Now is as good a time as any to reiterate the simple truth that Cruz is more dangerous than Trump.

[Miles Archer]

He's the male Michele Bachmann.



I don't want to face the prospect of a Clinton / Cruz race. Rubio is now in Ben Carson territory...unless he sweeps Florida, he's out.

I feel better about Clinton / Trump.

And yes, Bernie's not out yet. I get that.

[peacebird]

1. Yes, but Cruz will not win the R primary. No chance at all. The Rs in charge do not want him.

[underpants]

4. I think Rubio stays in to broker the convention

That's my guess

[peacebird]

6. Mine also. But I still think Trump may win it outright

[AgerolanAmerican]

27. That may end up being self-defeating

If his continued presence in the race ends up taking votes from Cruz, it could cause the latter to lose winner-take-all states he might otherwise win, sending the delegate counts in the direction other than the one intended.

GOP is in the absurd position of being screwed by the very rules it put in place to prevent challenges to establishment control.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

7. But they want Drumpf even less

And there are their two frontrunners. Unless the RNC forces someone like Rubio or Romney in (which would likely nearly destroy their party), it will be either Cruz or Drumpf.

The other possibility is that one or both of them is somehow sabotaged by the RNC before the convention. This would give them an excuse to stick in their chosen candidate.

[peacebird]

8. The RNC may not like The Donald, but their people do. I do not think they will be able to put

That genie back in the bottle.

[Hortensis]

13. SOME Christian Right like Cruz. Don't forget,

not all Christians are hard-right social consevative fools who will vote for anyone who waves a Bible and promises to build a wall. Not by a long shot! And lots are even socially progressive and/or liberal.

As for those strong social conservatives who are drawn to Trump, the RNC just pushed them too far for too long (really faaar and really looong) and they broke out of the corral again. They will run a ways, but they're not really going anywhere and will be rounded up again. People who cannot even identify their enemies, have no real idea what's happening, and literally have a congenital predisposition to follow bad leaders really are as helpless as they've been feeling. Losing big to the Democrats would do far more to force positive change on the GOP, or I should say help sensible, moderate conservatives finally gain control, than that crowd of clueless malcontents could ever accomplish.

[AgerolanAmerican]

28. Good observation

Here is SC this is Bible Belt territory if there ever was one and the vote did not go for Cruz, not even close.

The level of overall cynicism comes into play. If a person is cynical at all (which seems to be a widely-shared trait in this state), then Cruz is even more odious as a panderer-to-evangelicals than he would otherwise appear to be.

It's one thing to pander, it's another to be so over the top about it that the people you're pandering to can't even pretend to believe you're serious.

[truebluegreen]

30. Bad thing is I think Cruz really IS serious;

Drumpf is the panderer.

[AgerolanAmerican]

31. nah, it's textbook Pandering to the Rubes 101

Seen that script so many times by now. He's just not all that good at it compared to some of the masters of that creepy trade we've seen in the past.

[Hortensis]

34. You should know, and I'll listen to you on it

cause it sounds like you guys have the right kind of cynicism and a clear eye for this kind of stuff.

But Cruz has confused me. I'm not religious, haven't really seen him at work, and I'm wondering what South Carolinians who are and have been are seeing. For a long time I wondered if he was genuinely religious at all or just using it for manipulation. But now stories have appeared showing that he apparently is/was very devout. He's apparently very punitive by nature, mean as a snake actually, and believes in severe divine retribution. Any thoughts?

[AgerolanAmerican]

37. He wasn't previously known for pandering to that extreme

He turned it up to 11 before Iowa, it was really jarring how he shifted to full blast prostituting himself to evangelical sensibilities when beforehand he was a fairly stock kind of business conservative.

[Hortensis]

40. I hope that's just all he is. I find the possibility that

he is a true believer a lot more frightening than that he is a faker turning it on and off for each crowd. He's supposedly a committed Christian Zionist. He reportedly got booed by a Christian Arab group he was speaking before over his Zionism message and ended telling them they had to support the Jews in Israel or he would not support them. Something like that. And he spouts the typical meme that this is a Christian nation founded by god, not by its people. Of course, his dad and others are insisting he's a prophet or some such thing meant to fulfil a special role for God.

Real or fake, it's dangerous that someone talking like this is this close to the White House. But especially real. Hate it!

[Miles Archer]

32. SOME of my Christian right friends DO like him.

I lived in a small Nevada town for two years that was about as red state as red state gets. You make friends, they're going to be Republicans. I had ONE friend who was a Democrat and I helped her run for a position that, sadly, went to the Republican incumbent. And boy oh boy, did that woman hurl the slime. She buried my friend under a mountain of it.

But most of my friends were saying, in the early stages of the game, "I like Cruz."

When Trump gained traction...especially in light of his immigrant rhetoric...they went for it.

Now I am hearing "I like Cruz" again, from those same people.

[pampango]

36. I am not sure about that. Donald is a 'deal maker' they can negotiate with. Cruz is an ideologue.

Plus they seem to think that Donald won't get beaten as badly as Cruz since his 'populist' economic rhetoric appeals to some who are not conservatives. Cruz' base is a more narrow one focused on religious conservatives - well-suited for a republican primary, not so much far a general election.

[Bettie]

9. The "R's" in charge don't want him

But given a choice between Ted and Trump, who will they choose?

That is what I fear.

[FLPanhandle]

2. Cruz winning the nomination is starting to scare me

Even if he doesn't win, his strong showing will strengthen his political clout.

I was hoping he was done winning states after Texas/Oklahoma.

[Hortensis]

11. He will fall back once we move on from the Bible Belt states.

Doesn't mean he will be out, but we shouldn't get unduly alarmed by a temporary surge whose end is as predictable as its beginning.

