Cruz wins big in Iowa

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1. Marco Rubio Has a Warning For Radical Islamic Terrorists
   By Rusty Weiss

   Republican presidential candidate and Florida Senator, Marco Rubio, has a warning for radical Islamic terrorists at home and abroad.

   “We will look for you, we will find you, and we will kill you,” he said.

   http://www.headlinepolitics.com/marco-rubio-has-a-warning-for-radical-islamic-terrorists/

2. The above two posts are what Rubio actually thinks about Israel and radical Islam.

   They are not lies or misreading that posters and their fellow Cruzites might make in political season in trying to misrepresent Rubio or other candidates.

   Rubio is moving up in the polls in-spite the Cruz lies (Carson still in the race), no Rubio is pro Israel and is a foreign policy expert on the Intelligence Committee who is for a strong foreign policy and gets 100% we are in a war against radical Islam.

3. What Marco Will Do — and Already Has Done — to Rebuild Our Relationship with Israel

   In the entire region, there is only one pro-American free enterprise democratic nation: the Jewish state of Israel. America has strong ties to Israel on a personal, cultural, political, and economic level. It is everything we want the Middle East to look like in the future: free, tolerant, democratic, peace-loving, and desirous of a better future.

   And today, Israel stands on the front lines of our civilizational struggle against radical, apocalyptic Islam. That term, Apocalyptic Islam, is not an attempt at being provocative; it is rather a description of the true beliefs of the leaders of both Iran and the Islamic State: that they are living in the end times and that mass genocide is their way to honor God.

   This enemy hates our two nations – both liberal democracies, both products of the Judeo-Christian tradition – for the exact same reasons. And the first requirement of fighting for our common security is standing together. We must not separate the threat to Jerusalem and Tel Aviv from the threat to Paris, or London, or New York, or Miami.

   I can think of no nation whose security is as closely tied to our own. For anytime there is daylight between America and Israel, it emboldens Israel’s enemies to take action – first against the Jewish state, but then against the rest of the free world. Last month, we saw how quickly terror can spread from the Middle East into the heart of Europe.

   Many in Washington fail to understand this. They wonder why we should trouble ourselves with a small country thousands of miles away. They fail to see its connection to our national security and our moral character. They fail to understand the danger of sending a message to the world that America is an unreliable ally. And so they argue we should distance ourselves from Israel – abandon it to its multitude of eager enemies.

   I believe that, deep down, those who wish for this know what it would mean. It would mean we leave Israel’s citizens to face alone the terror of rockets falling on their homes; the existential threat of the Iranian nuclear weapons program, which President Obama has exacerbated; the death march of the Iranian proxy, Hezbollah, on Israel’s northern border; and Iranian-backed jihadists who indiscriminately kill Israelis on the streets of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv – and yes, in Judea and Samaria.

   Those in Washington who wish America would abandon Israel also understand something else: the threat of physical violence is not the only threat Israel would be left to face alone; there is also a growing political and diplomatic threat.

   In one international forum after another, Israel is attacked by despotic regimes and even free nations throughout Europe that should know better given their histories. It is singled out for condemnation relentlessly – a bullying to which no other nation is subjected.

   Normally, the United States stops these attacks and shames the attackers. Normally, the United States speaks with confidence and clarity against the regimes that hijack international bodies to distract the world from their own wrongdoing.

   Normally. But not under Barack Obama.

   President Obama – and, I’m afraid, Hillary Clinton – have a different policy. They call it “engagement,” but what it should really be called is “abandonment.” Instead of standing up to those who single out Israel, the Obama administration takes the path of least resistance. It throws up its hands and says, in essence, “not our problem.”

   Consider this: Just weeks ago, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas began a speech to a UN body by asking, quote, “For how long will this protracted Israeli occupation of our land last? After 67 years, how long?”

   As we all know, sixty-seven years ago was 1948, the year of Israel’s creation. So the man who is supposed to be Israel’s “partner for peace” has just said that all of Israel is illegitimate and that the Jewish state is an “occupation” of someone else’s land.

   Now, this isn’t unusual rhetoric from a Palestinian leader – but what matters is that it should have provoked a harsh condemnation from the United States. But our president said nothing. By his silence, our government emboldened those who seek Israel’s destruction and made itself a bystander to a poisonous lie.

   Similarly, over the past three months of Palestinian terror attacks, our administration refused over and over again to do anything more than call on both sides for restraint – as if there were no difference between aggression and self-defense. The Palestinian attacks are being incited by lies knowingly promoted about Jewish threats to the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, and spread through a vicious campaign of anti-Semitism in Palestinian media.

   Or consider the European Union’s recent approval of a new trade rule that requires special labeling of products produced in what the EU considers “Israeli-occupied territories.” The goal of this is to encourage Europeans to boycott goods from Israel. The rule applies to no other country – not to Russia, which invaded Georgia and Ukraine, nor China, which occupies Tibet. The EU is singling out only Israel.

   Let’s take a step back and realize what this means. Discriminatory laws that apply only to Jews are now being written into European law for the first time in more than half a century.

   I believe we need a president who is not afraid to call this out for what it is: anti-Semitism. I will be that president. https://marcorubio.com/news/marco-rubio-rjc-israel-speech-video/

   The above are Rubio’s actual words. The link shows the wording plus video.

4. Rubio We are at WAR WITH RADICAL ISLAM

   Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.), a Republican presidential candidate, said on Sunday that he doesn’t understand Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton’s reluctance to say the nation is at war with radical Islam.

   “That would be like saying we weren’t at war with Nazis, because we were afraid to offend some Germans who may have been members of the Nazi Party but weren’t violent themselves,” he said on ABC’s “This Week,” days after terrorists killed 129 people in Paris.
   “We are at war with radical Islam, with an interpretation of Islam by a significant number of people around the world, who they believe now justifies them in killing those who don’t agree with their ideology.”
   
   “I don’t think we’re at war with Islam,” Clinton said at the second Democratic presidential debate Saturday night in Des Moines, Iowa. “I don’t think we’re at war with all Muslims. I think we’re at war with jihadists. We are at war with violent extremism. We are at war with people who use their religion for purposes of power and oppression, and yes, we are at war with those people, but I don’t want us to be painting with too broad a brush.”

