#RNCinCLE: Cruz SCREWS UP
I’ve been an admirer of Ted Cruz since he first came to the US Senate. He has been the closest thing to my political mentor, and former boss, Jesse Helms that we’ve seen in a long time. I had mixed emotions about his run for president. It would be great to have someone with his worldview in The White House. On the other hand, we need him leading the fight for common-sense conservatism in the Senate. As we saw with Helms, one smart senator — who knows the rules and won’t back down in the face of pressure – can stymie The White House and the rest of the DC establishment BIG TIME.
Well, Cruz’s dream of 1600 Penn didn’t pan out. So, it’s back to Mitch and the boys on Capitol Hill. The primary campaign was rough. Rarely is an election campaign not rough. Politics IS a contact sport.
Cruz got a prime speaking spot at the National Convention. He used his opportunity at an event meant to rally the faithful against the barbarian Queen Hillary and her troglodyte mob to try and score a few personal political points. He didn’t come out and say “Vote for Don.” He did say “vote your conscience” and told folks not to stay home. I read all that as ”still vote for the stuff down-ballot, but you can leave the president stuff blank.”
Cruz doubled down on his performance, teling the media today that he could not support someone who attacked his family. That’s fine. But he should have learned a lesson from Greg Brannon. Brannon came up short in a slug-fest for the 2014 GOP nomination for US Senate in North Carolina. The victorious campaign of Thom Tillis came after Brannon pretty hard in the primary.
When it was all over, Brannon simply declined to endorse Tillis, and did not even bother to show up at the state GOP convention — doubling as a celebration of nominee Tillis — that year. Like Brannon, Cruz should have simply declined the speaking invitation and stayed away from Cleveland this week. 
Ted Cruz didn’t do himself any favors. He gave more ammo to all of those GOPe types who have been telling us what an arrogant, pain-in-the-butt, hard-to-get-along-with jerk he is. He disappointed a lot of his supporters who thought he should keep his powder dry and live to fight another day. At this point, taking shots at Trump does little more than help The Wicked Witch.
I am not completely sure what we’ll be getting with Trump. I have some idea. But I DO KNOW what we will be getting with Hillary. And it scares the hell out of me. It should scare you too. She will merely put the cherry on top of the sundae Barry Obama started making in 2009. Our country can’t stand that.
Reagan did the same thing with Ford in 1976 as Cruz did last night, as is being pointed out quite a bit today. He did not say the words ”I endorse Gerald Ford”. Why is there a different standard for Cruz than there was for Reagan? Ford did not insult Reagan’s family the way Trump has Cruz’ wife and father. The hoopla today is because the Trump people are making a big hoopla over it, and that is hurting both Trump and Cruz.
I agree. This is being handled VERY badly. Paul Manafort should be fired. Now!
Unlikely. Manafort is the guy who helped get Putin-puppet Viktor Yanukovych elected President of Ukraine, over objections of the Bush administration. He helped keep Ferdinand Marcos in control of the Philippines, He worked for Zaire’s dictator President Mobutu, Angolan rebel leader Jonas Savimbi, even the governments of Kenya and Nigeria – all so as to get more and more US foreign aid. He even lobbied for a front group propped up by Pakistan’s intelligence service.
If there’s anyone that Trump needs to seize power over the Republican Party and then the whole United States, it’s an amoral fixer like Paul Manafort.
John McCain had the good sense to keep Manafort’s hands off of the 2008 GOP convention, but then McCain is actually something of a credible statesman. Trump is a thug, and he needs a thug to seize power and hold it.
God help us if he gets elected.
And when they saw that Cruz wasn’t going to endorse, Trump barged into the room while Cruz was still talking.
Gosh, they both seem so… Presidential, don’t they?
Cruz was invited to speak; Trump saw the speech, and Trump saw a way to humiliate Cruz. Trump doesn’t reflect my principles. Rather than being a “sore loser”, I find Cruz the only “hero” in this sorted, despicable campaign.
