Campaigns lower expectations in Iowa, brace for Trump win

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

"There will be a lot of momentum swings," Jeff Roe, Cruz's campaign manager, said when asked about the prospects of his candidate losing to Trump here Monday night. "I'm not going to be beholden to what a headline says after any state. That's not the way our campaign is structured."

The comments are striking given how much emphasis Cruz has placed in Iowa. But it's the latest signal that the nominating fight could extend well into spring, despite Cruz warning that Trump could be "unstoppable" if he were to win here Monday night. Each of the candidates are now trying to position themselves as the Trump alternative, with an implicit recognition that he remains the dominant figure in the race.

"When we announced, we talked about a long process in earning the nomination," Danny Diaz, Bush's campaign manager, said when asked if the former Florida governor could sustain losses in Iowa and New Hampshire.

This all suggests that Trump's decision to skip Thursday night's debate was hardly the game-changer that many predicted. In fact, it seems to have solidified the current standing in the polls here in Iowa, where Trump is ahead of the pack and rival candidates are positioning themselves for the long haul.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/29/politics/iowa-caucuses-donald-trump-ted-cruz-marco-rubio-jeb-bush/index.html

[Purveyor]

1. If Trump wins Iowa and NH, he will run the table with the next

primary elections.

Will be interesting to see how the GOP party hacks deal with this, indeed.

[saltpoint]

3. The monster is loosed from his laboratory

leash and stalks the land!

[Purveyor]

5. It will be interesting, indeed. Says much about the current mindset in this country regarding

the establishment politics.

[saltpoint]

8. It does. There are some serious

books waiting to be written on this cycle already.

The two leading GOP candidates are Trump and Cruz. Trump is an overt racist bigot and Cruz is a lunatic theocrat.

If the GOP nominates one or both of these guys, I think it augurs poorly for downballot Republicans across most of the swing states. Which could be good for a major sea change, especially in the Senate.

If nothing else, it might help shut Mitch McConnell up for a while. That alone would be a blessing.

[840high]

14. Yep. Both Trump and

Sanders strike a cord with people who desperately want change.

[greiner3]

12. So many uber-rich assholes;

Have so much of their fortunes riding on one of several Republican candidates so Trump while he doesn't have to worry about riding in 'small planes' there are still many ways Trump WON'T be in it come November.

IMO

[saltpoint]

2. I don't think we're hearing any

stout predictions of victory from Jeb "Terri is Alive!" Bush.

His campaign says it can "sustain losses in Iowa and New Hampshire." That's good, because he doesn't seem very likely to win either of those states.

[brooklynite]

6. The "Florida Strategy" worked so well for Giuliani

[saltpoint]

7. LOL. Yep. Rudy really ripped 'em

up on that one.

One of the most disastrous national campaigns in history.

[JI7]

10. there was Fred Thompson also

and Rick Perry and now Jeb.

at least Rick Perry was entertaining.

[saltpoint]

11. The Fred Thompson thing. Wow. I'd

almost suppressed it entirely.

Thompson was what -- Republican counsel? -- on the Senate Watergate Committee. I can still see him leaning over to Howard Baker (R-Tennessee), whispering something about the various testimonies.

And speaking of Howard Baker, he'd still be too conservative for me, but his absence is greatly felt as we consider the last several Republican presidential primary cycles.

Rick Perry. Those smart-guy glasses didn't work for him or Jeb either one.

[FLPanhandle]

4. I want Cruz humiliated

Hate that bastard.

[potone]

13. I think he is the creepiest man in America.

Scratch that: I mean North America; no wait, that's not right; I mean the western hemisphere. No, that's not it, either, I mean the planet!

[trillion]

16. I don't want trump or cruz to get it.

[Ana Hauhet]

20. but it could be the best for democrats

So many are so turned off by these two creepy orange and green trolls

[rpannier]

9. For almost all of those campaigns

I'm not sure they could lower them any more
Possibilities might be:
1. No one shows up at any caucus for them
2. A massive snowfall hits and half of Trump's supporters can't get to the caucuses
3. The Bart Simpson effect, where it seems so certain people forget to vote and someone else wins with 2 votes

[trillion]

15. .

[trillion]

17. In the direction the reich wing is going I wonder who they're going to run in 2020

I mean, I think they've hit the bottom of the barrel. Could they find candidates any lower?

[davidthegnome]

18. A little, yes.

They'll probably run David Duke.

[trillion]

19. rofl. I wouldn't be surprised it the current tea party would vote for him unamiously.

[brooklynite]

21. Some folks hope this is the race that burns out the RE fever for a "real conservative"

[frizzled]

22. But Trump isn't a "real conservative" by any standard.

And I'm pretty sure his supporters know this. He's a populist breakaway from by-the-book conservatism.

[trillion]

23. I think he's parroting the tea party