   “This is a clash of civilizations,” Rubio said Sunday, reiterating comments from the GOP debate last week that “there is no middle ground on this.”

   “Either they win or we win. And we need to begin to take this seriously. These are individuals motivated by their faith.”

   “Of course not all Muslims are not members of violent jihadist groups, but there is a global jihadist movement in the world, motivated by their interpretation of Islam, in this case Sunni Islam, in the case of ISIS, and it needs to be confronted for what it is,” he added. “This is not a geopolitical movement. It’s a religiously oriented movement.”

   Rubio said Article 5 of the NATO agreement should be invoked in the wake of the Paris attacks to “put together a coalition to confront this challenge. “

   He said there will have to be “significant” American involvement, adding, however, that it’s premature to talk about specific numbers of U.S. boots on the ground.

   “I would say this, I think that we need to begin to work more closely, for example, with the Sunni tribes in Iraq, who do not want to work under the thumb of the central government in Iraq,” he said. “We’ve worked with them in the past.”

   “We continue to outsource much of this through Baghdad, and Baghdad is more interested in pursuing and protecting or in protecting the Shia groups, many of whom are under the control of Iran,” Rubio added.

   “They also are continuing to double down on their own domestic forces, which quite frankly, have proven unreliable.”

   http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/260201-rubio-we-are-at-war-with-radical-islam

5. Establishment conformist Rubio would be a disaster for Israel:

   Sen. Marco Rubio Thinks ‘Oppression’ is Root Cause of Jihad

   Marco Rubio continues to disappoint. Here’s the latest, as Front Page Magazine reports (Why Did Rubio Sign on to McCain’s Pro-Muslim Brotherhood Letter?):

   …McCain, Rubio and a bunch of Democrats have authored a letter to Kerry with pro-Brotherhood talking points. Most of it is filler, but the stinger comes at the end.

   As we saw during the Arab Spring uprisings, choking off all peaceful and legitimate avenues for dissent coupled with unaccountable institutions fuels violent extremism and increases the likelihood of long-term instability. As President Obama emphasized at the Counter Violent Extremism (CVE) Summit in February, “when people are oppressed, and human rights are denied…when dissent is silenced, it feeds violent extremism.”

   That argument was discredited by Obama’s Arab Spring which brought Islamists to power leading to the rise of “violent extremism” including that of ISIS.

   The talking point about “peaceful and legitimate avenues for dissent” is a dangerous lie when applied to fundamentally totalitarian organizations such as the Muslim Brotherhood. There are no legitimate avenues for Islamist dissent, just as there are no legitimate avenues for Nazi or Communist dissent.

   (Text of full letter, here.)

   And so we have a GOP presidential candidate who appears compelled to (1) praise Obama, and (2) peddle a false meme about the root cause of Islamic terror. To say it’s pathetic would be putting it mildly…

   https://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/sen-marco-rubio-thinks-oppression-is-root-cause-of-jihad/

6. Hertiage ratings for GOP Congress on level of being Conservative

   http://www.heritageactionscorecard.com/members

   FL Sen. Marco Rubio R 94%

   Pro Israel and Conservative

   Average Senate Republican rates at 60% Conservative.

7. Latest poll again Trump losing down 9 from 2 days ago and Rubio up 6 from 2 days ago. Trending positive for Rubio.
   

   New Hampshire Republican Presidential Primary CNN/WMUR Trump 29, Rubio 18, Cruz 13, Kasich 12, Bush 10, Christie 4, Fiorina 4, Carson 2, Paul, Huckabee, Santorum

8. Pat Toomey is another RINO who campaigns as a conservative and governs as a liberal, so he should be supporting his fellow fraud Rubio.
   https://www.conservativereview.com/search?keywords&state=PA

   This thread reveals why Israel must strive to become completely self-sufficient. Many Americans who ostensibly support Israel repeatedly harm Zionism with their clueless advocacy for liberals in both parties. The Obamabots and the Marcomaniacs are two sides of the same counterfeit coin.

9. PPP National Poll: Trump 25%; Cruz and Rubio Tied at 21%

   The tremor out of Iowa is becoming an earthquake nationally. According to this Public Policy Polling survey, Donald Trump’s massive lead over the GOP field is deflating while Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are coming on strongly.

   Business Insider:

   Trump remained in first place in the survey, which was conducted by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling and was set to be released later Thursday. He received 25% of the vote from Republican-primary voters nationally. Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida tied for second at 21% apiece.

   Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson grabbed 11%. None of the remaining Republican candidates received more than 5% of the vote.

   It was a stark contrast from the national survey that Public Policy Polling released in mid-December. That poll found Trump, at 34%, maintaining a large national lead over both Cruz (18%) and Rubio (13%). Rubio seemed to benefit at Trump’s expense with a stronger-than-expected showing in the Iowa caucuses, in which he nearly caught up to Trump. His poll standing was up 8 points from December.

   As the candidates barrel toward New Hampshire, which on Tuesday will hold the election’s first primary, early signs have shown Rubio to be climbing there after his Iowa performance.

   A University of Massachusetts Lowell tracking poll, conducted daily, had Rubio jumping into New Hampshire’s No. 2 spot in Thursday’s release. Trump, however, still had more than a 20-point lead.

   The Public Policy Polling survey could also lend credence to many Rubio supporters’ argument that he could be the Republican establishment’s best option to take down Trump and Cruz, whose potential nominations have unnerved many in the party’s mainstream.

   A 7News/UMass Lowell tracking poll of New Hampshire still shows Trump up substantially, Rubio with a slight bump since Iowa, and Cruz falling to third place:

   It’s not an earthquake, yet…But the political ground in New Hampshire is moving.

   We’re seeing more of Iowa’s impact, and the war of words underway here.

