GOP focus shifts to Texas, Super Tuesday states
Austin American-Statesman
By Sean Collins Walsh - American-Statesman Staff
Feb. 20, 2016
Before the last ballot was cast in South Carolina, Republican presidential candidates were already shifting their attention to the next big primary date on the election calendar: March 1.
Twelve states will be holding GOP nominating contests that day, known as Super Tuesday, and the biggest prize will be the 155 Republican delegates up for grabs in Texas.
Texas this year moved its primary earlier on the electoral calendar to give Lone Star State voters a greater say in the nominating process. An indirect consequence of the move might be that the last Texan standing, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, picks up a crucial victory in the race.
Cruz, who Texas GOP voters supported by a wide margin in his 2012 primary victory en route to winning his Senate seat, will look to seize momentum over real estate mogul Donald Trump in a swath of the Bible Belt tailor made for Cruz's hardline conservative message.
"People will say, 'Of course Ted Cruz won Texas.' But what they need to look at is: How many delegates did he win? And I think Texas is what puts him ahead nationally on Super Tuesday, in the 'SEC primary,' and I think he becomes the front-runner," said Brendan Steinhauser, a strategist who has worked on Senate races for Cruz and rival GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio but who is unaligned in the presidential race. "You have to do well nationally that day if he's the guy who can stop Trump."
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/national-govt-politics/gop-focus-shifts-to-texas-super-tuesday-states/nqTSR/
Predictions?
Rubio will place a distant 3rd, Cruz will win, but there are a lot of lib areas in Texas, so I don't see a landslide win for Cruz.
Super Tuesday and the SEC as a whole will be when campaign organization and ground game will come in to play. These are two areas that I believe Cruz is far superior to any of the remaining candidates. I think this superiority will translate at the ballot box and you will see Trump begin to fade rapidly!
Quote from: Solar on February 21, 2016, 07:11:37 AM
Rubio will place a distant 3rd, Cruz will win, but there are a lot of lib areas in Texas, so I don't see a landslide win for Cruz.
Cruz won his senate seat in 2012 by beating democrat Sadler 56-40 %.
Should be an interesting race.
Quote from: Bowhntr on February 21, 2016, 07:24:49 AM
Super Tuesday and the SEC as a whole will be when campaign organization and ground game will come in to play. These are two areas that I believe Cruz is far superior to any of the remaining candidates. I think this superiority will translate at the ballot box and you will see Trump begin to fade rapidly!
Bullshit!
Has there been any Texas polls done recently?
Quote from: Coolidge23 on February 21, 2016, 09:26:12 AM
Bullshit!
Well, you showed him. NOT!!! :rolleyes:
Now if you'd like to add something other than emotion to prove your point?
That's how debate works.
Quote from: Fishman on February 21, 2016, 09:31:25 AM
Has there been any Texas polls done recently?
Yup
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/tx/texas_republican_presidential_primary-3622.html
Quote from: Coolidge23 on February 21, 2016, 09:26:12 AM
Bullshit!
Nice language. Your points generally carry more credibility when not laced with profanity. It's no wonder you support Trump!
Optimism! a lot can change in a short time. Kasich and Carson dropping out would help wide the lead over Trump. Carson endorsing Cruz, and helping campaigning for him might even clear up the negative media crap. :cursing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ-DtdyS8go
Carson, "Over the course of time, and what frequently happens, the good people have already dropped out. By the time you get to the point you have to decide between the lessor of evils - we don't wanna be in that situation. We just keep fighting, we keep putting out the information, at some point, people actually begin to get very interested in the actual policies and actual solutions, and not just the shiny objects in the room."
Kavuto, "So, no matter how you perform in SC today...you're still in this race."
Carson, "I will be going on to Nevada, please take note everyone" blah-blah.
Carson got 8% of the GOP vote, tied with "heavy weights" Kasich and Bush (who just dropped out).
Quote from: Solar on February 21, 2016, 07:11:37 AM
Rubio will place a distant 3rd, Cruz will win, but there are a lot of lib areas in Texas, so I don't see a landslide win for Cruz.
Correctomundo. Dallas-fort Worth are strong holes of Republicans. The Austin area with so many musicians in the area is strongly liberal. Houston proper is also strongly liberal. To the west is Fort Bend County that is very pro Republican. South Texas is pretty much controlled by Democrats and Liberals. If Cruz gets the nomination, he will most probably carry the state big, but there is an awful lot of dislike out of Austin and Houston for him. East Texas is fairly conservative, but SE Texas is and has always been a hotbed for
liberals Democrats. It will be some hard slogging even for Cruz.
