I wonder if anyone heard the lady lawyer on Rush's show yesterday discussing this. She claims to not be crazy about Trump and from my assessment of her call I believe her.
She contended that perhaps we wouldn't be where we are if Cruz had jumped out immediately on the Melania ad, and she suggested a couple of ways he might have done that.
Before I proceed I should say Rush mentioned the "no communicating with a PAC" and she acknowledged that and dispelled some fallacies as well. She also, as Algernon suggested earlier, reiterated that lawyers are "slippery" enough (her word, not mine) to get around a number of the restrictions. We are all smart here, I think we get the picture without a lot of tortured elaboration.
Anyway, Lady Lawyer's first suggestion was that Cruz call a joint press conference with Trump and forefully disavow the ad, and the PAC, and reinforce that he would never approve of such shenanigans in any way, shape, or form. Rush laughed and said Trump would never agree to such a thing.
Lady Lawyer then said that's fine, forget Trump. (In matters of law, we always present alternative relief!) Call the press conference anyway and announce that it is his intention to make a direct call to Trump and state all of the above. (I have to say that was my initial thought too and so of course I agree with her.)
It was an intelligent call, the point of which is that an appropriate, strong response is always the preferred course of action, and that it is far better to be proactive than reactive. IMO, sometimes logic should "trump" emotion.
Further, with regard to PACs, this business of politicians being able to stand back, after the event, with their tiresome "I am shocked, SHOCKED that there is gambling in the casino!" routine has grown very stale and it needs to end. Besides, who believes them?
I mean, do lawyers and/or politicians ever LIE about this sort of thing??
Just my Saturday morning musings. A good weekend to all!
I agree with you @truthkeeper, that Cruz could have reacted to Trump's situation differently, and probably wishes he had at this point. However, Cruz's reaction is the least significant part of the whole story. How about the fact that the ad was made, what about DT's actions and reactions, etc.? Those are the more important parts of the story. Unless the intent is merely to absolve DT and criticize Cruz....
I'll come right out and say I don't agree with DT's retweeting of the unflattering pic of Heidi Cruz at all. At the same time, being a retweeter myself, I've hit that button more than once and said "UGH. Why did I do that?" Of course I have the advantage of anonymity and can simply delete the RT. DT does not have that luxury, he does it and he's sunk. (And yes, he should be more careful with the trigger finger.)
I'm totally with you on how and why that Melania ad was made. If we had the little "popcorn guy" icon on this site I would attach it to my response!
But please keep this in mind...aren't we constantly hearing that Cruz is the "smart" one and DT is the emotional, impulsive one? Although the media is not giving DT a "pass" on this (they are focusing on the Heidi retweet and not the Melania ad...believe me, I've been listening), the public just might. Man defending his woman, and all that jazz.
If Cruz wants to outsmart Trump he is going to have to do it with the left side of his brain, because I think DT already has the right side and pure gut instinct nailed.
truthkeeper: "I have no idea if Cruz had any part in this. If he did, shame on him. If he didn't, it might have a good thing to have cracked down on this immediately and spoken privately to Trump. Perhaps they could have reached a truce so that the ensuring tweets would not have been issued."
We even here at FPP seem unable to agree on a solution to these back and forth attacks. Neither side is willing to accept ANY responsibility for them and counter attacks the initial reaction.
TK has shown a great way to nip these in the bud. Call the other side, talk to the candidate immediately, tell him you are horrified that such attacks are being done, promise that you'll investigate and hold accountable anyone involved who's from your team, disavow such attacks in the future and move on!!! That is what Donald Trump did when the super-pacs started up with their dirty tricks. He told them to stop immediately. No such word has ever been issued from Ted Cruz.
The idea that no apology is needed for attacks waged at your opponent from "your" side but NOT "your people" is pretty half-hearted. A candidate quickly going to a mic, naming and bad-mouthing his opponent personally before knowing anything, is an irresponsible response and indicates an person who rushes to judgment.
******* “We cannot continue to allow ourselves to be influenced and molded by the political class and by the media. That is going to destroy us," he said, remarking that it's "kind of sad" that the press is the only business protected by the Constitution "because they were supposed to be the allies of the people." Dr. Ben Carson