Ted Cruz is Donald Trump's "secret weapon"

Ryan Grim and Sam Stein, political writers for Huffington Post, have an interesting take on the Trump/Cruz contest that helps explain why the establishment Republicans are going after Cruz instead of Trump -- despite spending the last few months warning that Trump's candidacy was "a grave threat, not just to the party, but to the country itself."  

It's true, a flurry of conservative pundits in a special anti-Trump edition of the National Review, have railed against Trump.  But the fact remains that the donor class and the establishment SuperPacs are not running a single negative ad about Trump in any of the early voting states.

Add in the stated preference for Trump over Cruz by two former Republican senate majority leaders, Bob Dole and Trent Lott;  and popular Iowa governor Terry Branstad also asked Iowa voters not to vote for Cruz.  Here's how Grim and Stein explain this apparent sharp pivot of the GOP big wigs and moderates:

1.  They believe that Donald Trump is "putting on an act," that he doesn't really believe all the racist, anti-immigrant, right-wing stuff he's saying and would not follow through on it if nominated.   He's just playing politics to get the right wing primary votes, and then he will pivot to the center for the general election.

2.  They apparently have more or less given up on Marco Rubio, who continues to languish behind in third place, despite doing all the right things -- but it just doesn't seem to be working.   They gave up on Jeb Bush long ago for the same reasons.

3.  Ted Cruz has alienated all the Republican leadership in congress, who don't just oppose his policies;  they loathe him personally.   It's even become a cliche to say, "Nobody likes him."

4.  They believe that Trump is someone they can work with.   Cruz, on the other hand, has waged a notorious war with his own party leadership in the senate and is seen as someone whose only concern is what's good for Ted Cruz.   "Cruz has shown a real willingness to put Republicans in difficult positions and then to place the blame at their feet when those positions bloom into abject disasters . . ."

5.  There are also serious concerns about Cruz's hypocrisy in running against his own party establishment, while being married to a Goldman Sachs banker and taking big loans from them.  As Grim and Stein say, "That's about as Republican establishment as you can get."

6.  There are further concerns that the uncompromising, extreme right-wing ideology of Cruz at the top of the general election ticket would hurt other Republicans running on the ticket more than Trump would. 

It's not that the Republican establishment likes Trump.   It's more that they're resigned to it being either Trump or Cruz, and they are choosing Trump.

Now, two late developments since Grim and Stein wrote their article.   Cruz has been caught lying to his people at a rally, claiming to have lost his family health insurance because of Obamacare (his campaign has admitted it's not true).*   And former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has sent up trial balloons about running for president as an independent.   So, as they say, the plot thickens. 

Who would have thought the 2016 election would turn out to be the best action drama of the season?   Yes, it's frightening and maddening to consider the possible outcome, but it is high drama and a fascinating process to watch.

Ralph

* Cruz family health care:  Sen. Ted Cruz refused to accept the government subsidized family plan offered to him as a senator because it required going through the Obamacare exchange.  Instead, the family had a high-end Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan in Texas.   That particular plan has been discontinued by BC/BS, but Cruz is free to shift to another plan with them.   His family is not "uninsured," as he claimed at a rally;  and the premium increase he also complained about was due to actually opting for another BC/BS plan with greater benefits than his old plan.  Or, unlike the people he's trying to stir up, he could accept the government plan offered by the senate (his employee) at a much lower cost.  He simply lied at his rally to try to turn people against Obamacare -- and he's being called out for it.

Later bulletin:   another source explains that the Cruz family plan actually was cancelled by the insurer because Sen. Cruz failed to renew it.   Seems his attention has been elsewhere -- i.e., trying to kill Obamacare for everyone else.