With a day to go until the SEC of politics, it's beneficial to consider some honest political math that everyone should be able to understand. It's about how the candidates are doing in their home states, and what that means for post-SuperTuesday if we're not paying attention to it RIGHT NOW:
Cruz is THE impediment to Donald Trump running away with this tomorrow. It's that clear. TEXANS, the debate of Rubio, Kasich or Carson should be over. A vote for Rubio will split the vote and benefit Trump. It's that simple: Cruz or Trump.
For the rest of the SuperTuesday states, I'd recommend my advice to Texans!
Like the song goes, "It's now or never...tomorrow will be too late..."
#TRUSTED ADDENDUM: Cruz was on Levin tonight addressing those who are still thinking of voting for other candidates tomorrow...
"If you are one of the 65% of Republicans who recognize that Donald Trump being the nominee would be a disaster, then I ask you, even if you like other folks, to stand with us, because the only way to beat Donald Trump is to stand together united..."
TRS: Ted Cruz was on the Mark Levin Show tonight telling listeners that if they are considering another candidate, they should unify and support his campaign because he’s the only one that has defeated and can defeat Trump.
And honestly I think that’s true. Rubio isn’t slated to win any states tomorrow and from the looks of it, Ted Cruz will win Texas handily and do well in other states.
With the TX Gov. Abbott's endorsement, with two more new polls showing Cruz up BIG in Texas, and with another instant ad ala El Rushbo, the Texas Senator was poised for a good night...
And Cruz’s performance last night in Houston was, quite simply, AWESOME, continuing to expose Trump as a life-long supporter of Democrats without an ideological compass.
Ted Cruz schooled Donald Trump (and Rubio in the process) on immigration, then hammers him on 'being liked in Washington'...
TRS: Ted Cruz had an amazing exchange with Trump where he went after Trump for funding the Gang of 8 members who advocate open borders. Trump accused Cruz of having none of his Senate colleague’s endorsement, but Cruz turned it around on him and told him being liked in Washington is not a good attribute for president.
...and SURPRISE! Donald Trump is a rank hypocrite on immigration...
Cruz went on to obliterate Trump on Supreme Court nominees...and in the process further exposed Trump's willingness to cut deals with Washington Democrats!
TRS: Ted Cruz went after Trump on picking a conservative Supreme Court nominee when he in fact he has been liberal for so long and given so much money to hardcore liberals. Trump responded by blaming Cruz for John Roberts being on the Supreme Court and then demanded an apologize for Cruz criticizing his sister.
Cruz said he will never apologize for defending the Constitution or the bill of rights and pointed out that Harry Reid himself suggested he’d rather have Trump because he knows he can make a deal with Trump on a Supreme Court nominee.
Btw, Trump straight-up LIED about Alito agreeing with his ultra lib-judge sister...
Trump said Alito "signed bill" w/ his sis upholding partial-birth abortion in NJ. Here's Alito's concurring opinion pic.twitter.com/LDkeUvWil0
Cruz didn't let up. During a few rounds of 'Will Donald release his tax returns?' Cruz again exposed Trump's weakness against the darling of the Democratic delegate count, Hillary Clinton!
"We've got to win this election, and we can't do it with a candidate who agrees with Hillary Clinton and can't take it to her and beat her on the debate stage and at the polls!"
"He can't prosecute the case against Hillary, and we can't risk another four years of these failed Obama policies by nominating someone who loses to Hillary Clinton in November."
Even afterwards, the Cruz campaign came out with a short video exposing Trump’s LIE in the debate where he claimed he never said the government should pay for everyone’s health care...
Rubio absolutely landed some fun little jabs during last night's debate, but what this jokester seeks to accomplish (and folks are falling for it) is to split Cruz's vote at a crucial moment, which will inevitably insure a Donald Trump nomination, because there's no way Rubio can catch up at that point any more than any other candidate. On top of that, folks are missing the deceptive side of this guy that Levin continues to warn against...
Rubio promoted the gang of 8 bill that would have nearly doubled the immigration of low skilled workers to the U.S. Rubio is a front man for amnesty and though he may have changed how he would pass the law he still supports the principle. He speaks fast, has a thin record of accomplishment and is now calling people who challenge him on his record as liars. In addition, Rubio is the weakest among Trump and Cruz and will lose to Hillary Clinton. Also, it’s not just the establishment that is pulling for Rubio but Trump is too. Trump wants to face Rubio because he thinks he can beat him easily. ~ ML, 2/24/16
Following the unsurprising Nevada caucus, Levin completely exposed Rubio’s lies, emphatically explaining how HE’S A FRONT MAN FOR AMNESTY...
