Patterico's Pontifications

1/30/2016

Ugh, Ted Cruz. Why?

Filed under: General — JVW @ 2:40 pm

[guest post by JVW]

Via Powerline by way of the The Independent Journal comes a discomforting story about a tactic the Cruz campaign in Iowa is using to drive up caucus turnout. Marked with notifications such as “VOTING VIOLATION,” “ELECTION ALERT,” and “PUBLIC RECORD,” the Cruz campaign has sent a targeted mailer to certain registered voters informing them of their “voter record” as determined by their past participation and rated by letter grade, as well as the record of their neighbors. The mailer contains what might be construed as a vague threat:

You are receiving this election notice because of low expected voter turnout in your area. Your individual voting history as well as your neighbors’ are public record. Their scores are published below, and many of them will see your score as well. CAUCUS ON MONDAY TO IMPROVE YOUR SCORE and please encourage your neighbors to caucus as well. A follow-up notice may be issued following Monday’s caucuses.

Similar mailers have been seen in past elections, with political parties and advocacy groups of all ideologies making use of the tactic. The Cruz campaign defended their use of this sort of campaign mailer by noting that Republican Joni Ernst had employed it to great effect in her successful 2014 Senate campaign.

I understand that a strong showing in the awful and grossly over-influential Iowa Caucus is a key signifier of the seriousness of a campaign and their ability to put together a solid field organization, but the Menckenian side of me is disgusted at the use of thinly-veiled scare tactics to motivate inconsistent voters, no matter what side of the political divide they may fall on. Using the prominent heading of “VOTING VIOLATION” is way beyond what ought to be acceptable to those who chafe at the ever-encroaching commercial and political intrusiveness driven by the tracking of every move that we make. Paul Mirengoff explains it pretty succinctly:

The Cruz campaign boasts about being into “Big Data” and says that it classifies potential voters by personality type. The Cruz campaign’s assessment of the personality type of the “very narrow” group that received this mailing must not be flattering. “Submissive to authority,” “Easily bullied” or maybe “Not too bright” come to mind.

I very much doubt that this mailing was suggested by the candidate himself, nor do I even suspect he was made aware of it. But to the degree that the campaign is a reflection of the candidate then Ted Cruz, who otherwise is an excellent choice to reverse the Obamian Descent into Mediocrity, needs to stop trying to scare the low-information voters to the polls.

[note: post-publication edit of poor grammar.]

– JVW

UPDATE BY PATTERICO: I heard about this last night. I’m not happy about it and I bet Ted Cruz isn’t either. Primarily I am annoyed by the tactic which strikes me as overbearing and thuggish. Moreover, I am a huge fan of low voter turnout — and I can’t imagine why someone in Cruz’s position would want to get more unmotivated voters to the polls. Because unmotivated voters tend to be low-information voters. Meaning Trump voters. The whole thing is a complete mystery to me.

UPDATE x2 BY PATTERICO: Ted Cruz has defended the tactic:

Speaking to reporters on Saturday evening in Sioux City, Mr. Cruz said he would “apologize to nobody for using every tool we can to encourage Iowa voters to come out and vote.”

Well, I still don’t like it.

That said, if I were in Iowa, I would still vote for Ted Cruz without reservation. Apparently, he is not perfect. I think I already knew that. He’s still miles better than Trump and (in my estimation) better than Rubio.

Comments (188)

188 Responses to “Ugh, Ted Cruz. Why?”

i tried to tell him not to do it but he’d already done it by the time i found out
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 2:44 pm
Once these early primaries and caucuses are out of the way, I want to write a post suggesting a method for rotating the early primaries so that it isn’t always the same states exerting such a disproportionate influence on the process.
JVW (d60453) — 1/30/2016 @ 2:45 pm
that’s a very good idea Mr. JVW
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 2:46 pm
Primaries should be according to when he state joined the Union. Delaware first, Pennsylvania second etcetera.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27) — 1/30/2016 @ 2:49 pm
Like doing a FIFO inventory.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27) — 1/30/2016 @ 2:50 pm
Case proving a point to follow:

http://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/jeffrey-lord/2016/01/30/fox-news-out-touch-conservatives

Sheeple cannot be turned from belief that at some point a true and fair outcome can still result in the 2016 contest.

The Cruz campaign committing some abysmally stupid act will therefore be seen as just the usual ‘Party of Stupid’ star-crossed blunder; not a mole attempting to throw the contest.

Seriously you people ought not to have survived to adulthood and successful procreation.
DNF (755a85) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:00 pm
wow that’s a terrible idea Mr. Reverend

i abjure this idea
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:01 pm
happyfeet gets unhappy when people slut shame him for not voting against Obama.
(LOL)
…but not enough that he would actually vote against Hillary in 2016.

While this was not the marketing tactic I would have chosen for Ted Cruz, the Iowa Republican Caucuses are different from open primaries in other states. In these small town Iowa caucuses, your Republican neighbors generally see you at the caucus, so this “Oh my God, Ted Cruz is Big Brother paying research assistants to look over my shoulder as if it were the NSA wiretapping my phone calls to my mistress!” is probably a little bit overreactive.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:06 pm
Ted can’t get away with murder like trump.
mg (31009b) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:12 pm
Oh brother. Yeah, whoever came up with that idea might be seeing a bus from below.
felipe (56556d) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:20 pm
i do NOT get unhappy when people slut shame me for not voting against Obama

first of all i did try to vote the absentee ballot did not get to me on time (i don’t think i ever got it)

second of all i hate mitt romney cause he’s freaky and weird and gross and he invented obamacare like one of those people what live on Lunt street here in chicago – and then he lied about it cause he’s an immoral lying pig just like the nominee before him (who I *did* vote for – and it made me feel dirty and used)

thirdly i might still vote for Mr. The Donald against Hillary maybe but probably not cause i don’t wanna do jury duty here in chicago – they already tax me like a thai tranny hooker
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:22 pm
The “oh, brother” remark was for HF.
felipe (56556d) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:22 pm
Felipe, it’s a mailer. American Express sends you one every week, informing you that based on the information they have about you, you’ve been “pre-approved” for the Platinum Card. Nobody freaks out about that stuff. Most people are capable of going to bed that night without the assistance of a sedative. (LOL)
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:24 pm
sure, CS but that is positive reinforcement. The mailers in question is negative reinforcement. The dog had a legitimate complaint.
felipe (56556d) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:27 pm
mailer s
felipe (56556d) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:28 pm
happyfeet, if anybody claims to have knowledge about what Thai hookers are taxed like, I would bet on you.
You didn’t vote in the last election against Obama, so that was the extent of your opposition to him. Some people complain they wish they could lose weight, but they’re not even willing to walk around the block or eat an apple.

That’s the intensity of your opposition to Obama and Hillary…you’re not willing to vote against them. Okay, so then why is your G-string all bunched up?
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:31 pm
their job is very taxing

this is obvious to anyone who is willing to do the analysis
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:34 pm
There should be a pool of primary dates, and a separate one for caucuses. States can enter one pool or the other. Then there is a drawing, except the 10 largest states cannot be in the first two months.

Hold this the day before the mid-terms, just to make an event out of it. Use lottery balls. Watch the prospective candidates and their advisers huddle and plot as each state is announced and let reporters scurry among them asking asinine questions as usual (“Senator, your likely opponent’s home state is going second. Do you feel this puts you at a disadvantage?”).

Former President Trump can MC.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:36 pm
From what I hear, this is a pet scheme of one tone-deaf professor who thinks SPSS is the source of all truth. Not sure who, if anyone, signed off on this. The best move is a public firing of as many people as necessary.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:39 pm
Oh, I think HF has many many things that are much more important to him than keeping Hillary or Bernie out of office.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:40 pm
that is an unsupported assertion
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:42 pm
happyfeet–

I hate to tell you this, but jury duty is no longer restricted to registered voters.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:42 pm
Kevin, I think Big Government makes Big Mistakes. Cruz is letting people run his campaign. His one of stuff can happen. I sure wouldn’t have done this RIGHT before the caucuses. Ouch.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:42 pm
In Chicago it may exclude you, since there is too great a chance you are dead.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:43 pm
Getting back to Cruz, this is the kind of stupid thing clever people do. Like monorails and Communism.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:45 pm
i know Mr. M but if you vote you’ve volunteered for it sure as poop

think about it

jury duty rosters are compiled by lazy fat illiterate municipal union trash

they’re lazy! (the keyword is “lazy”)

they know all they have to do is get the voter list and just run it through the postcard-sending machine

then they can sit on their fat asses eating golden oreos and googling stuff about blac chyna and rob

(she put him on a diet! – no red meat!)
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:45 pm
happyfeet, you don’t believe in voting, and you don’t believe in the civic duty inherent in serving as a potential juror. (Most people who show up for jury duty don’t even end up on a jury.)
But you spend a few hours a day lecturing everyone about how society is trash and how America sucks for electing Obama.

