The Donald Stands Alone

[stromboli]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ted-cruz-drops-out-2016_us_561c5138e4b028dd7ea4e838

WASHINGTON â€" Facing an increasingly narrow path to the nomination and failing to thwart Donald Trump’s dominance, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) withdrew from the 2016 presidential race on Tuesday.

“Tonight, I’m sorry to say that path has been foreclosed,” Cruz said in a speech Tuesday night in Indianapolis, “but the voters chose another path.”

“We are suspending our campaign,” he added.

As Trump barreled toward the 1,237 delegates required to win, Cruz’s campaign in recent weeks resorted to increasingly desperate measures, mounting a last-ditch effort to win the Indiana primary, one of the only remaining primary states that gave Cruz a chance of winning. But Indiana turned out to be the final nail in the coffin â€" Trump won handily in the Hoosier State, including among social conservatives, a demographic that in theory favored Cruz.

To reinvigorate his campaign, Cruz last week named former presidential candidate and Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina as his running mate, even though candidates typically do not name their running mate until they have amassed enough delegates for the nomination.

His campaign also announced a plan to coordinate with the campaign of Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the other remaining candidate. Kasich’s team agreed to pull resources out of Indiana and cede the race there to Cruz. However, this effort quickly backfired, when each candidate caused confusion by diminishing its importance. Kasich said voters in Indiana should still vote for him.

Like many of the GOP candidates and party leaders, Cruz underestimated the strength of Trump’s appeal. Initially, he often defended Trump instead of attacking him, strategizing that he could pick up Trump’s supporters if the businessman exited the race.

But when it became apparent that Trump’s populist and nationalist rhetoric was resonating with Republican voters, with the reality television star dominating the majority of the primaries, Cruz began to target Trump on the debate stage and on the campaign trail â€" to little avail.

Once positioned as a strong threat to become the Republican presidential nominee, the Texas senator was the first candidate in either party to officially declare his intent to run for the presidency in 2016. Bypassing the typical first step in a presidential campaign â€" the exploratory committee â€" he kicked off his campaign in March of 2015 with a rousing speech at Liberty University, the Christian university founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell.

“What is the promise of America? The idea that â€" the revolutionary idea that this country was founded upon, which is that our rights don’t come from man. They come from God Almighty,” he said in his announcement speech.

A star of the tea party movement, Cruz made social conservatism and religious liberty a fundamental part of his pitch to voters. He highlighted his staunch opposition to gay marriage on the basis of religious freedom, particularly after the Supreme Court decision in June 2015 that legalized gay marriage nationwide. In response, Cruz said he would introduce a constitutional amendment to hold elections for Supreme Court justices.

Over the summer, he held a religious freedom rally in the key state of Iowa, during which he proclaimed that “there is a war on faith in America today, in our lifetime” and bemoaned the “persecution” of Christians.

But despite touting his conservative credentials and fashioning himself as an anti-establishment candidate, Cruz never quite managed to rally conservatives around him.

The Texas senator was hugely unpopular among his colleagues, with most GOP lawmakers reluctant to endorse him until it became clear he was the only viable option to potentially halt Trump’s momentum. Only then did Republicans begin backing him, though many gave tepid reasons for doing so and perceived him merely as the lesser of two evils when compared to Trump.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) announced his support of Cruz just weeks after joking that he wanted to murder him.

Former House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told students at Stanford University that Cruz was “Lucifer in the flesh” and “a miserable son of a bitch.”

Cruz’s campaign never had the enthusiasm and fervor of Trump’s insurgency. For example, when Cruz introduced himself at the second GOP debate in September, the audience responded with silence.

And while Cruz portrayed himself as an outsider, most voters viewed him as an establishment candidate, compared to the brash, take-no-prisoners Trump.

As the reality of Cruz’s downfall and Trump’s presumptive nomination begins to sink in, the Republican party faces a serious dilemma: whether to support Trump as the party’s nominee and potentially hand Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton the presidency, or risk further damage to the party with Trump at the helm.

Soon after Cruz’s announcement Tuesday, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus urged his party to unite around Trump.

But it’s unclear if Cruz will now back him. He didn’t mention Trump in his speech Tuesday night, and when pressed by NBC’s Chuck Todd on Sunday, he repeatedly dodged the question.

“Why can’t you answer the question of whether you can support Donald Trump or not?” Todd asked Cruz.