Mark Levin spent his first hour exposing Rubio’s amnesty lies, calling him a front man for amnesty in his first segment and warning that Rubio may seriously be a manchurian candidate in his last segment.
Cause you're fooling yourself if you think it is, folks.
Marco Rubio hasn’t won one state primary yet and the establishment is pulling for him to win the nomination. Currently, he is campaigning not to beat the frontrunner, Trump, but the man in second place, Ted Cruz. Rubio thinks that if he takes out Cruz he will put himself in position to beat Trump. However, he can’t win the nomination because he is a full-throated supporter of amnesty. While he won’t succeed in winning the primary, Rubio may succeed in taking down the only full blown conservative man in the race, Ted Cruz. ~ ML, 2/25/16
I would admit that Rubio would likely serve more conservatively than Trump...but what's that saying at the cost of inundating Americans with newly amnestied Democratic citizens seeking new benefits, like RubioCare?
Perhaps more than previously suspected, according to a Ken Cuccinelli piece that explores the two's shared desire to underhandedly attack Ted Cruz's character with malicious, desperate smears...
CR: At first, you’d think very little. One is a crony capitalist who has added conservative vocab words to his big government nationalist rhetoric; the other is a senator who came to power as part of the Tea Party wave, but chose to join the establishment upon his arrival in Washington. One wears the mantel of rage, the other purports to be an electable, “nice” conservative.
But an unlikely alliance between two candidates has formed: both Trump and Rubio have joined forces in personal attacks on Ted Cruz’s character.
The voters have clearly framed the race in terms of who can best stand up to the Washington Cartel — a term that rightly describes how our political system has been rigged in favor of the politically correct and connected, but contrary to the Constitution. Because the record shows Trump and Rubio have both worked with, not against, the political corruption in both parties, any distinctions either could draw with Senator Cruz on policy wouldn’t help them with the primary electorate. This leaves one dangerously desperate weapon at their disposal: character attacks.
Bizarrely, Trump has threatened to sue Cruz over advertising that shows Trump’s own public words supporting partial birth abortion, his sister, a Clinton-appointed judge who struck down New Jersey’s partial birth abortion bill as irrational who Trump has spoken of as a good judge, and Trump’s massive monetary contributions to Democrats. The allegation? That showing Trump’s past positions and record, instead of his present (and constantly moving) positions, is defamatory.
Trump thus resorts to name-calling: “nasty,” “unlikable,” “unhinged” and “dishonest,” he hurls at Cruz, all while threatening to use his inherited wealth to bully and sue — just as he has his entire life.
For Rubio’s part, he has taken to accusing Ted Cruz of “doing anything it takes to win,” including lying. He has ceased even trying to engage Cruz on policy, let alone making an effort to correct the record about his support of the Gang of Eight bill, his statement following Obergefel that same-sex marriage was the law of the land, or his refusal to support Cruz’s attempt to meaningfully strip funding from Planned Parenthood by sending Obama a budget without it. You can almost see the weariness in Rubio’s soul as he resorts to calling his friend and fellow son of Cuban immigrants a liar — all because Cruz has brought attention to the words and deeds and policy contrasts between himself and the Floridian. While Cruz was fighting against the Rubio-Schumer Gang of Eight immigration bill, including with amendments that would eliminate citizenship-granting provisions, Rubio was a sponsor of the bill. Now Rubio refuses to list that bill — which passed the Senate with a few Republicans and overwhelming support from Democrats — among his sparse list of accomplishments.
Like Trump, Rubio hurls insults; but he does not naturally wear the mantel of Trump-esque insult hurling.
But both the media and other Republican leaders have refused to ref the two-on-one hit job on Cruz’s character. That’s because ultimately, it is the Washington Cartel that has been and remains willing to use any tactic to protect its power. Cruz represents the most successful, well-organized, well-funded, inspiring, disciplined, and savvy assault on its power since the Reagan revolution, and so they step back and wash their hands because they know Ted Cruz is the greatest threat to the Washington status quo they’ve ever faced.
But they step back in fear. Every time they see 5,000 conservative activists gather to listen to Cruz and cheer, they are afraid. The continued gathering of movement conservatives and liberty-minded Republicans to Ted Cruz is a mortal threat to both Trump and Rubio, and so they attack. But because they cannot go toe-to-toe with Ted on issues, they make personal attacks. It’s the oldest trick in the book. This is what doing Washington’s dirty work looks like folks, and we must overcome it for the sake of America.
Moreover, it's quite ironic that the guys attempting to assassinate the character of Cruz are about to be embroiled in a finance scandal (Rubio) and a fraud trial (Trump)! What jewels.
