Ditching Earlier Plans, Ted Cruz Now Preparing for Long Slog

Source: Texas Tribune | March 16, 2016 | Patrick Svitek

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Trump “has a long way to go,” Cruz strategist Jason Johnson told reporters here. “There’s still a majority of Republican primary voters who are opposed to him. That’s a problem for him. I don’t see it changing.”

Cruz’s campaign is now pinning its success on a number of factors, starting with a strong showing in the Utah caucuses Tuesday. But looking farther down the line, Cruz’s team is talking about states that have seldom come up before in discussions, circling June 7 on its calendar as a day when the Texas senator could “win big,” for example. 

Cruz’s team acknowledges the difficulty of winning 1,237 delegates — the number needed to clinch the nomination — before Cleveland, but it insists both that it can be done and that Cruz is the only candidate beside Trump who can do it. On Tuesday, the campaign’s internal projections indicated Cruz would still net as many as 1,262 delegates and Trump as little as 827.

Cruz officials are nonetheless readying for a contested convention, which they believe they can enter with a delegate lead over Trump, even if they do not reach the 1,237 threshold. 

“If we’re not able to get those numbers, then we’re prepared for a convention,” Cruz campaign manager Jeff Roe told reporters here Tuesday night. “I think that’s less than a 50 percent chance, but there is a chance that we end up there.”

Cruz and his team have made a point of distinguishing between a contested convention, which they are open to, and a brokered convention, which they are not. In their telling, a brokered convention would consist of Republican power brokers parachuting in their choice into Cleveland, potentially forcing upon the Republican primary electorate a candidate who has not won a single vote.

“I think if they tried that, it would be an absolute catastrophe,” Cruz told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday. “The people would revolt and quite rightly.”

As part of its preparations for a contested convention, Cruz’s campaign is circling back to the states it has already won and ensuring that delegates follow through on their promise to support the Texas senator at the convention. On Tuesday alone, Cruz’s campaign was monitoring three meetings at state or local levels across the country where delegates were being selected.

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Cruz will receive his first major opportunity to test his viability in a narrowed field Tuesday, when Arizona and Utah hold their nominating contests. Fifty-eight delegates are up for grabs in the Arizona primary and 40 in the Utah caucuses.

Cruz campaign officials are less than bullish about their chances in winner-take-all Arizona, noting that more than half the electorate has already cast a ballot. They believe they can still get to 1,237 delegates before the convention without capturing victory in Arizona.

The campaign is nonetheless making a play in Arizona, where it went on the air Thursday. Cruz is expected to travel there later this week. 

Utah is a different story. Cruz has the support there of U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, and the state’s closed caucus system plays to the Texas senator’s strengths. His campaign expects to win a majority of the vote in Utah, the threshold at which it can sweep all 40 delegates.

Cruz is expected to spend the beginning of next week in Utah, where the 13th Republican debate is being held Monday in Salt Lake City, the eve of the caucuses. Trump has suggested he could skip the debate; Cruz plans to be there. 

Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • Discussion
  • Consistent #2717

    silver pines #2719

    I’ll be honest. I’m not as optimistic as I once was. But it’s in God’s hands and it will work out as He desires.

    My husband and I were just talking…he believes that, if Cruz doesn’t get the nomination, it might actually be better for Hillary to win the election. That way, she’ll be such a mess of a president that Cruz can run again in four years and likely win. On the other hand, if Trump is elected, he’ll probably destroy the GOP, the conservative movement, and the chances of another Republican president ever being elected again.

    I agree with my husband. Neither of us would ever entertain the possibility of voting for Hillary Clinton, because we believe we would have to stand in front of God and answer for it. But for the same reason, we won’t vote for Trump.

    May God lift up Ted Cruz.

    ConservativeGranny #2730

    I thought that after a destructive 8 years of Obama this country would be ready to elect a conservative yet they are going to do the same stupid thing they did in the last two presidential elections.

    How much lower could Clinton take us?

    Trump took pages from both Obama and Bill Clinton. Clinton was admired for his slippery personality, charisma and ability to lie better than anyone else. Trump is the same. Obama and his “Hope and Change” sideshow was the pied piper and Trump has used the same techniques. Elections are no longer about the issues or who would make the best president. It’s about psychology, manipulation and mind control. Funny how that works.

