Cruz, Trump, and the “establishment”
Bob Dole didn’t exactly endorse Trump, but he prefers him to the dread pirate Cruz.
In the process, Dole (who is now 92) had this to say:
“I question his allegiance to the party,” Mr. Dole said of Mr. Cruz. “I don’t know how often you’ve heard him say the word ”˜Republican’ ”” not very often.” Instead, Mr. Cruz uses the word “conservative,” Mr. Dole said, before offering up a different word for Mr. Cruz: “extremist.” . . .
But Mr. Dole, 92, said he thought Mr. Trump could “probably work with Congress, because he’s, you know, he’s got the right personality and he’s kind of a deal-maker.”
The remarks by Mr. Dole reflect wider unease with Mr. Cruz among members of the Republican establishment, but few leading members of the party have been as candid and cutting.
Watching this video of Dole, I notice another telling remark: Dole says that Cruz called McDonnell a liar on the Senate floor, and “You don’t do that; it violates the rules of the Senate.” Well, we can’t have that, can we? Even (or maybe especially) if McConnell is a liar. Then Dole says he “might oversleep that day” if Cruz is the Republican nominee. So Dole is saying that perhaps Hillary or Sanders or Biden would be better than Cruz.
And then Dole cuts to the chase. Speaking of Cruz, he says, “He used to make those speeches—‘remember President Dole? Remember President McCain?’ The inference was that we’re all a bunch of liberals, and only he is a true conservative. And he uses the word ‘conservative’ more than he ever uses the word Republican. So, it would be difficult [to vote for Cruz if nominated].'”
Wow.
By the way, if you watch the clip of Cruz that’s featured on the same video, Cruz follows up his “President Dole” remark with this: “Those are good men, they’re decent men, but when you don’t stand and draw a clear distinction, when you don’t stand for principle, Democrats celebrate.” And yet, if Cruz were nominated (by the voters of the Republican Party to which Dole claims devotion), Dole would rather that Democrats celebrate a Cruz loss.
It seems clear to me that, in addition to the personal animus Dole bears Cruz for what were actually pretty mild remarks on Cruz’s part (although they probably rubbed a sore spot for Dole, his loss in 1996), Dole doesn’t like Cruz because Cruz is a conservative before he’s a Republican. Dole is not only a Republican before he’s a conservative (if he’s a conservative at all), but he’s a Republican over nearly everything (including Republican voters), and he would rather Clinton (or whoever Democrats end up nominating) win than vote for Cruz, Republican betrayer—with whom, by the way, Dole doesn’t seem to have mentioned a single ideological quarrel. Dole’s quarrels are all about party loyalty.
If ever anyone needed a demonstration of why so many people can’t stand the “establishment,” Bob Dole could not have provided a better one.
[NOTE: I found some interesting comments on all of this at Legal Insurrection, and here’s one of them:
The Republican establishment is willing to go whole-hog in order to defeat Cruz, because they know that a Cruz Presidency will truly be an end to a lot of the executive largess that the establishment GOPe have come to covet. A Trump presidency would tolerate, if not condone, a lot of that executive largess, because that is the way of BIG business (it simply IS: I’ve BEEN there and DONE that). One of my former tax professors put it very well: the individuals have to maintain the ”˜trappings of wealth’ in order to appear successful to their colleagues/peers and clients.
The GOPe would rather be a minority party with the perks, than actually govern like grownups. That was the whole reason that the Congress was lost in 2006 and with it the Presidency in 2008, leading to the debacle that we currently face. The only redeeming quality of that was that it finally pissed off the base sufficiently for the TEA-Partiers to form into a (reasonably) coherent group and started electing candidates.
Trump is a Crony-Capitalist. PERIOD. Anybody who tells you differently is selling you a cart-full of horse manure. His principles change with the direction of the wind on what is in his (or his organizations) best interest…
The GOPe knows that within Cruz’s mental framework, they have no place and no power, and they cannot tolerate so much as the thought of that outcome, thus they seek to destroy Cruz as the agent of their doom.
Also see this, as well as this, and this related piece on Trump’s sucking up to ethanol special interests in Iowa.]
“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of the party”
So true, Neo. Dole epitomizes all that is reprehensible about so many Republicans–particularly those in position of power. The comment you quote, nails it. I still am glad Trump entered the fray. It did change the discussion, to what I contend are the 2 most important issues, immigration and the economy, at least for a while. Cruz remains our choice in our home, 4 conservatives that are registered Republicans.