10. In the GOP world Rubio now leads all GOP candidates in endorsements the latest being Senator Pat Toomey.

    Not as important as Tim Scott’s support since Toomey’s not from an early state, but still significant big-picture. This isn’t just a case of Cruz losing out to Rubio on another endorsement among his Senate colleagues, it’s a litmus test of electability — or perceived electability. Why might a Republican from a purple state, whose seat is up this year by the way, prefer Rubio to Cruz or Trump? Hmmm:

    The rollouts are designed to generate momentum for Rubio, who finished strongly in the Iowa caucuses and is hoping for a similar showing in New Hampshire. The Florida senator hopes to unify the Republican establishment around him and cut off avenues of support for his competitors in the mainstream lane of the GOP primary — Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and John Kasich. Many in the party hierarchy would like to soon coalesce around one candidate and halt insurgents Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

    Toomey, a swing-state Republican and former president of the anti-tax Club for Growth, is facing a competitive reelection bid in 2016. Those close to the Pennsylvania senator say he’s deeply concerned about who represents the top of the ticket for the GOP.

    http://hotair.com/archives/2016/02/03/here-come-the-rubio-endorsements-another-senator-pat-toomey-signs-on/

11. Fox NEws has the top 14 Cable News Shows.

    Fox News Channel just hit another ratings milestone. The network has now been the No. 1 cable news channel for 14 years running, a streak that began in January, 2002 when it overtook CNN for the first time.

    It is the most popular Network with conservatives and GOP voters.

    This does not mean everyone loves it. Obama certainly hates it and has made that plain.

12. Every one of Rupert Murdoch’s winged monkeys on FOX endorse Marco Rubio!

    Every corporate parasite who seeks cheaper labor through illegal immigration also endorses Rubio!!

    And every Machiavellian manipulator who yearns to provide the Democrat Party with perpetual control of the federal government endorses Rubio, too!!!

    Meanwhile, everyone who cares about Israel must consider that Rubio’s amnesty fetish guarantees the American electorate will inevitably become increasingly hostile to the Jewish State.

    Yet for liberal Repugs, it is always RINO uber alles.

13. Santorum suspends 2016 presidential campaign, endorses Marco Rubio

    Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina also endorsed Rubio.

14. Why does FOX smear Cruz (or any conservative) and fondle Rubio? Mystery solved.

    As Donald Trump’s campaign has pointed out, Fox News’s vice president of news and Washington managing editor, Bill Sammon, is the father of Marco Rubio’s press secretary, Brooke Sammon.

    “The Fox News executive who oversees the debate process, [his] daughter is a senior executive on the Marco Rubio campaign,” Trump’s campaign manager told CNN. “He’s one of the executives on Fox that writes the debate questions so maybe he has his own ulterior motives… maybe he should disclose that before he’s writing the debate questions for Fox.”

    Fox News’s founder, Rupert Murdoch, is a co-chair of what is arguably one of the biggest immigration lobbying firms in the country, The Partnership for a New American Economy. Via his lobbying firm, Murdoch has endorsed Rubio’s 2013 amnesty bill, as well as Rubio’s 2015 immigration expansion bill. Murdoch has also endorsed President Obama’s trade agenda, which Rubio has said would be the “second pillar” of a President Rubio’s three-pillar foreign policy strategy.

    Interestingly, the name of Murdoch’s immigration lobbying firm relies on the “New American” euphemism commonly used to describe the demographic transformation brought on by immigration. For instance, The National Journal has launched “The Next America” project to chronicle America’s becoming a majority-minority country. Similarly, the White House’s immigration initiative is called the “New Americans Project.” And the Latino Victory Foundation and the “National Partnership for New Americans” recently launched the “New American Democracy Campaign” to get as many immigrants as possible to vote.

    Marco Rubio’s campaign theme is “A New American Century.”

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/03/5-basic-questions-megyn-kelly-forgot-ask-marco-rubio/

15. @ bernard ross:
    If you truly wish to learn how Nate Silver is working you may read the following article. http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-we-are-forecasting-the-2016-presidential-primary-election/

    He is arguably the foremost forecaster on politics. I read his stuff periodically and their is a lot to learn on forecasting and polls.

    He goes way beyond polls. For example part of the article has the following methodological explanation.

    “Step 1: Calculate polling averages

    We start by calculating a weighted polling average for each candidate in each state.2 The weights reflect the quality of each survey as determined by FiveThirtyEight’s pollster ratings, which grades polls based on their past accuracy and methodological standards. The poll weights also adjust for a poll’s sample size and how recently it was conducted. All polls are included in the weighted average unless they were internal polls released by a candidate or a candidate’s super PAC or if we have good reason to suspect that the poll faked its data or committed other gross ethical violations.

    This process of weighting polls is highly similar to the one FiveThirtyEight uses for its general election forecasts. An important difference, however, is that public opinion shifts much more quickly in the primaries, so recency is at more of a premium when calculating a polling average. Thus, a poll of middling quality that’s hot off the presses will sometimes receive more weight than a top-quality one that’s a week old. (We wish it weren’t that way, but our research is pretty emphatic on the value of preferring newer polling data.)3”

16. @ Bear Klein:
    interesting narrative, like I have heard before from the MSM…
    however, notice that on the ride side of the page of your link it states the poll results which say the following for New Hampshire chances of winning primary:
    state polls only: Trump=74%
    state, national, etc.: Trump = 60%

    the others are down in the single digits
    looks like nate didnt read his own polls.

17. Why Iowa Changed Rubio’s And Trump’s Nomination Odds So Much
    By NATE SILVER

    Marco Rubio finished in third in Iowa — a “strong third” in which he outperformed his polls, but third nevertheless. And yet, his chances of winning the Republican nomination nearly doubled according to the bookmaker Betfair, from about 30 percent before the Iowa caucuses to 55 percent now.1 Meanwhile, Donald Trump, who finished ahead of Rubio although behind Ted Cruz, saw his chances halved from 50 percent to 25 percent.

    Even if you acknowledge the importance of the “expectations game,” isn’t that a little excessive? Well, maybe.2 But I think Betfair is coming up with approximately the right answer.

    Here’s why: Presidential nominations are a lot like the stock market. In the long run, they’re reasonably well governed by the fundamentals. In the short run, they can be crazy. Iowa represented the equivalent of a stock market correction, a sign that sanity might prevail after all.

    In the stock market, the fundamentals consist of things like the profitability and growth of a company. In the nomination process, the most important fundamentals are what we call electability (can the candidate win in November?) and ideological fit (does the candidate hold positions in line with the consensus of her party?). A party would prefer to nominate a candidate who scores well in both categories.

