PostHeaderIcon Fox Outfoxed

Cruz too… It is time for these checkers players to give up trying to best a three dimensional chess master. There was a lot of fascinating reading today, as some of the more astute commentators are starting to read Trump’s books and figure out what he is and has been doing.

Rush Limbaugh, for one, gets it, “Trump Refuses to Play by the Rules“:

RUSH: Okay, where are we on the situation here with Trump and the debate? So far Trump says he’s not showing up. He claims he’s not showing up because Megyn Kelly is going to continue to be a moderator. And if you believe that, I can give you substantive reasons. And it’s all in The Art of the Deal. Trump is not that hard to understand if you pay attention to him and read his books. In The Art of the Deal, one of the things that he makes a huge deal about is being able to know when to walk away and have the guts and the courage to do it.

Trump is so far outside the formula that has been established for American politics that people who are inside the formula can’t comprehend it. They don’t understand why somebody would want to venture so far outside it, because it is what it is, and there’s a ladder of success that you have to climb. And somebody challenging it like this in more ways than one, as Trump is doing, has just got everybody experiencing every kind of emotion you can: They’re angry, they are flabbergasted, they’re shocked, they’re stunned — and all of it because he’s leading.

Everything he’s doing goes against the book. Everything that any analyst or consultant or professional would tell you not to do, Donald Trump is doing it, and he’s leading the pack. This creates its own set of emotions and feelings and thoughts that run from person to person. Now, the political business, if you want to look at it that way, is like any other business. It has its people who are considered the elites in it — and like any business, they hate outsiders. They don’t want outsiders just storming in trying to take over, and much less succeeding at it.

He goes on to make his case rather well. You might appreciate reading the whole thing.

Then, just the title of a Politico piece offers a brilliant motive for the obviously calculated move, “With no Trump, Cruz goes from hunter to hunted“:

Hollow or not, Donald Trump’s threat to boycott the final GOP forum before Iowa votes has complicated Ted Cruz’s game plan, forcing the Texan to prepare for two different debates — one in which he tangles directly with the front-runner and another that sets up the senator as the largest target on stage.

…

Cruz and Trump have been locked in what’s become a two-man race for first place in the first state, but polls suggest Trump has the momentum. The Manhattan businessman has led all but one of the 11 public polls in Iowa that have been released since the Des Moines Register/Bloomberg poll in early January showed Cruz with a narrow 3-point lead.

Cruz, a collegiate championship debater, clearly wants another shot at Trump. He immediately challenged him to a “mano-a-mano” debate after Trump announced his withdrawal. “Can we do it in Canada?” Trump mocked him on Twitter.

LOL… Trump rarely misses an opportunity to elegantly parry a thrust. 🙂

For Cruz, Trump’s threatened absence means that the other candidates who trail him in Iowa, such as Marco Rubio and Rand Paul, have only one leader to fire upon: him.

Paul, whose sagging showing in the polls caused him to miss the last debate, has been itching to take on Cruz. On Wednesday, Paul ripped Cruz for his more hawkish stands on foreign affairs in an email to his supporters. Trump’s nonappearance, Paul said on Fox News, should give him more time to make all his arguments.

…

Rubio has telegraphed his interest in going after Cruz’s past work as a lawyer for a Chinese company accused of stealing intellectual property from an American firm. The issue has yet to come up at a debate, but Rubio hammered Cruz for it earlier this week in Des Moines.

“When Ted Cruz had to choose as a lawyer, he was choosing to represent the Chinese,” Rubio told reporters. “You can’t go around saying you’re tough on China but then have a legal record in which you were paid a lot of money to defend the Chinese who had taken a product away from an American — unjustly, unfairly and illegally.”

…

But all eyes remain on Trump, who holds a rally and then is scheduled to appear on Fox’s Bill O’Reilly program late Wednesday, despite his boycott of the network’s debate the next night. Rival campaigns plan to tune in to see whether Trump, who mused about walking out on past debates but never followed through, reverses course.

Even I was enticed to tune-in to the O’Reilly program tonight, for the first time in weeks. Trump handled him rather deftly. Bill almost appeared desperate to talk him into relenting and attending the debate, which naturally put Trump in the driver’s seat. Something I read somewhere today suggested that Fox News anticipated charging $750K per minute for commercials; but would now be lucky to get $150K without Trump on the stage. No wonder O’Reilly was on a mission. The Daily Mail reports that trump now refuses to take or return his boss’ calls, “Donald Trump feud causes panicking Fox News CEO Roger Ailes to call Ivanka and Melania in attempt to get the frontrunner BACK to the debate – but he’ll only speak to Murdoch.”

I must admit that this is the most entertaining season ever, in my lifelong hobby as a political junkie. I probably won’t bother to watch the debate tomorrow, however. Without the front runner, it would be no more enlightening than watching the under-card debate by the also-rans, which I stopped watching after the first one. 🙂 â—„Daveâ–º

10 Responses to “Fox Outfoxed”

  • Chris says:

    I heard Rush yesterday. Interesting perspective but not really the only way it can play out. The specter of an empty podium in the middle of the stage with Trumps name on it won’t go unnoticed or unused. I would say it pretty much has to be there. Fox would be stupid to simply move Cruz to the center stage slot.

