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Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Marco Rubio: Only Ted Cruz is Qualified to be President

Little Marco likes Lyin' Ted:

"On Tuesday Rubio appeared on conservative host Mark Levin's new video podcast for an interview where he said:

"I want the Republican nominee to be a conservative ... and the best person -- and in my view the only person at this moment of the candidates still currently campaigning -- is Ted Cruz."

Ever since suspending his campaign nearly a month ago after losing his home state in the Republican primary, Rubio has been mum on any endorsements.

Talk show host Hugh Hewitt on MSNBC added: "Mark Levin is 100 percent with Ted Cruz. For Sen. Rubio to ... sit down with Levin and say 'I want him [Cruz] to be the real conservative' -- that's an endorsement in all but name and I think that's very significant."

http://www.aol.com/article/2016/04/13/sen-marco-rubio-may-have-just-endorsed-sen-ted-cruz/21343441/

However, as MSNBC's Steve Kornacki pointed out this morning, the #StopTrump movement has a glitch. While Hugh Hewitt and many are behind Cruz as the only Trump alternative, Cruz is in third place in the RCP NY polling averages.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/ny/new_york_republican_presidential_primary-4222.html

This is not necessarily a shock-Cruz is not exactly NY material; his sermons on NY values probably play better elsewhere...

But even in a state like Maryland he is only one point ahead of Kasich in the averages.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/md/maryland_republican_presidential_primary-4313.html

In Pennsylvania, Cruz leads Kasich by only three in the averages.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/pa/pennsylvania_republican_presidential_primary-3788.html

So this doesn't look like the anti Trump forces are effectively coalescing around Ted Cruz yet.

Meanwhile Trump is declaring the GOP primary process as 'rigged.'

A lot of the Beltway is crowing this proves he's not a winner as he's 'whining.' But it is actually a smart strategy. Yes, I get what the rules say. Though as Rand Paul points out, the rules are often subject to very immediate change when its convenient.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rand-paul-gop-primary-biased

Recall that Rule 40 that says a candidate has to have won the most delegates in eight states to have a chance at the convention was actually an ad hoc thing passed in 2012 to stop his dad, Ron Paul.

Now they are talking about changing it back to give Kasich a shot? It's hard to say those are fair rules.

And if Trump's rants convince a lot of Republican voters, at least a good portion of the delegates will be reluctant to vote against Trump-as this could mean their own political hides.

True, Trump also needs in concert with his rants, to catch up with Cruz in terms of effectively chasing delegates. In this vein, he seems to have begun this by getting renowned GOP 'delegate hunter' Nick Manafort.

Manafort is doing the same thing Trump is in public-questioning the process, accusing Cruz of trying to steal the nomination:

"Donald Trump’s convention manager on Sunday accused the Ted Cruz campaign of using “Gestapo tactics” in its hunt for delegates."

“You go to these county conventions, and you see the Gestapo tactics — the scorched-earth tactics,” Trump aide Paul Manafort said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

"After playing a clip from Trump confidant Roger Stone — where Stone suggested publicizing the hotel room numbers of delegates —NBC’s Chuck Todd asked Manafort whether threatening delegates was fair game."

“It’s not my style; it’s not Donald Trump’s style,” he responded. “But it is Ted Cruz’s style. And that’s going to wear thin very fast.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/gestapo-trump-cruz-manafort-221775#ixzz45icdCOdu

Yes, there are rules-but as Rule 40 shows, these rules often change at the drop of a hat with whatever is convenient for the Establishment at any moment. But beyond that, there is legitimacy.

If this is called into question, it doesn't matter what the rules say.

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