I was just coming back from lunch in my car and I had Rush Limbaugh on the radio. A caller from North Carolina came on and said that she thought Donald Trump lost in Iowa because he did not attack Ted Cruz enough. I started to laugh so hard that I was afraid I might drive off the road.
Imagine anyone thinking that Donald Trump was short on attacks! Trump told us that Cruz was disqualified as a Canadian from being president. That was laughable, but it was surely an attack. Trump told us that Cruz is nasty (sounds like and attack to me.) Trump told us that Cruz could never get along with the Democrats in Washington; Trump meant this as an attack although many Republicans heard it as a compliment. Trump said that the Republicans in Congress hate Cruz, another attack. We also got long attacks from Trump about Cruz's views on immigration. Most of this was focused in the last two weeks. But some woman in North Carolina thought Trump did not attack enough!
Hey, when Trump wasn't attacking Cruz, he was attacking Rubio or Jeb Bush or Rand Paul or John Kasich, etc. How many people did Trump call stupid? How many others got slammed with different names? Trump was all attacks all the time. I kept waiting to see the Trump plane painted with the slogan "we attack, you decide!"
The reality is that to a great extent it was Trump's excessive attacks that hurt him. There are still a great many Republicans who think that courtesy is a virtue, even for presidential candidates. The slams of Megyn Kelly, John McCain, and all the rest may not have cost Trump in the pre-election polls, but when the voters got to the point of actually making a selection, Trump's support collapsed. Every poll had Trump up over Cruz. Cruz crushed him at the caucuses. Every pundit told us that a heavy turn out would guarantee a big Trump victory. There was a record turn out for GOP voters, but Trump got crushed. Now it may have been Trump's insult to the Iowa voters when he refused to appear at the Iowa debate that did Trump in. Or, it may be that the polls were always picking up a false positive for Trump.
One thing is certain, though, Trump did not need to attack more.
Imagine anyone thinking that Donald Trump was short on attacks! Trump told us that Cruz was disqualified as a Canadian from being president. That was laughable, but it was surely an attack. Trump told us that Cruz is nasty (sounds like and attack to me.) Trump told us that Cruz could never get along with the Democrats in Washington; Trump meant this as an attack although many Republicans heard it as a compliment. Trump said that the Republicans in Congress hate Cruz, another attack. We also got long attacks from Trump about Cruz's views on immigration. Most of this was focused in the last two weeks. But some woman in North Carolina thought Trump did not attack enough!
Hey, when Trump wasn't attacking Cruz, he was attacking Rubio or Jeb Bush or Rand Paul or John Kasich, etc. How many people did Trump call stupid? How many others got slammed with different names? Trump was all attacks all the time. I kept waiting to see the Trump plane painted with the slogan "we attack, you decide!"
The reality is that to a great extent it was Trump's excessive attacks that hurt him. There are still a great many Republicans who think that courtesy is a virtue, even for presidential candidates. The slams of Megyn Kelly, John McCain, and all the rest may not have cost Trump in the pre-election polls, but when the voters got to the point of actually making a selection, Trump's support collapsed. Every poll had Trump up over Cruz. Cruz crushed him at the caucuses. Every pundit told us that a heavy turn out would guarantee a big Trump victory. There was a record turn out for GOP voters, but Trump got crushed. Now it may have been Trump's insult to the Iowa voters when he refused to appear at the Iowa debate that did Trump in. Or, it may be that the polls were always picking up a false positive for Trump.
One thing is certain, though, Trump did not need to attack more.
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