Robert Reich, a Democrat, identifies Ted Cruz as more dangerous than Donald Trump...at least from his perspective. All the reasons he identifies seem to me to be reasons why conservatives should support Ted Cruz.
Four reasons why conservatives should support Ted Cruz
- Thread starter nashvillegoldenflash
- Start date
Flash, this is precisely why both liberals AND the Republican establishment have taken dead-aim at Cruz to take him out. It will be interesting to see how Super Tuesday unfolds....
Guys, I really believe you are misreading what is happening. Cruz, right now, is a non factor. You all realize he lost the evangelical vote in South Carolina!
I will say it (and I like him), many folks just don't like him. He has played some tough politics and rubs those that don't know him wrong. He needs to focus on why people need to vote for him versus against Trump.
Cruz is still very young, he also plays a big role as a Senator.
This is just one weird election cycle.
I will say it (and I like him), many folks just don't like him. He has played some tough politics and rubs those that don't know him wrong. He needs to focus on why people need to vote for him versus against Trump.
Cruz is still very young, he also plays a big role as a Senator.
This is just one weird election cycle.
Mike, I do understand that after losing South Carolina the likelihood of Cruz winning the nomination is quite slim. But at the same time I don't believe you understand how much constitutional conservatives despise Trump and will refuse to vote for him in the general election. Trust me when I say Erick Erickson speaks for millions of us (see below). Yes, Trump will get a lot of Democrats to vote for him, like he did in the South Carolina open primary, but will not garner nearly enough votes from conservatives to win the general election. A typical sentiment of conservatives now is "If Trump wins it actually simplifies my life. I can stop trying to clean up the Republican Party and just leave it instead."
I Will Not Vote For Donald Trump. Ever.
By Erick Erickson
When I wrote in National Review that I was against Donald Trump, I said and have maintained since his entry into the race that if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, I would support him. No longer.
Donald Trump believes the federal government should fund Planned Parenthood. Donald Trump believes there are good things the child killers do. What is most damning is how so many are willing to be compromised by Donald Trump.
For eight years the conservative movement compromised itself as a wing of George W. Bush’s Republican Party. The movement became ill defined and conservative became a synonym with Republican.
Already we are seeing pastors and religious leaders compromising their integrity to vote for Donald Trump. Jerry Falwell, Jr. has joined the whores of Moloch, defending Trump’s Planned Parenthood statement on Twitter. Falwell presides over an institution that expels students who have abortions, but is willing to give positive lip service to Trump saying there are good things Planned Parenthood does.
If Trump were elected President, there would be members of the pro-life movement who would compromise their convictions for access to power.
If Trump were elected, portions of the conservative movement would compromise the movement to be one degree from Donald Trump. The intellectual institutions on which we have made our case for limited government and freedom would crumble.
And on top of it all, the oligarchs would be just fine. They would coddle and humor a President Trump, a man of mountainous ego, and get their way while the very people Donald Trump promises to help would get table scraps.
It is amazing how many television personalities have compromised their convictions for a discounted stay at Mara Lago. Donald Trump requires compromises of conviction that I in good conscience cannot and will not make.
I have become convinced that Donald Trump’s pro-life conversion is a conversion of convenience. Life is the foremost cause in how I vote. Therefore I will not be voting for Donald Trump at all. Ever.
A lot of Republicans are going to start making claims that we must rally to the nominee, no matter who he is. I know for certain a large number of Trump supporters will not rally to a Cuban. I will not rally to Trump. Frankly, if Trump is able to get the nomination, the Republican Party will cease to be the party in which I served as an elected official. It will not deserve my support and will not get it if it chooses to nominate a pro-abortion liberal masquerading as a conservative, who preys on nationalistic, tribal tendencies and has an army of white supremacists online as his loudest cheerleaders.
As we have seen so far, those who are deluding themselves thinking that if they support Trump, he will support them, will instead find themselves slowly compromised on both their integrity and values. They will think the world has shifted while they have stood still, when in reality it will be they who have shifted into Donald Trump’s corrupting, compromising orbit.
Donald Trump has had no “road to Damascus” conversion. He only wants to date the preacher’s daughter. Once he’s gotten in her ballot box, he’ll be back to his pro-abortion New York values self. I’ll play no part in this farce.
http://theresurgent.com/i-will-not-vote-for-donald-trump-ever/
I Will Not Vote For Donald Trump. Ever.
