Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has described Senator Ted Cruz as the “ultimate outsider” and the ideal candidate to win the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016. All establishment candidates have been defeated badly by outsiders Cruz and Trump, both of which are despised by establishment Republican Party leaders. That is why the endorsement of Sen. Cruz by Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney and other insiders has raised eyebrows and caused concern for many Cruz supporters who fear their candidate is being used and will ultimately be abused and abandoned when he has served the establishment’s purpose.
Senator Cruz has earned a reputation for opposing the establishment Republicans in the Senate on virtually everything they proposed. His most vicious critic was South Carolina’s senior senator Lindsey Graham who recently endorsed him. Graham apparently hates Trump more than he hates Cruz.
Cruz has a well-organized grass-roots organization among Christians and other conservative Republicans. He had a strong organization in South Carolina, however with an open primary, Trump was able to get the votes of conservative Democrats as well as that of discouraged and angry Republicans.
Disturbed by recent developments, and endorsements by influential Republican insiders, Gingrich worried last week that the ultimate outsider may be destined to become the “savior of the establishment.”
Gingrich is not an unbiased observer. He is rumored to be a candidate for chief of staff to the president should Trump become president. He is not, however, alone in his prediction that establishment Republicans are using Sen. Cruz in an attempt to crush Trump and prevent the billionaire businessman from winning the required 1,237 delegates to go into the Republican Convention with enough delegates to win on the first ballot.
Some Cruz supporters see endorsements of their candidate by former establishment opponents as a good thing that will help their candidate defeat Trump and lead to his election over the Democrat candidate in November. Mormons Mit Romney and Glenn Beck helped Cruz to win big with Mormon Republicans in a closed Utah primary.
Other Cruz supporters worry that establishment Republicans are using their candidate to defeat Trump and keep him from getting the required number of delegates to win the nomination. Once that has been achieved, they fear that the establishment will abandon Cruz and nominate a “moderate” to be the Republican candidate to go up against the Democrat candidate in November. Establishment insiders will control the outcome once the delegates convene for the convention. They could even manipulate the first ballot vote.
Trump will counter the support of Cruz by Romney, Bush, Graham et. al. by labeling Cruz as a traitor to Conservative Republicans.
The battle for the remaining state delegates will be vicious and bitter.
The Establishment Republican candidates have demonstrated that they can defeat other conservative Republicans but have failed to defeat Democrats at the presidential level. Unless Cruz or Trump win the Republican nomination, the Democrats will win the election in November and the Republican Party will be fatally split. If Cruz or Trump win, the Party will be changed forever.
With the South Carolina Republican Primary already history, we are mostly observers until November. Until then, the important question will be: Will Ted Cruz remain the “ultimate outsider” or will he become the “savior of the establishment.”
The Democrats will select either an open Socialist or a closet criminal for their candidate unless they slip in a “party hack” like Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Kerry or Al Gore at their convention. None of these choices are acceptable for the future of the Republic.