‘I question his allegiance to the party.’
I do too. I think Cruz’s allegiance is to his country.
Every president has to work with Congress. Except Obama, and we see what that did for the country. The skill that you want in a president is a capability to persuade people to his point of view and give as little ground as possible. Up to the voter to decide who has the best skills to do that kind of governing.
BTW, I have to wholeheartedly disagree with Legal Insurrection’s take on Trump: “Trump is a Crony-Capitalist. PERIOD. Anybody who tells you differently is selling you a cart-full of horse manure.”
Directly from Trump’s 2012 book (he has a whole chapter dedicated to big government):
“We need more grown-ups in Washington, people who will shoot straight and level with the American people about our nation’s top budget busters.”
Here are some points he made:
1) we need to reform social security, uproot fraud and make it more efficient
2) same for Medicare
3) he discusses, instead of raising taxes to solve the problem, that we need to grow our economy so that gov’t revenue will rise
4) he discusses how taxes money belongs to the American people and not the gov’t and points out how Obama used tax money and funneled it to his cronies and friends in the ‘stimulus.’
5) he discusses streamlining the government to get rid of waste and gives an example of consolidating 2100 data centers; he also talks about some famous ‘pig book’ spending and how the gov’t wastes money on all kinds of ridiculous programs.
Please tell me where in that you see Trump as a ‘crony capitalist.’ I see him as a business man who knows how to run a profitable business by cutting back waste, hiring good managers, etc.
Anyway, wish people would read.
K-E:
That quote was not Legal Insurrection’s stance. It was from one commenter there.
So, what do you think of Mark Levin’s take on Trump, ethanol, and crony capitalism? I linked to it in the Note at the end of the post.
Also, since Trump’s entire political oeuvre is limited to his writings and speeches (he’s never held public office), the charge of “crony capitalism” is linked to (a) his present stand on ethanol, and (b) his behavior as the “capitalist” part of “crony capitalism.” In other words, his multiple donations to politicians he now says he disagrees with, donations that he also admits were designed to buy him influence and favoritism for his companies.
Newt Gingrich called Bob Dole the “tax collector for the welfare state.” Pretty much sums up Dole and the GOPe.
Dole’s comment is exactly the axe I have to grind against the Republican party. What does it say about Dole and his ilk that they distinguish between conservatism and the Republican party?
Furthermore, they are so inured to this Democrat-Lite train of thought that there’s just about no chance that they will ever “get it” which makes the following Cruz statement all the more telling:
I’m liking Cruz more and more as this side-show wears on.
dole froze and peed in his pants when asked to comment on Clintons character. nuff said
avi-That is the big problem I have with so many so-called fellow conservatives (especially among the younger generation and in the religious–Catholic & Evangelical arena); plenty of stated contempt for anyone taking a conservative position…”crickets” on the true opposition. It’s galling.
Cruz is the real deal when it comes to “say what you mean, mean what you say, one thing leads to the other”. On the airwaves in Iowa Cruz is under attack over his stance on ethanol, our gop governor has announced he wants Cruz to lose the caucus. Meanwhile the donald who is for reducing regulations and ending crony capitalism has suddenly discovered what a wonderful thing it is to subsidize ethanol production for the votes in the state that is the top corn producer in the world.
Bottom line, the gope believes it can work with president trump and fears the nightmare of President Cruz.
This is the Bob Dole who ditched his deficit hawk stance in ’96 because the establishment told him to. I voted for him, but I held my nose.
The only reason to have voted for Dole (whose wife was another pseudo, and a NC Senator) is that he was not a Dem. Had he won, the country would have only been spared four years of Clinton, not a substantive change in any policy.
Dole at 92 is a cockroach stripped of all cover.
Dole criticizing Cruz: “… And he uses the word ‘conservative’ more than he ever uses the word Republican. So, it would be difficult [to vote for Cruz if nominated].'”
Right. Loyalty to a mushy political party is more important than loyalty to a reasonably coherent set of principles.
The mess we’re in with a Leviathan federal government burning through hard-earned taxpayer money, regulating everything that moves, running up massive debt, refusing to deal with unsustainable programs, etc, etc, etc.–this didn’t just happen in the last dozen years.
It is the accumulation of many decades of exactly what Dole’s comments–and his career, which began with his election to the House in 1962–represent: loyalty to a party that stands for almost nothing and the concomitant refusal to fight hard battles to uphold conservative principles.