For those who can't fathom Providential influence over all things great and small, who want to sterilize their worldly lives from their Faith, this piece might be too discomforting or cerebral for you; however, if you profess to Believe, this perspective/warning might provide some reason to the extraordinary delusion we find our culture and its people mired in, looking beyond what we've already dragged ourselves through so far this century, but what's to come with more foolish choices...
TheWordOnPolitics: The truth of the matter is that America is finally under the judgment of God. Our nation has been given over to what it wants. America is under a deluding influence. Such a deleterious condition cannot be remedied with better and more aggressive public policy arguments. The Scripture teaches that people can go so far in their sin that God finally removes His hand of restraint upon them and finally gives them over to what they want to do. This is the very thing that happened to Pharaoh in the Old Testament. After hardening his own heart several times against God (Exod. 7:13, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7), God finally hardened Pharaoh’s heart and gave Pharaoh over to what he wanted to do (Exod. 4:21; 9:12). This removal of divine restraint as a sign of judgment upon a culture is also the key theme of Romans 1:18–32. In this troubling section of the Bible, after people no longer see fit to retain the knowledge of God (Rom. 1:18-23), God is said to repeatedly give them over (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28) to the sins that they are so eager to commit. The prophet Jeremiah anticipated that same type of turning over by God in his own day when he recorded the following chilling words from the Lord, “As for you, do not pray for this people, and do not lift up cry or prayer for them, and do not intercede with Me; for I do not hear you” (Jer. 7:16). We see the same type of judgment predicted for the end times as people will be given over to a spirit of delusion that will cause them to embrace the antichrist. Second Thessalonians 2:11–12 says, “For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”
Why do I believe that America is now at this delicate tipping point? Largely, it is because of the meteoric rise of a person like Donald Trump in American politics. The man is a moral and verbal sewer. He has no political resume. Rather, his campaign has been buoyed by empty promises devoid of any real substance or meaningful content. He merely repeats mantras that the voters want to hear similar to the types of statements that Barack Obama gave us back in 2008. You know the rhetoric: “I’m going to build a wall around America and make Mexico pay for it.” “We are going to make this country great again.” “Believe me, Americans are going to win again.” “We are actually going to win so many times we are going to get tired of winning.” “Trust me, it is going to be great.” This type of rhetoric seems more akin to that of a used car salesman rather than that of a serious presidential contender. These sentiments are nothing more than empty slogans since they never reveal exactly how Trump plans to accomplish these great exploits. These are the sorts of trite statements that third world dictators endlessly propagate upon their beleaguered people. In fact, according to Imelda Marcos, the public expression “we are going to make this nation great again” is the very slogan that Ferdinand Marcos articulated just prior to coming to power in the 1950s in the Philippines and prior to Marcos’ imposition of martial law.
The fact that all the evidence indicates that Trump throughout the course of his entire life really never believed all of the conservative positions that he now supposedly holds is really of no consequence to people. When anybody dares to shed light on Trump’s longtime liberal worldview by pointing out that “the king is naked,” they are simply shouted down as a “liar” or victimized by various other ad hominem attacks. Such was the sum and substance of last Saturday’s Republican Primary debate in South Carolina. The masses really are not interested in information related to Trump’s liberal worldview since they have already made a decision to blindly follow Trump on the basis that he tells them what they want to hear. In fact, the bigger a fool Trump makes of himself on the national stage, the larger his poll numbers seem to climb. This, in and of itself, is perhaps the greatest evidence of the deluding influence that is now descending upon America. Ask yourself a simple question. How is it possible for Trump to repeat the Michael Moore and Code Pink left wing lunacy that former President George Bush intentionally misled the American people about the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq in a recent Republican primary debate and in a conservative state like South Carolina, and have his poll numbers rise and not fall as a result? Such public folly would have been sufficient to derail any Presidential aspirations in prior generations. The only explanation is that the voters are no longer being driven by their mental and rational faculties. Rather, they are being primarily fueled by irrational emotion due to a deluding influence.