“But Chuck, Chuck, Chuck,” Cruz interrupted. “Let me finish this point I’m making.”

Ahead of the Indiana primary, Cruz continued to place his bets on a contested convention and tried to make the case that he was the best alternative to stop Trump. But in the end, no one could stop him.

Once again god's chosen son bites the dust. If Kasich is still anywhere in the picture, I don't see him.

Cue Glen Beck's cry face in 3...2...1...

[Hydra009]

So graceful.

[TomFoolery]

I have yet to find a puking emoticon that is spewing enough vomit to properly convey what I feel for America right now.

[Nonsensei]

I have yet to find a puking emoticon that is spewing enough vomit to properly convey what I feel for America right now.

I think people lose sight of the fact that Cruz is a pretty fragrant piece of shit as well.

[stromboli]

I don't know if the stench has lessened or if it has merely changed flavors.

[Hydra009]

I have yet to find a puking emoticon that is spewing enough vomit to properly convey what I feel for America right now.

If this was the general election, it'd be puking my guts out with you, but this is just the nomination.  They were going to pick either a narcissistic blowhard or Satan in the flesh.  I think America lucked out, to be honest.  As bad as "the donald" is, Cruz is worse.

[TomFoolery]

I think people lose sight of the fact that Cruz is a pretty fragrant piece of shit as well.

No, I didn't lose sight of that either. I would just rather watch my family get autopsied than watch Donald Trump get elected. My hate for Cruz is only slightly lesser. It's true that a shit sandwich with a garnish is still a shit sandwich, but the shit Donald's pushing is a special brand of ripe.

[PickelledEggs]

Thank.
Fucking.
Hell.

I would have hated it if Cruz won. Now we're sure he won't.

[Nonsensei]

I can't lie. If someone put a gun to my head and made me vote for either Cruz or Trump, I would vote Trump.

Trump is a result of whats wrong with America, but Cruz is part of the group of people that brought it to this point.

[Hydra009]

I can't lie. If someone put a gun to my head and made me vote for either Cruz or Trump

I would just take the bullet.

[Hydra009]

Ted Cruz on the issues:

Planned Parenthood sells body parts of unborn human beings. (Sep 2015)
Allow vote to end Planned Parenthood's funding. (Aug 2015)
Prosecute Planned Parenthood for criminal violations. (Aug 2015)

Overturn Supreme Court with anti-gay marriage Amendment. (Oct 2014)

Abolish the U.S. Department of Education. (Apr 2015)

Defend Judeo-Christian values against liberal fascism. (Apr 2015)
Opposes the unrelenting assault on traditional marriage. (Mar 2015)

2nd Amendment is ultimate check against government tyranny. (Jun 2015)

Defeat ObamaCare; rein in the federal government. (Jul 2011)
Defund, repeal, & replace federal care with free market. (Jul 2010)

Fierce advocate of recruiting and growing the military. (Jul 2011)

Illegals are an economic calamity for low-wage Americans. (Nov 2015)
Build a wall instead of massive amnesty plan. (Dec 2015)

Defend Ten Commandments and "under God" in the Pledge. (Jul 2011)
Endorsed Member of the Tea Party movement. (Aug 2012)
Rated 100% by the AU, indicating opposition to separation of church & state. (Jan 2013)

Basically, he's the Jim Jones to Trump's Pat Robertson.

[stromboli]

the Evangelicals either weren't influential enough or behind him in sufficient numbers to bring about his nomination. The takeaway from this for me is that the fundies are losing ground, and this is proof that their power in politics is (hopefully) waning.

[Hydra009]

the Evangelicals either weren't influential enough or behind him in sufficient numbers to bring about his nomination. The takeaway from this for me is that the fundies are losing ground, and this is proof that their power in politics is (hopefully) waning.

Yeah, they're really going back to basics with this illegals and Mooslims stuff.

[Mike Cl]

So, was Hillary just elected????

[Hydra009]

So, was Hillary just elected????

It depends on how powerful Trump's campaign becomes.  I expect a close (<5 percentage points) election.  As mind-boggling as this is, that guy has incredible support.  And that was as an outsider to the Republican establishment.  After the GOP leadership and party loyalists get behind him, he's going to come at Hillary hard.  And what's more, expect his brand of stink to be the new Republican mainstay for years to come.