Slaying Dragons

Angels conquer the Wyvern

"One of the things I look forward to most of all is deposing Donald Trump."

Ted Cruz

As a lawyer and competing candidate for president, "deposing" might take on a double meaning—the giving/taking of evidence for the prospective civil case being discussed, and the removing of someone from a powerful position. 

Ted Cruz is all that currently stands between us and the media-made colossus of the Republican gate-crashing Donald Trump—already crowned our future president by pundits, press, and populace. Which might be all right, except that he's harried by the newly-anointed "Establishment candidate" Marco Rubio—who is also a nasty little vato.

The enormity of the challenge is biblical. The name "Theodore", from which "Ted" derives, means gift of God in Greek. "Cruz", meanwhile, means cross in Spanish.

America is certainly at a crossroad, and we might need a gift from God to save us.

"Sell Books"

"Maybe someone wants to sell books, maybe someone wants to be vice president, maybe someone wants to be in a cabinet position. But they sure as heck aren't going to be the nominee of this party. It's either going to be Donald Trump or Ted Cruz."

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick

When the Fever Breaks

Donald Trump announcing Nevada win

The fever on the Republican presidential race—if it will ever break—will do so when Senator Ted Cruz of Texas wins his home state on March 1 and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Governor John Kasich of Ohio fail to win their own on March 15.

Will it be too late to stop the momentum the newcomer to the party has built up?

Could be. A huge number of delegates are awarded those two days. The front runner could presumably have won the big delegate prizes of Ohio and Florida.

But if Rubio and Kasich see the writing on the wall and bow out quickly after realizing they have no claim to the nomination if they cannot win their own states—and may lose their chance at the second spot if they stay in the race—the anti-Trump vote can then coalesce behind the only other anti-immigration candidate in the race.

This might be the only chance for the fever to break, leading to a churning muddled delegate math all the way into the convention in Cleveland in July.

"Winning, Winning, Winning"

"Now we’re winning, winning, winning. And soon the country is going to start winning, winning, winning.”

Donald Trump

"Great Experience"

"In 1994, I ran and I lost. It was a great experience. Losing is actually one of the best things that you can do if you're interested in (im)proving yourself, right? You never learn when you're successful. You always think it's all perfect, it will always work out. When you get knocked back is when you adjust, when you learn, when you grow."

Jeb Bush

Shootout in Greenville

Jeb Bush had to come out swinging at the ninth Republican presidential debate held in Greenville, South Carolina yesterday, and by many accounts he did. Maybe fists weren't enough, though, in what turned out to be the biggest shootout of the contest so far.

An overnight poll conducted by CBS News after the debate makes Jeb as an also-ran, with 32% of respondents picking Rubio as the winner, 24% Donald Trump, 19% John Kasich, and 12% Ted Cruz.

And if these numbers hold up . .

. . and Jeb ties with Carson for last, his days as a pretend gunslinger are over. He needs third place or better—knocking out Rubio on the way up—or his campaign chances go dim, I'd say. Especially with his brother stumping for him all over the Palmetto State.