I realize that a recent poll showed Cruz leading his primary challengers nationally. However, this poll is an aberration with the majority of them showing Trump clobbering his opponents in upcoming primaries. What Republican primary voters are apparently on the precipice of doing, if the present poll numbers are an accurate indication, is to reject a Senator Ted Cruz Presidential nomination in exchange for that of a show man and a game show host. Think about how monumental this is. Ted Cruz is an articulate conservative who has a track record of opposing progressivism not only within the Democratic Party but also in his own Republican party. Cruz has had a stellar legal career successfully arguing numerous cases favoring conservatism before the United States Supreme Court. Even the ultra-liberal Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz reluctantly conceded that Ted Cruz was one of the most brilliant law students ever under his tutelage. Cruz is also a man not only of deep Christian conviction but also, as demonstrated by his actions, someone who is committed to the principles of limited government set forth by America’s founders. There is nobody as qualified to replace potentially four Supreme Court vacancies that the next President will likely have the opportunity to fill, than Ted Cruz. Yet, this kind of man with this kind of record is no longer attractive to the majority of Americans voters. They would much rather embrace the progenitor of a reality TV show. What further evidence do we need to confidently say that America is now under a deluding influence given by God himself as a judgment upon this nation?
Now, this is not an all-hope-is-lost scenario, yet. Rather, let this provide a wake-up call to ALL while there's still time, praying on our knees, face to the floor, that God Almighty has not removed His Holy Hand of restraint upon this nation...
Like the Ninevites of old, the current generation of Americans apparently are no longer capable of discerning their right hand from their left (Jonah 4:11). Of course, in my heart of hearts, I want to be wrong about all of this. I want to believe that there is still hope for this once great nation. I want to once again trust the good sense of the American electorate. However, as explained above, I have my doubts. If Trump overwhelmingly wins the Republican primaries in South Carolina on Saturday and then on Super Tuesday on March 1st, then these unfortunate suspicions will be confirmed.
ADDENDUM: Yesterday, Steve Deace wrote a worthwhile piece concerning South Carolina's political message that voters sent to Team Cruz, 'to get back on message, and to get back to being the alpha male leader conservatives fell in love with in Iowa.' Today, Deace wrote Part 2 of this piece in which he turns attention towards the spiritual message, addressing a message of tough love through the troubling numbers and wrongheadedness of the very evangelical voters that conservatism is counting on...
For months now I’ve had countless liberal media members incredulously asking me why Trump is doing well with evangelicals. Though many of these people are unbelievers, their question reveals some level of reverence for the faith nonetheless.
Because what they’re essentially saying – especially after Trump won evangelicals in South Carolina of all places – is this: “I thought you Christians stood for something better than this.”
It’s not just Trump’s adulteries and divorces. I wasn’t a virgin on my wedding night, and I’ve previously shared that I was fully engrossed in the porn culture like many men of my generation. Nor is it the many lies Trump has told on the campaign trail. I’ve told lies before, too. Neither is it Trump’s vulgar language. I lose control of my tongue at times as well. And it’s not even his liberal positions on practically everything Christians supposedly hold dear, though this seems to be what baffles liberal media the most. These are all mere symptoms of the real problem.
See, the reason Trump should be soundly rejected by evangelicals is that he openly flaunts his rebellion against God without shame. By claiming he’s never asked God for forgiveness because he doesn’t think he needs it, and calling self-esteem heretic Norman Vincent Peale his Svengali, Trump concedes he isn’t even a seeker. He’s crafted his own pagan religion that suits his own desires and that makes him no different than the moral relativists on the Left we allegedly oppose.
Trump essentially looks at the bloodied, bruised, and broken Christ on the Cross and responds: “What kind of loser doesn’t come down from there if he has all that power?” He fails to see the point of what’s happening here: Christ has laid down his power in order to give power to Trump, and all of us, to believe and be saved.
“But Steve,” some of you will respond, “are you claiming Trump is not a Christian?”
No, Trump is claiming that.
The first step toward becoming a Christian is to seek forgiveness, which Trump admits he has not. And he doesn’t just admit sheepishly, but proudly.
Liberty in our constitutional republic is predicated on the notion that our rights come from God and not government. But how can someone be trusted to protect our God-given rights if they don’t really believe in God? People who don’t believe they require God’s forgiveness believe only in themselves. They are, functionally, atheists. Different religions sincerely disagree on doctrine, but they all sincerely believe forgiveness is required—whether that forgiveness is found on Easter or Yom Kippur.
For the evangelical, it’s not that he never sins. It’s that he knows Christ atones for his sins so he can be forgiven of them. For the evangelical, it’s not that he won’t ever sin again. It’s that he’s been given the grace to humbly seek forgiveness when he does, and has a willingness to be held accountable for his actions as well as make restitution if necessary. This contrite spirit is found nowhere in Trump.
That’s not to say someone has to be an evangelical to be an effective politician, but it does mean that evangelicals should not allow their political desires/fears to redefine what it means to be an evangelical. By supporting Trump and demanding no humility or integrity from him at all, evangelicals are defining down what their faith means to a watching world—and it’s not a good look.