    Rubio fits the bill, perhaps uniquely among the remaining Republican candidates. His image with general election voters is not great, but it’s better than the other leading Republicans. He’s also quite conservative. That’s convenient, because Republican voters are quite conservative also. In fact, Rubio is almost exactly as conservative as the average GOP primary voter.

    By contrast, Trump is problematic in both categories. It’s not always clear what Trump believes or where he would wind up as a general election candidate, but he hasn’t been particularly conservative for most of his career. His electability case isn’t good either; instead he has an extremely negative image among general election voters. If Rubio is a blue-chip stock, Trump is a risky mortgage-backed security.

    And yet, Trump was leading in the polls for many months. We’ve spent a lot of time considering why, and I won’t rehash all of that discussion here. But one highly plausible answer is that his national polls partly reflected his overwhelming lead in media coverage, which allowed him to top the field despite having a narrower base of support than Rubio or Cruz.

    Under this theory, Trump’s polls and his round-the-clock media coverage are self-reinforcing: Better polls lead to more coverage, which leads to better polls, and so on. In stock market terms, you might even call them a bubble. Back in the summer and early fall, it seemed likely that something would burst the bubble eventually: The media would grow tired of Trump or he’d do something to break his winning streak. At around the time of the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, however, which brought even more attention to Trump, that became far less clear. Trump looked like he might ride the magic carpet all the way to the nomination in Cleveland.

    Then Iowa intervened. Voters there researched their decision carefully and heard from all of the candidates, making the media playing field more level. And they decided they didn’t like Trump so much after all.

    Maybe Iowa was just a fluke, and Trump will perform better in the next several states. Before Iowa, Trump had a big lead in New Hampshire, for instance, and in South Carolina. But Iowa was the first state to have voted, and the only test we’ve had so far of whether Trump’s support in the polls will turn into votes. Pretty much the whole case for Trump depends on the premise that it will; if the linkage is broken, it becomes futile to cite Trump’s polls in future states as evidence of his resilience.

    Iowa might even prove to be Trump’s high-water mark. Rubio and Cruz are going to get a lot more coverage now, and Trump has lost his sheen of invincibility.

    So although Iowa is just one data point, it was doubly important. If Trump’s campaign was a bubble, it might burst. If it wasn’t, Iowa nonetheless suggests that Trump might draw more like 25 percent of votes instead of the 35 percent or 40 percent support he receives in national polls. That happens to be an important range: A candidate getting a 35 percent or 40 percent plurality of the vote could easily win a majority of delegates under the GOP’s complex rules, but one winning 25 percent almost certainly couldn’t.

    That doesn’t mean the betting markets have things exactly right; I think they’re too low on Cruz, for instance. But one data point can be awfully important when it’s the only data point you’ve got. New Hampshire will be the second, and you can bet it will be a market-mover too.

    http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-iowa-changed-marco-rubio-and-donald-trump-nomination-odds-so-much/

    Nate Silver for those who do not know who he is:

    Silver successfully called the outcomes in 49 of the 50 states in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, he was named one of The World’s 100 Most Influential People by Time in 2009

    .[

18. Donald Trump nominated for 2016 Nobel Peace Prize
    http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/donald-trump-nominated-2016-nobel-peace-prize-1541612?awt_l=Gcenv&awt_m=i0ThJEtyY0bOvKU&utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rss

    😛 😛 😛

19. Bear Klein Said:

    If he does not win it significantly in numbers comparable to Arnold’s cited poll

    LOL, trying to move goalposts to win the arguments?

20. “By the way,” Trump told the crowd, “I have opposed Obamacare since they day they conceived it. And Ted Cruz comes out with an ad that I’m in favor of Obamacare. Can you believe this? Just like he did with Carson,” Trump said.

    “These are dishonest people, these politicians. They’re worse than real estate people in New York, I’m telling you,” Trump said.

    😛 😛 😛

21. bernard ross Said:

    If Trump is smart he can make a lot of mileage off of the Cruz lie against Carson.

    looks like Trump took my advice 😛

    Donald Trump Tweets: Ted Cruz ‘Stole’ Iowa, Results Should Be ‘Nullified’
    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/03/2931168/
    Trump: What Cruz Did to Ben Carson ‘Was a Disgrace’
    http://www.breitbart.com/video/2016/02/02/trump-what-cruz-did-to-ben-carson-was-a-disgrace/
    Donald Trump Says Democrats Will Target Cruz, ‘Sue His Ass Off’ Over Eligibility
    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/03/donald-trump-on-democrat-plans-for-ted-cruz-theyre-going-to-sue-his-ass-off-over-eligibility-to-be-president/

    Hmm, shouldnt the press ask the dem party how they feel about Cruz eligibility… perhaps they will promise not to sue or not even bring it up in the election? 🙂

22. Trump should win New Hampshire. If he does not win it significantly in numbers comparable to Arnold’s cited poll then then the bloom on the Trump march to the Rose Garden maybe headed in the direction of Trump Casinos, Trump Airlines or Trump Mortgages all failed business ventures.

    He may just have to bribe his way to the Rose Garden ( I mean contribute to whomever the office holder actually will be).
    

23. Iowa is usually quickly forgotten… a storm in a teacup… a predicter of losers… in fact, according to Iowa Trump, cruz and rubio are equal and it is clear that this disagrees with national gop polls…. massively.
    ArnoldHarris Said:

    Here’s the rolling poll from Drudge Report this morning:

    Trump 38%
    Cruz 14%
    Rubio 12%
    Bush 9%
    Kasich 7%

    “Undecided” is now down to 5%.

    I reposted in case you did not notice the massive unheard of gap between a non politician, non gop and the bought establishment stooges trying to put americans out of work. A non GOP candidate slaughtering all the GOP candidates in their own GOP primary says volumes for how registered GOP voters feel about their establishment. And this without all the non GOP voters to whom he appeals. Even though donald is a cartoon character he still massively slaughters the others……duh????? I wonder why?

    I would go as far to suggest that if the GOP does not run Trump many GOP voters may not vote in the general election….. even the middle class techies are being thrown out of their jobs by GOP policies of the visascam.

