2016 elections - because it's never too early

[Valmy]

Ted Cruz pivot to the middle? LOL

Well I guess there is a first time for everything.

[Barrister]

If Ted Cruz wins the nomination I have no shadow of a doubt he will pivot towards the centre.  Cruz is a smart guy.  He graduated from Princeton undergrad and Harvard Law, where he made law review.  He clerked with Rehnquist.  He worked with the Bush campaign, was Texas Solicitor-General, then made huge waves as an insurgent tea party senator from Texas.

Now he's not going to run as a leftist, but he knows how politics work.  His campaign focus will change if he wins the nomination.

If the choice it between Ted Cruz and Clinton, or Sanders for that matter, I'd be pulling for Cruz.

But it would be a farce for him to shift to the middle, and we all know it. He's not hidden his type of crazy. (You call it what you will, but that level of fanaticism is crazy in my book.) It would be nearly impossible for him to suddenly shift focus and convince Independents or even Moderates that he's really not going to force his religion down everyone's throats. No, honest.

I don't know.  For your theory to be true you have to believe that Ted Cruz is dumb.

He's not going to shift to the middle and adopt Kasich's platform.  But he'll soften it.  He'll change focus.  It'll be more what issues he emphasizes, ratehr than actually changing his beliefs.  Why will he do it?  Because that's how politics has worked for the last 50 years or so.  You play to your base in the primaries, then you play for the centre in the general election.  Cruz has run too smart of a campaign not to know this.

[Barrister]

Ted Cruz pivot to the middle? LOL

Well I guess there is a first time for everything.

He's never had to before.

[Valmy]

Ted Cruz pivot to the middle? LOL

Well I guess there is a first time for everything.

He's never had to before.

True. I guess that is why it seems so unlikely. He has set himself up as the purest of the pure, an ideological Mother Mary. It would be weird to suddenly see him get mushy on things. But, as you say, maybe it is just that the political situation encouraged him to act like this.

[derspiess]

Ted Cruz pivot to the middle? LOL

Well I guess there is a first time for everything.

He's never had to before.

GOD BLESS TEXAS

[derspiess]

True. I guess that is why it seems so unlikely. He has set himself up as the purest of the pure, an ideological Mother Mary. It would be weird to suddenly see him get mushy on things. But, as you say, maybe it is just that the political situation encouraged him to act like this.

Political opportunism can make politicians say all sorts of things they normally wouldn't say. 

[Valmy]

GOD BLESS TEXAS

Man you should hear what our Governor is saying these days

[Barrister]

Ted Cruz pivot to the middle? LOL

Well I guess there is a first time for everything.

He's never had to before.

True. I guess that is why it seems so unlikely. He has set himself up as the purest of the pure, an ideological Mother Mary. It would be weird to suddenly see him get mushy on things. But, as you say, maybe it is just that the political situation encouraged him to act like this.

Did you ever think you'd see him portraying himself as the pro-women candidate?    Yet there he was the other day.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/women-donald-trump-ted-cruz-wisconsin-221515

[Razgovory]

His religious fanaticism is not a façade - he is not trying to pretend to be a religious nut, he *IS* a religious nut.

This is not the Shrubbery pretending to be super religious, but really being no more religious than most salad bar American Christians.

Cruz is the real deal. A born again Christian fundie.

I don't think Bush was "pretending to be super religious", I think he just wasn't an asshole about it.

[Berkut]

His religious fanaticism is not a façade - he is not trying to pretend to be a religious nut, he *IS* a religious nut.

This is not the Shrubbery pretending to be super religious, but really being no more religious than most salad bar American Christians.

Cruz is the real deal. A born again Christian fundie.

Trump though... really seems disconnected from reality.  Even Trump supporter Anne Coulter said that trump was "mental".

I'm firmly in #NeverTrump.  If the choice is between Trump and Cruz, I'm easily supporting Cruz.

Again, not exactly shocking.

What if the choice is between Cruz and Kasich?

Cruz and Clinton?

Cruz and Sanders?

If Ted Cruz wins the nomination I have no shadow of a doubt he will pivot towards the centre.  Cruz is a smart guy.  He graduated from Princeton undergrad and Harvard Law, where he made law review.  He clerked with Rehnquist.  He worked with the Bush campaign, was Texas Solicitor-General, then made huge waves as an insurgent tea party senator from Texas.

Now he's not going to run as a leftist, but he knows how politics work.  His campaign focus will change if he wins the nomination.

If the choice it between Ted Cruz and Clinton, or Sanders for that matter, I'd be pulling for Cruz.