We are telling the world that we really have no standard other than ‘Merica. That mammon is Lord and not Christ, and that when push comes to shove we really can’t be counted on in times of tumult to be a port in a cultural storm. We are telling them that our house is built on the same sand as theirs.
Trump has made no move to curry favor with us or what we believe. He’s shaken his fist at God by rejecting His greatest gift, His forgiveness. Not coincidentally, Trump has also rejected nearly every reason we risk creating enmity with a culture through partisan political activism in the first place.
Unless your faith is nothing more than waving the flag. In that case, congratulations—you’re in a cult.
The evangelical belongs to the worldwide body of Christ, not a cult of personality or a homeland. Patriotism, or love of country because it stands for something righteous, is a good and noble thing. But nationalism on the right is simply the alter-ego of socialism on the left. Both are byproducts of statism which demand we set aside our cherished principles in order to serve the group-think. Like when we see Trump supporters say, “It’s time to set conservativism or Christianity aside and do what’s best for America.” Silly me, I thought we were trying to conserve the foundations which are what’s best for America. And that must include the Judeo-Christian heritage from whence our virtue and ethics came. How are we going to make America great again by rejecting that which made it great in the first place?
Sadly, though, the American church is quite sick. Replete with prosperity pimps, shallow teaching, and gutless preachers. If you want to really be depressed, Google “George Barna” and go read all of his research. Our sickness has produced an era of evangelicals who think “make America great again” is in the Bible right next to where it says “the Lord helps those who help themselves.”
If you look at book, movie, and music sales it’s never been more profitable to be an evangelical, except there’s very little cultural transformation to coincide with the record revenue. What good does it profit a man to gain the whole world, only to lose his eternal soul in the process? Evangelicals should be asking discerning questions like: “If Trump’s perspective is so myopic as to not consider his own eternal fate, why should I trust him to prudently consider my fate from the vantage point of the most powerful office in the world for the next four years?”
But that would require us to seek after the real Messiah and not a cheap, secular imitation. Besides, zealots are all the rage these days. We seem to relate to them better than a cause that calls us to be better than we are.
The inconvenient truth is that more and more evangelicals believe God exists primarily to serve their worldly needs – happiness, contentment, comfort, etc. – and understand little of His mission to heal our spiritual brokenness. I mean, who wants that poor, tortured Jew bleeding out on a tree. He’s low energy and we need a winner.
So the mob will just scream “Give us Barabbas” instead.
Who's the major impediment to what should be a one-on-one battle between Trump's populism and Cruz's conservatism? The guy who's garnered the backing of the Establishment (even before Bush was out). The smear campaign of Rubio works vehemently to label Cruz a liar as cover for his own questionable backside while playing the victim...
CR: A little while back, I argued that Marco Rubio's tactics in attacking Ted Cruz's Senate record on immigration and national defense, among other things, was Alinskyite. They were and still are simply and demonstrably dishonest. Yet he persists, knowing full well that by the time the truth catches up with him, if ever, the damage will have been done. More recently, Rubio and his campaign team have intensified and broadened their Alinskyite tactics, now focusing on the ultimate personal smear -- that Ted Cruz is a serial liar. Even in this, Rubio is not original. Of course, Donald Trump has been calling his opponents liars as an almost tourette's like response against anyone who reminds him of his past but recent support for leftists and leftist causes, some of whom and which he still embraces.
Saul Alinksy explained it this way: “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Rubio fancies himself the next Ronald Reagan. But such self-aggrandizement is unmerited. He's more Alinsky. Indeed, it was Reagan who, in his 1966 race for Governor of California, declared: "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." I doubt Reagan would approve of Rubio's campaign of character assassination against Cruz. In all the years I campaigned for Reagan and worked for his administration, I cannot recall Reagan ever talking about another Republican this way. Certainly not as a relentless propaganda campaign. Rubio, like Trump, has difficulty explaining his past positions. For Trump, it doesn't seem to matter. Moreover, Trump's resort to personal attacks can be followed up with evidence of his business accomplishments. But Rubio has no significant accomplishments other than his election to various public offices. He has few if any accomplishments outside of politics and virtually no accomplishments in public office as a U.S. senator. In fact, Rubio's most notorious public act was as a senator, i.e., his leading role in crafting one of the most disastrous immigration bills in modern times, in knowing violation of his pledge to the voters of Florida in his last election. Not only has Rubio's immigration record gone from anti-amnesty to pro-amnesty to utter incoherence, but the issue of his own integrity is at stake. Thus, he employs Alinsky's rule and accuses Cruz of what he has actually become. He now focuses the media on his own accusations rather than his own thin record.