Again, it’s like the overweight person who talks about losing weight while they stuff another pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey into their mouth.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:54 pm
ice cream is a sometimes food
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:55 pm
When I heard about this mailer, I was certain that it was from a rival campaign to smear Cruz.

I was quickly proven wrong. It’s from Cruz’s. This troubles me, a Cruz supporter, on several levels. Of course, it’s sleazy as hell, but let’s set that aside and look at it from a pure self-interest POV; it’s sheer incompetence on the part of the ground game team, because this hurts, not helps, their guy. I also remember the sheer incompetence of Romney’s ground game in the general (project Orca)so this worries me, a lot.

I fervently hope this this messup doesn’t propel Rubio up into second place, or even worse, first.
Arizona CJ (da673d) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:57 pm
Shakespeare in Iowa
It’s known that the Bard of Avon, William Shakespeare wrote plays set in many places around the world. For example, Hamlet was set in Denmark; Macbeth was set in Scotland; Much Ado About Nothing–it was set in Iowa.
mg (31009b) — 1/30/2016 @ 3:59 pm
If this arm-twisting mailer had not been pre-approved by Cruz he would have already apologized to Iowa voters, confirmed the inalienable right of citizens to vote or not vote at their exclusive discretion, and fired the individuals responsible. I’m not aware he’s done any of those things.
ropelight (da3a94) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:03 pm
The billionaire real estate mogul leads Cruz among those who say they definitely plan to attend, 30 percent to 26 percent. With the less committed—those who say they’ll probably attend—Trump also beats Cruz, 27 percent to 21 percent.

billionaire real estate mogul?

is good to be billionaire real estate mogul!
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:06 pm
Primaries should be according to when he state joined the Union. Delaware first, Pennsylvania second etcetera.

The state that elected Joe Biden for 34 years should be the first one to screen our Presidential candidates? No thanks.
JVW (d60453) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:06 pm
. . . it’s sheer incompetence on the part of the ground game team, because this hurts, not helps, their guy. I also remember the sheer incompetence of Romney’s ground game in the general (project Orca)so this worries me, a lot.

Somewhere along the way it seems that this generation Republican political operatives decided that Clintonian-syle and Obamian-style tactics were the way to make inroads with conservative voters. Bleeech.
JVW (d60453) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:09 pm
Make that the inalienable right of otherwise qualified citizens to vote or not vote at their exclusive discretion…
ropelight (da3a94) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:13 pm
The difference between yogurt and Des Moines is yogurt has a live culture.
mg (31009b) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:17 pm
#31 ropelight,
You wrote, “…confirmed the inalienable right of citizens to vote or not vote at their exclusive discretion…”

What on earth? What part of the mailer says that Cruz believes Iowa citizens don’t have a right to not vote? It’s merely a mailer encouraging participation on Caucus Day—there’s not any threat of government force behind it. If you don’t like it, you can throw it in the trash.

Do you guys understand how the Iowa Republican Caucuses operate? You see your neighbors, and they see you. Your Republicans neighbors will probably ‘notice’ whether or not you showed up at the local Republican Caucus. It’s not a private voting booth like in the general election, or a primary in most states.
Seriously, ropelight, when Publisher’s Clearing House sends you a mailer marked “URGENT!” and they inform you this is your last final shot to send in your forms to potentially claim your prize, do you freak out and head for the liquor cabinet? Or do you smile, shred it, and then put it in the trash?

But what’s more “upsetting”—what Obama has done, what ISIS is doing, and what Hillary wants to do—or receiving an over-the-top persuasive mailer encouraging you to attend your Caucus on Monday night?
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:19 pm
What on earth? What part of the mailer says that Cruz believes Iowa citizens don’t have a right to not vote? It’s merely a mailer encouraging participation on Caucus Day—there’s not any threat of government force behind it. If you don’t like it, you can throw it in the trash.

Technically true, but having the big “VOTING VIOLATION” heading seems designed to intimidate the voter. That is the part that I find the most objectionable.
JVW (d60453) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:21 pm
I have not been impressed by Cruz’s campaign staff. But, in the Darwinian sense, this is as good a test of fitness as I could imagine. All of the front runners have received tens of millions of dollars in donations, and the question that will be answered in Iowa is: how well do they manage their resources.

Mr. Bush has spent his endowment on consultants from the Beltway, and they have enriched themselves with almost no noticeable benefit to Mr. Bush. But maybe they know something that can’t be easily understood by outsiders.

Trump has been giving helicopter rides and plane tours for kids, and if nothing else, he’s wrapped up the nomination in 2032, if he’s still eligible.

Dr. Carson has been active, but it seems to be in a subterranean world that has yet to find access to sunlight.

Ditto Ms Fiorina (Stanford and MIT.)

So the question is how well can Mr. Cruz spend his donor’s (yours truly included) funds.

The world wonders.
BobStewartatHome (f23946) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:32 pm
He’s doing this because the social science research on “shaming” voters is very clear. Green and Gerber have demonstrated it and it’s been heavily used and tested by the Left, as demonstrated in the book The Victory Lab. There is nothing wrong with what he did and the blowback he is receiving is similar to that of past users of this method.
Nathaniel Wright (f74e42) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:41 pm
yes yes he should do this much more

shaming’s his brand

you have to own your brand
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:44 pm
Everything about the coercive letters is wrong, both morally and ethically. The deceptive arm-twisting may not be technically illegal, but it’s sure as hell wrong in every way.
ropelight (da3a94) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:46 pm
CITIZEN!

GOVERNMENT DATA ARE SHOW YOU HAVE NOT DO THE BUTT SNUFFLES!

YOUR BUTT-SNUFFLE SCORE ARE TOO LOW CITIZEN!

many people say yes i appreciate bigots like Kim Davis, but I are too busy to snuffle her butt

MANY OF THESE PEOPLE ARE YOUR NEIGHBORS FOR EXAMPLE THELMA CREAMCHEESE IN CEDAR RAPIDS HAS WHOLLY AVOIDED ANY AND ALL BUTT-SNUFFLES SINCE THE 80S!!

CITIZEN, the caucasaurus is upon us and we need your help on MONDAY THE ONETH OF FEBRUARY!

PLEASE NOTE THAT YOU CAN ATONE FOR YOUR BUTT-SNUFFLING LAPSES BY FEEDING THE CAUCASAURUS.

Check your mail next friday for your own personal snuffle update based on how you perform at the cock!

TOGETHER WE CAN DO BETTER

trusTED
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 4:55 pm
hf points out that what Cruz has done is to adapt to America as it exists today. Which is to say after surrendering its children’s education to community agitators fifty years ago.

OT: Did you see the story on Fox where the VA wouldn’t allow a WWII paratrooper, married in 1945, to spend his last few weeks with his wife who lived in a different facility, suffering from dementia, because his wife’s facility wasn’t on the approved VA list? Every time I think of this tears come to my eyes. What the hell have we done to our country! Why do we pay the salaries of anyone who works for this “administration”. They should have a sign posted above every entrance, “Work will set you free!”, and beneath, “Women and Children, follow the pink line to the showers.”
BobStewartatHome (f23946) — 1/30/2016 @ 5:28 pm
you linked to an Associated Press propaganda slut’s feel-good spin on the story Mr. Home

was that on purpose
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 5:33 pm
hf, you “feel good” after reading this story, I feel sorry for you. Sometimes you have to think about what was said, and not how it was said.
BobStewartatHome (f23946) — 1/30/2016 @ 5:43 pm
pls to not feel sorry for me i got my shades on hat back rollin with the music jacked
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 5:50 pm
you be cool dude.
BobStewartatHome (f23946) — 1/30/2016 @ 5:52 pm
Every Day Trump Brings me Closer to Casting a Vote for Hillary

a lot of us knew this is who you were all along

butt-snuffling dogma uber alles
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 6:12 pm
Excerpt from The Washington Examiner by Phillip Klein dated 1/30/16:

Rubio says Cruz mailers ‘unusual way to end’ Iowa campaign

Sen. Marco Rubio on Saturday said controversial get-out-the-vote mailers sent by rival Sen. Ted Cruz’s campaign ahead of the caucuses were an ‘unusual way’ for the Texan to end his campaign here.