By Erick Erickson
When I wrote in National Review that I was against Donald Trump, I said and have maintained since his entry into the race that if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, I would support him. No longer.
Donald Trump believes the federal government should fund Planned Parenthood. Donald Trump believes there are good things the child killers do. What is most damning is how so many are willing to be compromised by Donald Trump.
For eight years the conservative movement compromised itself as a wing of George W. Bush’s Republican Party. The movement became ill defined and conservative became a synonym with Republican.
Already we are seeing pastors and religious leaders compromising their integrity to vote for Donald Trump. Jerry Falwell, Jr. has joined the whores of Moloch, defending Trump’s Planned Parenthood statement on Twitter. Falwell presides over an institution that expels students who have abortions, but is willing to give positive lip service to Trump saying there are good things Planned Parenthood does.
If Trump were elected President, there would be members of the pro-life movement who would compromise their convictions for access to power.
If Trump were elected, portions of the conservative movement would compromise the movement to be one degree from Donald Trump. The intellectual institutions on which we have made our case for limited government and freedom would crumble.
And on top of it all, the oligarchs would be just fine. They would coddle and humor a President Trump, a man of mountainous ego, and get their way while the very people Donald Trump promises to help would get table scraps.
It is amazing how many television personalities have compromised their convictions for a discounted stay at Mara Lago. Donald Trump requires compromises of conviction that I in good conscience cannot and will not make.
I have become convinced that Donald Trump’s pro-life conversion is a conversion of convenience. Life is the foremost cause in how I vote. Therefore I will not be voting for Donald Trump at all. Ever.
A lot of Republicans are going to start making claims that we must rally to the nominee, no matter who he is. I know for certain a large number of Trump supporters will not rally to a Cuban. I will not rally to Trump. Frankly, if Trump is able to get the nomination, the Republican Party will cease to be the party in which I served as an elected official. It will not deserve my support and will not get it if it chooses to nominate a pro-abortion liberal masquerading as a conservative, who preys on nationalistic, tribal tendencies and has an army of white supremacists online as his loudest cheerleaders.
As we have seen so far, those who are deluding themselves thinking that if they support Trump, he will support them, will instead find themselves slowly compromised on both their integrity and values. They will think the world has shifted while they have stood still, when in reality it will be they who have shifted into Donald Trump’s corrupting, compromising orbit.
Donald Trump has had no “road to Damascus” conversion. He only wants to date the preacher’s daughter. Once he’s gotten in her ballot box, he’ll be back to his pro-abortion New York values self. I’ll play no part in this farce.
http://theresurgent.com/i-will-not-vote-for-donald-trump-ever/
As a political scientist, I can tell you that logistically a GOP candidate like Ted Cruz would likely be an unfavorable recipe in November. If the GOP wants to win, its best chance is to nominate a moderate who hasn't burned too many bridges - and hope that Hillary is the Democrat nominee. The independent vote is, and will be, the most important force in 2016 and nominating a right-winger like Cruz will not go well. Clinton's message is about rallying against the GOP's right, and Cruz fits that mold better than most. Assuming that Clinton is the Democrat, Cruz would not fare well with moderates. Because of Clinton's ties to Obama's administration, incessantly rallying about Cruz leading the self-destruction of our government would be a major impediment. Independents in America had the most negative impression of the GOP when the shutdown was happening, and Ted Cruz was one of its leaders. Though Clinton is disliked, the Cruz factor of right-wing politics and general dislike would be a fatal combination. Sanders would be even tougher in the general, primarily because of his populist message that clashes much better than Clinton's with Cruz et al. in the GOP (this is reflected in polling - Clinton fares far worse in the generals than does Sanders).
Ah, yes, the "GOP should nominate the guy who's going to win the Democrat and Independent vote" argument. Just like President Romney, who won Independents nationwide and got beaten. Or President McCain, the guy who was going to win blue states and got annihilated. I understand there are a lot of people who don't like Cruz but even in GOP stronghold Indiana, Trump's negatives are the highest in the GOP field. He is minus-30 with women. 30-40% of the GOP says they won't vote for him. He is the exact liberal Republican who doesn't turn out the base. If the GOP wants to win it certainly can't afford to nominate someone with such high negatives. Although some pundits believe Rubio is the best alternative to Trump, I'm not convinced that he is since his strategy is to wait until March 14 before he gets his first win in the Florida primary (click link below).
