Political pundits have been condemning or praising GOP Presidential candidate Ted Cruz over his campaign strategy. Whether they’re on the condemning side or the praising side usually depends on their political affiliation. One aspect of his strategy has been to avoid confrontation with frontrunner Donald Trump. It may end up being the move that wins him the nomination and takes Trump down.
Both are very complimentary of the other, but Trump noted that Cruz has been rising in the polls and warned that if he keeps rising, that the friends will have to become foes when Trump turns to attack him.
“If he catches on, I guess we’ll have to go to war,” he told host Joe Kernen on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Doing so would be a terrible mistake by Trump. The two have spoken at the same event and seem to be in lockstep on several issues, including Syrian refugees, border security, enforcing immigration laws, and the Iranian nuclear deal. Turning against him now will expose Trump as a man beholden to political expediency. It will demonstrate that he doesn’t attack candidates based upon their ideas or experience but rather based upon their level of threat to his own campaign.
He should have turned on him from the start if he wanted it to be a positive issue. Turning on him after he rises in the polls is a sign of fear and weakness. It demonstrates that he is less concerned about policy and more concerned about personal attacks.
Cruz, by contrast, has been “drafting” behind Trump and other candidates, allowing them to take the brunt of attacks from each other, particularly Trump. It has also allowed him to build the strongest infrastructure while holding onto the most campaign cash. He did have an ever so minor attack on Trump, which Trump actually praised as something he “had to do.”
@tedcruz talks of his alliance with @realDonaldTrump and how Trump will be dropping out of the 2016 race. http://t.co/xIOPzyglPy
— Bobby Layne (@UHaverbeck) October 17, 2015
The biggest reason that attacking Cruz would be a huge mistake is because it will force him to expose the contrasts on the issues and their histories. Cruz has been a consistent conservative since before he ever ran for the Senate while Trump has had a history of liberal views and campaign cronyism with Bill and Hillary Clinton, even donating to their campaigns. As similar as they are on certain issues, they diverge greatly in other ideologies. Cruz is clearly aligned with the conservative “lane” of the party with Ben Carson as his only true rival. Meanwhile Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorina, and John Kasich are fighting for the moderate lane.
Trump fits both, or rather he doesn’t fit either. Right now, his supporters see him as they want to see him. If they’re moderate, they see him as a talented business man who can turn around the economy. If they’re conservative, they see him as tough on immigration, Iran, and Syrian refugees. By attacking Cruz, he will be forced to either commit to the conservative lane to go head-to-head or he’ll have to veer towards the center to contrast with Cruz. Both scenarios will make him lose more support than he gains.
The problem for Trump is this: he’ll have to go to war if Cruz rises. He’s already declared it, and while he’s not averse to flipflopping, this particular flipflop will be a hard choice for him to make. Nevertheless, he’ll make that choice and it will cost him the nomination.
He has already been advised of this, which is why he made his first “attack” in the form of subtle jabs while declaring that Cruz would be a top consideration for Vice President.
Trump names Cruz as potential VP pick: https://t.co/DyUiimRZaE http://pic.twitter.com/0jiiCCT31X
— The Hill (@thehill) November 17, 2015
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