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| Nightmare scenario for establishment: Trump or Cruz |
| 2015-12-11 |
| [THEHILL] Three candidates for the Republican nomination have broken away from the rest of the pack, and two of them -- businessman Donald Trump and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz -- give the GOP establishment nightmares. That leaves the third member of the trio, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, potentially well placed to pick up the support of center-right Republican voters who are looking for someone to stop Trump and Cruz at almost any cost. But Rubio is behind both of his top-tier rivals in national polling averages and is even further back in Iowa, home to the first-in-the-nation caucuses, where he holds fourth place, albeit behind the fast-fading Ben Carson ... a neurosurgeon who is under the delusion that being brilliant qualifies him to be president.... . An even deeper problem for the Florida senator is that other candidates who are competing for the same voters are unlikely to drop out before the New Hampshire primary. That means votes that might otherwise go to Rubio could instead be won by contenders such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Add all these factors together and it becomes clear why establishment Republicans are so concerned, especially in the wake of Trump's inflammatory call to ban Muslims from entering the United States. Cruz, meanwhile, has been enjoying a rapid rise in the polls. "Listen, I think both Cruz and Trump would have a similar impact on the party, neither of which would be very good. I am actually more concerned about Cruz than I am about Trump," said GOP strategist John Feehery, a former big shotship aide who is a columnist for The Hill. Feehery added, "I think Cruz has made a reputation of relentless mendacity ... I think he's a demagogue and I think he'll destroy the party. I think Trump is much more of a blowhard. But there's not really a dime's worth of difference between Trump and Cruz." As of Wednesday afternoon, Trump sat atop the RealClearPolitics national polling average, with the backing of 29.3 percent of GOP voters, with Cruz in second, at 15.5 percent. Rubio was just behind, with 14.8 percent. In Iowa, where the first caucuses will be held on Feb. 1, Cruz runs much closer, with 22.3 percent average support to Trump's 25.7 percent. Rubio is farther behind in the Hawkeye State than nationally, drawing 13.7 percent backing. Trump's comments calling for a "shutdown" of Muslims entering the U.S. have been condemned by many Republicans, as well as Democrats and unaligned observers. Included among his critics are Speaker Paul Ryan ...U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, serving since 1999. He is a member of the Republican Party. He proposed an alternative to President Obama's 2011 budget and made himself the target of both Democrat and Republican verbal pies... (R-Wis.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who both lambasted him on Tuesday. The condemnation of a party's presidential front-runner by that same party's most senior members of Congress is without precedent, at least in modern times. The opprobrium from on high will not necessarily doom Trump. A Bloomberg Politics poll released Wednesday indicated that 64 percent of likely Republican primary voters supported the idea of temporarily banning Muslims from coming to America. But Washington Republicans shake their heads at the damage they believe the real estate tycoon is inflicting on the party's image. They are also enraged about his suggestion that he could mount a third-party run if he is not treated in a way that he deems fair during the GOP primary process. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #24 If he could only hire the right people. He must prove that and thus far, I don't see genius smartest guys who don't suck behind him. Does he know whom to bring on to THIS show to get results? |
| Posted by: newc 2015-12-11 22:18 |
| #23 I am not a Trumpalo. I do, however, appreciate how he has destroyed the Donk/MSM/GOPe influence. Every time they try and take him down, he, like Obi-Wan, becomes stronger. People are soooo tired of getting lied to, manipulated, and forced to pick the least-worst. He's not a serious POTUS ...yet. Watch |
| Posted by: Frank G 2015-12-11 20:03 |
| #22 Trump is an outlet. He is risking his business for this. I think Americans want a revolution and he seems to be the closet thing to it because both parties are yucky. Also, he forces the hard conversations to the forefront, the media eats it effortlessly, they misquote and mis-characterize him, he gets more support because we hate our media more than we hate out politicians. He deserves his spot there. |
| Posted by: newc 2015-12-11 19:19 |
| #21 He's a nut, albeit with rare conman abilities. Frank, I'll crawl over broken glass to vote for the beast :( |
| Posted by: Shipman 2015-12-11 17:12 |
| #20 The problem with Trump is not what he says, but what kind of loose cannon / closet liberal / egomaniac narcissist (and haven't we had enough of that already?) he would be in office. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2015-12-11 16:37 |
| #19 I like Cruz, I can live with Trump. Read his book to and liked what I read. The fear is he says what has to be said rather than what he really thinks but he says so much on the fly that that appears unlikely at this point. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2015-12-11 16:29 |
| #18 Actually, I think the "Establishment" is beginning to dimly understand one aspect of trump. For some of us, Trump is not our candidate. He is our murder weapon. If not Trump, then Gasoline & Matches 2016. Burn it all down. |
| Posted by: Nguard 2015-12-11 15:05 |
| #17 The GOP can suck it. It will be either Trump or Cruz - or both :) You better not mess with this election, "Republicans". You are one party that needs to be burned down to the ground and purged of your wicked DCism |
| Posted by: newc 2015-12-11 13:06 |
| #16 #12 - Spot on. The desperation of Dems, Media, GOPe is palpable. Trump doesn't play their game |
| Posted by: Frank G 2015-12-11 13:02 |
| #15 Suppose it's Trump "and" Cruz? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2015-12-11 12:08 |
| #14 grom - Perry might be getting back in. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2015-12-11 11:54 |
| #13 The only way Trump or Cruz lose to Hillary is if the establishment screws Trump and he does a Perot. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2015-12-11 11:49 |
| #12 This is just the tail wagging the dog. They want you to believe that Trump or Cruz can't beat Hillary--that doesn't magically make it so. Hillary is extremely unlikable to a lot of the country. She's not a shoe-in against either of them. |
| Posted by: Crusader 2015-12-11 10:35 |
| #11 I read Cruz's book and he's my favorite in the pack. I sort of loath Rubio and the others in the Senate (except Mike Lee) for the games they went along regarding the debt ceiling. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2015-12-11 10:34 |
| #10 It will also set the stage for the emergance of a new political party. Yes, 'a single political system' party, with Clinton at the helm. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-12-11 08:51 |
| #9 If one pays close attention, the progressives will tell you who they fear. It is clear that Trump and Cruz fit that description. If neither receives the nomination the base will stay home and Clinton will win. It will also set the stage for the emergance of a new political party. |
| Posted by: Spomong Bourbon8696 2015-12-11 08:47 |
| #8 If you have no base, how can you be an establishment? They have a base. It's the Establishment. Not the voter. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2015-12-11 08:35 |
| #7 #6 SPOT ON |
| Posted by: Dale 2015-12-11 08:21 |
| #6 GOPe abandoned its base and now worries about these two? Bush II and Romney were classical liberals. McCain was about as honest as Hillary, say or do anything to retain power. If you have no base, how can you be an establishment? |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-12-11 07:53 |
| #5 Well, it's only fair. The Trunks had two Bushes, now the Donks will have two Clintons. I wish it was sarcasm. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2015-12-11 07:48 |
| #4 Political establishment, its our game so we play by our rules. Like they said about Kennedy. " Its my football so we play by my rules". This will be a sham election. Like Obama the fix is in. |
| Posted by: Dale 2015-12-11 07:04 |
| #3 You had two qualified (IMO) candidates: Scott Walker and Rick Perry. Both left. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-12-11 06:12 |
| #2 The Washington establishment will throw the ball to Clinton rather than accept Trump or Cruz? I have no problem believing that, no problem at all. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2015-12-11 05:52 |
| #1 looks like you will be stuck with Hilary unless you can get Jeb Bush to lead the republicans what is the hold up? |
| Posted by: anon1 2015-12-11 04:33 |