GOP establishment starts to go all in on Cruz

[Gonad the Barbarian]

Romney, Graham, and now Jeb! and even Rush.

More so, all those behind-the-scenes elite establishment operatives are fully cahooting:

Republican elders, desperate to stop Donald Trump, are increasingly convinced they would rather forfeit the White House than hand their party to the divisive Manhattan billionaire.

That’s why the party’s establishment is suddenly rallying behind Ted Cruz, a man they’ve long despised and who has little chance, in the view of many GOP veterans, of defeating Hillary Clinton on Election Day.

“People think we’re not going to win in November anymore. All the candidates that had a shot at winning don’t appear to have a shot at winning the nomination. Everyone is resigned to that,” said a high-ranking GOP operative about the thinking among Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio alums as well as Republican party officials and big-money donors.

“People think we lose with Cruz, but we don’t lose everything,” said the operative, who opposes Trump and asked to speak anonymously. “He’s still a real Republican. We don’t lose the House and Senate with Cruz. We don’t lose our soul as a party and we can recover in four years and I’m not sure people think we can recover from Donald Trump.”

Said one high-level operative inside the Koch network: “He’s the devil you know.”

Indeed, many establishment Republicans would rather lose with Cruz and play a long 2020 game than risk having their party and conservative principles hijacked by Trump—a candidate they do not trust even as they recognize his political dexterity and the possibility that he could be just cagey enough to win on Election Day.

“Donald Trump is a centrist,” said Ron Kaufman, a close ally of Mitt Romney and Bush who lives in Massachusetts. “You may not like him, but policy-wise he’s a centrist. He’s between Cruz and Kasich. If Donald Trump is the nominee, he’ll be far more centrist in language than he has been.”

Ah, Trump's true offense to the establishment is revealed. Lose with Cruz!

Meanwhile, those dirty Republican voters are saying...

A majority of Republican and Republican-leaning voters believe the party should unite behind Donald Trump at a contested convention, according to a national Monmouth University poll released Wednesday.

Fun times ahead.

 

[swamplizard]

To be the Trump or to be Cruz, boy the repugs sure have made their bed haven't they?

 

[Bowfinger]

Perhaps they should have noticed that people find Cruz to be as repugnant as Trump, often even more so. How long will it take the GOP establishment to understand that they don't broaden their support by pulling even harder to the right ... and to the slimy?

 

[tynopik]

How long will it take the GOP establishment to understand that they don't broaden their support by pulling even harder to the right ... and to the slimy?

Which explains the wide-spread popularity of Kasich and Rubio . . .

The real lesson is that you can only give the finger to your base so long before they revolt.

Republican leaders were given mandate after mandate after mandate to do something about immigration, yet they refused to take a hint.

Finally the base had had enough and Trump is the instrument of their vengeance. People ask 'How can Trump do all these things and not see his support drop?' Simple, it isn't about Trump, it's about punishing the Republican leadership.

Don't want another Trump in the future? Then don't ignore your base.

 

[Bowfinger]

Which explains the wide-spread popularity of Kasich and Rubio . . .

The real lesson is that you can only give the finger to your base so long before they revolt.

Republican leaders were given mandate after mandate after mandate to do something about immigration, yet they refused to take a hint.

Finally the base had had enough and Trump is the instrument of their vengeance. People ask 'How can Trump do all these things and not see his support drop?' Simple, it isn't about Trump, it's about punishing the Republican leadership.

Don't want another Trump in the future? Then don't ignore your base.

Yet Trump supporters are a minority in the GOP. A very noisy, emotional minority, but a minority nonetheless.

 

[theeedude]

"We don’t lose our soul as a party and we can recover in four years.

Trump can run in 2020 too if GOP screws him this year.

 

[IronWing]

A friend described Cruz this way, "He comes across like a third generation, small town mortician."

 

[Jhhnn]

“People think we lose with Cruz, but we don’t lose everything,” said the operative, who opposes Trump and asked to speak anonymously. “He’s still a real Republican. We don’t lose the House and Senate with Cruz. We don’t lose our soul as a party and we can recover in four years and I’m not sure people think we can recover from Donald Trump.”

Souls? They sacrificed their souls on the altar of greed long ago.

 

[theeedude]

A friend described Cruz this way, "He comes across like a third generation, small town mortician."

Not too far off. His calling as a SCOTUS law clerk was to make sure that death row appeals were denied.

 

[lopri]

They have been coalescing around Cruz for sometime but not only did they start too late but they proved to be feckless anyway. They are now stuck with The Duck whether they like it or not.

 

[Phokus]

This is hilarious, Cruz has absolutely no friends in the GOP because he threw them all under a bus, but they're so scared shitless of Trump that they have to get behind cruz with a figurative gun against their heads

 

[mizzou]

too late.

They threw their weightless rear ends behind every other failed candidate, now they think throwing it behind cruz will do anything.

 

[Jhhnn]

They have been coalescing around Cruz for sometime but not only did they start too late but they proved to be feckless anyway. They are now stuck with The Duck whether they like it or not.

Not necessarily. If Trump can't win on the first vote at the convention I see knives in his future, kinda like Caesar at the Forum...

 

[Sonikku]

It's like the GoP is slowly tearing itself apart, losing any and all cohesion it once had.

 

[ivwshane]

I chuckle a little knowing that the establishment has to bite their tongue to vote for one of the most hated politicians in their party all while, Cruz must rely on the very establishment he has derided for so long.

 

[Pocatello]

They have to choose either the firing squad or poison, either option is better than Clinton. I agree.

 

[HTFOff]

too late.

They threw their weightless rear ends behind every other failed candidate, now they think throwing it behind cruz will do anything.

IMO it's another attempt by the gop political class to cling on to the last little shred of "business as usual" left in the field. It's hilariously ironic that it's come down to "Lying Ted" for them.

 

[swamplizard]

The New York City police commissioner said today about Cruz, "He doesn't know what the hell he's talking about" referencing Cruz stating that Muslim neighborhoods need more patrolling.

 

[Bitek]

As a strategy it makes sense. Lose a lot, or lose everything.

At least they can test his claim about the GOP losing because they didn't nominate a real conservative.

But it won't happen as Mitt and Jerb have no swing. Only way is to screw Trump out of it during the convention. Then the base will just hate them even more, and there goes 2020 along with riots in 2016.

Karma bitches. Suck it.

 

[Leyawiin]

Yet Trump supporters are a minority in the GOP. A very noisy, emotional minority, but a minority nonetheless.

Every candidate's supporters are/have been a minority in the GOP. Tell us something new.

 

[Bowfinger]

Every candidate's supporters are/have been a minority in the GOP. Tell us something new.

It seems to be news to Tynopik, the person to whom I replied.

 

[disappoint]

A friend described Cruz this way, "He comes across like a third generation, small town mortician."

He looks like WWF's Paul Bearer:

 

[DrPizza]

Trump as the nominee costs them Senate seats due to voter demographics.

 

[Sonikku]

Cruz must be happy at least. Whatever chance he ever could have had as president is now possible solely to Trump making him seem like a slightly less bad option to the establishment.

 

[tynopik]

It seems to be news to Tynopik, the person to whom I replied.

where did i say Trump supporters made the majority of the GOP?

obviously not all of the disaffected base went with Trump

but enough of it did to make him the presumptive nominee

which is all that matters