Carnival (Ted) Cruz game plan?

[funinspace]

Now that Cruz has won the lead for Iowa, I thought this would be a good time to consider what Cruz’s long term goals are. Unless, Rubio can pull a big upset and win NH, it appears that the GOP nominee is most likely to be Cruz or Trump. I’m not sure how far back one has to go to find a Repug that became the nominee without winning at least either Iowa or NH. I still don't think Trump has the legs for winning the GOP primary, even as Trump still seems likely to win NH. Though if we discount his numbers by 3-4 percentage points, just as the polls failed by about 3-4 points over the last month in Iowa, a Trump win could be pretty weak. The questions will be how much can Rubio surge in a week; and can Cruz pick off enough support from other losers like Huckabee and Carson? I guess there is still a possibility of Kasich staying relevant, but even if he came in second in NH, I don't see him as having a workable national game plan. If Bush would walk away from his obvious losing game, Rubio could even possibly win. Personally, I think that only Rubio has the only likelihood to upset a Cruz primary victory at this point.

Anywho, if Cruz was to win the nomination, what is his game plan? He has aligned himself with many crazy right wing preachers that were even too scary for Rick Perry and others. An attack plan for the Hillary super PACs will have lots of ammo showing Cruz smooching with psycho preacher who do everything from advocating criminalizing homosexuality as an executable felony to preachers who have stated that God raised up Hitler to punish Jews. And these are not just endorsements from preachers, where Cruz didn't acknowledge them. No, he thanks them for their support and sometime went on stage with these nuts. Middle America will find such messages about a candidate quite repulsive. It is hard to imagine that Cruz doesn't recognize the political danger of aligning himself with so many far right totally crazy preachers.

So I ask, is Cruz's game plan more about the fame of being the Repug nominee more so than the idea of actually winning the Presidency? Personally, I think Cruz is unelectable as President. What if he figures this as well, and is operating for other purposes? What if he plans to resign from the Senate upon securing the Repug nomination? After losing, he could easily work towards becoming the king pin of right wing blowhards. He could write a book, join the lecture circuit, create a super PAC slush fund, et.al. He could even speak in Singapore w/o sounding like a moron. If Palin could amass roughly $12 million of wealth in the years after her quitting. Imagine how much an articulate and intelligent person could bring in without even being a quitter. I see no reason that he couldn't pull in double or triple that $12 million. Not a bad way to sling shot yourself into $24 to $36 million. And if he doesn't win the primary, he still has his $170k day job, and his wife can go back to being an private wealth manager for Goldman Sachs, with compensation probably north of $500k. And he could still write a book and garner a number of millions as a sitting Senator. It would be kind of a possible big win or a small win compensation prize. Nothing really too loose.

 

[Keith&Co.]

You know, I always wondered about Mondale's candidacy in 1984.

We went into the election hoping for the best, but it was clear that Reagan had all the cards.

So when the Democrats used Mondale, as close to The Invisible Man as you could get, and Ferraro, a nobody that became less and less electable as the background checks were performed, I had to wonder if the entire purpose was to see how many people would vote for them just because there was a woman on the ticket.

Have the Republicans given up this time? Is it all just a big Federally funded survey to see how crazy your candidate can get before you start to lose votes?

They're watching my purchases and tailoring my advertisements on the internet, are they fixing to tailor my candidates the same way?

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Cruz isn't the question, his financial backers are. They may be paying for access, but unlike Gingrich, no one likes Cruz, which would make him a questionable lobbyist.

 

[funinspace]

Cruz isn't the question, his financial backers are. They may be paying for access, but unlike Gingrich, no one likes Cruz, which would make him a questionable lobbyist.

Well, Cruz is my question.

The backers are paying for access, as they all do. And if he stays in the Senate, whether winning the primary or not, those backers will want to be remembered. Many wealthy conservatives may have blinders on thinking he can win. I recently read an interview with Charles Koch, and I was quite surprised at just how weird (out of touch) his perception of the US was. And if Cruz's game plan is to seek fortune, after the Presidential race is over, he would obviously keep those cards very close to his hand. As well as Cruz actually has one of the stronger grass roots funding networks. See linky:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...70532e-7c0b-11e5-beba-927fd8634498_story.html

I'm not even sure that being a lobbyist is the fastest way to wealth accumulation. Either way, that wasn't what I was suggesting he would head for. He could easily market a book towards the evangelicals, the constitutionalists, and even some of the libertarians. I don't see how he couldn't do much better than the Palin model with books, super PACs, and speaking fees.