    Trump voters think that they are voting for some kind of savior when what they are really getting is a Clinton/Obama hybrid that is much more dangerous than either of those two.

    Trumpsters are going to be sitting there someday wondering what in the h*** happened. Of course t here will be a long period of denial, pretzel twisting and spinning before that point. And if Clinton wins it will of course have nothing to do with them but it will be all the fault of anyone who didn’t vote for Trump.

    I’m not very confident that the voters will learn anything after 4 years of Hillary either. I think Reagan was the last conservative president we will see in our lifetime.

    I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet. I never thought it would be easy but there is still a small glimmer of hope. And as long as there is I’m still fighting for Cruz and the future of our country. And still praying because it’s going to take lots of prayers and God’s mercy upon us.

    slhancock1948 #2734

    My husband and I are in the same dilemma, Silver Pines. I just could not hold my nose and vote another time. I’ll write in Ted’s name and vote for other republican officials, not just stay home. If Hillary wins, then hopefully Ted will take it in 2020. 2020…what a thought! I pray that God vindicates Ted as a candidate and the rest of the country sees the disaster a Trump presidency would be. I pray that even if it comes to the very end that Ted ekes out a ballot win over Trump.

    Pray for righteousness to be restored and for the peace of Jerusalem

    Victoria #2742

    Silver Pines, don’t know if you saw this poem I put on another thread. I cannot vote for Trump, that is a certainty. I will leave that space empty. Write-ins in Texas are “declared write-ins” and have to get their names into the Secretary of State by a certain time to be a write-in. No other names can be put on the ballot as a write-in. If Trump wins, we will get a govn. like the one in this poem:

    NEW KINGDOM?

    Never had a kingdom so near.
    US was a Republic dear.
    What happened to bring it here?
    Likely it was due to fear.

    Economy sinking so fast.
    Debt rising every newscast.
    Radical Islam bringing bomb blast.
    Foreign illegals coming in mass.

    All gave rise to a rich man possessed.
    Promising great, so great, hope chest.
    Build a wall, deport illegals, no resisting arrest.
    Great trade deals, win after win, no protest.

    What is the cost of this rich man?
    Rich friends hang together a clan.
    King, Princes, Earls, Trump government plan.
    US now Trump Kingdom, the ultimate win.
    Marci Derrick, 3-15-2016

    silver pines #2775

    ConservativeGranny, I agree….I was so certain that eight years of Obama would have us salivating to put a conservative in office. That seemed to be the case for a while, when FR was wishing and hoping Cruz would run. Then he announced, and for a bit, everything was as it should be.

    Then the delusion began.

    Every single day, I exist in a perpetual state of amazement that people can’t see through Trump, that they actually take him seriously. It’s beyond astounding to me. No matter what he says or does, it has no effect on his supporters’ devotion. Last summer he admitted he was a Democrat; any other Republican candidate would have been instantly disqualified after such a statement. But no one cared.

    I imagine the Trumpsters will blame those of us who refuse to vote for Trump, but it won’t wash. They’ve been told over and over again—don’t nominate that filthy liberal and moral reprobate, but they wouldn’t listen. So it will be on them, and they can savor every moment of it.

    I hope they richly enjoy it.

    silver pines #2776

    NEW KINGDOM?

    Never had a kingdom so near.
    US was a Republic dear.
    What happened to bring it here?
    Likely it was due to fear.

    Economy sinking so fast.
    Debt rising every newscast.
    Radical Islam bringing bomb blast.
    Foreign illegals coming in mass.

    All gave rise to a rich man possessed.
    Promising great, so great, hope chest.
    Build a wall, deport illegals, no resisting arrest.
    Great trade deals, win after win, no protest.

    What is the cost of this rich man?
    Rich friends hang together a clan.
    King, Princes, Earls, Trump government plan.
    US now Trump Kingdom, the ultimate win.
    Marci Derrick, 3-15-2016

    [/quote]

    Victoria, I’m late catching up here….IT’S PERFECT. “Great, so great, hope chest…”
    It’s so pathetic and sad. And infuriating.

    I believe he might be possessed.

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