24. babushka Said:

    failing to press the advantage in Iowa was a tragic mistake.

    no,… dramatic….. but not accurate…. it was not a tragic mistake for reagan, and was no consolation for santorum or huckabee… in spite of cruz getting one more delegate it was still Trump who overwhelmingly commanded the discussion, savaged fox news, seriously exposed fox news liberal agenda,… we shall soon see how losing Iowa never was and never will be a “tragic mistake” for anyone now or in the future. Iowa is the kiss of death for Cruz… his one shining moment stolen from Ben Carson and thus exposing his true nature. whereas the donald raised 6 million for the vets and saved 3 million cash by poo pooing the one delegate. donald is still the one to command the conversation because most of the others are bought stooges. As long as no one else has the guts to say the muslims are a problem to be faced and dealt with… donald will continue to rise because we can be sure of increasing continuing muslim atrocities ignored by the rest.

25. @ bernard ross:

    The ubiquitous Huckabee/Santorum reference is irrelevant because they were never leading in the subsequent states. They were parochial candidates with insufficient funding and inadequate organizations.

    Trump just blew a unique opportunity to run the table and finish off the opposition in Florida. He could have started his general election campaign in March, which would have given him a stranglehold on the presidency. From his perspective, failing to press the advantage in Iowa was a tragic mistake.

26. The Iowa county caucuses earlier this week count for little in the overall Republican Party presidential nomination process. The main event begins six days from now in New Hampshire, which is a true, statewide voting booth election with no politicking at the polling station, and every vote counted before the process shuts down.

    Here’s the rolling poll from Drudge Report this morning:

    Trump 38%
    Cruz 14%
    Rubio 12%
    Bush 9%
    Kasich 7%

    “Undecided” is now down to 5%.

    Note that in this rolling poll, Trump alone outpulls Cruz, Rubio, and Bush all lumped together, with three percentage points to cover almost half of Kasich’s support.

    This kind of election, as opposed to the wheedling and lies to which the Iowa county caucus circus lends itself, tends to be relatively predictable, and the polls tend to be more accurate as the actual election day approaches.

    That is why I think Trump and Bernie Sanders will bump off their respective opponents in New Hampshire next Tuesday. Which means that the Republican establishment and the Clinton gang are all likely to be shitting their pants long before “Super Tuesday” at the beginning of March.

    As for Hillary Clinton, even if the lame-duck Obama administration refuses an expected recommendation from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to indict both her and her key assistant Huma Abadin for assorted felonies. Her reputation in this country dies a little with each passing day. So even if she beats Bernie Sanders in the state primaries, she would in fact be a lot easier for Trump to beat in the general election, considering that he will have the strong support of much of the white working class that the Democrats always counted on for theoir election victories.

    Arnold Harris, Outspeaker

27. @ Bear Klein:

    Reads more like “13 Reasons Newsmax Should Stop Smoking Crack”.

    Every reason listed is unintentional satire, but I especially enjoyed “Rubio earned a perfect “100” rating from the American Conservative Union, and has been called the “crown prince” of the Tea Party movement by publications like The Washington Post.”

    Nothing certifies conservatism quite like endorsements from the Chamber of Commerce and the liberal media.

28. babushka Said:

    Had Trump won Iowa he would have been positioned to dominate New Hampshire/South Carolina/Nevada/Florida and clinch the nomination by March.

    thats not what the last 2 winners of Iowa said… huchabee, santorum… also not true when reagan lost Iowa… Iowa is the opposite of a bellweather state. MOst importantly he is only one delegate shy of cruz.

    babushka Said:

    Very poor allocation of resources revealing self-destructively bad political judgment.

    he spent 4 million for 7 delegates and cruz spent 7 million for 8, rubio spent 15 mill for 7 in a state which tends to pick the loser as its winner. trump did better than anticipated prior to campaign but MSM is paid to portray otherwise.
    babushka Said:

    when you have that rare opportunity to crush the opposition, it is not the time to be squeezing pennies.

    it is not the rare opportunity to crush the opposition, it is one or two delegates in a national race from a state who picks the loser. winning one more delegate from the state that picks the loser is NOT a great symbolic victory even.
    babushka Said:

    Trump should have doubled down and gone for the kill.

    Trump agrees in hindsight saying he was advised from the outset not to contest. HOwever, the effect of standing up to fox, exposing fox as a mole supporter of open borders, and raising 6 million for vets instead… he suffered for his “principles” and for charity and only has one delegate less from the state that tends to pick the loser.
    babushka Said:

    Had he done so, the spectacularly dishonest American media would have been unable to contrive the absurd “Rubio Dominates By Finishing Third”narrative.

    sorry, they are bought to contrive lies… they will continue until their handlers stop paying regardless of anything Trump says or does….. Trump has no place for the GOP donors at the feeding trough so they have no choice but to oppose trump and support Rubio who supported immigration flooding and the HB1 visa throwing americans left with jobs out of work…….duh?

29. Bear Klein Said:

    Trump is arrogant did not bother with a ground game.

    you didnt listen to your own post… he was advised not to go to Iowa.. looks like his advisors unerestimated his appeal.
    Bear Klein Said:

    Relied on polls in Iowa another mistake.

    wrong again, he said he was not comfortable with the small lead the polls were showing just before caucus.
    Bear Klein Said:

    His populist message has gotten out based on all the free media time he has received.

    sounds like a man who knows how to play a hostile media, making lemonade from lemons.
    Bear Klein Said:

    If does not win New Hampshire handily he aura will diminish even further and bye bye to free media.

    his aura went up from the polls before the campaign for Iowa started. So far the polls have him much higher in NH so I wonder why you refer to the least likely of options as your speculation. Iowa is NOT a bellweather state for gop primaries… it is the opposite… santorum and huchabee won Iowa and did not make it, Iowas was the only state reagan lost. Is Iowas the kiss of death for GOP primaries?

30. 13 Reasons Marco Rubio Could Win the White House

    1. He can unite the party — With Sen. Ted Cruz and Trump both claiming “outsider” status in the election, Rubio has emerged as a top-tier candidate who promises to unite conservatives, libertarians, defense hawks, as well as a wide variety of ages and races under the banner of the Republican Party. “I’m not running to beat up on other Republicans. Ultimately, I’m running to unify this party,” Rubio told CNN on Tuesday. “I give us the best chance . . . to nominate a real conservative who can unite the party, grow the party . . . and ultimately defeat Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.”

