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RNC chief: No changes to delegate requirement likely

Reince Priebus

By Jessie Hellmann

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus said Sunday the GOP likely won’t change a rule that requires candidates to have 1,237 delegates to clinch the GOP presidential nomination.

“Having a plurality of the delegates means the field has the majority. You have to have the majority, it’s the United States of America,” Priebus said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “The majority rules, and that is an American concept I can’t imagine us turning our backs on.”

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he should receive the party’s nomination if he has more delegates than his opponents, even if he hasn’t reached 1,237.

Trump has ramped up his attacks against the RNC in the past week, accusing party officials of “canceling the vote” in Colorado, which had a convention to award delegates instead of a primary of caucus.

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/276595-rnc-chief-no-changes-to-delegate-requirement-likely

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‘I want Ted one-on-one’: Donald Trump calls on Marco Rubio to drop out of race

Trump_hat_boarder-theridgewoodblog

TRUMP: KY, LA
CRUZ: KS, ME

SANDERS: KS, NE
CLINTON: LA

Colin Campbell

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump said Saturday that rival Marco Rubio should drop out of the race.

“I think it’s time for Marco to clean the deck. I really do. And I say that respectfully,” Trump said at a press conference in Florida.

Trump held the press conference after four states held primaries or caucuses earlier in the day. Trump was projected to win Kentucky and Louisiana, while Cruz won Kansas and Maine.

“I think Marco Rubio had a very, very bad night,” Trump said. “And personally I’d call on him to drop out of the race. I think it’s time now that he drop out of the race. I really think so. I think it’s probably time.”

Trump’s call echoes that of another presidential candidate, Ted Cruz, who has urged the non-Trump candidates to drop out so that a coalition can form against the Republican frontrunner. Rubio, a Florida senator, has only won one state — Minnesota — while Cruz has also notched victories in Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Alaska.

“You got to be able to win. He has not been able to win. And I think that it’s time that he drops out,” Trump said.

https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-ted-cruz-marco-rubio-drop-out-race-2016-3

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With Trump and Cruz Still Strong, Some Predict Rare Competitive NJ Primary

VOTE_theridgewoodblog

 

With the campaigns of Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) riding high after first and third-place showings in New Hampshire, some Republican insiders believe that this spring’s New Jersey primaries could see a substantial rise in conservative turnout from independents and the undecided. As Trump and Cruz maintain their leads against the GOP establishment’s deep bench, June could bring surprises in a primary that typically serves as a late stepping stone for candidates who have all but sealed up the nomination. JT Aregood, PolitickerNJ Read more

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Alieta Eck, MD For Real Health Care Reform

Alieta Eck, MD For Real Health Care Reform, Obamacare ,

“How Practicing Physicians Would Restore Affordability, Promote Patient Choice, and Retain Quality in Medical Care.”

Last spring, a group of about 40 physicians convened in Washington, DC to outline the principles we believed to be key in any health care system– basically minimizing the role of the federal government. As we walked the halls of Congress, delivering our message, look who we ran into. I believe that Ted Cruz would like our one-page outline, “How Practicing Physicians Would Restore Affordability, Promote Patient Choice, and Retain Quality in Medical Care.”

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Mainstream Republicans fret as Trump and Cruz strengthen in presidential race

head-in-sand-gop_theridgewoodblog

By James Oliphant
Reuters
January 15, 2016

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) – With two weeks to go until the first contest of the 2016 presidential race, Republicans who fear their party has been hijacked by the likes of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz found little to comfort them in the latest debate.

Both candidates, one a billionaire developer with no political experience and the other a U.S. Senator from Texas with a reputation for clashing with his colleagues in Washington D.C., stood center stage Thursday night and, for the most part, dominated the proceedings.

More mainstream hopefuls such as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio from Florida were left nipping at their heels and squabbling among themselves.

With characteristic bravado, Trump dubbed himself the winner on Friday. Speaking to 250 people at Living History Farms in Iowa, he called the debate “interesting” and said “even the pundits last night were treating me nicely.” Trump told MSNBC the overnight polls showed him winning the debate, saying Cruz was “very strident” and made “inappropriate” comments.

“I don’t know that he’s a nice guy,” Trump said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program. “I think he hurt himself last night.”

