Thread: 'Top' DC Republicans Sent Oppo Research to 'Hammer' Cruz - The GOP backstabbing game

'Top' DC Republicans Sent Oppo Research to 'Hammer' Cruz



by Tony Lee 22 Sep 2013, 7:43 AM PDT 1607 post a comment
On Sunday, Chris Wallace, the host of Fox News Sunday, said that Republicans in Washington were savaging Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) behind Cruz's back before Cruz's appearance on the program to discuss defunding Obamacare.

In an appearance on Washington D.C.'s Fox 5 to preview his Sunday show, Wallace said, "I will tell you I have never in my time in Washington seen a party so upset with one of its own members."

He said he had been flooded with opposition research on Cruz--from Republicans. Later on Fox News Sunday, Wallace said these "top Republicans" gave him "unsolicited research and questions" to "hammer" Cruz.

"Since we announced that Ted Cruz was going to be on the show, I've been getting background research and questions going after Cruz not from Democrats but from other Republicans," Wallace said on Fox 5. "They really feel he has put them in this corner that they can't get out of gracefully and they're not very happy with him."

In an exclusive op-ed for Breitbart News on Saturday, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has also been savaged by establishment Republicans, urged Cruz to stay strong in the face of inevitable attacks from fellow Republicans and suggested they compare "shiv marks" the next time they meet:

"We’re now, once again, subjected to the “anonymous sources” backstabbing game. The Capitol Hill cowards are rushing to anonymously denounce Senator Cruz to any reporter with a pad and pen.

Welcome to our world, Ted. The same people have been denouncing conservatives like me for years (right after they ask for help fundraising for themselves or endorsing the latest candidate they’ve suckered into paying their exorbitant consulting fees). We can compare shiv marks next time we meet, my friend."

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...to-Hammer-Cruz

Mitch McConnell's Campaign Manager: We Had Nothing to Do with Ted Cruz Oppo Shopping



by Matthew Boyle 22 Sep 2013, 3:17 PM PDT 67 post a comment
Jesse Benton, the campaign manager for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s re-election campaign, told Breitbart News on Sunday that “of course not,” neither McConnell, nor anyone on his Senate staff or campaign staff, shopped any opposition research on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to any members of the media, including Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace.

“Senator Cruz is a friend and valued member of the Republican caucus,” Benton added in an email.

On Sunday morning, Wallace announced that “top” GOP establishment figures were shopping opposition research on Cruz. “I will tell you I have never in my time in Washington seen a party so upset with one of its own members,” Wallace said Sunday morning in an appearance on Fox 5 Washington, D.C., previewing Fox News Sunday.

"Since we announced that Ted Cruz was going to be on the show, I've been getting background research and questions going after Cruz not from Democrats but from other Republicans," Wallace said. "They really feel he has put them in this corner that they can't get out of gracefully and they're not very happy with him."

As Breitbart News’ Tony Lee reported, later on his show Fox News Sunday, Wallace said that "top Republicans" gave him "unsolicited research and questions" to "hammer" Cruz.

Shortly thereafter, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin called on Wallace to release the names of those “top Republicans” who were trying to “trash” Cruz.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...-oppo-shopping

http://www.alipac.us/f9/gop-cannibal...1/#post1369230

Senator Ted Cruz Mounting Filibuster on Obamacare Defunding Bill

Video at the Page Link:
Kyle Becker | On 22, Sep 2013

Senator Ted Cruz is putting pressure on establishment Republicans and purple-state Democrats ahead of the 2012 mid-term elections. On “Fox News Sunday” with Chris Wallace, the freshman Texas Senator revealed his plans to mount a filibuster so that the House bill defunding Obamacare will have to be debated on the Senate floor. That’s right, he’s filibustering a bill that he supports!

WALLACE: You say, and we just played a clip of it, you will do whatever you can, including a talking filibuster, to block consideration of the bill that the House just passed. The problem is that you would be blocking a bill which you actually support, which would fund the government but defund Obamacare, so how are you going to get other Republican Senators on board to block a bill that you support?

CRUZ: Well, let’s be clear, last week’s vote was a tremendous victory. Just a few weeks ago, no pundit in Washington thought it was possible we would see the vote we saw on Friday. Last week, the House of Representatives voted to defund Obamacare, and now, next week, as you know, the fight moves to the Senate.

