tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post3759178224755853214..comments2023-11-22T01:14:54.298-08:00Comments on amor mundi: Iowa Caucus So WhiteDale Carricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-18360748983787237002016-02-01T22:23:17.116-08:002016-02-01T22:23:17.116-08:00http://www.queerty.com/homophobia-helped-ted-cruz-...http://www.queerty.com/homophobia-helped-ted-cruz-win-the-iowa-caucuses-20160202<br />--------------------<br />Voters in Iowa upset the political wisdom tonight by picking a<br />weasel over a blowhard. . .<br /><br />He counted on the support of the state’s evangelicals, who turned out<br />in record numbers for him. In his stump speech, Cruz called his supporters<br />“the body of Christ,” which apparently resonated in a way that the<br />rhetoric of a thrice-married casino magnate from New York could not.<br /><br />Cruz also had the backing of the fringiest of the right wing fringe,<br />amassing an impressive number of homophobes to back his campaign. . .<br /><br />Notably absent from his campaign so far is gay PayPal billionaire<br />Peter Thiel, who bankrolled Cruz’s Senate race. Thiel has been sitting<br />out the current election cycle, preferring to focus on initiatives<br />to revive nuclear power and detect bad steaks. . .<br /><br />With a neck-and-neck finish in Iowa, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders<br />will be debating each other for a while, allowing the political press<br />the chance to write about a horse race that exists only in their<br />imaginations. Barring a catastrophe, Hillary is bound to be the party’s<br />nominee. As for Republicans, the catastrophe will be whoever the<br />nominee is.<br />====<br /><br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/22/us/politics/donald-trump-ted-cruz-republican-establishment.html<br />--------------------<br />Donald Trump or Ted Cruz? Republicans Argue Over Who Is Greater Threat<br />By JONATHAN MARTIN<br />JAN. 21, 2016<br /><br />. . .<br /><br />[T]wo powerful factions of their party are now clashing over the<br />question: Which man is more dangerous?<br /><br />Conservative intellectuals have become convinced that Mr. Trump,<br />with his message of nationalist-infused populism, poses a dire threat<br />to conservatism. . .<br /><br />However, the cadre of Republican lobbyists, operatives and<br />elected officials based in Washington is much more unnerved by<br />Mr. Cruz, a go-it-alone, hard-right crusader who campaigns against<br />the political establishment and could curtail their influence<br />and access, building his own Republican machine to essentially<br />replace them. . .<br /><br />[M]any members of the Republican influence apparatus. . .<br />say they could work with Mr. Trump. . ., believing that he would<br />be open to listening to them and cutting deals. . .<br />“He’s got the right personality and he’s kind of a deal-maker,”<br />said Bob Dole. . .<br /><br />[E]ven if Mr. Trump somehow found his way into the White House,<br />the longtime Washington hands envision him operating as a pragmatist,<br />leaving their power unchecked.<br /><br />“We can live with Trump,” said Richard F. Hohlt, a veteran lobbyist. . .<br /><br />Some of what turns the Washington class of operatives and elected<br />officials away from Mr. Cruz, and toward Mr. Trump, is personality.<br />Mr. Cruz is viewed by many Republicans in Washington as stubborn<br />and overweening. . .<br /><br />“You can coach Donald,” Mr. Black said. “If he got nominated,<br />he’d be scared to death. . ." . . .<br /><br />Mr. Kristol, the editor of The Weekly Standard, said the personal<br />contempt for Mr. Cruz among some Republican insiders was blinding.<br />“Cruz is so hated in Washington that there’s this distortion about<br />him that he’s outside the bounds of what is plausible in American<br />politics,” he said. . .<br /><br />“Trump won’t do long-lasting damage to the G.O.P. coalition,”<br />said John Feehery, a Capitol Hill aide turned lobbyist. “Cruz will.”<br />====<br />jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.com