Long read, but makes the case for a President Cruz.

You wouldn't know it from his poll numbers. Cruz is running at about 6 percent nationally and in key states such as Iowa and New Hampshire. That's well behind outsiders Donald Trump, Carly Fiorina, and Ben Carson, and those numbers accord with the attitude that many influential Republicans have taken toward him since his arrival in Washington three years ago: There's no way he can win the nomination. He's too conservative and doctrinaire, and his abrasiveness doesn't help the cause. Given his poll numbers and his solid but unremarkable debate performances, the press has mostly ignored him.

The result is that the Texas senator may be the most undercovered serious candidate in the race – and the most underestimated. But he shouldn't be dismissed. This is the man, after all, who, according to one of his allies, began meeting with Iowa activists to plot his path to victory in the state in August of 2013, just nine months after he was elected to the Senate. Is it possible that he'll sneak up on the Republican establishment again, just as he did in his 2012 Senate race?  Within Republican circles, attitudes about his viability have begun to change.

Even strategists associated with some of Cruz's rivals acknowledge that, in a historically crowded field, he may be one of the last men standing. "He's got a long way to go, but unlike some of these guys, he has a coherent strategy, he has a lot of money, he has a pretty consistent message, and he's not making mistakes," says a top Republican strategist allied with Florida senator Marco Rubio. "He's running a good campaign." RELATED: The Paradox of Ted Cruz With strong support in Iowa and South Carolina, Cruz has a path through the early states; both his campaign and his super PAC are flush with cash; and he's a skilled politician who doesn't slip up much on the campaign trail or in debates.

But unlike Cruz himself, his strategy is not head-turning but simple, steady, even creeping. "He's not readily considered a first-tier candidate, but if you look at the critical ways to evaluate whether a candidate is strong or not, he should be a first-tier candidate," says GOP strategist Matt Mackowiak. By all accounts, Cruz is positioned to succeed in Iowa, which has been friendly to conservative candidates in years past. The Real Clear Politics polling average has him tied for third place with Carly Fiorina, and he has a solid ground game in place. "Our trajectory has been slow and steady upward," says Bryan English, Cruz's political director in the state. "I've just been kind of curious, okay, when are people going to start paying attention to what we're doing and that we're positioned to do very well in Iowa." RELATED: How Ted Cruz Has Wooed Some of the GOP's Top Donors The campaign has been getting in position for a long time.

Steve Deace, an Iowa-based talk-radio host who has endorsed Cruz, says that as far back as August of 2013, Cruz was asking him to set up meetings with top Iowa activists. Now, Deace says, the Texas senator has "the best [Iowa] organization I've ever seen," composed of the sort of dedicated activists who put Rick Santorum over the finish line four years ago. Cruz also has a plan beyond Iowa. He has referred to the March 1 "SEC primary," in which eight Southern states go to the polls, as his "firewall": that is, a backstop against whatever losses he might sustain beforehand. This year, these Southern states will go to the polls before Florida and before the traditional Super Tuesday, a change in the primary calendar instituted by RNC chairman Reince Priebus. Most of those contests, unlike the ones that precede them, are not winner-take-all, and Cruz's goal is to win the most delegates rather than to take entire states.

Throughout the primary season, Cruz has crisscrossed the South, sweet-talking voters unaccustomed to playing an outsized role in presidential contests. "He has made the largest investment in those Southern states of any candidate," Mackowiak says. "Most of those political leaders in those states have never been asked to participate in the process." Texas is one of the "SEC primary" states, and it alone will award 155 of the 1,144 delegates needed to win the nomination. Cruz, of course, holds a natural advantage. His team spent over a year developing detailed knowledge of the state's political contours just three years ago. Mackowiak says there's a "very real possibility" that Cruz will be the overall delegate leader on March 2. Mackowiak says there's a 'very real possibility' that Cruz will be the overall delegate leader on March 2.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/425183/ted-cruz-iowa

Yes, some of us have known for a very long time that Cruz is incredibly organized and structured.  I think he is right on target.  He likes flying below the radar in the early months.  It definitely works to his advantage because the msm is ignoring him.   