Quote from: Coolidge23 on February 21, 2016, 09:26:12 AM
Bullshit!
Thats very Trump like of you. You probably need to practice his favorite word though "Liar!"
Cruz will beat Trump by 3 or 4 percent.
Quote from: Coolidge23 on February 21, 2016, 09:26:12 AM
Bullshit!
Why? Have you seen any indication that Trump is rising above his usual 32%, 70% of the party is voting against him. Even in New Hampshire close to his New York base, where he put in all those resources, even with the airwaves saturated with Trump AFTER he lost in Iowa? Interestingly, enough the GOP is giving victories to the candidate drawing votes from disaffected Dems - Trump.
Texas has a few uber liberal areas. The Democrat caucus could be interesting.
I like Carson and if Cruz picked Carson as running mate I think it would be good.
Quote from: Chosen Daughter on February 21, 2016, 04:04:52 PM
I like Carson and if Cruz picked Carson as running mate I think it would be good.
I don't want another anti-gunner anywhere close to the White House.
Quote from: The Boo Man... on February 21, 2016, 03:58:32 PM
Texas has a few uber liberal areas. The Democrat caucus could be interesting.
They'll be too busy fight over the Far Left vs the Fever Swamp, Flying Puppies with Winning Lottery Tickets in Their Collars, Left.
Quote from: Shooterman on February 21, 2016, 04:08:49 PM
I don't want another anti-gunner anywhere close to the White House.
Well I wasn't sure but I just looked it up Carson on the issues
http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Ben_Carson_Gun_Control.htm
There was one comment about semi-automatic weapons in the city. Every other comment he made was pro gun and Constitutional. I can understand how that could be concerning. I don't think there would be any need for concern as a VP pick.
Talk Show host, Ben Ferguson (sp) is floating the idea Ben Carson is hurting Ted Cruz by staying in the race, calling Jeb? a statesman for bowing out gracefully.
When he asked a caller, a Carson supporter, would vote for if he dropped out, "Cruz!"
Ferguson said he spent time with the Trump campaign over the weekend, asked what they thought about all these sub-par candidates, they want as many as possible to STAY IN THE RACE, because it's splitting the vote, and giving Trump a path to the nomination.
Ferguson is also saying, Trump's support ceiling is 30%... hinting Ted Cruz (or Rubio) can beat Trump if Kasich and/or Carson drop out.
Ferguson replied to one Carson supporter, Carson could 'get his message out better by acting as a surrogate & endorsing another like candidate like Ted Cruz', much like other candidates have done in the past and do today.
I suspect... Carson is so egotistical, he knows this, wants to punish Ted Cruz for his own loss in Iowa, and/or the Trump camp is encouraging Carson to stay in, making up noble sounding excuses like 'millions of people wanted me to run', 'I feel called to run' - etc.
Quote from: The Boo Man... on February 21, 2016, 01:03:07 PM
Cruz will beat Trump by 3 or 4 percent.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20160221-ted-cruz-faces-must-win-in-home-state-of-texas-if-he-plans-to-steal-gop-from-trump.ece
This article shows how delegates are awarded in Texas. Any guess how they may be split? Can Cruz win every district? popular votes mean very little if you must win in county to county races!
Quote from: Hoofer on February 21, 2016, 04:56:10 PM
Talk Show host, Ben Ferguson (sp) is floating the idea Ben Carson is hurting Ted Cruz by staying in the race, calling Jeb? a statesman for bowing out gracefully.
When he asked a caller, a Carson supporter, would vote for if he dropped out, "Cruz!"
Ferguson said he spent time with the Trump campaign over the weekend, asked what they thought about all these sub-par candidates, they want as many as possible to STAY IN THE RACE, because it's splitting the vote, and giving Trump a path to the nomination.
Ferguson is also saying, Trump's support ceiling is 30%... hinting Ted Cruz (or Rubio) can beat Trump if Kasich and/or Carson drop out.
Ferguson replied to one Carson supporter, Carson could 'get his message out better by acting as a surrogate & endorsing another like candidate like Ted Cruz', much like other candidates have done in the past and do today.
I suspect... Carson is so egotistical, he knows this, wants to punish Ted Cruz for his own loss in Iowa, and/or the Trump camp is encouraging Carson to stay in, making up noble sounding excuses like 'millions of people wanted me to run', 'I feel called to run' - etc.
Or there is more than one campaign being funded by Trump :wink:
I have a different theory on Carson. I don't think he's in it for anything but to sell all his books. I mean, he doesn't campaign, attends debates and acts older than Bernie Sanders there, and has stopped spending money. I think the primary is a Ben Carson book tour for him.