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/mainstream-republicans-fret-trump-cruz-strengthen-presidential-race-084308631.html

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Brief Observations From Last Night’s Republican Debate

GOP Debate
January 15,2016
By Jason A. Vigorito
After so many debates and campaigning weeks, the Republican field has begrudgingly narrowed a bit, and poll numbers have relatively stabilized. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio are now the Big Three, while the rest of the pack have become several strains of the same white noise.
It’s unfortunate that Trump is now being blatantly political and attacking another candidate because of polls–the epitomizing strategy of a true politician (he learns fast! But, he’s very smart and went to the best schools–not sarcastic). A difference between Trump and the professional politicians is supposed to be that he’s open, honest, and transparent about his campaign (like a certain president said his administration would be, who then turned around and became the least transparent administration since Nixon’s). Trump’s poll numbers stay high in the #1 spot because of his refreshing lack of political professionalism, but he’s proven on occasions, such as last night, that he’s from the same cloth, just a glossier version.
I saw absolutely nothing wrong with what Cruz said in any portion of his performance time last night. His observations and policies were accurate, and he utilized the same strategy Trump has been: only attack if attacked. A common question among the electorate since the first Republican debate: can Trump not handle the same treatment? A rattling empty garbage can receives the alleyway’s attention.
As to the New York attitude, for my suburban readers, let’s not forget, NYC wasn’t the only location directly attacked on 9/11: Washington, DC (which has not had a single positive thing said about it–double standard?), and a short drive from where I grew up in western PA (no buildings were hit, but hundreds of lives were still lost on that spot); furthermore, the entire country was indirectly under assault that day. Trump articulated loudly and proudly the New York attitude that only New York matters, and the rest of the country is talked about only in poll results or vague national security mantras. He has never mentioned the devastation that occurred in Washington, DC, or Pennsylvania–those lives were just as precious and valuable. Apparently for Trump, everywhere else is arbitrary fly-over country that makes for quaint scenery on his way to the southern Californian coast for some golf. Trump made Cruz’s point for Cruz.
Trump still gets the most media attention, but Cruz is now attacked the most by the candidates and media. Cruz’s messages must be resonating as well.
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Trump and Cruz refused to go after each other, seemed aligned in their views.

GOP debate

There is something going on between Trump and Cruz right now. They refused to go after eachother, they assimilated and seemed aligned in their views. At the beginning, when Cruz walked onto the stage, they shook hands like they had been campaigning together. These two are securing the GOP nomination one way or another.

There is something going on between Trump and Cruz right now. They refused to go after eachother, they assimilated and seemed aligned in their views. At the beginning, when Cruz walked onto the stage, they shook hands like they had been campaigning together. These two are securing the GOP nomination one way or another.
Trump and Cruz backtrack on attacks

By Jonathan Easley

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz declined to attack one another on the debate stage in Las Vegas on Tuesday night and backed away from previous critiques of one another.

Trump, who has described Cruz as a “maniac” in the Senate, said he’s not concerned about his fellow GOP presidential candidate’s temperament.

“Let’ me tell you something, I’ve gotten to know him over the last three or four days, and he has a wonderful temperament,” Trump said, patting a smiling Cruz on the back. “He’s just fine. Don’t worry about it.”

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263389-trump-and-cruz-backtrack-on-attacks

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Cruz: Obama is ‘not interested’ in protecting the U.S.

U

November 14, 2015, 05:04 pm
By Devin Henry

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) says he thinks President Obama is “not interested” in protecting the United States from terror attacks.

“I recognize that Barack Obama does not wish to defend this country. He may have been tired of war, but our enemies are not tired of killing us,” Cruz said in a “Fox and Friends” interview.

“They are getting stronger. Every region on Earth has gotten worse under the Obama-Clinton foreign policy.”

Cruz, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, accused the president of ignoring the threats posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in light of a coordinated set of attacks in Paris on Friday.

He said Obama and Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic presidential candidate, are “ideologues” who “don’t recognize that enemies of America want to kill us.”

Cruz’s interview came after an attack in Paris left at least 129 people dead Friday. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/260177-cruz-obama-is-not-interested-in-protecting-the-us

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Amazon: ‘No evidence’ of bulk sales for Ted Cruz book

ted_CRUZ_THERIDGEWOODBLOG

By DYLAN BYERS

7/13/15 4:43 AM EDT

The New York Times’ refusal to put Ted Cruz’s memoir on its bestseller list is once again being called into question — this time by Amazon, the largest Internet retailer in the country.