Cruz has been taking heat after one Iowa voter tweeted out a photo of a mailer he received presented as an official note slapping him with a “voter violation” for not voting.

“I had some voters mention to me they were upset about it,” Rubio told reporters before a campaign rally at Iowa State University here. “Obviously, they had people’s names and they gave them ‘F’ ratings for how they voted. I think a lot of voters were disturbed by it and again, it’s kind of an unusual way to end your campaign in the state.” […]
ropelight (da3a94) — 1/30/2016 @ 6:15 pm
poor demented reagan

they liked how he stroked them

they like how he stroked the third leg of the stool

cruz tries to stroke the third leg same same

he palms it just like reagan did

and he whispers

i will stoke it good for you

but the iowans

they stamp their hooves

and the nervous fog pours from their nostrils into the icy air

because they are afraid

[…]

cruz puts them off their feed

and they don’t even know why
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 6:18 pm
ack

i will *stroke* it good for you i mean
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 6:19 pm
UPDATE BY PATTERICO: I heard about this last night. I’m not happy about it and I bet Ted Cruz isn’t either. Primarily I am annoyed by the tactic which strikes me as overbearing and thuggish. Moreover, I am a huge fan of low voter turnout — and I can’t imagine why someone in Cruz’s position would want to get more unmotivated voters to the polls. Because unmotivated voters tend to be low-information voters. Meaning Trump voters. The whole thing is a complete mystery to me.
Patterico (ca3d8a) — 1/30/2016 @ 6:33 pm
The whole thing is a complete mystery to me.

what *are* frogs?
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 6:36 pm
Only an enemy of Cruz would send out something like this in his name.

“So, you want me to vote, eh, Teddy-boy? Oh, I’ll vote. I’ll vote reeal good.”
nk (dbc370) — 1/30/2016 @ 6:41 pm
As a mere hobbit in this clash of wizards and orcs, I am inclined to observe that, after the fact, competition is said to bring out the best in the winners, and something less appealing in the losers.

If the hobbits in Iowa take this election seriously, they might respond positively to the Cruz mailing. And caucus primaries tend to be dominated by “serious” hobbits. But then again, they might get pissed off an go for the guy who promises everything, and asks for nothing.

However this turns out, all hobbits might benefit from contemplating the nature of the world we live in, where everyone who wants to have the kind of information that underlies Cruz’s mailing, can have that and more. They can get your mortgage balance and payments, credit scores, and buying habits as revealed in your online purchases, and if they are the party in power, they’ll have access to things almost unimaginable, just review your last 1040 long form filling to see what I mean. But, of course, those in power won’t make this obvious. Except for carefully tailored mailings that focus on issues that are likely to be dear to your heart based on you past employment and current licenses (as in a nurse practitioner with assorted degrees.)
BobStewartatHome (f23946) — 1/30/2016 @ 6:49 pm
DRJ: If you’re reading this, I am trying to get in touch and somehow phone calls and texts do not go through. Better yet, I can receive texts but not send them. Aargh! So I can comment here but nothing with the phone works.
Patterico (ca3d8a) — 1/30/2016 @ 6:51 pm
the whirl is spinnin

it must be the tanqueray

“Ted is likable,” Heidi Cruz, the candidate’s wife of 14 years, assured a modest crowd in Ringsted, a snow-encrusted hamlet in rural northwest Iowa. “This is a person who is incredibly fantastic and fun to be around.”

the whirl is spinnin

it must be the tanqueray
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 6:52 pm
That stuff is for the handkerchief.
ropelight (da3a94) — 1/30/2016 @ 7:01 pm
I can’t imagine why someone in Cruz’s position would want to get more unmotivated voters to the polls. Because unmotivated voters tend to be low-information voters. Meaning Trump voters. The whole thing is a complete mystery to me.

Patterico, that’s why I at first was certain that this was a sneaky trick by a rival campaign, to undermine Cruz. It just made no sense from Cruz’s POV. However, it’s since been confirmed, it’s from his campaign. Even if we set aside the sleaziness issue and how that’d backfire, this makes utterly no sense from Cruz’s POV.

I’m highly perplexed.

The timing could not be worse. If this had happened two weeks ago, it would be minor, but for it to be dominating the news in Iowa now is not good for Cruz. If Cruz didn’t approve this ad himself, IMHO he ought to publicly fire whomever did. (the fact that he hasn’t makes me wonder if he did approve it himself, sad to say).
Arizona CJ (da673d) — 1/30/2016 @ 7:12 pm
Cruz’ campaign (and Cruz himself) suffers from some attitude I cannot put quite my finger on. It’s not quite “smart-aleck” but it is close to that, and it is amazingly tone-deaf. One symptom is that he preaches VERY hard to the choir and condescends to everyone else. This limits the spread of his message. That Xmas commercial was a case in point. You either already knew the tune, and thought it was funny, or it just looked weird. A campaign that is so inwardly focused is going to make mistakes like this.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/30/2016 @ 7:27 pm
I am also totally pissed off at both Rubio and Cruz, who are fighting each other instead of taking care of business. They might have broken Trump had the stood together against him, but the day that might have worked seems long past.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/30/2016 @ 7:31 pm
it’s ok

cruz knows how to reinvent himself using his cruz powers for to make him popular in high school

he’s like a heather

Mr. Ted Cruz told me he teaches people “real life.”

He said, “real life sucks losers dry. You wanna eff with the eagles, you have to learn to fly.”

I said, “so, you teach people how to spread their wings and fly?”

He said, “yes.”

go forth and vote, corn childrens
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 7:32 pm
Apparently Cruz has tweeted about the letters

‏

@VaughnHillyard

Cruz says he won’t apologize to anyone for the mailers — suggesting he’s “encouraging” people to turn out to caucus.
ropelight (da3a94) — 1/30/2016 @ 7:35 pm
shame’s his brand

he gotta own it

he gotta own it hard
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 7:37 pm
Let’s not be too quick to come to conclusions. This is something we’ve got to hear straight from the horse’s mouth. Second hand tweets don’t tell the tale. Wait for confirmation. It shouldn’t take long.
ropelight (da3a94) — 1/30/2016 @ 7:43 pm
it goes perfect with ted’s eyes

ted tonight looks good on you
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 7:48 pm
When I mull over all the machinations and trickery — going back years — involving Hillary, her former boss, and a wide variety of other Democrats towards one another and, of course, towards their Republican opponents, the worst of the worst of what Ted Cruz is doing somehow pales in comparison. After all, since an increasingly desensitized and shock-proof populace generally helps the left, such a reaction might just as well start helping the right too.
Mark (f713e4) — 1/30/2016 @ 7:59 pm
i’m a vote for maisie williams

i love america so much

and maisie williams are too

so poop on you head
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:08 pm
@#66 Ropelight;

Let’s not be too quick to come to conclusions. This is something we’ve got to hear straight from the horse’s mouth. Second hand tweets don’t tell the tale. Wait for confirmation. It shouldn’t take long.

Ropelight, I’m a Cruz supporter so it pains me greatly to say this, but I think at this point it’s a certainty this was from the Cruz campaign. Not only are multiple sources saying they have direct confirmation by phone from Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler, but the Cruz campaign has not issued a denial, which they surely would have by now if this wasn’t them.