- - - Updated - - -

You know, I always wondered about Mondale's candidacy in 1984.

We went into the election hoping for the best, but it was clear that Reagan had all the cards.

So when the Democrats used Mondale, as close to The Invisible Man as you could get,...

Have a hart. The Dums had to push some penguin off the ice sheet...it might as well have been an expendable one.

This time a more rational Repug candidate would at least have a chance after 8 years of Obamanation.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Well, Cruz is my question.

Cruz wants money.

 

[funinspace]

Well, Cruz is my question.

Cruz wants money.

Thanks smart ass

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Cruz wants money.

Thanks smart ass

Cruz is odd. He seems to be one of the least indoctrinated people out there, but is riding this Tea Party wave as far as it carries... which for him... isn't to the White House.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Now that Cruz has won the lead for Iowa, I thought this would be a good time to consider what Cruz’s long term goals are. Unless, Rubio can pull a big upset and win NH, it appears that the GOP nominee is most likely to be Cruz or Trump. I’m not sure how far back one has to go to find a Repug that became the nominee without winning at least either Iowa or NH. I still don't think Trump has the legs for winning the GOP primary, even as Trump still seems likely to win NH. Though if we discount his numbers by 3-4 percentage points, just as the polls failed by about 3-4 points over the last month in Iowa, a Trump win could be pretty weak. The questions will be how much can Rubio surge in a week; and can Cruz pick off enough support from other losers like Huckabee and Carson? I guess there is still a possibility of Kasich staying relevant, but even if he came in second in NH, I don't see him as having a workable national game plan. If Bush would walk away from his obvious losing game, Rubio could even possibly win. Personally, I think that only Rubio has the only likelihood to upset a Cruz primary victory at this point.

Anywho, if Cruz was to win the nomination, what is his game plan? He has aligned himself with many crazy right wing preachers that were even too scary for Rick Perry and others. An attack plan for the Hillary super PACs will have lots of ammo showing Cruz smooching with psycho preacher who do everything from advocating criminalizing homosexuality as an executable felony to preachers who have stated that God raised up Hitler to punish Jews. And these are not just endorsements from preachers, where Cruz didn't acknowledge them. No, he thanks them for their support and sometime went on stage with these nuts. Middle America will find such messages about a candidate quite repulsive. It is hard to imagine that Cruz doesn't recognize the political danger of aligning himself with so many far right totally crazy preachers.

So I ask, is Cruz's game plan more about the fame of being the Repug nominee more so than the idea of actually winning the Presidency? Personally, I think Cruz is unelectable as President. What if he figures this as well, and is operating for other purposes? What if he plans to resign from the Senate upon securing the Repug nomination? After losing, he could easily work towards becoming the king pin of right wing blowhards. He could write a book, join the lecture circuit, create a super PAC slush fund, et.al. He could even speak in Singapore w/o sounding like a moron. If Palin could amass roughly $12 million of wealth in the years after her quitting. Imagine how much an articulate and intelligent person could bring in without even being a quitter. I see no reason that he couldn't pull in double or triple that $12 million. Not a bad way to sling shot yourself into $24 to $36 million. And if he doesn't win the primary, he still has his $170k day job, and his wife can go back to being an private wealth manager for Goldman Sachs, with compensation probably north of $500k. And he could still write a book and garner a number of millions as a sitting Senator. It would be kind of a possible big win or a small win compensation prize. Nothing really too loose.

I imagine that his game plan is to win the Presidency and roll back the socalist liberal agenda which has been destroying the country and return America to the glory days of peace, freedom and prosperity based on the application of Christian principles. Cruz thinks that Cruz is electable. I think that Cruz is a nut but, unlike a Trump-style nut, he actually believes the nutty things he's saying.

If Trump were to become President, he wouldn't have any trouble doing the exact opposite of what he's campaigned on and just shrug off any criticism from those who elected him with a "Meh. Deal with it" because the only cause which actually concerns him is the cause of Donald Trump and he'll say and do whatever he needs to in order to advance that cause. Cruz actually drinks the Kool-Aid and would burn the fucking country down fully confident the entire way that everything will turn out for the best because the theories he's operating off of are unimpeachably correct.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I imagine that his game plan is to win the Presidency and roll back the socalist liberal agenda which has been destroying the country and return America to the glory days of peace, freedom and prosperity based on the application of Christian principles. Cruz thinks that Cruz is electable. I think that Cruz is a nut but, unlike a Trump-style nut, he actually believes the nutty things he's saying.