[FLPanhandle]

12. Winning Maine is cause for concern though

I didn't expect that.

[Hortensis]

19. Maybe not, but most of Maine is pretty poor and conservative.

Given its relative lack of fundamentalism, tho, I also just assumed it'd be Trump, or...

[ileus]

3. They're both harmless, because all they have the power to do is yak.

Neither are electable, they can whine and cry all they want but the people will never give them power.

[TAMPABAY]

5. Cruz

I still think Trump is more dangerous because he will win a lot of working class whites that don't always vote. Cruz gets the Romney voters and that it. Hillary is going to get a record number of single women to vote this election.

[peacebird]

10. Hillary will lose to Trump. If they run Cruz, she might win.

But if Hill gets the nomination, the Ds lose the WhiteHouse, and downticket we will also lose as the enthusiastiam gap widens to a yawning chasm.....

[Dustlawyer]

14. Hillary is unelectable, her dirt will bury her in the General.

Bernie is not bringing the dirt up, but they sure will and we will watch her numbers slide all the way to November.

[FLPanhandle]

15. Hillary or Bernie crush Trump in the general

You over-estimate Trump

[peacebird]

16. Bernie can beat Trump, Hillary cannot. You underestimate the hatred of Hillary.

[Bucky]

17. Hillary is the one figure who can unify the GOP.

I know it's irrational, her being so moderate, but they hate her more than Trump, more than fascism

[Miles Archer]

33. I do not personally know one Hillary supporter.

And as I said, part of that comes from living in Nevada for two years, but I've also been in Texas, Colorado, and now South Carolina...pretty well in the red zone. And many of my conservative friends are close friends...they've done a lot for me, and I have done a lot for them...but I usually have brief, surface-level conversations about politics with them.

When it comes to my Democrat friends, some are staunch Bernie supporters, and the rest do not want Hillary unless it means voting for her to keep Trump or Cruz out. But not a single one of them says that they like her, quite the opposite. Some of them have said that if it came down to Clinton or Rubio, they might have gone with Rubio. And Kasich has scored "crossover points" via the last couple of debates.

I've seen a number of stories during the caucuses about voter turnout among Dems being down. I don't know how true that is, but one thing's for sure...if Trump gets in and Democats stay home, it will be time to say hello to President Trump. Cruz may get people off their asses and into voting booths.

I don't know. A lot can happen between now and November. Part of the issue with Clinton is that you can't rehabilitate and image you don't think needs rehabilitation. I don't know if she really understands what most of the people I talk to are saying, and if she does, she either feels it's irrelevant or that she can rise above it. I think she would be fatally wrong on both counts.

[edhopper]

18. Hard to say

What does more damage, an earthquake or a tornado.

Is ebola worse than malaria?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

20. Ideologically, yeah, sure. He's a true believer. But he's burned so many bridges...

....even with his own party, I don't think he'd get a lot of his agenda passed if--God forbid--he'd be elected. And that's assuming if he even gets that far. I think the level of GOP support during a general could best be described as "lukewarm", "tepid", "Not Hillary" and "Not Trump."

Cruz the ideologue is rather scary. Cruz the politician isn't.

Whereas Trump--although not nearly as ideological--is simply downright terrifying. Because he's just insane. And not only is he insane, but his entire movement is ten times as insane as he is.

Cruz doesn't have a movement. Trump does.

And what's scary about Trump is not only is he insane, he's also incompetent. He's never spent a day as an elected official, doesn't really know anything about the Constitution and doesn't want to know anything about the Constitution. He's incredibly stupid in just about everything except self-promotion. He's got a huge ego but tissue paper thin skin.

So you have a guy who's concerned with only one thing, himself, and legions of followers who provide him with that undying adulation that he demands, and it's a recipe for disaster.

I hate to say it, but if Donald Trump gets elected, far right conservatism is going to be the very least of our worries. Welcome to Trumpism, and it will not be pretty for America.

[nruthie]

23. Well said.

[riderinthestorm]

21. Agreed. K&R nt

[Takket]

22. we would be better off with cruz as the nominee for the GOP

Trump has lots of cross over appeal. Cruz has none at all. He appeals to evangelicals and that is it. Cruz is much easier to beat in the general.

[AxionExcel]

24. Amen

[AxionExcel]

25. Kiss democracy adios, and fall to your knees in SUBmission to Repube KristoFascism

[Mz Pip]

26. Santorum won quite a few States

I checked 2012. Santorum won Kansas and Oklahoma and by the end of the primaries had won 11 states. So, perhaps Cruz will meet the same fate.

It's just that there isn't a sane choice this time, so Trump is probably it.

[Hydra]

29. All of them scare me

And shouldn't be allowed anywhere near power.

The idea of another Bush Admin brought to us by the Clintons is almost as terrifying.

Where does this madness end?

[0rganism]

35. he has to win outright, which is now quite difficult

if it comes to a brokered convention where the vulgar talking yam walks in with a plurality of the delegates and has the nomination stripped away from him via floor fighting, count on Trumpolini to run an indy campaign.

this all actually looks quite good for Democrats.

[Zorra]

38. Cruz has something very scary freaky wrong about him. nt

[ibegurpard]

39. I don't see Cruz getting crossover

Blue collar working class Democrats. I DO see Trump getting some. Agree that Cruz is far worse but I think he is the more beatable candidate.

[GOLGO 13]

41. Bachman was just a craven oportunist. But Cruz is a true believer of the christian death-cult

Bachman was a clumsy, weird, know-nothing that I believe was a sock-puppet for somebody else. Now Cruz? He want everlasting annihilation to bring about the 2nd coming. He's more dangerous than 10 Donald Trumps, 2 Hitler's and 7 Bob Saget's.