The retired senator from Archer Daniels Midland
would like to share his views:
Bob Dole, the former Kansas senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, has never been fond of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. But in an interview Wednesday, Mr. Dole said that the party would suffer “cataclysmic” and “wholesale losses” if Mr. Cruz were the nominee, and that Donald J. Trump would fare better.
“I question his allegiance to the party,” Mr. Dole said of Mr. Cruz. “I don’t know how often you’ve heard him say the word ‘Republican’ — not very often.” Instead, Mr. Cruz uses the word “conservative,” Mr. Dole said, before offering up a different word for Mr. Cruz: “extremist.”
That's a tell. So is this:
But Mr. Dole, 92, said he thought Mr. Trump could “probably work with Congress, because he’s, you know, he’s got the right personality and he’s kind of a deal-maker.”
Dealmaking isn't a big problem in Washington. They make deals all the time. Most of the time the citizenry isn't cut into the deals, but that's nothing we need to worry our pretty little heads over. So why is Bob Dole so mad? Perhaps this might be the reason:
The animosity between the two men began after Mr. Cruz invoked Mr. Dole’s name as an example of the missteps the party had made with past presidential nominees — as in, “Remember President Dole? Remember President McCain? Remember President Romney?”
“In other words, we weren’t right wing like he is, and I didn’t like that very much,” Mr. Dole said in the interview. “It kind of hurt, because we worked hard, we did the best we could. We are conservatives, we are traditional Republican conservatives. And then, of course, he doesn’t have any friends in Congress. He called the leader of the Republicans a liar on the Senate floor.”
Maybe we could give Bob Dole a participation trophy -- after all, Bob Dole did the best he could. If you want to know why Cruz called Mitch McConnell a liar,
click this link. I think this was the quote that got ol' Mitch upset:
We had a Senate Republican lunch where I stood up and I asked the majority leader very directly, what was the deal that was just cut on [trade legislation, and was there a deal for the Export-Import Bank? It was a direct question. I asked the majority leader in front of all the Republican senators. The majority leader was visibly angry with me that I would ask such a question, and the majority leader looked at me and said, "There is no deal, there is no deal, there is no deal."
"Like Saint Peter, he repeated it three times," Cruz added.
The other message? Apparently Donald Trump is more acceptable to the dealmakers in Washington than Ted Cruz is. You can draw your own conclusions about what that means.
10 comments:
Im kinda surprised to see as inside a guy a dole come out for trump at all given the entire establishment is throwing everything at him and i hear threats of third party should trump win the nomination.
Im kinda surprised to see as inside a guy a dole come out for trump at all given the entire establishment is throwing everything at him and i hear threats of third party should trump win the nomination.
That's kabuki, good sir. Trump's supporters want to tear the playhouse down, but are they sure that their hero feels the same way?
Thats not kabuki. They fear trump. Maybe because he makes his own rules? I don't know. I think the bushes et al would rather have cruz.
I don't think that's right at all. Here's evidence of that:
Spencer Zwick, the national finance chairman for Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign, said power brokers and financiers are now trying to cozy up to Trump in various ways, such as reaching out through mutual friends in New York’s business community.
and
“A lot of donors are trying to figure their way into Trump’s orbit. There is a growing feeling among many that he may be the guy, so people are certainly seeing if they can find a home over there,” he said.
They are either afraid of Trump, or they assume they can co-opt him. Trump's jumping on the ethanol bandwagon suggests the latter.
i'm not saying they wont cozy, in time. of course they will. they will with cruz, too.
tell me, was the professional GOPer in the above post just doing kabuki, or was he seriously trying to damage the trump brand? would he say the same about cruz, bush, or christie supporters? seems to me he's using a special level of vitriol not normally seen.
tell me, was the professional GOPer in the above post just doing kabuki, or was he seriously trying to damage the trump brand?
I think he was playing to the audience. He said this on MSNBC. I called it out because it was so patently ridiculous and tells you more about the biases of our betters than it says about Trump supporters.
would he say the same about cruz, bush, or christie supporters?
Depends if he's getting paid by any of them. Rick Wilson's enough of a, well, courtesan to say damned near anything for anyone. He'll tumble for ya.
seems to me he's using a special level of vitriol not normally seen.
It definitely had some extra snark and vitriol, but I called attention to it mostly because it shows the contempt these self-styled GOP operatives have for their fellow citizens. Rick Wilson fancies himself a cool kid. He's mistaken, of course.
So Dole trusts Trumps "allegiance" to the Party more than he trusts Cruz's? That is scary and illuminating on so many levels.
It is illuminating, Crankbait. Cruz is hated for two different but related reasons:
• Lefties hate him because he's a traitor to their class — he's a Princeton guy and he won't get with the program. Can't have that. I've seen my lefty friends on social media refer to Cruz as evil. That's a tell.
• The Republican establishment hates him because he's a true believer and he calls out they myriad ways they have sold their souls. A lot of midwestern politicians, including Bob Dole, are very wealthy today because they make nice with ADM, Big Ethanol and the other Ag lobbies. Cruz proposes to tear the playhouse down. Trump has made similar promises, but his first instinct is always to wheel and deal. Cruz must be stopped, the Bob Doles of the world say, because they fear Ted Cruz actually means it.
I assume Dole realizes he just ensured that Cruz will probably jump 5%, right?
There's a part of me that would like to think the establishment has figured out the best way to finally beat Trump - embrace him.
There's a part of me that would like to think the establishment has figured out the best way to finally beat Trump - embrace him.
Heh.
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