Octopus Overlords

Holman wrote:Rubio/Bush/Christie/Kasich are attacking each other rather than Trump. They know the purge is coming.

Conservative critics of Ted Cruz are going after his tithing practices. According to recently released tax records, the Texas senator contributed less than 1 percent of his income to charity between 2006 and 2010. But many Christians believe that the Bible commands a charitable offering, or tithe, equal to 10 percent of one’s annual earnings.
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While a candidate’s charitable giving might seem petty or irrelevant to nonreligious Americans, it likely matters to the conservative Christians who Cruz has worked diligently to court. A 2011 study by Pew Research Center found that 61 percent of American evangelical leaders deemed tithing essential to being a “good evangelical.” And an additional 34 percent said it is “important” though not “essential.” If religious voters see Cruz’s meager tithing as an indication that he isn’t as faithful as he presents himself to be, he could lose their support. And since Cruz and Trump are in a dead heat in Iowa, even a small shift could be devastating.
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The entire architecture of his campaign is based on constant appeals to believers, invoking strong references to his faith at campaign stops and promising to protect “Christians who have been persecuted for their beliefs.” He even calls himself a “Christian first, American second.” And in New Hampshire, where religion plays a smaller role in politics, Cruz recently declared that America should return to its Judeo-Christian roots: “For too long there has been a spirit of fear and timidity in Washington. We should not be ashamed of Christ.”

“I’m a Christian first, American second, conservative third and Republican fourth,” said Cruz, who is currently a distant second place, behind Trump, for the GOP nomination in several national polls. “I’ll tell ya, there are a whole lot of people in this country that feel exactly the same way.”

Smoove_B wrote:Seriously. Imagine if a politician came out and said, "I'm a Muslim first..."

Holman wrote:

Smoove_B wrote:Seriously. Imagine if a politician came out and said, "I'm a Muslim first..."

Alternately, imagine how the Christian Right would react to "I'm an American first and a Christian second..."

Rip wrote:I'm a human first, a father second, a husband third, and an american fourth.

Rip wrote:

Jaymann wrote:

Rip wrote:

I can only hope people hold up signs with that word at Cruz rallies. Will force people to look it up to see what it means.

The Texas senator, eyeing 2016, understood the imperative of establishing his Evangelical bona fides. He envisioned marrying the GOP’s anti-establishment and religious wings as part of a broader movement, one that could position Cruz not only to win Iowa — a state where 2012 entrance polls showed a majority of GOP caucus-goers identifying both as tea-partiers and as Evangelicals — but to claim the conservative mantle and ultimately defeat a more moderate Republican opponent.

Cruz couldn’t launch his campaign in Iowa, however — that would make his intentions too obvious, campaign manager Jeff Roe warned. So they discussed other options: Cruz’s hometown of Houston; historical sites around Texas; even the Reagan Library in California. As the call dragged on, Aaron Baker, Roe’s employee at Axiom Strategies in Missouri, had an idea. An Evangelical Christian himself, Baker was on the line only to take notes for a colleague on maternity leave. But he felt compelled to send his boss an e-mail: “You should do it at Liberty.”

Moliere wrote:Can you spot the porn actress in the Ted Cruz ad?

Kraken wrote:

Moliere wrote:Can you spot the porn actress in the Ted Cruz ad?

Nope. Which one is she?

GreenGoo wrote:Who gives a crap? She auditioned for and got a part in a tv commercial.

There's a limit to how much I feel a politician needs to vet his life, and this is way past that limit.

Kraken wrote:I reckon the sanctimonious might be scandalized because they're always eager to find offense. Everybody else, not so much. I'll give it a snicker since Cruz counts himself among the sanctimonious.

GreenGoo wrote:Who gives a crap?

tgb wrote:She claims she only did soft-core, because she's a conservative Christian. Pity. It would have been so much better if she's been an actress with a porn name like Annie Anal.

Holman wrote:

tgb wrote:She claims she only did soft-core, because she's a conservative Christian. Pity. It would have been so much better if she's been an actress with a porn name like Annie Anal.

Come to think of it, "Ted Cruz" is a pretty awesome gay porn name.

GreenGoo wrote:Who gives a crap? She auditioned for and got a part in a tv commercial.

There's a limit to how much I feel a politician needs to vet his life, and this is way past that limit.

The cluster of well-funded super PACs boosting Cruz’s candidacy is trying out a new tactic in the Palmetto State, indicating the extent to which super PACs are encroaching on traditional campaign turf.

And it has Cruz’s rivals scared.