I love what Cruz did. He stands for things you don’t hear Trump so much as say, nor has he given indication that he believes them. If that’s a screwup, more people should do it. I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do “up ballot”. All three candidates (I’m including Johnson) are supremely unsatisfying. It’s a shame I won’t have a write-in option…
All this talk about the pledge is a tempest in a teacup. Never mind the teapot. From what I’ve been reading, Trump himself renounced it months ago.
What you are saying resonates with a lot of us. It sure does with me.
I’ve voted Libertarian before. I will not do it this year in the Presidential race. The Libertarian open borders fanaticism just will not do.
I consider Hillary Clinton a monster. It’s no secret what she WILL do. She surely cannot be trusted with Supreme Court nominations or anything else.
Donald Trump is all over the place. He’s a 50-50 crap shoot. If he comes through on the court nominations we’ve done the best we can do. If we get more, that’s gravy.
That seems to be all our options short of rebellion. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, but you never know.
Eric Trump told the North Carolina delegation this morning that:
“Everybody in that room … was behind my father,” the younger Trump said. “They were booing somebody off the stage who wasn’t 100 percent in lockstep with that message.”
Eric Trump tells NC delegates that Cruz chaos illustrates unity
avlne.ws/2abZpY5
See? Chaos = Unity. All you Cruz holdouts better get with the program. You remember what happened to Boxer, in Animal Farm, right?
Anyone who wants to support Ted Cruz in the future for president should not be allowed to hold any intraparty office within the GOP ever.
So sick and tired of some so-called principled conservatives who really are nothing but lying jerks who when they don’t get their way just want to screw the GOP. Brannon and Cruz are at the top of that list.
The Tea Party and the Conservative Movement MUST purge our groups of these type egomaniacs.
For the sake of the nation, I hope Trump wins. If he doesn’t, I hope true patriots and conservatives will rally around Pence.
If Clinton gets elected, when she gets her first of several supreme court nominations, the first person she should thank is LYING TED.
Saying prayers for those still supporting Cruz. You lack wisdom and discernment.
Not one thing wrong with Cruz’s speech. It was approved he stuck to it and #classlessTrump crashed it for his own self gratification
What you will get with Trump is a liberal who has spent his life supporting the leftists we have been fighting.
He has No history of helping the conservitive cause and Cruz has a resume full of principled actions and fighting the leftists. Even ones Trump has supported
Seriously Hillary is close to the devil and trump has given her money and supported her. No one getting the GOP nomination should have that in their past
The GOP as we hoped it to be conservitive is dead and Trump said it himself that he was running for the republican nomination not the conservitive one
Stranded in Cleveland by your GOP Chairman for saying nice things about Ted Cruz. Can the glue factory be far behind?
NC GOP chairman to Cruz delegates: Find your own way home
bit.ly/2a496sq
This is the same guy that told a group that he did not come to a meeting to run for chairman again but he wrote his speech the night before
so he is a liar…. a flat out liar…. he did go to that meeting to run for chairman
and a bunch of people would would rather win then stand on principle voted him in
to bad because of executive session I cannot tell anyone what happened earlier in the meeting but I hope the people of the NCGOP responsible can sleep at night with the choice they made that day
Hmmm! What a way to unify a party!
Unify is never about Unity it is about them wanting all the power and commanding the people to line up behind them
The Evil people in the GOP are just like the Evil ones on the other side cause Evil has the same goal and Unifies them on a mission against Goodness
Unfortunately, that’s kind of the point of placing this illegitimate NC GOP Chairman in the position of leading our delegation.
The damage that Cruz and his still-backing supporters are doing for future conservative candidates is significant.
In the future, when a conservative gets a nomination for anything, just keep your mouths shut when the party regulars and establishment just ignores you, refuses to fund you or otherwise encourages everyone to vote their conscience.