Cruz isn't a nut but. He is as about as authentic as a $3 bill, but otherwise, he is plotting and scheming and doesn't believe anything he is saying. He is trying to accrue money and power.

 

[funinspace]

I imagine that his game plan is to win the Presidency and roll back the socalist liberal agenda which has been destroying the country and return America to the glory days of peace, freedom and prosperity based on the application of Christian principles. Cruz thinks that Cruz is electable. I think that Cruz is a nut but, unlike a Trump-style nut, he actually believes the nutty things he's saying.

Cruz isn't a nut but. He is as about as authentic as a $3 bill, but otherwise, he is plotting and scheming and doesn't believe anything he is saying. He is trying to accrue money and power.

Yeup! Cruz may hand out trays of Kool-Aid to the red lemmings, but I doubt he would ever take a sip.

 

[untermensche]

Cruz is at his core a religious fundamentalist.

He is just following god's plan for him.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

Think of Cruz as a Donald Trump with a slightly different spiel. His obnoxious right wing bullyragging made him a Senator in Texas. Its just more of the same but with extra emphasis on the all important religious GOP voters. Again, don't underestimate him, he won big in Texas doing this. He's not just thrashing around at semi-random like Trump. Everything he does or says is calculated. Cruz has long been a successful practitioner of the politics of outrage.

 

[funinspace]

Think of Cruz as a Donald Trump with a slightly different spiel. His obnoxious right wing bullyragging made him a Senator in Texas. Its just more of the same but with extra emphasis on the all important religious GOP voters. Again, don't underestimate him, he won big in Texas doing this. He's not just thrashing around at semi-random like Trump. Everything he does or says is calculated. Cruz has long been a successful practitioner of the politics of outrage.

I agree that Cruz is very calculated. However, I see some oddities in his calculus. Yeah, his machinations just may get him to the Repug nomination. The problem I see is that he is tilting so hard into the evangelical/conservative christian current, that it will most certainly cause much damage when competing for the general electorate vote. I'm pretty sure he is quite smart. So why tilt so hard into the crazy current?

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

I agree that Cruz is very calculated. However, I see some oddities in his calculus. Yeah, his machinations just may get him to the Repug nomination. The problem I see is that he is tilting so hard into the evangelical/conservative christian current, that it will most certainly cause much damage when competing for the general electorate vote. I'm pretty sure he is quite smart. So why tilt so hard into the crazy current?

Maybe this is actually his 2020 campaign, hoping to run against an incumbent Democrat who hasn't impressed the voters.

Although pulling stunts like he did this week in Iowa doesn't go over well, and as candidates bow out, they're going to very vocally push their followers away from him.

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

I agree that Cruz is very calculated. However, I see some oddities in his calculus. Yeah, his machinations just may get him to the Repug nomination. The problem I see is that he is tilting so hard into the evangelical/conservative christian current, that it will most certainly cause much damage when competing for the general electorate vote. I'm pretty sure he is quite smart. So why tilt so hard into the crazy current?

Maybe this is actually his 2020 campaign, hoping to run against an incumbent Democrat who hasn't impressed the voters.

Although pulling stunts like he did this week in Iowa doesn't go over well, and as candidates bow out, they're going to very vocally push their followers away from him.

I suspect a one-two punch strategy. Beat Trump with religious voter support and ground game. Become the nominee. Then beat Hillary. Last election was a sitting president, this time will be somebody utterly despised by the right and wounded by the e-mail scandals etc. Or if that shoe drops, he has to beat the socialist.

 

[funinspace]

I agree that Cruz is very calculated. However, I see some oddities in his calculus. Yeah, his machinations just may get him to the Repug nomination. The problem I see is that he is tilting so hard into the evangelical/conservative christian current, that it will most certainly cause much damage when competing for the general electorate vote. I'm pretty sure he is quite smart. So why tilt so hard into the crazy current?

Maybe this is actually his 2020 campaign, hoping to run against an incumbent Democrat who hasn't impressed the voters.

Yeah, a 2020 game plan could be it as well. Though winners of primaries, rarely emerge strongly later for what ever reason. But coming in second could do it. And after 4 years, he could more easily blow off criticism for hanging out with the crazy evangelical fringe. Time forgives a lot of sins in politics...

 

[Cheerful Charlie]

I suspect Cruz plans to use the evangelical vote to get elected in the primaries, and rely on Hillary bashing to take him to the presidency. Not so much as to win but to have Hillary lose. He can expect the super-PACS to pour on the hate in the last months of the election. Of course that didn't work when Nutty Newt tried that with Bill Clinton.