About a month ago, conservative commentator Erick Erickson wrote a post at Redstate headlined, "Ted Cruz vs. Marco Rubio: This Is Where We Are Headed." Erickson predicted that, eventually, "the more conservative elements" of the party would fall behind Cruz, while "the more establishment elements" would opt for Rubio. It was a bold statement, considering that both candidates were stuck in the single digits in the polls.
After Wednesday night's third Republican debate, it's much easier to see how it could happen.
Rubio swatted away an attack by his main rival for establishment support, Jeb Bush, leaving the brother and son to former presidents looking petty and small. Not long afterward, Cruz opened fire on the debate moderators, winning wild applause from the crowd and praise from conservatives online.
Lately, Bush has seen Rubio as his biggest threat. So after Rubio responded to a question from a moderator about the number of Senate votes he's been missing, Jeb tried to take him on. "Just resign and let somebody else take the job," he suggested.
Rubio's response was devastating. He started by pointing out that John McCain missed a huge amount of votes during his 2007-'08 presidential campaign, and Bush didn't seem to mind. "I don't remember you ever complaining about John McCain's vote record," he said. "The only reason you're doing it now is because we're running for the same position. Someone convinced you attacking me is going to help you."
Throughout the night, both gave crisp, clear, and rhetorically impressive answers, far outshining the other candidates on stage. The consensus in the vast majority of the political media — conservative, liberal, and nonpartisan — was that Cruz and Rubio won.
Cruz scorched the moderators
Later on, it was Ted Cruz's turn to shine — and he did it with the vintage Newt Gingrich 2012 move of attacking the debate moderators.
"The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media," he said. "This is not a cage match. You look at the questions — Donald Trump, are you a comic book villain? Ben Carson, can you do math? John Kasich, will you insult two people over here? Marco Rubio, why don't you resign? Jeb Bush, why have your numbers fallen? How about talking about the substantive issues?"
It was a "moment" of the sort Cruz lacked in the first two debates. The audience applauded wildly — he was saying exactly what many conservatives across the country were thinking. And GOP pollster Frank Luntz's focus group loved it:
Stylistically, Cruz performed strongly for the rest of the debate too — he didn't seem too angry, and even cracked a few jokes.
"FACT: Ted Cruz is running the best campaign of any presidential candidate," the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza wrote this week. "If I had to put money on a delegate leader coming out of Super Tuesday, it would be Cruz," RealClearPolitics' Sean Trende tweeted. And some other commentators who once affirmatively proclaimed that Cruz couldn't win — because he was too despised by party elites — are now less sure.
While watching this debate, though, it was easy to imagine both Cruz and Rubio rising above everyone else — and battling it out for the nomination in the end.
No comments:
Post a Comment