“The GOPe would rather be a minority party” [than be a majority party without the perks].
“Trump is a Crony-Capitalist. PERIOD…. His principles change with the direction of the wind on what is in his (or his organizations) best interest…”
That is a partially true observation. Trump does not let his principles stand in the way of making a buck because his foremost principle is to make a buck. That said, his assertions as to what is wrong with the country are I believe, sincerely held.
“The GOPe knows that within Cruz’s mental framework, they have no place and no power”
Exactly true.
K-E at 2:42 pm,
All of the points you make concern those who influence the federal government’s behavior in ways that violate the common good. Lots of crony capitalism occurs that has nothing to do with government. Trump can be completely for reforming government while supporting the continuance of private crony capitalism.
I don’t agree with Dole’s take. Ruffling up a few feathers in the GOP establishment is a good thing.
I don’t agree with the commenter’s claim that Trump is a crony capitalist and is running to benefit his organization. I’ve read some of the same stuff as K-E and Trump seems more interested in making government serve the people more efficiently. In “Crippled America” he cites this frightening statistic.
I’ve been consulting for a company that runs lists of people against a database of death notices. Banks and insurance companies use this service to determine when to stop pension payments, for example. Looks like such checking is beyond the competence of the federal government.
If there is one area where I disagree with Trump, it is his stand on ethanol. He ties it into a theme of “energy independence” and he supports the ethanol mandate. But, we can get energy independence the Palin way, at much lower cost: Drill, Baby, Drill.
I won’t change my support for Trump on this one issue, where he is pandering to Iowa. But it would evaporate in an instant if he softened his position on immigration. Adios Trump, if that happened.
I give Cruz credit for standing against the ethanol lobby in Iowa. It may cost him victory there. If I could trust him on immigration, and if he committed to deporting all illegals, I would consider supporting him.
I wrote this on an earlier thread:
Ted Cruz has flip-flopped on birthright citizenship.
On his campaign web-site, Cruz continues to claim credit for blocking the gang of eight amnesty bill. He may have spoken out against it, but that didn’t stop it passing the Senate and it didn’t stop Boehner from whipping up the votes to pass it in the House. I didn’t see Cruz campaigning for David Brat in his bid to unseat Eric Cantor. Cruz didn’t endorse Brat. But David Brat’s victory was what stopped amnesty from passing in the House.
Cruz highlights a Rush Limbaugh quote on his site.
The quote came from this Limbaugh show. In context, the quote is not quite the ringing endorsement that Cruz would want. It is more like Limbaugh is agreeing with Cruz in the interview. Back when Cantor was defeated, Limbaugh gave credit where it was due.
Cruz is supported by various Super PACs to the tune of $50 million. Until I see where his backers stand on illegal immigration, I’m not going to take Cruz at his word. I suspect that Club for Growth is similar to the Chamber of Commerce in its support for open borders and expanded H1B visa programs, but I don’t know that. I do know they are supporting Cruz and Rubio.
I ditto the notion that the GOPe is dumping Bush for Trump.
The GOPe never really ‘went’ for Rubio.
He is way too Catholic for them.
I’d vote for Trump over HRC in a heartbeat — but at this time Cruz is my #1, with Rubio as #2.
Fiorina, Carson … would be fine as VP — never as the head of the ticket.
Bush is as bad as HRC — almost. He’d be a total tool of Wall Street — which is the nexus of our problems.
I doubt Trump is a crony capitalist – he is not taking handouts from lobbiests and businesses. I don’t see him lining the pockets of Silicon Valley leftists pretending to be green (Solyndra, Testla, etc). Cronyism is about payback and who is funding Trump? Who is funding Hillary?
But Dole and his ilk are why I, as an extreme right winger, will vote for Trump if he is the nominee. So out of touch are the republicans it’s not even funnty.
Whatever does not see Trump as a Crony Capitalist. Well, maybe I don’t understand the term; because in my mind he defines it. I don’t know if he takes handouts from the government, or not. As far as I know, no one has plumbed that pond. We do know that he shovels money to politicians on both sides of the divide. Are we to believe that he gets nothing in return?
Dole was a good man. At one time he was touted as Mr Conservative. Unfortunately, that was a long time ago. I would think for many, an endorsement by the Bob Dole of 2016 would be a big negative. So bizarre that he speaks of loyalty to the party constantly, and never of loyalty to the country.