Also, if this wasn’t the Cruz campaign, I think it would be a criminal matter due to directly claiming to be from his campaign.
Arizona CJ (da673d) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:11 pm
I’m not happy about it and I bet Ted Cruz isn’t either.

you presume much

corn children vote without mercy

they care not about Ted’s happiness

they just want for once to pick a winner

oh it feels so perfect baby
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:11 pm
Drudge has a link to the NY Times article including the following excerpt:

Speaking to reporters on Saturday evening in Sioux City, Mr. Cruz said he would “apologize to nobody for using every tool we can to encourage Iowa voters to come out and vote.”
ropelight (da3a94) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:18 pm
So, there it is. Cruz doubled down. I think he just shot himself in the foot.
ropelight (da3a94) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:20 pm
53 … and I can’t imagine why someone in Cruz’s position would want to get more unmotivated voters to the polls …

That’s why you just send it to a very narrow group. Unmotivated voters which you have some reason to believe would support you if you can get them to the polls.
James B. Shearer (0f56fb) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:26 pm
he was shootin’ niche when he shot for the butt snuffles

and here we are

his aim was true
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:28 pm
Eff the NYT, they just came out in support of Hillary Clinton and John Kasich, fer chrissakes.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:29 pm
so you think the new york times is somehow out of step with america?

interesting.
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:31 pm
The New York Times reveals a sore point
It puts Colonel Haiku’s nose way out of joint
Cherry blossoms will come early this year
While you’re up, get me a cold beer.
ropelight (da3a94) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:44 pm
America.

We will make her great again.

You either wit us

or agin us

choose wisely
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:51 pm
Go home, happyfeet, you’re drunk.
nk (dbc370) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:52 pm
oh poop

it’s still dry january
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 8:54 pm
UPDATE x2 BY PATTERICO: Ted Cruz has defended the tactic:

Speaking to reporters on Saturday evening in Sioux City, Mr. Cruz said he would “apologize to nobody for using every tool we can to encourage Iowa voters to come out and vote.”

Well, I still don’t like it.

That said, if I were in Iowa, I would still vote for Ted Cruz without reservation. Apparently, he is not perfect. I think I already knew that. He’s still miles better than Trump and (in my estimation) better than Rubio.
Patterico (ca3d8a) — 1/30/2016 @ 9:01 pm
reservations aside let’s all trump that vote

for duty

for honor

for America

me i will stand with you, America, cause of i belieber you can be great again

so

where do YOU stand?

omg wit RUBIO???!!?

lol

it is to laugh
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 9:04 pm
pls don’t let my dreams run dry underneath this amarillo sky
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 9:06 pm
Ted Cruz is a cultural phenom!

how can he miss???
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 9:11 pm
Ted Cruz could shoot one of his supporters down in the middle of the street and it wouldn’t make the slightest difference to his committed apologists.
ropelight (da3a94) — 1/30/2016 @ 9:21 pm
Regarding Patterico’s x2 update:

I absolutely do not like, at all, Cruz’s mailer tactic, nor his defense of the indefensible. However, like you, this isn’t enough to change my vote. (However, if he keeps doing it, all bets are off)

What would be enough to change my vote is if Cruz (perhaps as a result of blunders like the mailer) slips to third place behind Trump and Rubio and that ranking holds for a while. In that case (If Rubio is running 1st or second), I’ll be voting for whomever (Trump, or anybody, as long as it’s not Jeb) has the best shot at beating Rubio in the Arizona primary in March, as the least bad available option for stopping Rubio. He or she will have my vote and a donation, even if it’s somebody I deeply dislike, such as Kasich.
Arizona CJ (da673d) — 1/30/2016 @ 9:26 pm
Insulting and poorly considered campaign tactic…like Patterico, irrelevant considering the choice to be made Monday. Unlikely to be seen as a flyer to voters in the future.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 9:40 pm
happyfeet, any chance you’re in TN and open to a free drink and discussion on matters regarding our future president or, if you prefer, Republican foot fetishes? KY or northern GA works for me.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 9:50 pm
Tone deafness and difficult to relate to, and THIS is what his people, if not Ted himself, thinkis smart politics? In Iowa, of all places?????

He deserves the loss he is about to suffer.

Reagan was the amiable, soft core conservative. When his opponents attacked and demeaned him, it was a ju jitsu move and actually helped Ronny.

Cruz has already won the “smartest and purest” primary votes of thinking folks on the right. he is the natural inheritor of the trump folks when the Donald finally implodes. Cruz failing to to everything in his power to increase his relatability and likeability is a tragic misread and could very well spell his doom.

So freaking unnecessary. Ugh. This is a broken glass election. Turnout is just about the last thing to worry about. So freaking stoopid.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 1/30/2016 @ 9:57 pm
TN!

i may end up living there some day
happyfeet (831175) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:02 pm
Those who consider Trump the best candidate are…interesting. They have willfully ignored his history of supporting Democrats, anti-TEA party Rebublicanism, pro amnesty and partial birth abortion stances…

Are these supporters so angry that mere hope for immigration reform dispels any qualms on other issues? It would appear so. Our country is at the whim of these low information voters that are clueless to the big picture.

Buy ammo and pray.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:05 pm
happy, grew up in TX and the army took me to TN…you are an interesting soul, my tongue in cheek comments are not meant to diminish my respect for your contribution to our greater hope. Still like to buy you a drink someday.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:09 pm
How did the Iowa farmer die from drinking milk?
The cow fell on him…
mg (31009b) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:16 pm
Ed, relax a little…bad call by a subordinate staffer doesn’t necessitate throwing the baby out with the bath water…vote your informed conscience. Cruz affirmed this mailer, what did you expect? Sometimes you have to show…loyalty and conviction with your well meaning subordinates. Leaders do that, despite their failure.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:19 pm
Primaries should be in order of how strongly they voted for the party in the previous presidential election. If a state voted 60-40 for the republican and that was the largest margin, they should go first… all the way to California and their 35-65 which will always vote for the democrat.

Thanks illegal immigration.
NJRob (a07d2e) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:20 pm
What makes me wonder?

60+ percent of all voters have an unfavorable view of Trump…is this the guy Rs should hitch a wagon? This is the weirdest primary in living memory (me, I’m nearly 50).
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:26 pm
Pieter, I believe a large portion of Trump supporters have heretofore, NOT BEEN engaged in the realm of politics such as this NEVER ENDING PRE-PRIMARY over kill. Those who are EAGER, RABID Trump supporters simply have HAD ENOUGH of the SICK, ANTI-AMERICAN bull shyte. Newly engaged and pissed off, with a sense of purpose and a sense of belonging. I will vote for Trump if he wins the GOP, because the contrary option is COMPLETE and UTTER failure for America. This is fantasy land.
A CRIMINAL SHREW with ZERO skills, and even less moral character, has given rise to a GOOF BALL FREAK SOCIALIST COMMIE and a YOUTH that is willing to believe in FANTASTICAL NONSENSE.
I will vote for WHOMEVER the GOP gives me, and I’m not happy about that.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:28 pm
Pieter, 10:26, I agree completely. We are in uncharted territory. Trump could possibly win and run against, Biden, Warren, Sanders or even the sick freak Rodham. WOW!!!! It’s weirder than Mike Tyson biting off Holyfields ear!!! This is what a SICK SICK SICK DEMOCRAT PARTY and a WEAK ELITIST ESTABLISHMENT, desperately holding on to 2ND PLACE GOPe has given us.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:31 pm
Gus, you obviously don’t own a kindle…you have wonderful control of caps. As for your willingness to vote for anyone who ends up with the nomination…K. I use to think that, not sure now I could vote for Trump in the general election…pretty sure the Lord will hold me accountable.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:34 pm
Pieter, sorry about the caps deal. Tell me how NOT voting for Trump in the general, works for you??
Seriously, I like your thought process, but, NOT voting for Trump gives you……….
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:37 pm
Gus, I will vote according to what my conscience allows…not sure Trump is in that consideration. His epiphanies of conservatism appear ridiculously expedient…what were his motivations, I don’t know.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:43 pm
pieter – it is no coincidence whatever that Cruz’s numbers slipped from the moment his NY values quip was uttered. Nevermind he was completely correct in principle. His campaign’s momentum was stopped dead in its tracks. Then, this week, he looked petulant and that became the story – instead of the phenomenal gutting of Rubio on immigration by Fox. Tone deaf.

Recall his first remarks at that debate. Darn funny. Well delivered. And the audience did not “get it.” He did not get anywhere near the response he should have. He didn’t sense it. Just like in poker, if you don’t know who the mark is, YOU are the mark. Then he complained about being the targeted front-runner (mark). The Luntz folks decided he lost in that second. Never mind that Rubio got destroyed on the merits from after the second commercial break on.