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It's just a fact. The GOP cannot and will not win without turning out moderates to their candidate and independents are unlikely to support Cruz (much more likely to vote Trump, Rubio, Kasich). Democrats outnumber GOP nationally so chances are much higher purple states would all go blue if there's a Cruz ticket. Obama's presidency was a "first" for the country, as African-American turnout was massive and Democrats benefited substantially from large turnout. If the GOP has a far-right candidate, the Democrats will be very motivated to turn out and they will win. The demographics and voter bases are simply too different from the Reagan and Nixon eras for any similar electoral result. Minorities are on the rise, and they vote Democrat by large margins. Independents are the GOP's saving grace, and pushing them away by choosing a Cruz would not be good for their chances. Lower voter turnout means a better chance for a GOP win. Choosing a candidate with the most extreme positions will cause larger voter turnout, meaning a better Democrat chance.
Some facts from 2012:
Party voting-- DEM 38%, GOP 32%, IND 29%
Ideology-- MOD 41%, CON 35%, LIB 25%
By party ID, Romney won self-identified independents by 5 percentage points. However, Obama won self-identified moderates by a huge margin - 15 percentage points. If a GOP candidate wants to win, they must impact the independent voter base and Democratic moderates more substantially.
IMO Kasich is the only Republican who has a real chance other than Trump who is a unique creature.
Full disclosure: I am politically moderate but supporting Bernie in the Democratic Primary (Hillary is just too untrustworthy - at least you know where Bernie stands and what he believes in). The only Republican I would consider voting for if Clinton wins the Democrat would be Kasich.
Also, McCain lost independents in 2008 by 8 points (52% for Obama to 44%)
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Let's see, on this forum we once had a self-proclaimed conservative who voted for John Kerry and now we have a political moderate who is voting for a self-described socialist. I'm just waiting to hear from a self-proclaimed conservative who is planning on voting for Bernie.
Disturbing. This just tells me some people don't really understand what conservatism is or why it matters.
Disturbing. This just tells me some people don't really understand what conservatism is or why it matters.
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Romney didn't win because many evangelicals and conservatives did not vote.
Bernie Sanders is not going to get elected and even if he did, everything he wants to do is dead on arrival.
This election really has NOTHING to do with the Ds, its all about the Rs voting. Nothing in Clinton inspires or energizes. If Trump is the nominee I will vote for him. You don't just quit and go home. That is not a strategy. A lot of these opinion pieces are not reflecting what Trump would do as POTUS, they are taking statements he has said in the past and applying them today. Again, Trump would be my 4th choice in the Primary.
Bernie Sanders is not going to get elected and even if he did, everything he wants to do is dead on arrival.
This election really has NOTHING to do with the Ds, its all about the Rs voting. Nothing in Clinton inspires or energizes. If Trump is the nominee I will vote for him. You don't just quit and go home. That is not a strategy. A lot of these opinion pieces are not reflecting what Trump would do as POTUS, they are taking statements he has said in the past and applying them today. Again, Trump would be my 4th choice in the Primary.
Flash, I agree with what you said. Trump's negatives with women and Constitutional Conservatives will gravely hurt his chances in the general election if he's our nominee. Also, I question the broad-brush "evangelicals" description that pollsters have described 72% of South Carolina's electorate as. It's unfathomable to me how anyone who claims to be a Christian could/would vote for a man (Trump) who uses profanity in the presence of children and who was recently a supporter of partial-birth abortion. I agree with Erickson that Trump's pro-life conversion is a conversion of convenience. I might also add that Trump has recently publicly stated that he's never sought forgiveness from God as he's seen a need to?
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Mike, Trump won 33 percent of them. Cruz won 27 percent, and Sen. Marco Rubio, another candidate supposedly close to the evangelicals, won 22 percent. So, albeit it wasn't a huge swath of them that Trump won, it was enough to greatly diminish Cruz's base of support. I do agree that if Cruz is unable to recapture that vote (as he did in Iowa) then it's a huge uphill climb from here on in.
Flash, you are right on the money, my friend. The GOP's problem is not that they're not moderate enough; rather, that they have abandoned their conservative base. How many more examples do we need? George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain, Mitt Romney--all squishy, milk toast moderates who never fired up the conservative base--and LOST.
Hey Republicans,
We're winning our primaries, and yours, too! hahahahahaha!
--Democrats
We're winning our primaries, and yours, too! hahahahahaha!
--Democrats
