Counterpoint From Tea Party Patriots

[M]

Cruz can still stop Trump. Here’s how. Tuesday had been billed as “Armageddon Tuesday” because of the effects it would have on the GOP presidential field. And certainly, for Sen. Marco Rubio (more about that below), Tuesday lived up to the Armageddon moniker. On the surface, Tuesday appeared to be a runaway victory for Donald Trump. With the exception of Ohio, where Gov. John Kasich won, Trump had a great night. Or maybe it’s not that simple, according to an in-depth analysis at RedState. “Trump is only a little more than halfway to the delegates he needs, and is still behind the pace; he can still be beaten, but the only way that happens is if everyone who wants to stop Trump unites behind Ted Cruz.” Stopping Trump is an integral part of the Republican Party’s chances for success in November because, as the article notes: “Trump still isn’t winning majorities, and in most states is pretty far from them. And worse than that: the number of Republican primary voters Tuesday who said they’d consider voting third party in a Trump-Hillary race – even against one of the most long-hated figures by Republicans everywhere – was 45% in Ohio, 43% in Illinois, 43% in Missouri, 39% in North Carolina, and 29% in Florida. And large numbers of Republican voters in each state already think Trump is not honest and trustworthy: 55% in Ohio, 51% in Illinois, 49% in North Carolina, 48% in Missouri, 44% in Florida.” Think about that for a moment. Trump is often considered the runaway front-runner, but he isn’t winning majorities and in prospective head-to-head matchups with Hillary Clinton, he regularly gets blown out. The idea of the inevitability of his candidacy and the notion that he will be able to defeat Hillary Clinton in November are both seriously in question when one examines the polling data with an unbiased eye. Trump’s high unfavorability numbers should concern GOP voters as the primary season continues, especially in an election year where GOP voters really want to defeat Hillary Clinton and begin to reverse the damage caused by President Obama’s agenda over the past eight years. The good news is that nothing is set in stone at this point. Contrary to what the mainstream media is “reporting,” Trump does not have to emerge as the GOP nominee, and based on the delegate count at this point, it seems unlikely that he will go to the RNC convention in July with the requisite 1,237 delegates. The full analysis is available at RedState: Ted Cruz or Bust: Armageddon Tuesday By The Numbers     Rubio exits the presidential field. Florida Senator Marco Rubio’s campaign had been sputtering along for months leading up to Tuesday’s primary elections in five states, and after disappointing results in his home state, Sen. Rubio finally called it quits. We have described in previous newsletters Rubio’s struggle to gain his footing – failing to find a natural constituency and never managing to get much traction with donors or grassroots supporters. His sole victories occurred in Minnesota, the territory of Puerto Rico (which is ineligible to vote in the general election), and Washington, D.C. (home of the Establishment wing of the GOP). In other words, his wins added up to, well, not a whole lot, actually. But give the man credit where credit is due. When he’s on, he can sing like Sinatra. In his speech announcing his decision to suspend his campaign, Sen. Rubio called on Americans to reject the politics of fear and frustration in order to retain what makes the United States a “special” place. The speech was a good reminder to tea party supporters about the tremendous role we have played in the past few election cycles and that, while this election cycle is a reflection of the widespread dismay Americans feel at the Establishment, we can nevertheless find common ground in our shared belief in the American Dream.   His speech’s conclusion reads, in part: “I ask the American people: Do not give in to the fear. Do not give in to the frustration. We can disagree about public policy, we can disagree about it vibrantly, passionately. But we are a hopeful people, and we have every right to be hopeful. For we in this nation are the descendants of go-getters. In our veins runs the blood of people who gave it all up so we would have the chances they never did. We are all the descendants of someone who made our future the purpose of their lives. We are the descendants of pilgrims. We are the descendants of Settlers. We are the descendants of men and women that headed westward in the Great Plains, not knowing what awaited them. We are the descendants of slaves who overcame that horrible institution to stake their claim in the American Dream. We are the descendants of immigrants and exiles who knew and believed that they were destined for more, and that there was only one place on earth where that was possible. This is who we are, and let us fight to ensure that this is who we remain. For if we lose that about our country, we will still be rich and we will still be powerful, but we will no longer be special.” And now that Sen. Rubio is out of the presidential race, he has made some very encouraging comments about Sen. Cruz, calling him “the only true conservative left in the race.” While Sen. Rubio has not officially endorsed Sen. Cruz, those words serve as an important “soft endorsement” for the Texas Senator who just last week picked up the endorsement of another Senate colleague, Utah Sen. Mike Lee. The entire text of Sen. Rubio’s speech can be read at Los Angeles Times: Marco Rubio: 'I ask the American people: Do not give in to the fe...and for more on what he said about Sen. Cruz, see Politico: Rubio: Cruz 'only true conservative left in the race'     GOP settles in for protracted nomination battle.  