On Sunday, an Amazon spokesperson told the On Media blog that the company’s sales data showed no evidence of unusual bulk purchase activity for the Texas senator’s memoir, casting further doubt on the Times’ claim that the book — “A Time For Truth” — had been omitted from its list because sales had been driven by “strategic bulk purchases.”

“As of yesterday, ‘A Time for Truth’ was the number 13 bestselling book, and there is no evidence of unusual bulk purchase activity in our sales data,” Sarah Gelman, Amazon’s director of press relations, said in an email.

Amazon’s findings match those of HarperCollins, the book’s publisher, which said Friday that it had “investigated the sales pattern” for Cruz’s book and found “no evidence of bulk orders or sales through any retailer or organization.” Moments after that announcement, Cruz’s campaign issued a press release accusing the Times of lying and calling on the paper to provide evidence of bulk purchasing or else formally apologize.

“The Times is presumably embarrassed by having their obvious partisan bias called out. But their response — alleging ‘strategic bulk purchases’ — is a blatant falsehood,” Cruz campaign spokesperson Rick Tyler said in a statement Friday. “The evidence is directly to the contrary. In leveling this false charge, the Times has tried to impugn the integrity of Senator Cruz and of his publisher HarperCollins.”

https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2015/07/amazon-no-evidence-of-bulk-sales-for-ted-cruz-book-210374.html

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Ted Cruz takes on the New York Times say produce evidence or issue a Formal Apology

ted_CRUZ_THERIDGEWOODBLOG

NEW YORK TIMES IS LYING: CRUZ CAMPAIGN CALLS ON THE TIMES TO RELEASE THEIR EVIDENCE OR ISSUE A FORMAL APOLOGY

07/10/15

HOUSTON, Texas — Yesterday, news broke that the New York Timeshad omitted Cruz’s best-selling book A Time for Truth from their best-seller list.

Bookscan, a subscription service that tracks the vast majority of book sales in America, is usually a reliable indicator of the New York Timesbestseller list. For example, this week’s #1 and #2 books on Bookscan are also #1 and #2 on the NYT list. But the #3 book, Cruz’s A Time for Truth, has been omitted altogether from the top twenty spots on theNew York Times list.

This is despite the fact that Cruz’s book sold more copies last week than 18 of the 20 books on the list.

Their decision to blackball Cruz’s book suggests that the Times very much does not want people to read the book.

The Times’s initial explanation was cryptic: “We have uniform standards that we apply to our best seller list, which includes an analysis of book sales that goes beyond simply the number of books sold.”

When the Times was roundly condemned for its obvious political bias, they issued a revised statement: “In the case of this book, the overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases.”

This statement is false, and the Times knows it.

There were no “strategic bulk purchases.” Cruz spent last week on a nation-wide book tour, signing copies of his book at multiple locations. Booksellers at each event had long lines—sometimes over 400 people per event.

Pictures from some of these signings may be found here: Arlington, TX, Katy, TX, and Sioux City, IA.

Simultaneously, Cruz’s book was ranked the #1 political seller on Amazon, and made it as high as the #9 overall seller (across all categories, including fiction).

“The Times is presumably embarrassed by having their obvious partisan bias called out. But their response—alleging ‘strategic bulk purchases’—is a blatant falsehood,” said Cruz campaign spokesperson Rick Tyler. “The evidence is directly to the contrary. In leveling this false charge, the Times has tried to impugn the integrity of Senator Cruz and of his publisher Harper Collins.”

“We call on the Times, release your so-called ‘evidence.’ Demonstrate that your charge isn’t simply a naked fabrication, designed to cover up your own partisan agenda. And, if you cannot do so, then issue a public apology to Senator Cruz and Harper Collins editor Adam Bellow for making false charges against them.”

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Cruz: Democrats, big business teaming up to stifle religious freedom

cruzted_041815getty

May 02, 2015, 01:26 pm
By Bernie Becker

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said Saturday that the culture wars show off the cozy relationship between Democrats and corporate America.