Campaigns are usually tough. No question about that. As I write this, Cruz just dropped his communication's director for re-tweeting a false tweet. Perhaps there's more to it. Trump fired some of his staff early on. Carson did the same more recently. But when the candidate himself (Rubio) is the source of the Alinskyite tactics, not a staffer acting on his own, that's an entirely different matter. I had high hopes for Rubio when I was among his earliest supporters against Charlie Crist in Florida. But I'm deeply disappointed in him, as are many who voted for him. The growing endorsements for Rubio's presidential candidacy from establishment Republicans, most of whom cannot better articulate his accomplishments than he can, emphasize the point.
It is not too late for Rubio to reverse course. But I doubt he will. Polling in South Carolina shows that he (along with Trump) was successful with this tactic.
Why do you support Trump? He's not a conservative; that's a fact. Why support Cruz? Well, he's awkward-looking, so the naysayers come up with. But why support Rubio? What can you point to in the area of accomplishments? There are none from Rubio, yet he's the first one to jump in front of the cameras on primary nights, steering the narrative towards the Republican establishment while simultaneously shouting 'Reagan' in one instance, 'Liar' in the other, and the equally establishment media eat it up, whether he's second, third or beyond. It looks like they've got their new Bush boy. (H/t: Levin)
On Monday’s Mark Levin show, No matter what place Sen. Marco Rubio comes in, he is the winner. So far Rubio has come in 3rd, 5th and 2nd by a hair in South Carolina, yet the media and Establishment are anointing him as the candidate to beat Donald Trump. Rubio has virtually no accomplishments and his most notorious act was as a Senator where he betrayed his constituents by throwing in with Chuck Schumer and the gang of 8 to advance a pro-amnesty agenda. Also, Ronald Reagan would not have approved of Rubio’s character assassination of Ted Cruz. Both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have accomplishments to lean on but Marco has virtually nothing. Instead of being honest like Jeb Bush, Rubio resorts to Alinskyite tactics to attack Ted Cruz. He accuses Cruz of what he himself has done. In addition, Cruz the man who went to the US Senate time and time again to fight Mitch McConnell and the Establishment is called a liar while Marco Rubio is seen as the victor. The American people need to stay focused on the facts and not let themselves be played by Rubio and his surrogates in the media. Later, billionaires like Larry Ellison are pouring money into Sen. Rubio’s PAC to attack Ted Cruz because Rubio is promising them amnesty. His PAC is essentially bought and paid for by Silicon Valley.
So, South Carolina...what a letdown. Trump wins, Rubio takes second, less than a thousand votes over Cruz, and all at the hands of an open primary system where even Democrats can vote for the Republican nominee, as if that somehow makes sense? Only to the politically conniving. But my gut tells me it's more dire than even that. It's more unfortunate that we have Republican voters, many professing Faith, and just as many who reside within the babyboomer generation, duped by both media and campaign propaganda. Whether they're working in conjunction or not is of little consequence, the outcome is the same: deviate voters as far from the three devout C's as possible...Christianity, Constitutionality, Conservatism. There are still many positives and refreshing pauses that can't be overlooked (one being that Jeb's OUT!), just as there are many other critical things to consider, like what we're missing...
TheCommonTruth: Many of us have been laser focused on the election; so much so that we tend to miss some things in the bigger picture. A good example outside the election is why there have been no charges brought against Hillary Clinton in the face of overwhelming evidence of her breach of National Security. Yet, what of the big picture in the election itself and how it is being orchestrated?
Many people do not delve deep enough into details. They don’t ask, how did someone pull ahead, drop down or what was the chess move that ended in a certain result. They see a win such as in South Carolina and think “the voters have spoken”. Which voters? You will be surprised to know that in an open caucus state such as SC, Democrats mobilized in droves – and voted for a GOP candidate.
So ask, why would they do that and what proof is there? To answer the former, in the bigger picture, Democrats want the most defeatable candidate to win the GOP primary. They see the fractured GOP field and trust me when I say, their analysts know who caps out in support in a one on one matchup.
For the latter question on proof, I offer this great summary by Michael Harrington and his “Perspective of the SC Primary”. I will leave the analysis for you to decide because I want to keep this simple. We are missing some pretty major things in this race. We have two candidates caught with some pretty bad history and background calling a third candidate a liar and its sticking. It is not based in truth yet; it is sad so often, so loudly (just as liberals do) that it starts to become the truth. They even have help from a 4th candidate who is pretty much last in the field supporting them with lies.
