The Republican establishment has already tried to take down Donald Trump unsuccessfully. They failed miserably. The problem was that the things the Republican establishment considers to be outrageous are the things that people have wanted to hear for a long time. For example they slammed Trump of being too mean about letting Muslims into the country. That sounds terrible to the tone deaf Republican establishment but is music to the ears to people sick and tired of political correctness substituting for common sense. These kind of silly attacks just made Trump look better.
Cruz, on the other hand never played that game. He avoided making personal attacks on Trump. While everyone else was attacking, Cruz was watching. Cruz has discovered that Trump’s Achilles heel is his ego. While Donald is good at throwing a punch, he is terrible at taking one. He nearly came unglued when Cruz beat him in Iowa. Trump cannot stand to lose. He cannot stand to be laughed at. Cruz silenced Trump when he laughed at Trump and said that he actually enjoyed watching Donald get upset. Trump may be stepping into the lion’s den again. He is accusing Cruz of lying and it is Trump who has his facts wrong. The following article in the Blaze is excellent at explaining this.
Ted Cruz is a highly experienced trial attorney capable of arguing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. He is extremely precise at what he says and that makes him a dangerous opponent.
Trump has won most of the prior exchanges because he is brilliant at trading insults. He is gifted at getting under people’s skin. He is particulary good at intimidating Jeb Bush. But Cruz doesn’t have thin skin and this tactic doesn’t work with him.
Here is how that is likely to go down. One of the moderators is going to ask Trump if he really thinks Cruz is a liar. At that point, Trump has to put up or shut up. That is a major problem for Trump, because he does not have the facts to back up his accusation. If Trump is smart, he will try to dodge the question. But I don’t think ABC will pull a Chris Wallace and stop Cruz from responding. One thing is certain, Cruz will be more than ready if given the opportunity.
The main stream media tends to down play Ted Cruz’s debate performances. One reason is that he is rarely attacked by the other candidates. They have learned to avoid that. Cruz throws a mean counter punch. So they tend to attack each other and they suck up a lot of the air time. Cruz is not all that good at the 25 second rehearsed speech so it has been difficult for him to showcase his talent. This debate may be very different.
TDM