Difficult to watch children follow the Pied Piper off of the cliff!
people supporting the Orange Giant Nominee are the ones following the Pied Piper all the way off the cliff to embrace liberal ideals
The establishment Republicans are already knifing conservatives in the back and have been for several election cycles. This election cycle, the Boehner / Ryan establishment in DC has been out to get a number of conservative incumbents in the primaries. Ryan’s fingerprints are on some of them like the only one still in competition, Tim Huelscamp. Conservatives have already beat back the other challenges The Senate is even worse with what Mitch McConnell and the NRSC have been doing. Take the Colorado Senate race this year. McConnell’s annointed establishment candidate ran fourth in the primary, and the NRSC has announced that it will not help the staunch conservative, who is black, who resoundingly won the primary in the general election. This is in one of the two states where the GOP could pick up a Democrat seat and one where post primary polls show the Democrat incumbent very vulnerable. But McConnell and NRSC are in a snit because the strongest conservative won and their candidate got trounced, so they are picking up their marbles and going home. They seem more interested in beating conservatives in their own party than beating Democrats.
And who could forget what the establishment, with Mitch McConnell and Richard Burr among others participating, did to the conservative frontrunner in the 2014 Mississippi primary runoff:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2672565/The-worst-race-baiting-ads-Ive-seen-Radio-ads-Mississippi-senate-race-accused-tea-party-candidate-Ku-Klux-Klan-links-drove-black-Democrats-vote-against-REPUBLICAN-primary.html
When Richard Burr helped finance that disgusting race-baiting smear, he forfeited any right to expect conservative to ever vote for him again.
Cruz lived up to what I suspected. Self serving,arrogant,and not a true Republican.. I forgot his normally dour face.
Cruz is a True Conservative First and Republican Second. Cruz never supported a leftist agenda in fact he has fought against it his whole career
#ClasslessTrump said he was running for the Republican nomination and not the conservative one. Trump gave money to leftist legislators that conservatives fight against
So are you a Conservative Republican or a Trump Republican they are polar opposites from each other and you cannot be both
Being a true Republican is based on principles. Cruz is solid on those principles and showed it in his speech. It is Trump who one wonders if he is a real Republican due to his flip-flops on issues. We have to keep our fingers crossed when we vote for Trump.
If you listened to Cruz speech and think he is not a true Republican from that speech, all that really says is that it is your own lack of principles that indicate that YOU might not be a true Republican.
You are always spot on
People negitive about the values Cruz promotes are the Evil problems of the Republican party
I’ve been thinking.
Ronald Reagan got kind of peeved with Gerald Ford for pulling that Reagans gonna blow up the world stunt in the 1976 Republican Primary. That’s the exact same strategy Democrat Lyndon Johnson used against Republican Barry Goldwater in the 1964 General Election. Even so, Reagan (the great communicator) gave one heck of a unifying convention speech; he still didn’t formally endorse Ford.
I wonder if it would have made a difference if Ford had gone after Nancy and his mama. Hum.
All things considered Cruz did about all anyone could reasonable expect from my point of view. The Trump folks should have rode that Cruz speech wave all the way to shore, like Ford did. Instead they looked like a bunch of cram down thugs.
Hell, if I had been in the position Cruz was in I would have given that speech along with Trump having the choice of losing teeth or taking busted ribs. But that’s my world. It’s getting rather obvious to me that my world is much more civilized than what we are seeing in politics these days.
Well, we’re moments before Trumps acceptance speech. I wonder how this mess can be weaved together.
Cruz and his superpac went after Melania first. Trump just knows how to make it stick.
Cruz’ SuperPACs were KeepThePromise 1, 2, and 3. The PAC that put up the Melania photo, which had earlier when created by the Trump organization itself, was NOT one of those SuperPAC’s. A candidate is not allowed to tell a SuperPAC what to do in the first place, but the PAC putting up the photo of Melania was not even one that the Cruz campaign had created. Trump was way off base in trying to blame Cruz.
