Todd J. Gillman:
Did Ted Cruz’s decision to stand on stage at the Republican convention and urge delegates to vote their conscience doom his next presidential bid?
If it was a calculated move to avoid an endorsement or even the hint that he was encouraging anyone to vote for Donald Trump, was it a miscalculation?
That’s been the take so far in most political circles.
But with each fresh outrage or misstep from the nominee, Cruz may be cementing his position as the one big-name Republican nervy enough, or savvy enough, or with enough integrity, to show up and snub Trump rather than quietly avoiding the convention or loyally setting aside misgivings to deliver the “I support the nominee” incantation.
Cruz’s personal animosity toward the nominee is well documented and, by all appearances, unabated.
His ambitions for 2020 are as obvious as his disdain for Trump’s philosophical malleability.
Also well-documented is the Texas senator’s eagerness to make and maintain political enemies.
Even so, it took an extraordinary amount of chutzpah for Cruz to take the stage in Cleveland knowing full well, according to aides, that he would face blowback when delegates realized he was refusing to endorse.
Sen. John Cornyn, who rarely passes public judgment on his fellow Texan, said he found it puzzling for Cruz to accept a speaking slot if he didn’t plan to offer support for Trump.
Texas Republicans vented their anger at Cruz in a series of extraordinary, tense exchanges the next morning in Cleveland.
Top Cruz donors were outraged enough to chastise Cruz in public, too. Robert Mercer, a reclusive Long Island billionaire who had been a key donor to a pro-Cruz Super PAC, issued an astonishing rebuke to The New York Times, saying he was “profoundly disappointed” that Cruz had set aside his pledge to support the party’s eventual nominee.
There were other formulations Cruz could have chosen to avoid all this blowback.
He didn’t have to say “vote your conscience.” That’s a weighted phrase that echoed slogans from the “Never Trump” activists who maneuvered, without success, to block the New York mogul from collecting the prize.
Instead, Cruz could have taken the path of House Speaker Paul Ryan, the party’s last vice presidential nominee, or Sen. John McCain, its 2008 presidential nominee. Both have said they’d support the party’s nominee, while carefully avoiding such sentences as “I like Donald Trump,” or “I support Donald Trump” or “I think Donald Trump would make a great president” — any of which would invite a lightning strike in Cruz’s vicinity.
Sen. Ted Cruz with some of his supporters?
Think about where polls come from.
Fox News poll comes from Shaw & Company Research.
Shaw and Company Research is Daron Shaw.
Daron Shaw is a former operative within the Rick Perry campaign.
Shaw is GOPe.
Now, ask yourself:
Why would corporate media be attacking Trump so vociferously if Hillary Clinton was actually so far ahead? They wouldn’t. There would be no need to.
What’s the reality?
Clinton-Kaine hold a campaign event in Daytona Beach, a few hundred supporters show up.
Trump-Pence holds a campaign event in Daytona Beach the next day, and 10,000+ supporters show up.
The thing is, Hillary will be supported by Dems (unless they go Green or Libertarian in protest of Bernie) and a very few non-Dems.
Donald Trump will be supported by the Republicans (for the most part) many Independents, and many, many previously non-voting adults.
Polls just can’t (and sometimes won’t) show the reality on the ground.
@Nanny G: Keep dreaming Nan Trump problem with Repubs–78% Romney had 89%. Is it any surprise with the way he treats Ryan.? Dems at 88% for HRC–Very few will vote Trump–some green or Lib.
How can Trump win with his #’s with women–down 22 points and Latins down 30 points? Voters under 30 down 28 points, White males can’t overcome those numbers
Remember he BRAGS about setting record with 18 million in Repub Primaries—NEEDS 65 MILLION TO WIN G.E.–Where’s he gonna get that number?
Re Cruz and Rubio Both rooting for HRC SO THEY CAN FIGHT IT OUT TO CHALLENGE HER IN 2020–For 12 years I’ve said Marco will one day be Prez—2008 an African American 2016 Female 2020 a Latino–ain’t America great.
The dust has yet to settle from the two conventions. Just like Trump’s bounce faded after a couple of weeks, we’ll have to wait to see what Hillary’s bounce does. Of the four latest polls, the two using Registered Voters give Hillary a huge lead. The two using Likely Voters (which is generally more accurate) has Trump within the margin of error in one and within it or close to it in the other and the latter is a poll where they tweaked their polling method to make it more favorable to Hillary (Reuters). It’s not quite as doom and gloom as the Hillashrills and nervous Republicans are making it out to be but he does have problems. 100 days is a long time and there are more Wikileaks to come which will highlight how Hillary is better suited for the bighouse instead of the WH. The problem is that Trump has a way of screwing things up big time like he did the last week. They are handing him the election on a silver platter and his ego keeps pushing it away.
@another vet –
From a statistical point of view, the polling numbers for Hillary and Trump at this point are “neither here, nor there” – essentially they are not indicative of a trend just yet. It should also be noted the polling during the Olympics are similarly not indicative of a trend. If anything, should Hillary’s poll leads hold coming out of the “Olympic pause”, Trump may have a problem. The only news for the next two weeks people will be concerned about is how many gold medals Team USA has won and overall medal count.
I differ from your point of view on the WikiLeaks factor. Trump should not expect, nor count on, any help from Assange. Assange has his own axe to grind. While he wants to impact the election, he also does not want to hand it to Trump either. And, if he has dirt on Hillary, he certainly has dirt on Trump too. Assange, in my book, is eager to play the cards on the both of them. It’s a matter of how much you want to believe from a fugitive. Assange is still wanted for multiple counts of sex assault (rape) in Sweden. That’s why he’s hiding out in Ecuador.