    2. He represents hope, not anger — “For months they told us because we offered too much optimism in a time of anger, we had no chance,” Rubio said in his post-caucus speech in Iowa. Rubio has consistently showed hope instead of fear, with his campaign promising “A New American Century.” Trump, meanwhile, has tapped into the anger and frustration voters have with what they see as a broken Washington. Ultimately, it is a message of hope that usually wins The White House.

    3. He has Rush Limbaugh’s support — “Marco Rubio I really like,” the radio powerhouse said on Tuesday after the Iowa caucus, Breitbart reported. “He was the first to get out there. He hustled to get out there. As such, it made him look like the winner,” he continued. “He had energy. I thought it was a great speech that Rubio gave last night. It was energetic.”

    4. He can win Florida, a crucial swing state — Marco Rubio is a native of Florida, and stands a great chance of sweeping the state in the primary, wining all of the delegates, which are assigned on a winner-take-all basis. After that, he’s likely to steal all 29 of its Electoral College votes in the general election, winning the nation’s largest swing state for the Republicans.

    5. He is the most likely candidate to beat Hillary Clinton — According to a Real Clear Politics polling aggregate, Rubio and Cruz are the most likely to beat Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head matchup, statistically speaking. Rubio edges her out by a healthy 2.5 points. Cruz, on the other hand, beats her by only 1.3 points, while Trump loses to Clinton in a head-to-head matchup by 2.7 points, according to the polls.

    6. His foreign policy knowledge is unrivaled — National security in the face of a growing ISIS threat has become a top issue in the presidential race after deadly terrorist attacks rocked Paris and San Bernardino last year. This shift in focus helps the Rubio campaign because he has foreign policy experience as a U.S. senator. In one Republican debate, Trump failed to demonstrate he understood what the nuclear triad even was, much less what he would do with it. Rubio, on the other hand, explained exactly what it was to the audience watching at home, and gave a very clear vision for how he would use it to protect and defend America.

    Urgent: Who Should the GOP Nominate in 2016? Vote Here Now

    7. He’ll pick up votes from dropout candidates — Trump, Ben Carson, and Carly Fiorina have all benefited during the race from having never held elected office, saying that it will take a political outsider like them to clean up Washington. Among GOP voters who value prior political experience, however, Rubio gets high marks. As the field of candidates thins over the coming months, expect to see Rubio pick up the supporters of candidates who are bound to drop out of the race: Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, Chris Christie, John Kasich, and perhaps even Fiorina and Carson.

    8. He has a record of conservative victories — Fox News reported that Rubio continues to earn praise for a provision he put in last year’s spending bill that prohibits billion-dollar bailouts for private insurers under the Affordable Care Act. “He saved us money on Obamacare where others have simply wanted to repeal it. He has already saved $2.5 billion by eliminating an unreasonable backstop by the taxpayers for a failed program,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, former chairman of the House oversight committee, who has endorsed Rubio.

    9. He is young but experienced — Unlike Trump, 69, Clinton, 68, and Bernie Sanders, 74, the 44-year-old Rubio is seen by many as a fresh-faced candidate with the energy to lead the country for eight years. Though he is young, he also has the experience, having served four terms in the Florida legislature, including as speaker of the House, majority leader, and majority whip.

    10. He embodies the American dream — While candidates like Trump and Bush were born into wealthy families, Rubio was born in Miami to poor Cuban parents who had fled the deadly rise of Fidel Castro. Through hard work, Rubio has risen to the top of American politics at a relatively young age, and his story resonates with a great many voters.

    11. He can win the Hispanic vote — As a Miami native who speaks fluent Spanish, Rubio stands a good chance of peeling away Hispanic voters that the Democrats have come to rely on in past elections.

    12. He has Tea Party cred — Rubio earned a perfect “100” rating from the American Conservative Union, and has been called the “crown prince” of the Tea Party movement by publications like The Washington Post.

    13. He passes the “I’d have a beer with that guy” test — As the son of an immigrant bartender, a former college football player, and husband of a one-time NFL cheerleader, many see Rubio as the most down-to-earth candidate in the entire race

    Breaking News at Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/TheWire/marco-rubio-win-white-house/2016/02/03/id/712503/#ixzz3z7FIET34

31. Trump is arrogant did not bother with a ground game. Hell he is spending his money. Relied on polls in Iowa another mistake. So he knew better and saved his money. He has a high asset value but does he have enough liquid assets to spend to win and overcome his hurdles.

    His populist message has gotten out based on all the free media time he has received. If does not win New Hampshire handily he aura will diminish even further and bye bye to free media. Will he spend his money then or just become another Pat Buchanan (populist who faded fast).

    Rubio who has the highest favorables of any of the GOP 70% is within one delegate of Cruz and tied with Trump. He is well positioned when the other mainstream Republicans (Kasich, Bush, Christie) fall by the way side to take all their votes. He may even take a significant part of Carson’s votes when he falls away. Since Cruz played nasty with these people and Carson they may prefer to support another conservative (Rubio 92% conservative rating by Heritage) who does NOT alienate others like Cruz or Trump.

32. @ bernard ross:

    perhaps he concluded that the extra one delegate was not worth paying 3 million or 75% more….. value for money?

    Foolish conclusion. Had Trump won Iowa he would have been positioned to dominate New Hampshire/South Carolina/Nevada/Florida and clinch the nomination by March. Instead, he economized and is now in a death struggle for the nomination. Very poor allocation of resources revealing self-destructively bad political judgment.

    In politics, when when you have that rare opportunity to crush the opposition, it is not the time to be squeezing pennies. Trump should have doubled down and gone for the kill. Had he done so, the spectacularly dishonest American media would have been unable to contrive the absurd “Rubio Dominates By Finishing Third”narrative.