Speaking in South Carolina, Cruz bemoaned the “perfect storm of the Democratic Party and big business coming together,” according to Bloomberg.

The Texas Republican was specifically referencing the recent fight over Indiana’s law on religious freedom. But Cruz noted that there’d been similar spats in Houston and elsewhere in the U.S., and insisted conservatives needed to gear up for the battle to defeat gay marriage.

“Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you,” Cruz said.

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/240868-cruz-warns-conservatives-on-gay-marriage-battle

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TED CRUZ: OBAMA INFLAMED RACE TENSIONS, VILIFYING COPS ‘FUNDAMENTALLY WRONG’

nra leadership forum

by BREITBART NEWS29 Apr 2015

WASHINGTON —Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) (R-Texas) on Wednesday blamed President Barack Obama for the racial tensions and unrest unrolling across the U.S., including the current turmoil in Baltimore, Maryland.

“President Obama, when he was elected, he could have been a unifying leader,” Cruz lamented in a question and answer session hosted by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Instead, the presidential candidate argued, Obama “has made decisions that I think have inflamed racial tensions, that have divided us rather than bringing us tougher.”

As evidence of Obama’s poor record on the matter, Cruz pointed to vice president Joe Biden’s comments during the 2012 campaign, in which Biden claimed Republicanswould put African-Americans “back in chains.” Pressed by reporters at the Chamber of Commerce event to name a specific case where the president inflamed racial tensions, Cruz cited the 2011 “beer summit,” in which Obama invited black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. to have a beer at the White House with white police Sgt. James Crowley, who had arrested Gates at his home.

Obama “has not used his role as president to bring us together,” Cruz said. “He has exacerbated racial misunderstandings.”

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/04/29/ted-cruz-obama-inflamed-race-tensions-vilifying-cops-fundamentally-wrong

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Cruz warns of ‘liberal fascism’ targeting Christians

20572947

April 25, 2015, 11:18 pm
By Mark Hensch

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Saturday said Democrats had gone to extremes in their persecution of Christians.

“Today’s Democratic Party has decided there is no room for Christians in today’s Democratic Party,” he said at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition summit in Waukee, Iowa.

“There is a liberal fascism that is going after Christian believers,” the 2016 GOP presidential candidate continued.

“It is heartbreaking,” Cruz argued. “But it is so extreme, it is waking people up.”

Cruz said same-sex marriage had produced rabid zealotry in Democratic ranks. This ideology, he argued, was excluding people of faith.

“Today’s Democratic Party has become so radicalized for legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states that there is no longer any room for religious liberty,” he said.

The Texas lawmaker said this stance was against America’s traditional values. Religious liberty, Cruz claimed, was one of the nation’s founding principles.

“We were founded by men and women fleeing religious persecution,” Cruz declared.

“We need leaders who will stand unapologetically in defense of the Judeo-Christian values upon which America was built,” he concluded.

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/240106-cruz-warns-of-liberal-fascism-targeting-christians

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GAY HOTELIERS FACE BOYCOTT FOR HOLDING UNAPPROVED OPINION OF TED CRUZ

24CRUZ-web-master675-640x429

by JOHN NOLTE 24 Apr 2015

The Left’s fascist rampage against anyone who holds the same opinion on same sex marriage Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama did less than two years ago, marches on. Not content to steal a man’s livelihood or a near-successful attempt to destroy a small business owner, the venomous Gaystapo is now sending a chilling warning to apostates by calling for the boycott of two gay hoteliers who hold the unapproved opinion of not-hating Republican Senator Ted Cruz.

Mati Weiderpass and Ian Reisner are two openly gay, Manhattan-based hoteliers who own a gay-oriented hotel in the city and other commercial properties in the area. Both men are proof that the Big Gay Hate Machine does not represent all gays. These two men are obviously tolerant of opposing ideas and of the Christian lifestyle, which is why they held an event for Cruz this week in their New York penthouse.

On his Facebook page, Reisner wrote, “I was given the opportunity to have a candid conversation with Senator Ted Cruz on where he stood on issues including the state of Israel and national security.” He added that these are “the only places where we share common ground.” A few months ago, Reisner and Weiderpass held a similar event for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/04/24/gay-hoteliers-face-boycott-for-unapproved-opinion-of-ted-cruz/