His timing will be good.  He will peak at exactly the right time and the wave will carry him forward.   March 1 will be an exciting day!

Quote from: kroz on October 07, 2015, 01:41:38 PM
Yes, some of us have known for a very long time that Cruz is incredibly organized and structured.  I think he is right on target.  He likes flying below the radar in the early months.  It definitely works to his advantage because the msm is ignoring him.   

His timing will be good.  He will peak at exactly the right time and the wave will carry him forward.   March 1 will be an exciting day!

Excellent point. This is good. I think there are two reasons for this. First, they are hoping he will just go away and secondly, they don't want to confront him knowing he will expose and embarrass them. The "folks" will come to him and I like his "SEC strategy" of hoping to make a big splash after that southern state primary day. I also believe he will do well in SC.

Quote from: supsalemgr on October 07, 2015, 01:47:36 PM
Excellent point. This is good. I think there are two reasons for this. First, they are hoping he will just go away and secondly, they don't want to confront him knowing he will expose and embarrass them. The "folks" will come to him and I like his "SEC strategy" of hoping to make a big splash after that southern state primary day. I also believe he will do well in SC.

Cruz is definitely a shrewd and calculating man.  He knows exactly what he is doing.  He never shoots from the hip.  Every word is calculated and precise.

I suspect we will be pleasantly surprised at the ease with which he does this!!   

Quote from: kroz on October 07, 2015, 01:41:38 PM
Yes, some of us have known for a very long time that Cruz is incredibly organized and structured.  I think he is right on target.  He likes flying below the radar in the early months.  It definitely works to his advantage because the msm is ignoring him.   

His timing will be good.  He will peak at exactly the right time and the wave will carry him forward.   March 1 will be an exciting day!

I wonder who in the past he patterend his campaign after? We know the Establishment uses this method every cycle, but not in the way Cruz has seemingly mastered it.
He's kept a low but solid profile, and as SSM pointed out, the LSM are afraid to confront him one on one.
Whatever, or whomever they've patterned after, it's definitely working perfectly. 

I wonder how he will handle the RINO CONgresscritters when he is President? Hopefully he won't cave and pucker up, but then I don't want him acting like the Dictator we have in the WH now. Hopefully he'll be able to charm them to his way of thinking.

Quote from: tac on October 07, 2015, 04:28:53 PM
I wonder how he will handle the RINO CONgresscritters when he is President? Hopefully he won't cave and pucker up, but then I don't want him acting like the Dictator we have in the WH now. Hopefully he'll be able to charm them to his way of thinking.

He is not going in to be a popular President.   I do see him following the Constitution 100%.  He will have a lot of fixing to do, and that will take time.  Along with making a lot more jobs.  Those government people will have to go someplace to work for a living.  Once there government jobs are gone.   

We were talking earlier about the 3rd qtr fundraising report for Cruz.  Initial reports looked weak but there has been an update to those numbers.

Last week, immediately after the September 30th deadline, the Ben Carson campaign announced it had raised a massive $20 million in the last quarter. On Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)96%
's campaign reported it had raised well over $12 million. The only other candidate to report numbers as of Thursday was Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)93%
, who raised an anemic $2.5 million for the quarter.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/10/08/marco-rubio-whiffs-raises-just-6-million-3rd-quarter-half-previous-total/

Cruz raised twice as much as Rubio!

Ted mocks rodham:

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/cruz-mocks-clinton-jokes-debate-should-be-held-prison-n446531

READY 4 Hillary

I look forward to hearing Ted speak tomorrow at a local event.  I know he will bring the house down!  He always does. 

Quote from: kroz on October 17, 2015, 06:34:17 PM
I look forward to hearing Ted speak tomorrow at a local event.  I know he will bring the house down!  He always does.

Excellente vous. 

I sound hypocritical cuz I'm always bashin' 'em, but I hope you caught infowars/Alex Jones' coverage of the rodham hecklers/haters in San Antonio a couple days ago.  There's way more people fenced-out of Castro's yay, hillary-speech than gathered in front of the stage. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFeFXtRvdT4

Yes, rage is building in flyover country!