Ivanka Trump says her Dad is committed to fixing the wage discrepancy between men & women. Wow, he sounds extra-Republican!
This is Trump’s I am the Anti-Christ Speech #JesusPleaseComeSoon
I guess once he gets up there and sees it is a falsehood, he will take credit for “fixing” it. That should at least go over well with the rabid feminazis.
Unfortunately Ivanka showed a huge amount of ignorance, or flat out lied, when that subject came around. Otherwise her speech was ok.
A retired Police Officer sent me this comment! TRUTH MATTERS!!!
“I wish to remind all that the Cruz campaign is the one that began the attacks on Trump’s wife by posting old modeling photos where she was partially clad and asking if she was 1st lady material…. Trump fired back with an unappealing photo of Cruz’s wife, asking who would you rather see….. He never attacked Cruz’s wife, that was a media spin on the incident, yet Cruz is using it as one if his excuses for his lack of integrity, and for an issue he started… Pathetic!!!!!!”
And my take on Cruz:
I watched the end of Cruz’s speech again and both my husband and I said, I don’t remember any “caveats” to the pledge to renege on it. You can see that he is the pompous ass John Sununu called him! He acts like he has practiced for hours in front of a mirror to “look” presidential. He reminds me of John Kerry, another obnoxious phony. I really hope this further cements Donald’s support with Independents and even conservative democrats. Otherwise….GOD HELP US!!!!
Btw, Sarah Palin sent out a video that showed Carly Fiorna’s past statements glowing on Hillary’s accomplishments. Stunning that so many people we know, strong Christian Conservatives were so fooled.
First of all that old photo of Trump’s wife was created by Trump’s own campaign in one of his earlier efforts at the presidency. Second, it was NOT the Cruz campaign that posted it, although Trump incorrectly blamed the Cruz campaign.
Trump’s suggestion that Cruz’ father was somehow involved in the assassination of JFK was just extremely bizarre.
Trump should have accepted the Cruz convention speech like Ford accepted the Reagan convention speech that did not endorse him by name, but talked mainly about principles. It is the Trump campaign’s crybaby response that is dividing the party, not anything Cruz did. The Trump response is hurting both Trump and Cruz.
Amen!
While I don’t like either Cruz or Trump, I think Cruz was totally justified in doing what he did. If Trump is going to drag the debate into the swamps with petty name calling and insults during the Primaries he should NOT expect to be rewarded with loving endorsements from anyone. A debate from the GOP on the issues and policy of our country would have been far more productive, and would have better set up the GOP for the General Election, than the sophomoric taunting we saw from most of the hopefuls,
I was a Cruz guy, but when he chose to get his pound of flesh rather that survive to fight another day, he showed me he doesn’t have the political skills to be a leader of a movement.
Preach!
Remember Hitler lead a movement. you might not know what you are following before it is too late…. Cruz’s speech was that best speech for America of the whole convention…. Go back and read the transcript
Supporting Trump on the issues they have in common, like the border wall, was getting his ”pound of flesh”? Telling voters not to stay home but to vote for principled candidates ”up and down the ticket” (which means all of it) was getting his ”pound of flesh”? You Trump worshipers seem to have a weird way of looking at things!
I want to vote for Trump because I want to stop Hillary, but the Trump worshipers are making that harder than it should be through their mindless attacks on people they should not be attacking.
Please, everyone take a big breath & stop the whining! Whether you like Trump or not, Trump is our GOP candidate selected by GOP delegates & popular vote. We must get behind Trump & vote for him (hold your nose if you have to) or we end up with Hillary & her SC Justices.
Remember the Germans got behind Hitler also #NeverTrump #ConservitiveBeforeRepublican
A call to first principles is never wrong. Time will vindicate Cruz.
Lot of false info in some of these comments, and to what end? The primary is over. I’ll say it again, the primary is over. Your piece is spot on Brant. Who wants Clinton in the White House?