PostHeaderIcon Dole on Trump

Or, perhaps more accurately, “Dole Dumps on Cruz.” 🙂

It would seem that Ted Cruz hurts Bob Dole’s feelings, when he rhetorically asks who remembers President Dole, President McCain, or President Romney in his stump speeches: “Bob Dole Warns of ‘Cataclysmic’ Losses With Ted Cruz, and Says Donald Trump Would Do Better“:

Bob Dole, the former Kansas senator and 1996 Republican presidential nominee, has never been fond of Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. But in an interview Wednesday, Mr. Dole said that the party would suffer “cataclysmic” and “wholesale losses” if Mr. Cruz were the nominee, and that Donald J. Trump would fare better.

“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.”

That was perhaps a revealing observation. Cruz is undoubtedly the more conservative; but Trump actually seems more like a Republican.

One of the advantages of advanced age, is that one can say any damn thing one likes, and care less what others might think about your having done so:

“I don’t know how he’s going to deal with Congress,” he said. “Nobody likes him.”

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.”

From his perspective as a longtime legislative leader, that is undoubtedly more important to him than to me; but again it is a cogent observation. He may be 92; but dementia sure hasn’t beset his mind.

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.

“If he’s the nominee, we’re going to have wholesale losses in Congress and state offices and governors and legislatures,” said Mr. Dole, who served in the House and Senate for 35 years and won the Iowa caucuses twice. He described Mr. Cruz as having falsely “convinced the Iowa voters that he’s kind of a mainstream conservative.”

The only person who could stop Mr. Cruz from capturing the nomination? “I think it’s Trump,” Mr. Dole said, adding that Mr. Trump was “gaining a little.”

Like the Cruz campaign’s shot at Sara Palin yesterday, they need to grasp that disparaging remarks can have unanticipated consequences. They should carefully assess them in advance, to determine if the positive effect of firing up their conservative base, is worth a potential negative reaction by their target, when amplified by a generally hostile media.  â—„Daveâ–º

 

 

 

 

4 Responses to “Dole on Trump”

  • Troy Robinson says:

    Wow! I did not realize that the old geezer was still with us.

    Troy

  • Chris says:

    Bob Who?

    “If he’s the nominee, we’re going to have wholesale losses in Congress and state offices and governors and legislatures,”
    You mean like in 2014?

    “He described Mr. Cruz as having falsely “convinced the Iowa voters that he’s kind of a mainstream conservative.”
    While Donald Trump has been a life long true conservative?

    “I don’t know how he’s going to deal with Congress,” he said. “Nobody likes him.”
    And we all know that the only reason Obama gets by is because everybody loves him?

    There’s only one reason for this. They can’t beat Trump unless they do it on Cruz’s back. They are figuring that if they can tear down Cruz his votes will go to Rubio and/or Jeb and put one of them up around Trump. They are probably right but on the same token they could drop out and Cruz could take Trump out.

    They fear Cruz more than Trump. Love it when losers try and tell others how to win.

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