33. Bear Klein Said:

    55 percent of caucus-goers who made up their minds in the final few days chose to support Cruz or Rubio.>

    what did the other 45% do? 🙂

34. Donald Trump admits skipping debate may have hurt him in Iowa

    Entrance polls conducted by Fox News showed that 55 percent of caucus-goers who made up their minds in the final few days chose to support Cruz or Rubio.>

    http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/02/03/donald-trump-admits-skipping-debate-may-have-hurt-him-in-iowa.html?intcmp=hpbt2

35. Bear Klein Said:

    Cruz plays dirty tricks in politics!

    cruz outright lied and won from the lie that carson was out of the race. Trump has a valid point, he is not lying, its a difference of opinion which may be correct and should be disclosed by Cruz. Cruz is lying when he says its a settled issue, he knows he is lying because he is a lawyer. Cruz did not earn the win… he pulled a BB.

    If Trump is smart he can make a lot of mileage off of the Cruz lie against Carson. I would beat that one to death. If he did that to carson for one delegate what would he do to the country?

36. babushka Said:

    Donald Trump netted a second-place finish by spending a little under $4 million.

    perhaps he concluded that the extra one delegate was not worth paying 3 million or 75% more….. value for money?

37. Cruz plays dirty tricks in politics! Shocked!! Trump pretends Cruz not eligible to be President to keep voters from him – Shocked Again!! Cruz misrepresenting Rubio on all sorts of issues and distorting and lying -Shocked again!!

    Politics the art of war to get power without the bullets!

38. Rubio spent more in Iowa than Cruz and Trump COMBINED…and still finished behind them both.

    Wow! How unelectable!!

    On the GOP side, Sen. Rubio’s campaign and super PACs spent the second-most at almost $12 million. The campaign and super PACs backing the Republican Party’s Iowa winner Sen. Ted Cruz spent over $7 million on ads in the state, and billionaire Donald Trump netted a second-place finish by spending a little under $4 million.

    http://truthinmedia.com/bush-superpac-outspent-iowa-campaigns-sixth-place-finish/

39. How supportive of Israel will America be after Rubio enacts amnesty and the national electoral map soon resembles California, a once-Republican state that subsequent to Simpson-Mazzoli soon became a place where Republicans cannot win. The Democrats control super majorities in the legislature, and every statewide office holder is liberal.

    Given the liberals disdain for Israel, what will happen when the Democrats achieve a perpetual monopoly on the federal government due to President Rubio’s illegal alien fetish?

    You can be pro-Rubio.
    Or you can be pro-Israel.
    Not both.

40. LOL, this is how Cruz got his one higher delegate over Rubio and Trump:

    “My opponents resorted to political tricks by tweeting, texting and telling precinct captains that I had suspended my campaign — in some cases asking caucus goers to change their votes,” he said, The Hill reported.

    Carson, interviewed Tuesday on “Fox and Friends,” said his supporters were told “voting for me was wasting their vote, and that they should reconsider.”

    The stunning charge came as a Carson spokesman declared on Tuesday, “There has never been a more tainted victory in the Iowa caucuses.”
    
    Rob Taylor, an Iowa state representative who supports Carson, was much blunter: “This is horses–t,” he said, Fortune reported.

    Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/02/ben-carson-slams-dirty-deceit-of-gop-rivals/#xBUXIx6AmRfK7Uma.99

    HMMMM, he only had one more delegate but here is what his major media supporter says:

    Rush Limbaugh weighed in on Carson’s claims of caucus shenanigans during his radio show Tuesday.

    “As a way out of this, Sen. Cruz could simply offer Dr. Carson a delegate or two as part of his apology. Maybe three. Three max. One or two delegates ought to cover it.”

    Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/02/ben-carson-slams-dirty-deceit-of-gop-rivals/#xBUXIx6AmRfK7Uma.99

    but then if he did that he would be number 3 or less.
    Perhaps BB gave Cruz some pointers on panicking voters at the last minute with a bogus story? In any case that one delegate will mean nothing and Iowa has gained a rep for picking the losers… that was reagans only lost state.. and they picked huckabbee and santorum in the last two…. both major losers.

41. Arnold Harris – Rubio has a very good chance if he wins the nomination even better than Donnie boy with all due respect.

    RCP Average 12/16 – 1/13 — — 47.0 44.5 Rubio +2.5
    NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl 1/9 – 1/13 800 RV 3.5 46 47 Clinton +1
    FOX News 1/4 – 1/7 1006 RV 3.0 50 41 Rubio +9
    CNN/ORC 12/17 – 12/21 927 RV 3.0 49 46 Rubio +3
    Quinnipiac 12/16 – 12/20 1140 RV 2.9 43 44 Clinton +1

    NBC Poll: Clinton Would Trounce Trump But Lose to Rubio

    This is exactly the same establishment propaganda that was used to promote McCain and Romney. Can you liberal corporatist Republicans at least find some exciting new marketing tools when peddling your tired old RINO products?

    He only came in third place, but Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)79%
    is the big winner in Iowa.

    Who wants to “Win” or “Place” when you can “Show”?
    To hell with the gold medal and the silver medal – Rubio won the bronze!
    Because if you are a sophisticated political observer who considers all of the complex intricacies alien to the novice, you conclude that finishing in third place is actually the most desirable outcome.
    Fine. Let’s all play the favorite game of liberal Republicans everywhere: “Spin The Truth Until It Barfs!”
    Congrats to Marco Rubio for his landslide (third place) victory.

42. He only came in third place, but Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)79%
    is the big winner in Iowa. That’s not a “media” meme; it’s the truth, for three basic reasons:

    1. Rubio vastly outperformed expectations, finishing at 23% after polling at 15% (and even that was a surge).

    2. Unlike Donald Trump, Rubio has lots of room to grow his support as other candidates drop out;

    3. Unlike Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)97%
    , Rubio has not alienated important sections of the electorate.
    Digging deeper:

    1. Outperforming expectations. Cruz is winning praise for his ground game and data operation. But Rubio–who, like Trump, ran a lackluster ground effort–closed better than both. He had the only memorable line of the last GOP debate: “There’s only one Savior and it’s not me. It’s Jesus Christ who came down to earth and died for our sins.” That resonated with late deciders, attracting religious voters without planting doubts among social moderates.

    2. Room to grow. It is true that Rubio faces a crowded “establishment lane” in New Hampshire. But that lane, too, will start to narrow quickly. Trump, meanwhile, has been at a high plateau for weeks; recent polls suggest that he is not a second choice for many Republican voters. If voters elsewhere agree with Iowa caucus-goers that Rubio is the most electable of the candidates, he could consolidate “establishment” money and moderate support.

