The GOP Thunderdome
Thunderdome - where two men enter and one man leaves...but not quite - now there are three in the GOP Thunderdome - Cruz, Trump and Rubio. Full disclosure - I'm a Cruz backer and based on my posts and comments here, I'm sure there is no doubt where I stand on Trump.
Fearful prediction: we are likely to get Rubio as the GOP nominee.
Rubio's background consists of a majority of conservative actions but I simply don't trust Marco on immigration. He also has a little streak of Maverick McCain in him - a penchant to want to go along to get along and to want to cultivate "friends" on the other side of the aisle (there are no such things as Democrat "friends").
Rubio's surge is less a product of his own accomplishments than it is a compromise, a compromise between the staunch conservatism of Cruz and the Trumpservatism (populist Republican neoprogressivism) of The Donald. Rubio has cleverly positioned himself as the "peacemaker" between these warring fronts. He represents a softer edge than either Trump or Cruz and combines enough of the policies of each to seem credible and acceptable to both camps.
If this happens, it is yet another big mistake. It will mean that we have put forth yet another born to be mild moderate Republican in the mold of Bush I, Dole, Bush II, McCain and Romney. Rubio is yet another baby Bush, a young, good-looking, well spoken guy with an immigrant background - but still another Bush, Dem-lite "compassionate conservative".
We might win since the Democrats are being exposed as who they really are - the kinder, gentler version of the American Communist Party. The Bern is pulling the Hildebeast so far to the left the questions in last Democrat debate were written in Cyrillic and the answers spoken entirely in their native Russian - Свободная дерьмо для всех , товарищ ! (Free crap for everyone, Comrade!).
Nevertheless, assuming that we do "win", another "compassionate conservative" administration will do nothing to cure the constitutional ills of the US federal government. Rubio is as much a reincarnation of Dub as would be the Dub-brother, Meeser ¡Heb!.
Trump can't do it. He is only focused on making government work better - as a yuge, classy, tremendous, well-oiled Leviathan. How you may ask? Well, Trump has been a little short on specifics to date.He just says he will be the greatest jobs, military, economic president ever. Just elect him and see - but the fact remains that he has no experience in constitutional matters (other than he knows eminent domain pretty well). In his business career (both successes and failures), he has only followed one business model. He has no experience in transforming a culture or strategically transforming a business, no experience in shifting a business paradigm. His successes are based on just doing the same thing over and over - just harder and louder this time - that's a deep state, federal government, statist process.
It's the same process as tovarish Bernie favors - we'll make socialism work this time by forcing it on the people harder than ever before.
We don't need a reformer, we need a transformer.
In my opinion, Ted Cruz is the only candidate who has the constitutional focus and the hard edged commitment to create the paradigm shift necessary to save our representative republic. He is the only one with the strength and leadership ability to organize Republicans against the creeping socialism already embedded in American governance. His fearlessness (and so-called "nastiness") will arouse the latent conservatism of the cowardly GOP and provide adequate cover for those who currently fear to act on their true beliefs. He will also expose the progressivism that is rotting the foundations of the GOP.
If you want business savvy on the ticket, let's run with Cruz/Fiorina. Let's win with two solid, principled, stable leaders instead of trying to elect a loud mouthed, twitter obsessed, juvenile, mercurial neo-progressive "Republican" chameleon like Trump.