Ted really does get that he needs to be more the “happy warrior.” Notice how assiduously and how often he insists on not attacking anyone on a personal level? Ted knows. But, somehow, he forgot at the debate, and he freaking doubled-down on a ridiculously ham-handed mailing.

Add in the hit job by the establishment on ethanol and you have an Iowa campaign dead in the water. What a shame. What could have been.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:47 pm
Very good answer Pieter. I respect that, and I respect you for stating so. You are correct sir, Donald Trump is not conservative. I am. Donald Trump has lived in a bubble of “ends justifying means” for 30 plus years, in addition to his entire life before his “career”. I get it Pieter, and thank you for engaging in the conversation.
If Trump wins, and Trump runs VERSUS, Rodham, Warren, Biden or Sanders…..my CONSCIENCE will require me to stamp out a larger EVIL…..Rodham, Warren, Biden or Sanders. It sucks Pieter, but I have to vote for the LESSER………
God bless you Pieter, you’re quite intelligent, and kind.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:49 pm
Good stuff Ed. Who would you vote for today??
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:52 pm
Ed, well I concur. Cruz deserves credit for what he has stood for and that which he purports to stand for if elected. Yuuuge contrast from the R leader…pray that voters mark the difference.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:53 pm
Gus, you are too kind. In all fairness, I have been a tin foil wearing nut in past consideration of presidents…sometimes I question my own good judgement in these matters.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 10:57 pm
Thank you Pieter. Until and unless you are rude to me, I will be as kind as I can be to you.
If someone takes a cheap shot and pretends to be John Wayne, I will respond to what they say.
When someone starts talking stupid clap trap. I will get all CAPSLOCKS and SLAP THEM back to reality.
You’re quite Ok sir.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:04 pm
Gus, very nice sentiment…I hope to reciprocate. I wish the cultish Trump supporters thought similarly. At some point the primaries will be over…and we have to answer what we have wrought.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:08 pm
Gus – I am a Cruz man ALL the way. I’ll vote for whomever has the R next to their name in November.

You are absolutely correct about Trump and his “pragmatism.” Yet, that evil against HRC and the progressive statists aligned against us? Practically righteous.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:08 pm
Ed, does voting Trump in the general fill you with any sense of dread? Even a modicum should trouble your soul…perhaps it’s time to admit defeat for this republican experiment and just buy ammo. No sin on your soul to admit that “we” failed and await the next chapter of history.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:17 pm
Pieter and Ed from SFV. I am so glad we chatted tonight. I said to a few friends on a blog yesterday, that “all this FOX/TRUMP, debate nonsense is beyond SPECIOUS.
Ed and Pieter, you are both very intelligent. IF…IF, you 2 and me as well, do not already know whom we back by NOW. We never will.
I backed Scott Walker. I live in Wisconsin, and I KNOW Governor Walker personally. He is a FANTASTIC HONORABLE MAN. He stepped OUT, when his conscience and intellect told him that he was not viable. MOST, politicians, do not have that kind of EGO FILTER. I’ve know Gov Walker for most of my life, and I used to think he was “square”. I USED to be a DEMOCRAT, who had not been mugged yet. I now realize that Scott Walker, IS SQUARE, just like my 14 year old EAGLE SCOUT.
What we are left with is…… DO WE VOTE for someone whom, we know and acknowledge is NOT a CONSERVATIVE, nor does he/she have our values….or do we ABSTAIN and let SOMEONE ELSE vote in OUR PLACE for a DISGUSTING FREAKISH DEMO/LIBTARD/SOCIALIST/COMMIE????? Furthermore, RODHAM has NO/ZERO principles, nor any MORAL CODE at all. Sanders is a NUT. Warren and Biden are FREAKS.
If we choose NOT TO DECIDE. We have still made a choice.
We need to stop the bleeding ONE WAY or ANOTHER.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:18 pm
Pieter, your 11:17 was a great question. It makes me respect you even more.
Voting for Trump would trouble me. The converse troubles me so much more.
I’m a life long political junky. I have a POLI SCI degree, and I was once for the Dem party. What I’ve come to be is a VERY VERY VERY LOGICAL, principled person and Father.
In any emergency, decisions have to be made. I will survive vs allowing more of this DESTRUCTION.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:23 pm
Well, Gus, thank you for your conversion to reason (likely you’re over 40). You are preaching to the choir…most of us recognize our revolutionary forefathers went to war over less than what we now face from our betters in Washington. Pray and support the alternative to armed uprising…not sure in the coming years it can be avoided with the present electorate.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:26 pm
Gus – At some point in all of our lives, we have to take the hand we have and play it the best we know how. Walker is tremendous. Awesome. Sadly, we aren’t gonna have a chance to vote a Cruz/Walker ticket.

At this point, assuming Cruz won’t be the guy, it’s about preserving what can be preserved. It’s about choosing to be in the world as it is, and not demanding it be what want it to be else I take my marbles home.

Oh. An Article V convention, guided by the Creator, is the only real hope anyway, Cruz or no Cruz.
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:28 pm
Ed from SFV, I too am a CRUZ man. My entire life, I’ve never had ANY hesistation in picking a CANDIDATE that I completely support. I have this time.
Ted Cruz is a bad MAMAJAMA. He’s an asshole to many. AWESOME. I am often chided with derision, because I am somewhat strident. Here is why I support Cruz. I think he is FOR REAL. I don’t think he’s a politician. I think Ted Cruz, TRULY GIVES A SHIT. I think Ted Cruz rubs many many people the wrong way, and I think, NO, I KNOW, that the GOPe or the GOPeePee lite, the Johnny Boner, Bitch McCakehole Republican elite, wouldn’t give a flying CRAP about you, if your car was in a ditch.
Cruz isn’t phony, but he is “difficult” GODSPEED TED CRUZ.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:30 pm
Ed. Safe to say, you are a Mark Levin guy.

I am.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:32 pm
Off-topic:

Somehow slipped into the British National Archive’s WWI poetry collection:

The German Guns by Pte S O Baldrick

Boom, boom, boom, boom
Boom, boom, boom
Boom, boom, boom, boom
Boom, boom, boom.

(eat your heart out, Col Haiku)
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:32 pm
Pieter. God bless you friend. You are quite awesome
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:33 pm
Kevin M. Such irony. I sit 3 or 4 feet from my GreatGrandads U.K/British Medal of Honour. My GreadGrandad for whom I am named was K.I.A. October 23, 1918. I have his buttons from his uniform in a SCOTTISH FLAG shadow box, I have his medals and his Father’s boor war medals in the same shadow box. My GreatGrandad, was buried in DAMASCUS SYRIA. It makes my heart sink to think what has probably become of the BRITISH WAR GRAVES in Damascus. BUT!!, Not to worry. John Effin Kerry and Hillary Rodham, have most likely made some deal with ASSAD.
wow.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:38 pm
it is no coincidence whatever that Cruz’s numbers slipped from the moment his NY values quip was uttered. Nevermind he was completely correct in principle.

Nevermind that almost immediately after Bloomberg loudly considered running to promote JUST those NY values. Nevermind that NY folks talk about Texas values in far worse ways. Tell me, why is it OK for the mavens of national culture from New York and LA to treat Texas and anywhere near it as a giant trailer park full of knuckle-dragging wife-beaters yet they get all so defensive when criticism — however mild — wafts their way?

