That's how Trumpf sees it... but Trumpf's an idiotHerr Trumpf spent Christmas Eve tweeting about Bill Clinton's schlong and about how he's going to beat Hillary in November, probably unaware of how forces inside the Republican Party are aligning to deny him the opportunity to win a GOP nomination he assumes is "in the bag." And I'm not even talking about the weak establishment hacks like Jeb, Kasich, Rubio, Christie and their media and billionaire-backers who apparently don't even collectively have the strength to fight their way out of an already-shredded paper bag. But, as we've been noting for several weeks, the party's far right has now coalesced and unified around Ted Cruz-- despite the two-faced thing that is causing some jitters on the right-- and Cruz is set to beat Herr Trumpf decisively in Iowa and go on to finish off his embarrassing, all-hot-air campaign on Confederate Super Tuesday.On Christmas Eve, Cruz surrogate and fringe blabber-mouth Brent Bozell III, penned an OpEd for Breitbart, the heart of Trumpf-territory: It Is Time For Conservatives To Rally Around Ted Cruz. He snidely refers to Rubio as Bush Lite, dismisses Ben Carson's campaign as "having run its course and asserts that "the numbers just aren't there for" RandPaul, Fiorina, Huckabee or Rick Santorum. "Ted Cruz," he points out, "is surging. He's on top in Iowa He’s gaining ground everywhere else. He has organizations in place in every state that matters. He’s raised more money than anyone except Jeb Bush." And, unlike Bush, who's spent much of his donors' money (wastefully), Cruz has barely touched his. And Bozell asserts that the reason Cruz is on top is because "Conservatives nationally are seeing that he’s the one candidate who is going to return this country to her Constitutional foundations and Judeo-Christian values." (And Trumpf took time out from obsessing about schlongs to announce that he's actually going to a church!)
On every issue of crucial importance to conservatives-- defunding Planned Parenthood, ending the Obamacare nightmare, reducing the size of government, opposing amnesty-- Cruz is not only with conservatives, he’s led the fight for conservatives.Some Republicans vote the right way on these issues. Few stick their necks out and challenge the Washington DC GOP establishment. He’s done it over and over, fearlessly. It’s what leaders do.Some say him constantly doing this makes Cruz one of the most reviled men in Washington.It’s hard to imagine a more prestigious title. America is fed up with the establishment in Washington, especially the Republican leadership that constantly flat-out lies to voters promising an agenda they have no intention of honoring.Ted Cruz could play that game too. Life would be easy. But he came to Washington to change Washington. He’s the one candidate the establishment most fears-- because he will.My friend Richard Viguerie always asks an important question when it comes to a candidate claiming to be a conservative, which they all do because they cannot be elected without conservatives. Does he walk with us? Where was he or she before the campaign? Were they regulars at our meetings and conferences? Were they helping conservative candidates, organizations, causes?Or are they conveniently “conservatives” now because they need us?Ted Cruz has been a part of the movement since the start of his career in Texas. No other candidate-- none-- can say this.Ronald Reagan was with us decades before he was elected president. He shared our cause not just politically, not just philosophically, but in his heart. For that he was despised by the establishment of both parties. He was undeterred. He ran for the presidency not be president but to change the world. And did.But can he win?There’s nothing the Left would like more than to see Donald Trump win the GOP nomination. He cannot, will not defeat Hillary Clinton. She will be our next president, and God help us then.Only Ted Cruz can defeat Trump; and if he does, he’ll defeat Hillary.The Left knows this reality too. This is why the vicious, personal attacks against Cruz are underway. He’s been through this before, and all the establishment-led character assassination attempts in the past have failed. This time they will be more malicious than ever.Make no mistake: Cruz isn’t just surging right now-- he’s winning the Republican primary. As political analyst Nomiki Konst observed at The Hill, “All the focused polls in early primary states this week show Cruz’s momentum growing, a reflection of his formulaic long-term strategy centered on fundraising, investment in ground game across the country, key endorsements and messaging to a coalition of conservative voters.”Konst adds, “Hyper-disciplined, Cruz’s multifaceted strategy-- a formula of raising and saving cash, prioritizing field over media, focusing on evangelicals and anti-establishment conservatives-- has solidified support across all primary states. And in coming weeks, as candidates fade, expect Trump’s tirades to continue, and watch as Cruz quietly capitalizes.”It’s time for every conservative leader to stand and be counted.It’s time for the movement to rally around Ted Cruz, to make him the next president of the United States.
Bozell is correct about Democrats wanting to run against Trumpf... but Ted Cruz is a close runner-up. His extremism is perfectly suited for a Republican primary dominated by angry bigots, naive evangelicals and Hate Talk Radio zombies... and perfectly anathema to the kinds of mainstream voters that successful candidates for the White House have to appeal to. Earlier this month, the National Memo listed 5 reasons why Cruz is scarier than Herr Trumpf, all reasonable. But this was #5:
He’s brilliant and he loves that you think he’s crazy. Ted Cruz is an Ivy League-educated savant who plays an animatronic Reagan impersonator/Internet commenter on TV. Anyone who believes his eagerness to enrage liberals for stupidity will be sadly disappointed. If you want to understand the extent that he goes to in order to affect his image as a perfectly realized Christian conservative, read this by Jeb Lund: Ted Cruz Isn’t Crazy-- He’s Much Worse.”His ability to signal and market his lunacy is entirely the result of “intelligent design.” Even his gaffes are scripted and planned. Even his failures are designed to prove his purity. Even his willingness to cower to Trump is a sign that he believes he will win because any other outcome is unacceptable to Ted Cruz and God.
The Lund link above is worth clicking on. Spoiler Alert: "Ted Cruz is too smart not to know that replacing all of Planned Parenthood's services with "rubbers" is objectively stupid. He knows claiming that Christian terrorism has been dormant for centuries is a contemptuous violation of an even Jeopardy!-level understanding of history. He knows a bearded mass shooter who mentioned "baby parts" was probably not firing from the left side of the aisle in defense of his feminine identity, but he knows speculating about it commits him to nothing. These assertions form a web of cold malignancy too tactically useful to lack intent. It's a work, and it works. It's his ticket to the main event."