Despite the narrowing field of presidential candidates, the GOP is preparing for a long nomination battle. The GOP’s convention will be held in July in Cleveland, OH, and now that it is already mid-March, the higher-ups within the Republican Party are officially in panic mode. The plan (and the fervent hope!) had been all along that the nominating process would settle down and that by the time March rolled around, there would be a single candidate (preferably not named Donald Trump) emerging as the clear frontrunner. With the convention now just four months away, Politico reports that “some are getting ready for a prolonged, grind-it-out fight that could go on for weeks or even months.” Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Trump’s most serious competitor, “has been particularly aggressive, launching an ambitious, cross-country effort to influence local Republican Party meetings where delegates to the national convention are being selected.” Sen. Cruz’s purpose is simple: making sure that each state sends “Cruz-friendly” delegates to Cleveland.  While the task of identifying and securing pro-Cruz delegates might sound like an overwhelmingly daunting task, it is a project for which the Cruz campaign is uniquely suited. Politico points out that “[t]he nature of the delegate-selection process — a hyperlocal one that typically begins at the city or county level and is finalized at a state gathering — plays to the strengths of the Cruz campaign, which prides itself on its micro-targeting and number-crunching abilities. Chris Wilson, Cruz’s director of research and analytics, is helping to oversee the push, as is Saul Anuzis, a former Michigan Republican Party chairman who is steeped in the art of contested conventions.” For more on the long fight ahead and more details on Cruz’s strategy to secure delegates, see Politico: Republicans prep for long, ugly nomination fight     Changes to binding delegates “unlikely.” And on the topic of the long fight to secure the GOP nomination, one of the recurring issues that we have reported in past newsletters surrounds the question of rules changes for the convention. In particular, one North Dakota Republican National Committeeman, Curly Haugland, has argued that any delegate at the convention should be allowed to support any candidate on the first round of balloting, despite the outcome of the primary election in the delegate’s state. That suggested plan of action, of course, would add additional chaos and craziness to what is already sure to be a chaotic and crazy convention. But at least one person finds Mr. Haugland’s proposed plan unlikely to go anywhere. Morton Blackwell, longtime member of the RNC’s Standing Rules Committee, and current Republican National Committee man from Virginia, spoke with The Daily Caller this week and explained that he believes “it’s highly unlikely that anything relating to the binding of delegations or binding delegates is going to be altered.” For more on this story, see Daily Caller: RNC Rules Member: Changes To Binding Delegates ‘Unli...   Trump and Kasich wimp out of next debate, so FOX News wimps out and cancels, too.  On Wednesday, Donald Trump announced that he would be skipping the Fox News debate scheduled for March 21st in Salt Lake City, Utah. The result? A domino effect. Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced that he, too, would not participate in the debate. In response, Michael Clemente, the FOX News executive in charge of the debate, released a statement: "Obviously, there needs to be more than one participant. So the Salt Lake City debate is canceled." Donald Trump, the candidate in this race least afraid of jettisoning political rulebooks, has already skipped one debate, so this makes two debates he has decided to blow off. And the excuse he is using this time is odd, to say the least. Mr. Trump says he was unaware of the debate (bad staffing issue?), and that he is already scheduled to speak before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), “a very important group of people,” as Trump put it. But then, after making the case that he was skipping the debate because of a scheduling conflict, Trump reversed course and suggested the real reason he would not be on the debate stage is that he is tired of debates. “I think we've had enough debates. How many times can you answer the same question?" Sen. Ted Cruz apparently shares our skepticism about Donald Trump’s decision to bail on the debate. On Wednesday night, Sen.Cruz said on FOX New’s “The Kelly File” that Trump’s excuse “is silliness and it reflects his assumption that he thinks the voters can't figure out that he's not telling them the truth."  For more, see CNN Money: Fox News cancels GOP debate after Donald Trump pulls out  AND The Hill: Cruz slams Trump for skipping GOP debate   That’s all for this newsletter. Keep fighting for freedom!