Eff ’em.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:38 pm
Republican poetry…

all that matters is what i say today
build a wall, no Muslims until say
sure I supported amnesty, TARP, and partial birth
who ya gonna believe, me or your own lying knowledge
vote for me…a Democrat despite your solemn pledge
yuuuuge and classy is what I purport
liberal values is what I historically support
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:45 pm
Kevin, Donald Trump himself has been interviewed on camera or tape expressing how his VIEWS are reflective of his NEW YORK upbringing or his MANHATTAN existance. I’m not trying to RIP TRUMP, he does so himself. He said he’s not against LATE TERM ABORTION, because he’s from NYC. That is CON MAN 101. The POPULOUS of GERMANY were complicit in Hitlers’ atrocities, because THE GERMAN PEOPLE were ALSO!!!
Bloomberg is a pile of crap. Trump is a manipulative chameleon.
Ed. Values are HOW YOU LIVE OUR LIFE. I have a high school son, who is nearly 15, and is also an Eagle Scout at 14. My son goes to the most prestigious High School in Wisconsin, and is on the HONOR ROLL. It bankrupts me. My son, KNOWS right from wrong, and he can logically dissemble political hacks, by virtue of his intellect and his value system. THERE IS HOPE ED.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:49 pm
Pieter. Good Stuff.
I am Conservative. I am honorable as best I can live. I have NEVER EVER called myself a REPUBLICAN. Unfortunately, I once DID call myself a DEMOCRAT. Pieter, I get it, BUT, the DEMOCRAT PARTY is far far far far more sick and depraved than the GOP. The problem is….we EXPECTED MORE from the GOP, and the GOP has let us down.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/30/2016 @ 11:52 pm
Gus et al, some need to stand with their conscience…perhaps they’ll (and me) be on the wrong side of “history”. Oh well, ammo and the hope of another republic will sate your doubt. Rome fell, we will also succumb to the weight of our own hubris…it happens, nothing will stop an inevitable.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 12:00 am
I completely agree with you Pieter. Let’s keep in touch my friend.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/31/2016 @ 12:01 am
I will vote for Cruz…likely volunteer in TN for his candidacy. Unfortunately, it appears that Trump is ascendant despite his ridiculously questionable epiphany to limited government and individual sovereignty. The end is nigh, stop kidding yourselves…buy ammo, portable power and shelf stable foodstuffs.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 12:13 am
Pieter, I’m with you. I do believe in Cruz. Hang in there my friend.
Gus (7cc192) — 1/31/2016 @ 12:16 am
Gus, to say the very least…I am worried. The non-Democratic electorate is giving serious consideration to Trump, what are the rest of us to think? I am truly concerned for my children…me, personally happy to shoot it out with whomever.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 12:21 am
Damned kindle, meant to say non-Democrat
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 12:26 am
Gads, calling it a night…thanks to all and God bless. Please don’t lose heart in our best of Cruz.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 12:28 am
I’m for whichever small-government candidate that an beat Clinton. There are at most 3 in the race, and Trump is not one of them (not being a small-government candidate).
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/31/2016 @ 12:34 am
What a trashy way to get votes. I did not think he was a globalist scam man, but he is.
Ted could be dead.
mg (31009b) — 1/31/2016 @ 3:05 am
It’s not the trashy, it’s the stupidy. But maybe this is what works in Iowa. I don’t recommend that Ted try this in place where Joni Ernst was not elected.
nk (dbc370) — 1/31/2016 @ 4:13 am
in *a* place
nk (dbc370) — 1/31/2016 @ 4:13 am
Cruz sends out mailers which are a good bet to irritate voters.
Trump says that what he and his daughter have most in common is sex; and if she weren’t his daughter, he’d date her.
Advantage: Trump
nk (dbc370) — 1/31/2016 @ 4:50 am
92 Are these supporters so angry that mere hope for immigration reform dispels any qualms on other issues? It would appear so. Our country is at the whim of these low information voters that are clueless to the big picture.

Or maybe they think the big picture is that immigration is more important than the other issues.
James B. Shearer (0f56fb) — 1/31/2016 @ 5:55 am
A while back, I wondered, “Where is Trump going to find enough voters who like abortion and gay marriage, and hate Mexicans and Muslims”. happyfeet and ropelight, on this thread, have shown me that they do not need to be the same person.
nk (dbc370) — 1/31/2016 @ 6:04 am
I’m up…Trump throws “build the wall” at bored congregants and Cruz is a dumbass due his recent chastising flyer.

OK, not sure how any of that changes the metrics for this election. On one hand you have a guy who is basically a Democrat with a very questionable come to Jesus epiphany to republicanism…on the other, a dude who has pissed off nearly everybody pursuing the conservative ideal. Yeah, hard choice.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 6:41 am
not the trashy, it’s the stupidy. But maybe this is what works in Iowa. I don’t recommend that Ted try this in place where Joni Ernst was not elected.

nk (dbc370) — 1/31/2016 @ 4:13 am

But would it work in Illinois, in Chicagoland, for example?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 1/31/2016 @ 6:54 am
The Des Moines Register has Trump at +5, thus erasing their previous polls where they phonied up support for Ted Cruz as +10 and befroe that as Carson at +10 , and joining the last ten polls from other vendors in something like reality.
papertiger (c2d6da) — 1/31/2016 @ 6:55 am
nk, many who vote “Republican” are very squishy when it comes to certain issues…they don’t know what marriage means, or understand the visceral horror of abortion, the reality of cultural jihad for those who willfully refuse assimilate and insist we change instead.

The “Republican” brand is dead as a doornail. We are all Democrats now, haven’t you got the memo? Cultural suicide is in vogue, drink your koolaid and smile.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 7:00 am
paper, polls are mostly BS…looking forward to Monday night when hope meets reality. Redemption or futility will be made crystal clear. Either there is a path for avoiding the abyss or we should buy more ammo. Whatever, matters not for some closer to the grave.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 7:09 am
Cultural suicide is in vogue, drink your koolaid and smile.

If you believe that and understand what it means you risk being branded a bigot, pieter.

…the reality of cultural jihad for those who willfully refuse assimilate and insist we change instead.

You are really looking to get into trouble. If you don’t believe everybody wants to assimilate press one for English and I’ll explain it to you.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27) — 1/31/2016 @ 7:10 am
, Mr. Cruz said he would “apologize to nobody for using every tool we can to encourage Iowa voters to come out and vote.”

Maybe he’s observed that Trump never ever says he’s sorry, and somehow this has helped him get beyond narratives that should knock him out of any reasonable voter’s consideration. He doesn’t say he’s sorry for giving Hillary the money she needed to do the things she’s done. He is proud of it and why look at how she came to his wedding. I’m not emulating the bravado well, but it reminds me of Clear and Present Danger when the president boasts how good friends he is with the corrupt donor.

Politics aside, I agree with Patterico on the concept of getting anyone and everyone to the polls. Austin is talking about online voting, and the radio personalities blast anyone who disagrees because voting today means ‘standing in line like you have nothing better to do’. I really don’t want someone who doesn’t care that much about the issues to be making decisions that affect me or mine. It’s too easy for such people to make simplistic decisions about handouts, forgiving the consequences because the politicians promised everything would be OK. This is the same reason I get annoyed when people tell me to take Trump’s promises at face value, when any voter who actually cares about this country would scrutinize whether Trump’s promises came from a dishonest man, which they did.

Arizona CJ is right that Rubio is also extremely dishonest, and I guess if I had to pick between liars I would probably part ways with a lot here and take Trump over Rubio. It’s almost a personal thing at this point, how much the GOP establishment has used my support and been dishonest with me.

Let’s hope Cruz does extremely well.
Dustin (2a8be7) — 1/31/2016 @ 7:13 am
Rev, you are man of deep moral convictions? I am not the only one in “trouble”, we share a similar fate…an electorate unmoored in political conviction. Please pray for us all, especially for my kids.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 7:14 am
“Here come the Iowa caucuses. First and consequently most influential for no apparent reason.

Looks like after flirting with sanity, Iowa is poised to deliver Trump his first primary victory because Cruz is a Canadian hatey McHaterson or something.

I wish I could get worked up about elections. That would mean I wasn’t full on pessimistic about the trajectory of our nation.

But I just can’t shake the conviction that once the majority of people discover they can vote that other people’s money will be transferred to them, the die is well and truly cast.

We’re about to elect either a reality show barker, an out and proud Socialist, or the person who has without a shadow of a doubt broken federal laws, and goes unindicted because: Girl/Clinton/Democrat.

Good and hard, people.

Good and hard.

Sorry for so much pessimism on a Sunday morning.”

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/361286.php
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 1/31/2016 @ 7:17 am
But would it work in Illinois, in Chicagoland, for example?
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 1/31/2016 @ 6:54 am

For city employees — non-union, non-civil service, patronage employees. People who like to bother their alderman about the neighbor’s cat peeing on their lawn. But they already know all about this, and they wouldn’t be the ones getting a Notice of Violation For Not Voting.
nk (dbc370) — 1/31/2016 @ 7:19 am
137.A while back, I wondered, “Where is Trump going to find enough voters who like abortion and gay marriage, and hate Mexicans and Muslims”. happyfeet and ropelight, on this thread, have shown me that they do not need to be the same person.

