Some establishment Republicans are trying to rally around Ted Cruz. This news broke yesterday:
In a sign of just how much the Republican presidential primary has turned the party on its head, Sen. Lindsey Graham will headline a fundraiser on Monday in support of Ted Cruz.
Graham told CNN that while the Texas senator is not his preferred candidate, he's "the best alternative to Donald Trump," and he said he will "help Ted in every way I can."
Then last night there was this:
Marco Rubio is close to endorsing Ted Cruz....
The buzz about a Rubio endorsement of Cruz intensified after the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Thursday reported that the Florida senator called his Texas colleague “the only conservative left in the race.”
But today we read this:
In the event of a contested Republican convention this summer, John Kasich is the candidate most acceptable to GOP delegates.
That’s according to members of The POLITICO Caucus -- a panel of political insiders in seven battleground states....
... insiders said Kasich has alienated fewer Republicans....
... Others pointed to Kasich’s electability in the fall and insisted GOP delegates would pick a candidate who can win.
...But Kasich’s appeal on the convention floor might have more to do with the nature of the delegate pool than with Kasich himself.
... “Delegates tend to come from the donor class/establishment wing of the GOP,” an Iowa Republican pointed out in choosing Kasich, adding that most delegates are “older party regulars.”
I'm trying to imagine how I'd feel if I were an angry anti-establishment GOP voter from a state that hasn't had its primary or caucus yet, someone who liked both Trump and Cruz but leaned toward Cruz, and I read these three stories. I'd really have to wonder if voting for Cruz would make me a useful idiot -- Cruz probably can't earn enough delegates to win outright on the first ballot, so the establishment wants him to do well only so he can deny Trump a first-ballot victory, at which point it's time for bait-and-switch.
So I'd want to vote Trump. At least I'd know that if I'm voting for Trump, I'm getting Trump.
Yeah, it's just politics. But I understand the disgust of people who've been duped all these years into believing that there's something pure and noble and idealistic about voting GOP, or at least about voting "Tea Party" GOP or "constitutional conservative" GOP or whatever the hell they're calling it this week. They were told there'd be no defeat and no compromise. Naturally, that's what they still want.
If Trump somehow wins the presidency and doesn't rule the way he campaigned, I don't know what we'll get from his voters. Revolution? Random shootings? Hard to tell, but it won't be pleasant.
(Crossposted at No More Mr. Nice Blog)