Super Tuesday, Cruz can't lose 10 of 12 of them, but that's what he's poised to do. The dynamics of this race have to be changed and fast else Trump will breeze right to the nomination.
Quote from: jungle x on February 21, 2016, 10:04:48 PM
I have a different theory on Carson. I don't think he's in it for anything but to sell all his books. I mean, he doesn't campaign, attends debates and acts older than Bernie Sanders there, and has stopped spending money. I think the primary is a Ben Carson book tour for him.
Super Tuesday, Cruz can't lose 10 of 12 of them, but that's what he's poised to do. The dynamics of this race have to be changed and fast else Trump will breeze right to the nomination.
Well I do think it is over for him as a presidential candidate. I am surprised that he is still spending money at all given that he hasn't topped single digits. But there is something about him that I find sincere. Trustworthy and that counts as far as I am concerned.
Unless Teddy does really bad on Super Tuesday (or Wonderful Wednesday) This thing is going to the wire. Ted has to win a few states. Rubio has to win at least one. Honorable mention won't cut it. Rubio is running out of time.
Quote from: Coolidge23 on February 21, 2016, 09:26:12 AM
Bullshit!
Yes, you are. Clean up your language.
(https://conservativepoliticalforum.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.fotki.com%2F1_p%2Csgbqrbwssqbqqsrxbqfqsbrwqdbw%2Cvi%2Fgfgswbrbwxtfrrbkstf%2F1%2F1595431%2F10201489%2Fconvincemeburnair300x239-vi.png&hash=885134ff957cec8acec709e2ecd52410497c8196)
Quote from: Chosen Daughter on February 21, 2016, 04:48:05 PM
Well I wasn't sure but I just looked it up Carson on the issues
http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Ben_Carson_Gun_Control.htm
There was one comment about semi-automatic weapons in the city. Every other comment he made was pro gun and Constitutional. I can understand how that could be concerning. I don't think there would be any need for concern as a VP pick.
Nits grow up to be flies. As Pro-gunners, we'll have our hands full if the stupid and self serving PUBS crater on Obama's efforts to pack the Supreme Court with another liberal. Screw Carson and his horse.
Just a little input specially on the gun issue that has arisen in this thread...
The vast majority of non gun owning citizens of this country do not know the difference with gun specs. Largely due to the media, people who dont know a ton about guns, are made to think that assault weapons are only guns like M16s, AR15's, and AK47's. Those guns are more specifically assault rifles. The problem is that there is a difference between assault weapons and assault rifles.
The term "assault weapon" is sometimes conflated with the term "assault rifle". The media should, but does not, differentiate between assault rifles (which are capable of fully automatic firing) and assault weapons (which are semiautomatic and not synonymous with assault rifle).. Civilian ownership of machine guns (and assault rifles) has been tightly regulated since 1934 under the NFA and since 1986 under the FOPA.
So when candidates and/or the government states they want to ban assault weapons, citizens minds think of AK47s, M16s, AR15s, etc. Citizens dont realize that candidates and/or the government is actually saying they want to ban all guns that can shoot 2 consecutive shots without needing to be cocked or reloaded.
Quote from: mrconservative on February 22, 2016, 08:04:05 AM
Just a little input specially on the gun issue that has arisen in this thread...
The vast majority of non gun owning citizens of this country do not know the difference with gun specs. Largely due to the media, people who dont know a ton about guns, are made to think that assault weapons are only guns like M16s, AR15's, and AK47's. Those guns are more specifically assault rifles. The problem is that there is a difference between assault weapons and assault rifles.
The term "assault weapon" is sometimes conflated with the term "assault rifle". The media should, but does not, differentiate between assault rifles (which are capable of fully automatic firing) and assault weapons (which are semiautomatic and not synonymous with assault rifle).. Civilian ownership of machine guns (and assault rifles) has been tightly regulated since 1934 under the NFA and since 1986 under the FOPA.
So when candidates and/or the government states they want to ban assault weapons, citizens minds think of AK47s, M16s, AR15s, etc. Citizens dont realize that candidates and/or the government is actually saying they want to ban all guns that can shoot 2 consecutive shots without needing to be cocked or reloaded.
People who make up stories why we don't need big magazines, or semi-auto rifles/guns have never experienced a pack of coyotes killing livestock. So much commotion, happens so FAST, even the sound of my rifle wasn't stopping them. Even with coyotes dropping right and left, they were so focused on killing, I don't think they heard the gun shots. That's a scene I'll never forget. Those coyotes were enjoying every second of it.
When Joe Biden or some New Yorker says you don't need a big magazine, or a shot gun blast is enough to scare off anything, I know that's a bunch of BS... a strawman.