for the GOP, it is up to Cruz now

Okay, now that the New York primary as completed and Trump has crushed Cruz, it is time to face facts. It is impossible for anyone other than Trump to win on the first ballot. So, Cruz and the Gov of Ohio are only staying in in the hope of keeping that from happening and bringing about a “contested” convention. The trouble with that is, in this day and age, especially with a populist favorite in the lead, there is no way for anyone, anyone other than Trump, to walk out of that convention with the nomination and the party able to come together and defeat the Clinton big money machine. Trumps supporters, especially all the cross-over blue collar Democrats and first time voters will feel cheated. It doesn’t matter that the rules are followed or not. They will feel cheated and be even angrier than they are now. I can’t blame them. Trump will go into the convention with the most votes and the most delegates, but will be shut out due to party “rules” and old-style back room deals with delegates? In that even, Trump supporters by the millions will most likely sit out and not vote at all. The end result will be the same as if Trump ran as third party candidate.

Cruz has had plenty of time to pull ahead but just wasn’t able to do it. Even with the party establishment beginning to throw their reluctant support his way just to stop Trump. So, the time has come for him to put the country and the party first. The time has come to suspend his campaign and to support Trump. If he works hard, he may, just may be able to convince his ardent supporters to join with Trump and defeat Hillary. If he keeps going, he will most likely ensure her victory and the split of the GOP. It will not be easy. He will have to give up his ambition. Personally, I don’t think Cruz will quit. He is determined now to try and win on the 2nd or later ballot. This is sad because even if he wins, he will lose. And the whole country will lose. Hillary will be the next President.

The GOP dilemma

Libertarian Party Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On the drive home last night, I was listening to a conservative talk radio host complain that the Libertarian third party candidate was the reason the Republicans lost in Virginia. He pointed out that those voters had “wasted” their votes and if only they had been practical and voted for the Republican candidate their votes would have counted. Surely, he continued, those voters would prefer the Republican to the Democrat. I don’t know about the specifics of this particular election in Virginia, but there is a pattern that appear to be emerging of the old GOP Establishment vs Tea Party and Libertarians and Conservatives.

Sadly, I believe that he, along with the rest of the GOP establishment, is missing the real point. They cannot just count on the libertarian and Tea Party vote like the Democrats can count on their base, that often votes in block against their own self interest and out of total ignorance. The libertarians and Tea Party are independent. They are not sheep. They have strong convictions and pay attention to what progressive politicians in both the Democrat and Republican Parties are doing. I have a tip for the GOP. They will continue to lose as long as they do not field candidates that can pull in the libertarian and Tea Party voters.

The GOP establishment thinks they can “fight” against the Tea Party candidates and get more of their own kind to win. This will never work. Over and over in recent elections it has been demonstrated that this wont work. However, they just don’t get it. If they want to win against the radically liberal progressives that have taken over the Democrat Party, they can’t be progressive but not as progressive. The progressives win by lies and promises that can’t be kept in the long run. They win by deceit and count on the ignorance of a lot of the voting populace. Of course, the more progressive party will win that battle. And the Democrats have gone way radical and ultra progressive, with the aid and support of the mass media, unions and Hollywood culture. This is not the party of JFK, my friends.

No, the GOP has a real dilemma. The establishment are really big government progressives at heart, just like the Democrats, but they try to lie and sell themselves as the party of small (or at least smaller) government. When Bush was President and the Republicans had total control of the congress, did they decrease the size of government? Did they even try to decrease the growth of big government? No, they did not.  Reagan didn’t either, but then he never had control of the House during either term, did he?

If the GOP wants to win, they have to face the fact that progressive Democrats have bought off a large portion of the population. They are going to have to field candidates that appeal to the Tea Party and to libertarians in order to get their votes. For example, more candidates like Rand Paul, or Rubio, or Lee or Cruz. Just wishing and hoping that the “third party” threat will go away isn’t going to work this time. They are going to have to build a new coalition and face the fact that for many of us there just isn’t that much of a difference between Bush and Obama.  We are not going to vote for the lesser of two evils anymore, because that doesn’t get us anywhere.

All the establishment GOP cares about is winning the election and then protecting their power and status and the status quo. To the rest of us (conservatives, libertarians, and the grass roots tea party activists) that isn’t winning. That is losing. We don’t care which party wins as long as that party begins to stop the madness of continuing deficits and of bigger, more intrusive federal government, and the loss of our natural freedoms to tyranny of the progressive statists.