It is a measure of Doles delusional state that he thinks Trump has the personality to work with the Congress.
I hope that by the time I am 92, I will have the good sense to keep my mouth shut.
Cruz does what he was voted in to do by his constituents. The GOPe, not so much. They do what their lobbies and big donors want them to do. I will stick with the conservative who tells it like it is, then with the liars, that will tell you what you want to hear, until you elect them into office.
AND the reason that the Iowa Governor Branstad hates Cruz, is because his son WORKS for the Ethanol Industry….Funny how that works…
Wendy…
More as his son IS the ethanol industry.
Near as I can make out, his son is the point man for those cronies.
Which puts his daddy deep in the mix.
The biggest issue with corn-to-fuel is that it’s destroying the diets of the poor — planet wide.
It’s a HUGE factor in why meat prices are up so high.
High prices kill sales volume, so it’s a very mixed equation for Iowa farmers.
The feed lot operators are being torn up by today’s absurd corn prices.
Whatever Says:
January 21st, 2016 at 5:14 pm
I doubt Trump is a crony capitalist …
&&&&
ALL major property developers are the very definition of crony-capitalists.
Such buildings ALWAYS need special permissions — government assent — which is paid for via campaign contributions// shake downs.
In Honolulu, a classic crony capitalist state, ALL real estate development issues were vectored directly to the Mayor’s campaign contributions office.
They had a schedule of bribes that had to be paid… starting at $5,000 to be the Mayor’s ‘friend.’
ALL local governments are in the real estate business.
For local authorities control all land use.
Whereas, Washington controls military spending, and much else.
So, in Washington the issues lobbied for turn on the favors it can deliver or deny.
In my town, every single (local) politician is a landlord, a developer, a contractor — or all three.
97% of their time is spent on real estate ‘issues.’
The reason they sought office is to guarantee that their own projects would sail along… and they do.
They also manage to have County roads built and extended so as to radically increase the value of their raw land.
Not surprisingly, they all make it to millionaire acres — and very quickly, too.
We may know who the nominee is going to be, ten days from now. If Trump wins Iowa, it’s over.
KLSmith:
I’ve seen that sort of stuff all over the blogosphere from Trump supporters.
“If Trump wins Iowa, it’s over!!”
Reminds me of nothing more than the sort of thing leftist trolls do. I don’t like it from the left, and I certainly don’t like it from the right. Don’t succumb to it (I seem to recall you’re not a Trump supporter).
The statement contains no analysis, no logic, no reasoning, and no precedent—just a bald statement, meant to…what? Scare people into jumping on the Trump bandwagon? Deflate people supporting other candidates into giving up? Since when did Iowa—or New Hampshire, for that matter—tell us who would win? Sometimes they go with the eventual winner (particularly when there isn’t a big or well-contested field), but often not. Ask Ed Muskie, Tom Harkin, Dick Gephardt, George Bush in 1980, Bob Dole in 1988, Huckabee, and Santorum for Iowa, and for New Hampshire you can ask Muskie (again), Hillary in 2008, Paul Tsongas, Gary Hart, and Estes Kefauver.
Whoever wins in Iowa, be it Trump or one of the candidates I favor, it doesn’t mean “it’s all over.” Not by a longshot.
whatever:
Trump not a crony capitalist? Is he, then, giving all those donations to liberal Democrats, and praising them to the skies, out of the goodness of his heart? Or does he just really, really, really, like Democrats? Do you think he gets nothing in return?
And why is he suddenly so hyped up about ethanol, now that Iowa is imminent? Did he just realize how great the stuff is?
And why do you think Dole would rather deal with him than Cruz? If people like Dole prefer Trump, why would you oblige Dole by voting for Trump, if you dislike Dole so much?
I’m sure there are folks who have well developed reasons for supporting Trump’s candidacy, but 90+% of what I read on-line sounds like cultish devotion. There seems to be no amount of facts, even in Trump’s own words, that can sway them from their support.
Like Barack Obama in ’08 many people are able to project their ideals onto Trump regardless of what is in front of their faces.
Bob Dole is a wounded, partially disabled survivor of WW2 who should have been terribly offended by Trump’s attack on McCain. Instead he is offended by Ted Cruz calling McConnell a liar in public. What bothers him is the inability of Cruz to be a team player. In a nut shell, what good is purity of belief when you can’t get a damn thing done?