So if one questions the intelligence of allowing uncontrolled immigration of Mexicans* after over 30 million have already come here or the importation of a group of people who are dedicated to the conversion or death of all who don’t believe what they believe one must be, like ropelight, for Trump. I do and I’m for Cruz (cause I’m a bigot and like me them Hispanics).

There is no better way to “fundamentally change” America than to flood it’s society, culture and politics with people who do not share them and who will not assimilate to them. Only leftist Obaminations would want that. We cannot have a constitutional republic if the people coming in don’t believe in the Constitution and we can’t have Freedom of religion if the people coming in don’t believe that non moslems deserve to live.

*BTW, they’re South Americans not Mexicans. They are from all over South America not just Mexico so stop being bigoted against Mexicans.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27) — 1/31/2016 @ 7:28 am
Given all the evidence to the contrary, nk? They’ve elected one malevolent moron after another for decades now.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 1/31/2016 @ 7:29 am
145.Rev, you are man of deep moral convictions?

What’s that supposed to mean?
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27) — 1/31/2016 @ 7:33 am
I don’t know what you’re getting at, Haiku. This is not “inside information”. Voter registration, voting attendance, and ballot requested in open primaries or party registration in closed ones, are open public records. Available to everyone.

Pollsters use them for “likely voter” polls. Politicians use them for door-to-door campaigning so they don’t waste their time. (My alderman and state rep have already rung my doorbell and talked to me personally when I opened the door.) Volunteers and precinct workers use them to target their likely voters. They all want to go hunting where the ducks are.

The problem with Cruz’s message is the tone: “Get off your butt and vote; it’s a shame for the neighbors”. Nothing more than that.
nk (dbc370) — 1/31/2016 @ 7:40 am
Rev, my understanding of you is a reflection of your commentary…and the implied title of “Rev”. No insult meant. For all intents and purposes, you appear to have no different a world view than myself.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:15 am
Col, wow and amen…”But I just can’t shake the conviction that once the majority of people discover they can vote that other people’s money will be transferred to them, the die is well and truly cast.”
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:18 am
#151, nk, the problem with Cruz’s Voter Violation letters with their grade for past voting consistency and the threat of comparison to that of close neighbors is the same thing that’s wrong with a blackmailing thug telling your wife what a shame it would be if her neighbors and fellow parishioners found out about her unreliable past and personal indiscretions.
ropelight (1b06f7) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:18 am
rope, if a single flyer disseminated by a junior campaign staffer is make or break for you this election…well, thank you for leading the rest of us on a better course. I had no idea how much your advocacy meant to making a discerned choice this primary season. Again, thank you very much.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:31 am
No sane person would consider not voting the equivalent of adultery by a married woman.
nk (dbc370) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:35 am
nk, semantically your last comment means what exactly? You lost me at…well, everything after “adultery”…which happens to one my favorite porn searches.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:43 am
Damned kindle, meant to say “happens to be”.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:45 am
pieter, here’s one source for the Colonel’s quip:

In words attributed to Scottish historian Alexander Tytler: A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until a majority of voters discover that they can vote themselves largess out of the public treasury.

The same quote is often inaccurately attributed to Adolph Hitler.
ropelight (1b06f7) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:52 am
When politics and politicians fail, the dynamics of people voting with their feet and the moving van take on greater meaning and importance. Those dynamics are closely connected to the idea that “demographics is destiny,” evident in, for example — and of all places — super-blue, very liberal Silicon Valley.

That part of the US has prospered over the past many years while other regions have stagnated or languished and was the location of at least one survey done not too long ago to determine the demographic profile of the typical employee in high-tech, new-age-hipster companies. Those surveys reveal (drum roll, please!) a large percentage of workers are males instead of females, white instead of non-white, Asian instead of Latino. And, of course, most of those folks undoubtedly are similarly non-diverse when it comes to party and ideological affiliation.

Liberalism is lovely when it exists in a bubble.
Mark (f713e4) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:55 am
No problem, pieter. As Patterico has said, the most important part of speech is the audience.

However, if it’s important to you, my comment was in response to ropelight’s just before.
nk (dbc370) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:55 am
“A republic is the highest form of government and requires the highest form of people.” Attributed to Herbert Spencer.
nk (dbc370) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:56 am
Hoagie. By now you prolly realize that since Pieter is a new commentator, he is unlikely to have knowledge about the evolution of your handle. What’s in a name?
felipe (56556d) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:58 am
155 … if a single flyer disseminated by a junior campaign staffer …

This seems a little unlikely.
James B. Shearer (0f56fb) — 1/31/2016 @ 9:00 am
nk, oh.

BTW, moving to the recent thread. Keep telling ourselves we are not screwed, our Constitution is well represented, and those that you previously voted for are actively representing our visceral concerns.

Hmmmm, this pistol in my mouth tastes like strawberries.
pieter (ec44a2) — 1/31/2016 @ 9:04 am
#156, nk, no educated person would so misconstrue the common coercive element in a simple comparison into a disingenuous focus on a false equivalency.
ropelight (1b06f7) — 1/31/2016 @ 9:06 am
“I don’t know what you’re getting at, Haiku. This is not “inside information”. Voter registration, voting attendance, and ballot requested in open primaries or party registration in closed ones, are open public records. Available to everyone.”

The only thing I was trying to make a stab at was if you are intimating – oh, alright, just outright stating – that the Iowan voters are any less intelligent than those found elsewhere, well, that’s just plain stupid, lol.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 1/31/2016 @ 9:15 am
“Working Class Hero” Bernie “Oh Noes” Sanders

As soon as you’re born they make you feel fear,
By cutting your foreskin with knife not a shear
And teh pain is so big you will cry bitter tears
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
They said, “Bernie Sanders, you are such a tool”
They hate you if you’re clever but they despise a fool,
Till you’re so f*cking crazy you can’t follow their rules,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
When you’ve not held job one for forty odd years,
You run to be mayor, hey, it’s a career,
But you can’t really function your so in arrears,
A working class hero is something to be,
A working class hero is something to be.
Keep you doped with Marxism, on teh dole you will be
you think you’re a giver, not a taker, it’s free
But we’re all f*cking peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
A working class hero is something to be
If you want to be a zero, well just vote for me
I you want to be a zero, well just vote for me.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 1/31/2016 @ 9:32 am
Like I’ve been saying all along, this flier would make me vote against Cruz. But then so do things like “Vote for me or you’ll get Hillary”. I don’t respond positively to threats, direct or indirect, and I don’t think most people do either. “Sure, you know if I’ve voted but you don’t know how I’ve voted, jackleg.” The Joni Ernst reference was the Cruz campaign saying she’d done it too and won. I’m taking their word for it that she won because of it and not despite of it.
nk (dbc370) — 1/31/2016 @ 9:39 am
Unfortunately, reactive, petty, pity, and revenge votes all count.
felipe (56556d) — 1/31/2016 @ 9:42 am
Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.

Democracy is also a form of worship. It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses.

Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.

Democracy is the art of running the circus from the monkey cage.

–H.L Mencken
ropelight (1b06f7) — 1/31/2016 @ 10:14 am
This seems a little unlikely.

this smells like something a goldy sacky would do

and that would explain why Ted feels he has to defend this nonsense
happyfeet (831175) — 1/31/2016 @ 10:36 am
So, while I find the mailer utterly distasteful and unbecoming to the Cruz campaign (and I think beneath both the candidate and his staff), I am glad Cruz didn’t try to pawn this off on someone else, or claim he had no knowledge of it and wiggle out of it in the standard way pols do. And while I’m glad, too, that he didn’t apologize for using an available tool, I think it would be advantageous and well received to admit that it was an error in judgment and that it demeaned voters. I believe the mailer will do anything but encourage voter turnout.
Dana (86e864) — 1/31/2016 @ 10:49 am
So…a spouse working for Goldman Sacks is bad. Personally wasting billions of dollars of investors’ money is okay.