As a man of integrity, I hate lies. I hate false accusations more than name calling. If you call me bad names I can shrug it off as your problem. If, however; you question my integrity, you push a button I cannot stand. I feel the same way about the false attacks on Ted Cruz. It makes me ill to see politics stoop to this level so I will be blunt. Donald Trump is a liar. He uses attacks and lies to “disarm” people from looking at who he really is. They ignore his past and only hear his slurs. He basically takes the spotlight off himself and puts it squarely on whom he wants to destroy with no basis in fact. The sad part is the media is not doing a good job on fact checking so his mud sticks in people’s minds who don’t check for themselves. Plus, since he gets all the free media he desires for his drama, he stays in people’s minds at no cost.
Marco Rubio is a liar. He is so ready to hide what he has stood for in the past that the only way to shift the focus off of himself is to cast that evil spotlight on another. I have watched him in debate after debate, speech after speech boldly lie and make it sound like it is the gospel truth. When a member of the gang of 8 tells people again and again “I have never been for amnesty” how is that not the biggest lie of them all? Add to that, anything that occurs that harms him, he blames Ted Cruz. No proof but it is automatically Ted Cruz. Why? Because Ted Cruz is a threat and he cannot beat him fairly so he uses slur tactics.
Ben Carson is a liar. Yes, he is and he is out to be a spoiler who will sell his vote to whomever is offering the best deal when they win. He is not staying because he thinks he has a chance. He is staying because he does not want to drift into obscurity and not play for a seat at the table. Also, if you don’t think Ben and CNN were the cause of the recent Carson gate, then you better check the timeline and events much closer. Here is a good read on “What actually happened”. Note also that Marco Rubio was a full participant in the event yet; Ben Carson has not called him out on it and notice Rubio blasting Ted Cruz for something he did himself.
So what is the real truth many have been missing? The truth is the candidate with the best record bar none, who has all through his campaign tried to speak highly of the others and has only responded to overwhelming attacks, is being cast in the wrong light. You are missing one of the greatest opportunities in a lifetime to have a real leader.
I ask you to consider casting off the lies, look for yourself and not what you see on social media. If you are Christian, to not be fooled by evil antics and search the values of the one true Christian in this race. You must ask yourself “what am I missing?” and picture the temperaments of each candidate and what that looks like as President. Do you want a bombastic rude and selfish man? Do you want a party poster child who has shown he is willing to cut deals? Do you want a true constitutional conservative who has the plans to help us?
If you don’t choose correctly, we all suffer. That is what you have been missing.
And in so many ways, from our immediate destinies to the future of our children's and our children's children, across the socio-political spectrum, Obamacare, immigration, SCOTUS appointments, everything, all effecting Life and Liberty for years, decades, generations to come...that's where we're at in this pivotal decision. It's time to live by what we profess and mean it, Americans.
Here's the difference between the Marxist community organizer we have now in the Oval Office who once lectured for some constitutional law courses, and the true constitutional scholar we could have who argued and WON MULTIPLE TIMES before the Supreme Court...
AmericanThinker: Since the passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the GOP presidential field has, in a rare show of unity, supported Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s statement that Scalia’s replacement should be determined by the results of the November election. Democratic hypocrites like Sen. Chuck Schumer accuse the GOP of obstructionism, the memory of their blocking of George W. Bush nominees having faded.
They, while insisting that President Obama has the Constitutional right to nominate a replacement, which he does, forget the Senate’s Constitutional role to advise and consent -- or not consent. They can say no -- or even “not yet”. Yes, President Obama won election twice, but the voters also gave the Republicans their Senate majority, and if the 2014 election was about anything, it was about stopping the Obama agenda. The GOP Senate majority has been criticized for not keeping their pledge, but this is a chance toi not only stop the Obama gun control agenda but to save the Constitution. Sen. Ted Cruz has warned that we are only one justice away from having the Second Amendment guaranteeing our right to keep and bear arms written out of the Constitution. He is aware of President Obama’s gun control agenda and that his appointee to the Supreme Court would echo the anti-gun views of President Obama’s pick to be Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy. Cruz opposed the anti-gun Murthy, telling CNN’s Candy Crowley as Murthy’s nomination battle was underway:
“Of course we should have a surgeon general in place,” Cruz told Crowley. “And we don’t have one because President Obama, instead of nominating a health professional, he nominated someone who is an anti-gun activist.”
Murthy eventually made it, confirmed in a lame duck session. Cruz, who opposed Murthy, fears Obama’s SCOTUS pick will be a judicial Murthy clone. Cruz, as attorney general of Texas, has argued many cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and has appeared before Scalia many times. In a statement on Scalia’s passing, Cruz stated:
“As liberals and conservatives alike would agree, through his powerful and persuasive opinions, Justice Scalia fundamentally changed how courts interpret the Constitution and statutes, returning the focus to the original meaning of the text after decades of judicial activism. And he authored some of the most important decisions ever, including District of Columbia v. Heller, which recognized our fundamental right under the Second Amendment to keep and bear arms. He was an unrelenting defender of religious liberty, free speech, federalism, the constitutional separation of powers, and private property rights. All liberty-loving Americans should be in mourning.