This is not an endorsement of Trump, since Dole’s choice is Jeb Bush.
The Republicans are just another slightly different variety of Democrat. They are afraid of Cruz, and I like that a lot. And should Cruz lose the primary, Trump is better than Hillary, Sanders, Biden, or Michelle. It’s not complicated.
If HRC were to drop out — Jerry Brown would jump in.
He’s run out of important things to screw up in California.
So, there’s that.
@neo-neocon:
Of course Trump gave to liberal Democrats and said nice things about them. In turn, they helped his business. He has said as much. When he calls, they pick up the phone. That is the way the political system works. Politicians grant favors to their donors. Some say the politicians extort donations, which is Peter Schweizer’s view. It probably works both ways.
Trump, at least, acknowledges there is a problem with the nexus between donors and politicians. He has also spoken out against Super PACs and shut down some that tried to cash in on his name.
Here is Trump in his own words:
Interestingly, none of the other politicians on stage disputed what Trump said. When you admit there is a problem, you have made the first step towards recovery.
Neo:
“And why is he suddenly so hyped up about ethanol, now that Iowa is imminent?”
More mirroring.
A problem with Trump, like the Koran, is that he gives multiple messages. The observer is left to believe the one they want. It’s Obama all over again.
PatD,
Tell me if I has misconstrued your rational… trump engages in influence peddling and suddenly as the chief executive of the federal goverment he is going to crack down and reform “a broken system”? BTW, I think trump is still a businessman.
And, what is the beef with PACs, people/organizations have a right to engage in political speech or should president trump use the IRS to harass them?
PatD:
Do you have a clue what you just said?
Let me try to think of an analogy. “I’ll marry the whore because, even though she’s been a whore all her life, now she says it’s a bad thing to be a whore. And, after all, there are a lot of whores around. Plus, not only does she say she’ll stop being a whore, but she says she’s going to fight against the practice of prostitution in general and become a reformer.
“Meanwhile, I’ll let her turn one last trick in Iowa, and then we’ll tie the knot.”
If that works for you, I really don’t know what else to say.
PatD, I doubt if you will give my thoughts about Trump any weight since you are convinced that he is a reformer. But what if I agree with you that he knows how the system works, and even acknowledge that he didn’t make it and is possibly more of a victim of the corruption than an instigator. The part about when they ask for money I give it with the understanding I can call in the “debt” for a favor down the road is right out of The Godfather. He is a master at navigating through the corrupt system. No one can deny it.
Now, what in anything he’s said or written makes you believe he wants to shut it down? He gives the impression he wants to do it better than the incompetents in charge. He only wants to change the system by streamlining it and making it more efficient. Yes, he may well clean up some of the mess. However, on fundamental principles of freedom and self-responsibility he is ominously quiet.
Neo, I love that analogy and intend to borrow it.
@y’all:
They are all whores and johns. The politicians who solicit donations in return for favors are whores. The donors who buy favors are the johns. Or maybe I got that back to front. The point is that the whole system is corrupt, but only one candidate is at least willing to admit it.
PatD:
Crony capitalism? Or lobbying? They’re both talked about all the time.
And who cares if Trump “talks” about it? Per my analogy, he’s the living embodiment of it.
Y’all my ass. Respond with a bit more or admit you are not paying attention to several candidates as you are blinded by your adoration of the donald. Sheee-it, trump makes Jeb! look conservative.
Neo: I hope you are right, believe me. Not trying to scare or deflate anyone. More like steel ourselves. I will be voting for Cruz on Super Tuesday. My (not unique) reasoning is that Trump had not been favored to win Iowa, so if he does that, then wins NH, and SC….. you don’t think, barring divine intervention, it’s over?
Anyway, sorry to be the skunk at the picnic – I have issues with pessimism.
parker: you’re there on the ground. do you have a prediction?
Party allegiance among Republicans was always a one-way street: elite RINOs commanded and everyone was expected to obey. That the RINO like Dole should be loyal to the party is unthinkable.
Trump, at least, acknowledges there is a problem with the nexus between donors and politicians.
To a dictator that wishes to acclaim himself to the Throne of Power, the problem is always in other people, not in himself.
@neo-neocon:
It is worse than crony capitalism and lobbying.
Read Peter Scwheizer’s book. He is no crazy Glenn Beck type conspiracy theorist. He researches carefully and documents everything he finds. He also names names and accounts for the money. From his introduction:
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