    3. Alienating voters. Cruz’s victory in Iowa came at a cost. Attacks on “New York values” and explicit appeals to Christian faith mean that he will struggle to build the “Reagan coalition” he proclaimed on Monday night. Rubio courted social conservatives and the evangelical vote, but with a less confrontational style. As a result, he will face fewer challenges than Cruz reaching audiences outside Iowa–and outside the Republican Party.

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/02/02/why-marco-rubio-is-iowas-big-winner/

43. Arnold Harris – Rubio has a very good chance if he wins the nomination even better than Donnie boy with all due respect.

    RCP Average 12/16 – 1/13 — — 47.0 44.5 Rubio +2.5
    NBC News/Wall St. Jrnl 1/9 – 1/13 800 RV 3.5 46 47 Clinton +1
    FOX News 1/4 – 1/7 1006 RV 3.0 50 41 Rubio +9
    CNN/ORC 12/17 – 12/21 927 RV 3.0 49 46 Rubio +3
    Quinnipiac 12/16 – 12/20 1140 RV 2.9 43 44 Clinton +1

    NBC Poll: Clinton Would Trounce Trump But Lose to Rubio

    Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) is the only Republican candidate with a slight edge over the former secretary of state.

44. The latest news from the Iowa caucus follow-up is that the Cruz campaign sent out large-scale messages to Dr Ben Carson’s followers that Dr Carson has dropped out of the Republican presidential nomination campaign, and that the Carson supporters should therefore deflect their votes to Senator Cruz. So as not to waste them on Trump or Senator Rubio.

    Among other qualities, Dr Carson is noted for a rigid and unending sense of ethical propriety, developed over a long and productive lifetime. He has publicly indicated that he regards the Cruz campaign as having won a less than significant electoral victory by cheating. Such people as Dr Carson tend to be grudge-keepers and vengeance-seekers. All of which will serve as nails in Senator Cruz’s political coffin when this campaign moves into South Carolina and Florida. And Trump will know how to put all that to his own advantage now that the real statewide primary elections — not countywide caucus meetings — will begin in New Hampshire next Tuesday.

    In any case, Trump is the only Republican candidate who is attracting significant numbers of working-class Democrats. Neither Cruz, Rubio or any other hard-core conservative Republican has any chance of winning a presidential election in the USA anymore.

    And as for the evangelicals, most of them are friendly to Jews merely out of expectation that we will give up the Jewish religion and become latter-day Christians. So don’t go off half-cocked and fool yourselves of what underlies their smiles that target the Jewish nation. Unless you really are as dumb as most of the American Jews turned out to be in the past 60 years or so.

    Arnold Harris, Outspeaker

45. Cruz wins big in Iowa THE HILL

    a misleading, deceptive and fundamentally false headline… he has one more delegate than Trump or rubio

46. However, Cruz’s toppling of Trump is a huge symbolic victory that could severely damage the real estate mogul’s campaign

    Iowa picked the primary losers in the last two primaries.. santorum and huckabee…. therefore not much of a symbolic victory.
    Bear Klein Said:

    Cruz won 8 Delegates, RUBIO won 7 Delegates,
    Trump won 7 Delegates

    Hmmm, Cruz won one more delegate than trump or Rubio…. not saying much since cruz was the original favorite.

    Bear Klein Said:

    He will be able to get independents votes and some blue collar Democrats.

    no, he is for the HB1 visascam putting americans out of work. Cruz is too ideologically conservative to win votes outside the GOP from independents and crossovers. Rubio is too establishment and corporatism and will lose to any dem. Only Trump registered GOP voters got to vote in this and he will have many independent and crossover blue collar workers from the dems. It is the independents and crossovers, the fence sitters, who determine the election.. not the party loyalists. Remember that only registered GOP voted in this primary which left out many of Trumps supporters.

47. Cruz is a better version of Rick Santorum. He appeals to the evangelicals. He is so rigid he could not win a general election because he appeals to a certain type voter primarily and not some of the independents needed to win in a general election . I predicted he would win Iowa when the polls and vocal Trump supporters were saying he would win Iowa.

    That said he will last a longtime in the race and give both Rubio and Trump a run for their money.

    Rubio has the widest appeal and has been a consistent and extremely strong supporter of Israel. Some of the Republicans do not like him because he was trying to work across the isle on immigration reform. He has now modified his position to security first. This is a weakness with some of the GOP but in a general election this position is actually a strength that could help propel him to be the President. He will be able to get independents votes and some blue collar Democrats.

    See Rubios blistering speech on Obama defending Israel. Rubio’s speech shows how he unequivocally supports Israel and clearly understands Israels problems. He backs Israel 110%
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdMWbqZsyuM

48. Hebrewhu Akhbar!

    The most pro-Jewish presidential candidate evah takes his first step towards the White House. This blessing offers great possibilities of a better future for the Jewish State and the Jewish People.

    Meanwhile, the frenzied Establishment push for Little Marco Amnesty has also begun. The Chamber of Commerce will lavish their precious boy lobbyist with infinite amounts of filthy lucre and mainstream media propaganda, because like McCain and Romney he is MOST ELECTABLE!

    Dear Lord,

    Giveth unto the lemmings thy wisdom so they might belatedly resist the siren song of the RINO and embrace your humble Hebrewphilic servant Ted Cruz, who will be the best ally for your very favorite mini-superpower which is so beautifully situated right in the Holy Land . And while you are accepting requests, how about dropping a plague of Winnebago-sized frogs on the next conference of J Street?

    Muchas gracias.

49. Why those evil Nazi racist KKK Rethuglicans!

    What? Hispanic and black candidates combined got 60% of the vote?

    Er, never mind…..

50. Cruz won 8 Delegates

    RUBIO won 7 Delegates

    Trump won 7 Delegates

    Carson 3 Delegates

    Bush 1 Delegate

    Paul 1 Delegate

    1,237 needed for nomination · 2,472 available
    

    Iowa was kickoff and now game is on. As predicted Cruz won Iowa. Teflon Don showed beat-ability. RUBIO will be a very strong third candidate who has a legit shot.