field thanks to the presence of Trump. He has said many things himself that will destroy his credibility with Latinos.

But, sure, I''d rather run against Trump/Cruz. I also agree that Jeb is a nonstarter and Crhistie has the ultimate glass jaw. He's been doing an awful lot of talking about HRC's emails today. In a general election all she has to do is ask him to realize his own so we can finally figure out what really happened with Bridgegate.

It seems that Rubio's 'long game' might start with a strong third place in Iowa.

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/marco-rubios-long-game

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/opinion/campaign-stops/why-isnt-marco-rubio-winning.html?_r=0

This might give him some instant credibility as the Establishment frontrunner which will could propel him in NH and forward.

His hope is to make it a Rubio-Trump race-and while the GOP may accept Trump if Cruz is the other choice, it would much rather have Rubio, it goes without saying.

To be sure there was that Wall Street Journal poll a few weeks ago that showed that Trump actually beats Rubio in a two man race while losing to Cruz.

Still, ideally we'd rather not see an Establishment candidate even be viable.

Strange as it may seem, as a Trump Democrat-whose goal is first and foremost is not to have the GOP with an Establishment candidate-Trump whomping Cruz might even be counterproductive, if it led to Cruz falling out of the race too soon.

Ideally, you want to see either Jeb or Kasich-yep, now you have to root for Jeb over Rubio; and Jeb did get him pretty good at Thursday's debate-win NH. Heck, Christie would be even better-Mr. Bridgegate to you.

Trouble is he seems to have peaked based on recent polling.


6 comments:

  1. It would be an added bonus to see lots of frustrated right wing billionaires waste hundreds of millions of dollars on candidates that go nowhere. I like to imagine them enraged, pounding their fists on the table and spittle flying in all directions.

    "The party seems to think that actually Trump is the lesser of two evils."

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  2. That aptly describes the Koch Brothers right now actually

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  3. O/T, Mike, it is entertaining to see a 15 year old high schooler tussle with Sumner (see specifically Scott's recent Konczal post).

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  4. Mike, I hadn't heard of trolling Trump about his hands until just now. I have to say that is hilarious! Especially since it seems to get to him. Hilary take note! Lol

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