I am not at all surprised - support from people like you is just what he wants.

My point here is that Cruz, should he win the nomination, will shift towards the center. You are right.

But he has ALREADY shifted - his current position is a shift towards the center, because his actual background is even more crazy than what the Tea Party would tolerate - that is why they love him so much.

That is that makes him so scary - he is someone who has already shifted towards the center from his natural position in order to get elected. I don't doubt that he would be happy to present himself as even more "moderate" in order to attract voters like you.

But he is further to the right than Sanders is to the left, for example. A lot further.

The fact that he went to an Ivy League school doesn't make his crazy more palatable.

[Valmy]

I am not at all surprised - support from people like you is just what he wants

Well of course he wants his fellow Canadians to support him.

[Barrister]

I am not at all surprised - support from people like you is just what he wants.

My point here is that Cruz, should he win the nomination, will shift towards the center. You are right.

But he has ALREADY shifted - his current position is a shift towards the center, because his actual background is even more crazy than what the Tea Party would tolerate - that is why they love him so much.

That is that makes him so scary - he is someone who has already shifted towards the center from his natural position in order to get elected. I don't doubt that he would be happy to present himself as even more "moderate" in order to attract voters like you.

But he is further to the right than Sanders is to the left, for example. A lot further.

The fact that he went to an Ivy League school doesn't make his crazy more palatable.

Well first of all as a Canadian I doubt he wants support from "people like me".   Edit: Dammit Valmy beat me to the punch-line.

But how do you know what his "natural position" even is?  Are you able to look into his eyes and read his political soul?

When I look at Cruz I see a guy who is definitely right-wing, ut to me more appears to have taken on positions thinking that is how to win.  He's taken precisely one (1) position that might be remotely unpopular (in Texas or amongst Republican primary voters) - he opposed ethanol subsidies in Iowa.  Other than that he merely promises to support guns the most, cut taxes the most, spend the most on our military...

[Berkut]

If Ted Cruz wins the nomination I have no shadow of a doubt he will pivot towards the centre.  Cruz is a smart guy.  He graduated from Princeton undergrad and Harvard Law, where he made law review.  He clerked with Rehnquist.  He worked with the Bush campaign, was Texas Solicitor-General, then made huge waves as an insurgent tea party senator from Texas.

Now he's not going to run as a leftist, but he knows how politics work.  His campaign focus will change if he wins the nomination.

If the choice it between Ted Cruz and Clinton, or Sanders for that matter, I'd be pulling for Cruz.

But it would be a farce for him to shift to the middle, and we all know it. He's not hidden his type of crazy. (You call it what you will, but that level of fanaticism is crazy in my book.) It would be nearly impossible for him to suddenly shift focus and convince Independents or even Moderates that he's really not going to force his religion down everyone's throats. No, honest.

I don't know.  For your theory to be true you have to believe that Ted Cruz is dumb.

Ted Cruz is a religious nut, and he recognized that there was real power to be had if he could just moderate it a smidge, and since it was Texas, it would not need to be too much. So he did that.

That obviously worked well for him, sort of. He ran from the right of the electorate, at a time when the other politicians were scrambling to move to the right.

How does that imply he is dumb?

He's not going to shift to the middle and adopt Kasich's platform.  But he'll soften it.  He'll change focus.  It'll be more what issues he emphasizes, ratehr than actually changing his beliefs.  Why will he do it?  Because that's how politics has worked for the last 50 years or so.  You play to your base in the primaries, then you play for the centre in the general election.  Cruz has run too smart of a campaign not to know this.

Sure, he will shift his public face to being just barely sane enough for people who think religiously driven political action isn't such a terrible idea, as long as it is their religion calling the shots, of course. people like you - and there are a lot of people who feel that way. Which is what is pretty terrifying for those of us who value our liberty.

But he is fooling you - he is a religious extremist, and will govern accordingly, just like Bush, after he sold himself as a religious guy, didn't really do much on that front once elected, because he wasn't actually all that religious at all.

Cruz you get the opposite - someone who will try to sell himself as less fundy than he is, but who is in fact a religious fanatic.

[Solmyr]

[merithyn]

True. I guess that is why it seems so unlikely. He has set himself up as the purest of the pure, an ideological Mother Mary. It would be weird to suddenly see him get mushy on things. But, as you say, maybe it is just that the political situation encouraged him to act like this.

Political opportunism can make politicians say all sorts of things they normally wouldn't say.

Sure, but we have to believe him. I believe him when he says the crazy Christian stuff. I won't believe him if he changes that discussion.