This is what gets me about folks who say they adore small government and dislike fatcats supporting the yappy yappy braggy braggy orange toupee who won’t answer questions and hides from debates.
Simon Jester (3616ab) — 1/31/2016 @ 10:54 am
u misspellered it
happyfeet (831175) — 1/31/2016 @ 11:10 am
What I dislike most about the “the yappy yappy braggy braggy orange toupee ” as Simon Jester so accurately puts it is that I see him as a crony capitalist and therefore part of what I dislike most about the capitalist/democratic system. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in the free market and I believe in our Republic with all my being but the confluence of government and money is a crime against the Republic itself and it could not exist if the government would keep its nose out of the market. I’m talking all those rules and regulations made by all those politicians, agencies and bureaucrats that have no basis in our Constitution but seem to just appear like magic.
Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie™ (f4eb27) — 1/31/2016 @ 11:27 am
The thing that bothers me the most about Cruz’s campaign tactics, and this includes the multiple, duplicate, appeals that I find in my mail box every day, as well as the endless emails, and now this latest fiasco, is that it suggests that he doesn’t have any confidence in the fundamental appeal of his campaign. I’ve been dismissing the blizzard of letters and emails as an indication that he’d just hired a bunch of recent Harvard graduates who didn’t know how to process a mass mailing (there’s a “remove duplicates” option buried in a submenu somewhere,) and while this irritated me, (I figure he blew at least $60,000 with every mass mailing based on what I received,) it wasn’t a game breaker. I hoped that after they squandered their first $30 million on bulk mail that proved to be totally ineffective, these new hires would finally figure it out.

But his behavior increasingly looks desperate and impulsive. It would be like Patton standing before is armored corps and saying, “OK guys, I know you’ve lost a lot friends in our highly flammable, “zippo”, Shermans, but if we’re going to win, then you really have to mass your formations and force those well-equipped supermen we’re fighting to expend all their 88 armor piercing rounds. After that, well, maybe we’ll have a chance. Now mount up, I’ll be somewhere in the rear cheering for you. Good luck.”

So I’m now in the Darwinian mode. Perhaps Cruz’s consultants know a lot more than I do, and he can ignore what his current supporters might think. This is rational, if not very attractive, because he can count on our vote sometime in the next few months when we have our turn at a primary, if he’s still in the race. I hope this is the case, since I still think he’d be the best man for the job. But if he fails, then I’ll take that as a sign that I misjudged him in the first place. Cruz aspires to be a “leader of leaders”, and picking the right consultants and campaign managers, and finding a way to get them to give you their best effort, is the first real test he’s faced as a “leader of leaders”.
BobStewartatHome (f23946) — 1/31/2016 @ 11:34 am
Don’t get me wrong: you can support Trump.

What I don’t like is hypocrisy.

You can say to me, “Sure, Trump has been a fatcat who benefitted from big government policies for decades and who gave more money to the Clinton Foundation than veterans and has yet to outline any specific ideas and who flipflops frequently and who is a loud braggart…..but I just don’t care. I no longer care about small government and accountability. I just want to vote Trump.”

That’s fair. It’s when folks depict Trump as some kind of Champion of Conservative Values that I get irritable. Heck, I watch people here call folks with 98% ACU voting records “RINOs.” So it’s a weird world, I guess.
Simon Jester (3616ab) — 1/31/2016 @ 11:41 am
Well, Cruz may have sent this mailer to some, but according to the Onion, Hillary has gone to a completely new level.

Hillary Clinton ominously instructed her supporters throughout Iowa to mark their front doors with her campaign logo before sundown
Kevin M (25bbee) — 1/31/2016 @ 11:43 am
Mr. Trump will help Team R figure out what they believe. They have no principles it’s very sad.

Making America great again is a nice little bonus.
happyfeet (831175) — 1/31/2016 @ 11:52 am
I shouldn’t get so irritable. You aren’t going to vote anyway. Talk is cheap.

But so much for all of your passion about small government, fiscal responsibility, and so forth.

You hate the current Republicans so much you just don’t care about Hillary or Sanders winning.

That is, from your couch.
Simon Jester (3616ab) — 1/31/2016 @ 11:59 am
the current Rs are NOT delivering small government

they’re delivering bloated ruinous sorosbudgets and scheming about new ways to procure fresh young latino meat for the chamber of commerce

Mr. Trump will help them focus i think

Definitely help them focus more better than any of the other slurky trashpickles in the race.

advantage: Mr. The Donald
happyfeet (831175) — 1/31/2016 @ 12:03 pm
Patterico,

I have been very upset about the nonsense you are all spouting.

I was born in Latin America. My father was a natural born American because he was born in the Canal Zone in 1924 (sovereign US territory at the time). My mother was a Naturalized American citizen prior to my birth. I and my 6 brothers and sisters have ALWAYS known we are American citizens and that we can be anything except president of the USA, because we are not “natural born citizens.” The term “Natural Born Citizen” is based on English common law, and means born on the soil of old blighty, irrespective of the “nationality” of the parents. Naturality goes with birth in and on the motherland, and we were all taught this growing up. Heck, McCain also was challenged on this, and his defense was that he was born in the Panama Canal Zone like my father.

Neither I nor any of my sibs ever had dual citizenship. It boggles my mind that Ted claimed he didn’t know he was Canadian… REALLY????? Are you FKM? I divorced Ted when the NRSC shenanigans and the citizenship went down. What a maroon. $1,000 down the drain on a stinker of a rat.

I supported Ted when he ran.
I made significant donations to his campaign for the senate in Texas.
I regret doing so. He is divisive, inept, and has not one single achievement outside (possibly) from torpedoing the gang of 8 bill.

I loathe him because:

1. He sold out to mcconnell in exchange for the co-chairmanship of the NRSCC.
a, He agreed not to campaign against any incumbents
b. He torpedoed Cochran’s opponent in MS, and agreed to not support mcconnell’s opponent, really!
c. He did this in exchange for access to the NRSCC donor lists. What a pig!

2. He lied about not knowing about his Canadian citizenship, and he is daring us to challenge his eligibility because he is willing to scream “birther” and has seen Obama pull it off.

3. He is a stupid litigator that would rather win and debate than get something done. He fundamentally fails to understand the distinction between saying (he speaks well) and doing (never did that!).

I am sick to death of seeing you, Jacobson, Reynolds, and most of PJ media and the bowtie-tassel loafer set confuse intelligence with competence, and knowledge of our intellectual-political history with “goodness=conservatism”. I know many people that are ‘intellectually’ brilliant, high GRE, LAST, etc., and couln’t find their own butt if you spotted them a flashlight. And I am now CERTAIN, that Cruz falls in this category.
glenndc (5e0f88) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:14 pm
#184 glenndc,

The poker-tell that you’re one of Trump’s sycophants is that you not only played the birther card, but you used the words “pig,” “butt,” and “stupid” in your comments.
That’s the vocabulary of Trump Incorporated.

You didn’t yet call Megyn Kelly a closeted lesbian, but alas, the night is young, huh?
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:28 pm
Another month of this carp, and the gatling guns have been on a pivot, yes taste from the tree of colbert, and you’ll end up like the big eared bohemian in that trek episode, and the other side has been equally foolish,
narciso (732bc0) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:50 pm
Cruz, tonight in Des Moines: “You know, those mailers make great kindling in your fireplace. They just light right up.”

Yes.
Dana (86e864) — 1/31/2016 @ 8:53 pm
My father was a natural born American because he was born in the Canal Zone in 1924 (sovereign US territory at the time).

The Canal Zone was an unincorporated territory. Therefore your father’s USA citizenship did not derive from the 14th amendment; it depended on the law at the time of his birth. And according to the law as it existed in 1924 he was not born a citizen. He didn’t become a citizen from birth until he was 13, when Congress retroactively changed the law.

Neither I nor any of my sibs ever had dual citizenship.

Almost all of Latin America has birthright citizenship, so unless you were born in Colombia you were dual citizens, and remained so at least until you were adults and able to renounce it.

It boggles my mind that Ted claimed he didn’t know he was Canadian

Why should it have occurred to him? It’s evidently not his area of expertise.
Milhouse (87c499) — 2/1/2016 @ 1:08 pm

1/30/2016

Ugh, Ted Cruz. Why?

188 Responses to “Ugh, Ted Cruz. Why?”

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