Friday, August 28, 2015

The Lid: The GOP's Dynamic Duo? (Cruz and Trump)

NBC News' The Lid ^ | August 27, 2015 | Carrie Dann and Andrew Rafferty 


If you can't beat 'em, ask 'em to join you! In what is a pretty unusual move for a primary contest, Ted Cruz has invited Trump to join him at a rally to highlight opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. The Texas senator has long appeared to be positioning himself to pick up a chunk of Trump's supporters, including through his efforts to avoid criticism of even Trump's most bombastic statements. Cruz has not attacked Trump, and has in turn been one of the few GOP candidates who have successfully stayed out of The Donald's crosshairs.(As Trump is fond of noting, candidates who have aggressively criticized him haven't fared well in the polls, while Cruz has thrived this summer.)
And take a look at these numbers: In the latest poll from Quinnipiac, Cruz had just a quarter of Trump's support overall (coming in at seven percent, compared to Trump's 28 percent lead,) but he ran much more competitively with Trump among Tea Party Republicans and those who say they are "very conservative." Among Tea Party backers, Cruz captured 21 percent, compared to Trump's 25 percent. So it looks like Cruz has a good reason to believe that he'd get support from a slice of Trump's supporters if the real estate mogul deflates.
POPPING ON NBC POLITICS

•Donald Trump defended his hair and attacked the New York Times during a rally in South Carolina, one of us(!) reports.
•Joe Biden could face an usual challenge if he jumps into the 2016 race: his gender....
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...

T-Shirt