[Hankelvis]

I asked him to shut it down because Obama was using the whole thing about the GOP "shutting the Govt down" as a political tool. Do you remember when Obama tried to keep the war vets out of DC and a hundred other nasty things just for the sake of demonizing the GOP?

I am tied of the elites getting their way.

If you do not believe the Establishment Left is not capable of using Trump to destroy both the TEA PARTY and the GOP, you greatly under estimate the Illuminati my friend. 

The billionaires want all the money and all the power and the you are being deceived.

yeah, what he said

[M]

I have to agree with you Hank, but I see all the Presidential candidates as being co-opted by the monied powers and lust for power and even more money. That is the reason I have been beating the drum to get people to vett the candidates by using their past voting records so they can vote for the least Progressive candidate for Congress, State Legislatures, and even Local politics. Hopefully they will find some true Conservatives to vote for but if there are none then the next best bet is to vote for the least progressive/Liberal running regardless of which party they are from. I'm not advocating voting a straight ticket, I'm advocating voting against the most Liberal/Progressive/Socialists out there who are running for election in 2016. We can't sit back and not vote because if we do we will surely lose the Republic completely.

[jack ludwig]

I think it is highly unlikely Cruz will come within a few hundred delegate count to Trump. Given that gap even if Trump does not get 1237 needed after the first vote it is possible deals could be made to shift delegates to Cruz to beat out Trump for the nomination. It doesn't matter at this point who gets the nomination. Cruz can't possibly win because Trump supporters will not support Cruz. Besides that, Cruz favorability numbers are just as bad as Trumps. The republicans will experience a significant drop in voter turnout making it impossible to beat the democrat regardless who that might be. This is an exact repeat of the 2012 election.

[M]

Jack,

That is exactly the reason we need to educate and encourage voters to go to the polls in November. Not necessarily to vote for whom ever is running for President, but most importantly who is running for Congress, State Legislatures, and Local elections. Loading the other positions with Conservatives and/or Republicans is necessary to block the Progressive Socialist Democrats from driving in the final nail in American Liberty and Freedom to prevent us from becoming just another Gulag on the Socialist map. REmember this; Every Vote for a Democrat is a vote against the Constitution and what Americans used to believe in before they were blinded by the Progressive Rhetoric Spin and Lies.

[jack ludwig]

M I will be working very hard this year to convince every single voter I can to vote but make sure you do not vote for Trump. I and about 10 million other voters will be doing the same thing I am doing this  election.

[M]

Jack I agree, the President is not the prize, it's the other elections combined that is the prize. So if someone really can't stomach voting for Trump, Clinton, Cruz or even Kaisch, I strongly council them to go to the polls and vote for Congress and Senate Representatives and do the Same for State Legislatures and Local candidates. 

We need to get as many of our chosen candidates in office instead of the Progressive Democrats. Remember that every single vote will count and this years races probably will determine the direction the United States takes for the next Century and even if the Republic and Constitution will survive.

[Rhodes]

History only rhymes, sometimes badly, it does not repeat word for word. 

We just do not know whats going to happen next week much less next month and certainly not next fall. The stability we knew in the past is gone and chaos seems to have the upper hand.

Funny thing chaos, it is seriously difficult to control and that may actually yield some good surprises but none I care to even try to predict.

[Hankelvis]

Would if Paul Ryan gets in?

[Rhodes]

You know we could just change the names around and use everything said in 2012, 2008, 2004, etc and save a ton of keyboards.

Literally in the case of Ron Paul and Trump much of the exact same offal is spouted with the only difference being the names.

How, one should wonder, can this be given how great a difference between the two men?

Perhaps because both are viewed from the same perspective, a threat to power.

Vote Republican! ... because Armageddon.

And we wonder why there is so little respect for the intelligence of the American electorate. 

[M]

Rhodes,

If you don't like the four potentials for President don't vote for them, but please vote for your picks for Congress and Senate, State Legislatures, and Local positions. We need to offset the Progressive Elitists.

[Virginia Foulk]

That is key - we need to start fixing our local and state governments.

[Rhodes]

Well if any pop up I am more than glad to do so but frankly Im not very interested in the "standard" conservative/liberal media package most (sometimes all) of them portray themselves.

Pretty sure you know the type.