    Notice all the coverage is talking about strategy. Trump is doing it to gain an edge in this way or that. None of it is about the absurd reason he’s using. If people believe it’s simply a strategy to either avoid exposure to another poor debate performance or to open up the others to attack Cruz folks won’t like it. If you take his reason at face value he’s just a big baby that can’t handle the same kind of heat he loves to dish. What it will depend on a lot is whether the media will allow Trump to argue the debate post debate. That’s what he’s counting on. He’s counting that he will be able to pick the debate apart in the media after it’s over. If he tries to he should be told to just shut up. He could have been there.

    (BTW all of his debate performances were nothing but a pile of trash no matter what anybody says. It’s his biggest weakness and he knows it. Those that think he won them are the same that would think Obama is a great orator. I’m not saying Cruz beat him. I’m saying they all did. Well maybe not Kasich.)

    As far as it opening up Cruz to take all the shots I’m going to wager that he relishes the opportunity. He gets to respond to every “shot” in his direction. The more time Cruz gets the better off he is. Cruz can handle Rubio. The rest are just noise.

    You are correct in one perspective for sure. This is turning out to be the most fun in decades. Whether it’s good for the system or not is questionable but of course your not much for the system anyway. 🙂

    There is one takeaway that I’m absolutely sure of. The primary end game. The end game is not to pick a nominee. The mainstream GOP doesn’t want that because neither of the two strong front runners are acceptable to them. The end game is a brokered convention. It’s the only way Trump would be getting the kind of endorsements he’s getting. They need to keep him propped up enough to split the delegates. He can take the coasts but cant touch the south and flyover. The delegates are carefully being portioned out to a draw. A brokered convention will see Trump drop out because it won’t be “fair”. He will probably be right. The GOP knows that the convention is where they can exercise the most influence and arm twisting. Yes indeed the GOP is once again screwing over the conservative base. Don’t be shocked in November when folks are pulling the lever for Rubio or Bush. Or once again not pulling it at all. Politicians are slow learners. Remember you heard it here first. 🙂

    • Chris says:

      Well I was wrong on this one. Cruz will be center stage. Only up side is that it stops Trump from parading in mid debate. That was always a possibility I suppose. http://therightscoop.com/ted-cruz-will-be-center-stage-tomorrow-night-with-no-empty-podium-left-for-the-donald/

    • Now you have me absolutely salivating, Chris. I had not thought of the brokered convention ploy. Not only would an unscripted and unpredictable convention be great political theater for a change, it would probably mark the beginning of the end of the Incumbrepublocrat Duopoly. 🙂

      With a little luck, we could end up with Hillary indicted, and Sanders the communist as the Democrat wing’s nominee. This could result in a totally out of control four or five way race in the General Election. Sanders for the Ds; Rubio for the Rs; Trump as an independent populist; Bloomberg as an independent socialist; and perhaps Cruz as an independent conservative/constitutionalist. Now, that would be an interesting contest! No? 😉

      If something like this were to occur, I can’t see how the oligarchs could ever regain control of the process, and herd all the sheeple back into their so-called ‘two party system.’ And just think, we would owe all of this to the towering titan, Donald Trump! 🙂 🙂 â—„Daveâ–º

      • Chris says:

        I’m glad to peak your interest Dave. It’s really getting ugly. Today Trump tweeted some provocative pics of Megan Kelly that have actually been around for a while. There you have it. I don’t know how much louder he has to scream I don’t want to win before somebody might hear him. I mean really? When he said he could shoot people on fifth avenue and still win he was probably right. Now with this latest it’s getting so he’s actually mocking his supporters. This from a future president? SMH. I don’t care how politically incorrect you want to be or how much he dislikes anyone that isn’t acceptable behavior from a candidate much less a president. What a joke. Aside for the glass desk and short skirts I’m not particularly fond of Megan Kelly but some things are uncalled for.

  • Troy Robinson says:

    I support Trump’s decision because, on the first FOX debate, Megan Kelly’s behavior was, in a word, unacceptable. The first question she asked was not only improper, but she asked it in a fashion that made it an insult. That is not necessary. One can ask direct, unpleasant questions and still be polite and respectful in the process.

    Since Megan has started her ascent at FOX, her ego has grown so large she can hardly get it through the door! Trump is not her only victim and I refuse to watch her program.

    IMHO, FOX should have made her apologize for that performance. Not just to Trump, but to the American people.

    Troy

  • Larry andrew says:

    I agree with all comments. The Trumpet is brilliant. I am enjoying it all very much tho I am unable to anticipate his terrific moves. His O’Reilly stint was great and he made O’Reilly look like a street beggar
    Wouldn’t a brokered convention be great?

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