And I think next week is a time for party unity. I think next week, all Senate Republicans, I hope, should come together and support the House bill. In my view, Senate Republicans should stand united to stop Harry Reid from changing the House bill, and in particular, from inserting the funding for Obamacare with 51 votes. That’s gonna be the fight, if procedurally, whether he’s able to use a straight party-line vote, use just Democrats, to put Obamacare back. You know what? If Republicans stand together, we can stop Harry Reid from doing this.

Senator Cruz supports the House bill defunding the unpopular law Obamacare, but does not want to see it defeated by straight majority on an up-or-down vote. Filibustering is a procedural tactic for avoiding the dispatch of a bill without debate or roll call vote, since it forces a 60-vote majority to invoke cloture or end debate. The Republicans currently have 45 seats in the Senate, and the Democrats have 55 seats.

Senator Cruz has shown that he is willing to take on flack in both the Republican and Democrat Party in order to advance what he believes is the right thing to do. Whether or not that is the right thing to do politically is up to the American people.

http://www.ijreview.com/2013/09/8096...ll-goes-floor/

Republicans Should Really Stop Bashing Ted Cruz

by Lonely Conservative • September 22, 2013 • 5 Comments

In case you missed it Sarah Palin has a good piece up at Breitbart about the current Obamacare battle and some of the establishment Republicans who have been stabbing Senator Ted Cruz in the back. They’re mad because they think the attempt to defund Obamacare is a waste of time that will blow up in the GOP’s faces. Maybe it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, and they’ll have nobody to blame but themselves. Hugh Hewitt described why this fight is so important, and why Republicans who bash Cruz do so at their own peril. First of all, he notes, is that Cruz (and Senators Lee and Rubio) are amassing a database of supporters that’s really going to come in handy in 2014 and beyond.

The second, crucial advantage of forcing the Senate to act on a stripped-of-Obamacare funding bill is that it will oblige six endangered democratic incumbents to take positions on Obamacare just before it crashes into the American economy –Begich of Alaska, Hagan of North Carolina, Landrieu of Louisiana, Pryor of Arkansas, Shaheen of New Hampshire, Udall of Colorado. Either they will vote to break the filibuster in order to revive Obamacare funding or they will vote with Cruz and company. They will either thus double down on Obamacare 11 months before voting on their re-elections begins or they will flip flop on their decisive votes from 2009. Each one of them is 100% responsible for Obamacare. I hope to hear their names brought up in many speeches by GOPers in next weeks floor debates.

Many Beltway Republicans sneer at such tactics –foremost among them Bob Corker, the subject of most of my opening monologue Friday(posted by Mediaite) on the subject because of a personal, snide attack on Ted Cruz via tweet. Corker barely climbed into the Senate in 2006, and needed every conservative vote and push –including lots of talk radio help and lots of party regular support. Now, seven years into a thus-far forgettable Senate career Corker feels empowered to trash a young senator who has accomplished more in six months than he did in six years. Jealousy is not so often so openly displayed. The epitome of class, Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander, must be chagrined by the antics of his seat mate, especially as the former governor and Education Secretary is working overtime to keep the Tea party GOP on his side, and because he has been a gentleman all of his very significant career. (Full disclosure: I was a big Lamar fan and supporter in 1996.) What has happened to Bob Corker is hard to say, but six years pass quickly. It will be interesting if a President Cruz chooses to forgive and forget when Senator Corker asks for som help in his re-elect in 2018.

President Cruz? Not likely, but possible. One of 11 will be the GOP nominee. Cruz is on that list. See the Rove transcript for the other ten. Insult future nominees at your peril. Even if they don”t run much less win, the base knows and the base doesn’t forget. GOP Congressman Michael Grimm –an apparently good guy and Marine I’d never ever heard of until today– is out and about trashing Cruz today. Not a good strategy for gaining national support in a tough re-election race. Who advises these guys? Elmo? Kos?

Read the whole thing. What good is electing Republicans if they’re going to cower in fear of doing the right thing? Democrats are going to trash talk them no matter what they do, and the MSM will repeat the talking points, but they’re going to do that anyway. Do they really think they’re going to get the base to fund and volunteer for the next campaign if all they do while in office is hide and abandon conservative principles? I don’t think anyone believes this is going to be an easy fight, but it’s certainly worth fighting. And no, sending out fundraising emails saying you’re in the battle while secretly bashing the one leading the fight doesn’t count.