Said super PAC, called Keep the Promise—which is actually sub-divided into several different PACs, each funded by a different billionaire family—has blithely tossed the traditional super PAC playbook to the winds. In fact, they’ve taken on typical campaign operations: gathering voter data, targeting likely Cruz supporters, and knocking on thousands of doors to get out the vote.

Pyperkub wrote:Ted Cruz Super PACs doing the grunt work:

The cluster of well-funded super PACs boosting Cruz’s candidacy is trying out a new tactic in the Palmetto State, indicating the extent to which super PACs are encroaching on traditional campaign turf.

And it has Cruz’s rivals scared.

Said super PAC, called Keep the Promise—which is actually sub-divided into several different PACs, each funded by a different billionaire family—has blithely tossed the traditional super PAC playbook to the winds. In fact, they’ve taken on typical campaign operations: gathering voter data, targeting likely Cruz supporters, and knocking on thousands of doors to get out the vote.

Oh yes, elections bought and paid for by Billionaires. Great. Thanks Citizen's United!

Pyperkub wrote:It's a main reason I'm considering Sanders, but you really should link the overview page (where Bush still has the most in Dark Money, and Hillary/Cruz are just about tied).

When you go to this section, you see that Cruz is primarily backed by just a few HUGE donors (who appear much larger than any of Clinton/Bush's donors.

And of course, all data is only through 6/30/2015 (on the connector graph), so a bit out of date, but...

However, if you drill down on the SuperPACs supporting the candidates, Hillary's largest single donor is in for $7m. Cruz has 3 SuperPACs that are pretty much funded by a single donation larger than Hillary's largest (by over 50%). Most of Hillary's campaign money is her non-superPac campaign fund.

That drill down data is as of 1/30/2016, I believe.

Curiously enough, it appears as though Bush's Right to Rise SuperPAC's largest donation (from CV Starr & Co), is from a company which no longer appears to be in business (but could donate $10m for the 2016 election - huh?).

Rip wrote:

Pyperkub wrote:It's a main reason I'm considering Sanders, but you really should link the overview page (where Bush still has the most in Dark Money, and Hillary/Cruz are just about tied).

When you go to this section, you see that Cruz is primarily backed by just a few HUGE donors (who appear much larger than any of Clinton/Bush's donors.

And of course, all data is only through 6/30/2015 (on the connector graph), so a bit out of date, but...

However, if you drill down on the SuperPACs supporting the candidates, Hillary's largest single donor is in for $7m. Cruz has 3 SuperPACs that are pretty much funded by a single donation larger than Hillary's largest (by over 50%). Most of Hillary's campaign money is her non-superPac campaign fund.

That drill down data is as of 1/30/2016, I believe.

Curiously enough, it appears as though Bush's Right to Rise SuperPAC's largest donation (from CV Starr & Co), is from a company which no longer appears to be in business (but could donate $10m for the 2016 election - huh?).

Of course Hillary's Campaign Committee money is 80% large contributions. The only one with more large contributions is Bush. Either way the point stands. If anyone is buying the election it isn't Cruz. He doesn't have nearly as much money to spend as Bush/Clinton.

Rip wrote:Of course Hillary's Campaign Committee money is 80% large contributions. The only one with more large contributions is Bush. Either way the point stands. If anyone is buying the election it isn't Cruz. He doesn't have nearly as much money to spend as Bush/Clinton.

LordMortis wrote:

Rip wrote:Of course Hillary's Campaign Committee money is 80% large contributions. The only one with more large contributions is Bush. Either way the point stands. If anyone is buying the election it isn't Cruz. He doesn't have nearly as much money to spend as Bush/Clinton.

How many people here are arguing that Hillary and DNC aren't bought and paid for? Didn't we just point out that the DNC is dropping their moratorium on SuperPAC moneys?

The idea that Cruz isn't bought and paid for because he doesn't have the machine the Bush or Clinton families is... strange to say the least. The 50 million dollar gift sucker in his mouth doesn't count because it's not 100 million gift sucker?

Rip wrote:

LordMortis wrote:

Rip wrote:Of course Hillary's Campaign Committee money is 80% large contributions. The only one with more large contributions is Bush. Either way the point stands. If anyone is buying the election it isn't Cruz. He doesn't have nearly as much money to spend as Bush/Clinton.

How many people here are arguing that Hillary and DNC aren't bought and paid for? Didn't we just point out that the DNC is dropping their moratorium on SuperPAC moneys?

The idea that Cruz isn't bought and paid for because he doesn't have the machine the Bush or Clinton families is... strange to say the least. The 50 million dollar gift sucker in his mouth doesn't count because it's not 100 million gift sucker?

They are all bought and paid for except for Sanders.......