It goes to show, when you tangle with a guy who is incredibly smart, and was a national debate champion while at Princeton, a guy who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1995, and a guy who’s sponsored over 97 conservative pieces of legislation in the Senate, said guy is not going to back down nor get into the hemming and hawing which other candidates have descended into. Silly Molly Ball has said the in-fighting is all part of a “portrait of a party on the verge of coming apart,” which is the type of fable that we see many times during election season. This is what’s called “robust debate”
(Fox News) Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz launched one of his toughest attacks yet against fellow contender Donald Trump in New Hampshire Monday night, accusing the billionaire real estate developer of being “nowhere to be found” during during the debate in Congress over whether to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants.
“If you didn’t stand up and fight amnesty, when the stakes were live or die, do we lose this permanently or do we win, I would suggest as voters you have reasons to doubt the credibility of the promises of a political candidate who discovers the issue after he announces for president,” the Texas senator said at a town hall meeting in Whitefield.
Let’s not forget that Trump has called for amnesty even while declaring he’d built the border wall. Trump has been pretty crystal clear in his support for amnesty.
Cruz also questioned whether Trump is a true conservative, noting donations he’s made to Democrats over the years, including $50,000 in 2010 to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the former chief of staff to President Barack Obama. And Cruz rejected Trump’s self-comparison to Ronald Reagan, saying he was “pretty sure” Reagan never supported or made large donations to Democrats.
One can understand donations from a businessman to a candidate, attempting to curry favor in a race which was going to go Democrat 100%, but, $50k? And not that long ago.
“Donald Trump has said he thinks eminent domain is fantastic and he supports using government power to seize private people’s homes to give them to giant corporations to say hypothetically build a casino,†Cruz said. “We have an obligation to protect the rights of Americans and private property is central to the rights of Americans.”
Trump agreed with the Kelo decision “100%“. Trump has recently stated that he only supports eminent domain “when it creates jobs“. While taking private property for private use. Is that a conservative position?
(The Hill) “If he’s giving checks to Democratic politicians and he supports their views… then it starts to suggest, ‘gosh if he publicly supports their views if he finances their causes,'” Cruz told Boston radio station WRKO. “Then suddenly when he announces as a candidate for president, every single one of his views changes — listen if he has had a change of heart, I am thrilled.”
Cruz, who is competing with Trump for the GOP nomination, added that if Republican voters want a nominee who will “cozy up to Chuck Schumer — by the way he’s written checks to Chuck Schumer, I never have — then you ought to be backing him.”
Trump tried to attack Cruz on his loans from Goldman Sachs and Citibank, to which Cruz responded
“You want to assess who stands with Wall Street? Then look at the actual records of the candidates,” he added. “Donald Trump vocally and enthusiastically supported TARP, the bailout of the big banks. He vocally and enthusiastically supported Barack Obama’s stimulus plan.”
While Donald certainly has many Conservative/Republican positions, he also has many Leftist positions and squishy Establishment Republican ones, as well. And, for all Trump’s bluster about 9/11 after Cruz hit him with NYC liberal values, it seems as if Trump did not give to 9/11 charities. Nor does Trump give all that much to charities in the first place, at least not his own money.
Trump should be praised for attacking Democrats harshly, rather than tiptoeing around, as Republicans so often do. He should be praised for refusing to back down when the media and Democrats start whining, something Republicans usually do. But, is he really a Conservative? He has some good positions. He also has some bad ones. Rubio is being destroyed be Conservatives for his Gang of 8 illegal aliens legislation. Why is Trump getting a pass?
Crossed at Right Wing News.
The media love Trump. Like almost everyone, they dislike Cruz. They dislike Clinton. They love Bernie. They loved Obama, they loved McCain, they loved W, they hated Gore.
You are right to question why the media have yet to “vet” Trump. They media love Trump.
On the Republican side, this is not an ideology election, but is an emotion or fear election. Apparent “strength” is a driver.
Unless we change things, we’re facing the “new normal” in the US and world economy.
Is any GOP candidate electable?
The GOO base lives Trunp
He polls twice as high as Rafael Cruz who until 18 months ago had Kenyadian citizenship
Trump has little chance in a general election, Cruz even less. Who would harm the nation more as prez? Hard to say. The genial Reagan started the slide into the current swamp of economic despair and Cruz is more doctrinaire Reaganistic. Trump is a wild-card and is playing the Repub base for suckers. He’ll kick the asses of Mexicans, Syrians, Muslims, China and Putin!!
Of the others, Christie, Kasich and Bush have a better, but still remote shot at winning a fair national election.
It’s always a balancing act when deciding who’s best to represent the Repubs in a national election. Decent folks like McCain, Romney, Christie et al are more of an electoral threat but will not harm the nation as much as nutzoid ideologues like Cruz, Huckabee, Palin, Santorum etc (who are less likely to win an election). It’s always a risk benefit balance. The Dems really feared McCain until he inexplicably chose the galactically unqualified Palin (and being a Repub during the Repub recession didn’t help either).
Trump/Palin 2016!