What few people know -- and the media won’t remind them -- is that Ted Cruz was a prime mover in getting Heller, in which Scalia wrote the majority opinion, before the Court and decided in favor of gun rights, ruling that the right to keep and bear arms was an individual right and that the word “militia”, as the Founders intended, meant the “whole people” of the United States. If Heller had gone the other way, our gun rights would have been thrown on the ash heap of history. In January Cruz told CNN:
I represented 31 states in the Heller case, which upheld the individual right to keep and bear arms. You know what Barack Obama's position is? That there is no individual right to keep and bear arms whatsoever under the Constitution… Hillary Clinton, for example, has said she will put Supreme Court justices on the court who will overturn Heller. And if Heller is overturned… there were four justices who said that there is no individual right to keep and bear arms whatsoever, that it is only a collective right in the militia, which is fancy lawyer talk for a nonexistent right… [If] Hillary Clinton gets one more Supreme Court justice, what it would mean is, the Supreme Court would say you and I and every individual American have no constitutional right under the Second Amendment at all, and either the federal government or a state government could make it a crime to possess a firearm.
Our Second Amendment rights are indeed one SCOTUS pick away from disappearing. The next president should make that pick, not an anti-gun lame duck with an agenda to complete his fundamental transformation of America. Not long ago, the Second Amendment hung in the balance, and we may be thankful that Ted Cruz and Antonin Scalia were there to save it.
...wouldn't it make sense for a patriotic statesman who understands how high the stakes are to be our nominee?
Ted Cruz wowed thousands at the ConservativeReview convention in South Carolina last night. Here's Ted's primary points, via CR...
We conservatives love God, and we are fed up with the damage and destruction coming from Washington D.C.
Justice Scalia was an American hero. His conservative legacy must be protected by a President you can trust to nominate constitutional conservatives to the Supreme Court. We are one justice away from legislative tyranny.
Conservatives should look for a proven conservative record in their Presidential candidates. For too long Republicans in power have been unwilling to fight for conservative principles because they don't believe in or value those principles.
As President, Cruz promises to fight for Supreme Court nominees wholly devoted to preserving American liberties and our constitutional system of government.
If the Republican party paints in "bold colors," as President Reagan once called for, conservatives will go forth and win.
...and Mark Levin closed the night with a riveting call for THE conservative candidate we've got in the race! Here's Mark's primary points, via CR:
Conservatives will demonstrate the will and strength of our constitutional movement in this next presidential election.
We will take this country back from those who've fundamentally screwed it up. And we will not operate like the left, who rules by the mob.
We Americans are the progeny of the American Revolution. Fighting for Liberty is in our blood. It is our heritage. And conservatives honor that heritage.
If anyone is confused about what conservatives stand for, they can consult the Bible, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. Conservatism does not need updated. Conservatism does not need to be added to. It is sufficient for liberty and good governance. It is enough for the civil society.
Republicans must nominate a conservatism. The American people need a clear choice between liberty and tyranny. Now is not the time for compromise. Now is the time for victory.
Breitbart: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) canceled his scheduled appearance at the Conservative Review Conference in South Carolina five minutes before he was slated to go on stage.
Conservative Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) harshly criticized Rubio on his amnesty positions right before the Florida senator was supposed to go on stage.
“Marco Rubio will you raise your hand?” conference moderator Mark Levin said on stage at the conference after it became apparent that Rubio was not going to appear on stage. “Where is he?”
Trump, along with Kasich and Bush, didn't even bother to pretend, opting instead for the more mod audience.
South Carolina, it's time to choose...choose wisely.
Breitbart: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) plans to snub the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) this year, and won’t show up at all, Breitbart News has learned exclusively.
CPAC is hosted by the American Conservative Union (ACU) in National Harbor, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. In 2016, the conference will be held right after Super Tuesday from March 2 until March 5.
That Rubio is skipping the pre-eminent annual conservative gathering of thousands of activists in a presidential election year is extraordinarily telling about the direction of his campaign as the entire Washington establishment aligns behind him in a last-ditch desperate bid to stop billionaire frontrunner Donald Trump. Both Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), as well as Dr. Ben Carson, have previously confirmed their attendance at CPAC this year—and each has attended the gathering in the past several years. Rubio did, alongside his mentor former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, appear at the 2015 CPAC.