Cruz explained himself again this morning, and repeated his call for party unity, on Fox News Sunday. Is that too much to ask?

Here’s the video of his interview with Chris Wallace.


http://lonelyconservative.com/2013/0...hing-ted-cruz/

Twitchy

Who sent oppo research on Ted Cruz to Chris Wallace?

http://twitchy.com/2013/09/22/see-yo...chris-wallace/

‘See your filthy paw prints, Rove’ Who sent oppo research on Ted Cruz to Chris Wallace?

Posted at 12:00 pm on September 22, 2013 by Twitchy Staff | View Comments

Amanda Carpenter @amandacarpenter Chris Wallace says "top Republicans" sent him oppo research against Ted Cruz. Despicable. Stand together already. Do what you said!
9:38 AM - 22 Sep 2013


Matt Kibbe @mkibbe Amazing RT @amandacarpenter: Chris Wallace says "top Republicans" sent him oppo research against Ted Cruz. ... http://tmi.me/19rhUh
10:23 AM - 22 Sep 2013


Unbelievable, yet totally believable. Evidently Sen. Cruz’s spine is utterly terrifying to some Beltway-entrenched GOP establishment and the knives are out.


GuardAmerican @GuardAmerican @KarlRove I see your filthy paw prints, Rove. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/22/Chris-Wallace-Top-DC-Republicans-Sent-Oppo-Research-to-Hammer-Cruz …
11:19 AM - 22 Sep 2013

Ha! It’s funny because it could be true.
Sen. Cruz appeared on “Fox News Sunday” and Chris Wallace divulged this douche-tastic information:


Sam Stein ✔ @samsteinhp Chris Wallace says he got unsolicited oppo research from Republicans when word came out that he was interviewing Ted Cruz
9:38 AM - 22 Sep 2013


Sean Rushton @SGR1973 Chris Wallace: "As soon as we listed Ted Cruz as our guest this week, I got questions and research from Republicans about Ted Cruz." #unity
10:27 AM - 22 Sep 2013

Citizens are fed up.

Peyton James @peytonjames I am SO THROUGH with that damn Republican party...'Top' DC Republicans Sent Oppo Research to 'Hammer' Cruz. http://shar.es/K3pqH #tcot
11:30 AM - 22 Sep 2013


Mike Castle @corardendo Time to clean out the "GOP"! 'Top' DC Republicans Sent Oppo Research to 'Hammer' Cruz http://shar.es/K3gMI via @Breitbart news
11:28 AM - 22 Sep 2013


Jon McC @fatdaddybulldog This crap pisses me off! 'Top' DC Republicans Sent Oppo Research to 'Hammer' Cruz http://shar.es/K3gQP via @BreitbartNews
11:27 AM - 22 Sep 2013


Jeanie Dreamer @JDreamer731 #GOP no clue to power of grassroots! Let @SenTedCruz & GOP know we choose CRUZ. Courageous leadership! http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/22/Chris-Wallace-Top-DC-Republicans-Sent-Oppo-Research-to-Hammer-Cruz?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter …


Bingo. Talk about out of touch!


Amanda Carpenter @amandacarpenter No need for infighting. We all oppose Obamacare, right? We all support defunding, yes? So let's do it!

1. 9:39 AM - 22 Sep 2013
   
   
   Amanda Carpenter @amandacarpenter
2. No need for infighting. We all oppose Obamacare, right? We all support defunding, yes? So let's do it!

1. Karla @teaitup8

@amandacarpenter @KarlRove Rove is upset that Cruz and Lee didn't consult RINOs of their plan. And THAT is exactly why I like Cruz and Lee!
9:45 AM - 22 Sep 2013

Yep. There is no indication yet that Rove was one of the “top Republicans.” But, looky here:


FoxNewsSunday ✔ @FoxNewsSunday .@KarlRove: This was a strategy laid out by #SenMikeLee and #SenTedCruz without any consultation. #FNS #GovtShutdown
9:39 AM - 22 Sep 2013

Hmm. Filthy Rove paw all over this one? You decide.


Jason Johnson @jasonsjohnson Rove Fox News Sunday Cruz attack translation: How dare Cruz bypass DC ruling class & engage Americans to #DefundIt For this Cruz must pay.
10:41 AM - 22 Sep 2013

In the meantime, Cruz isn’t backing down and he offered up this hard truth.

FoxNewsSunday ✔ @FoxNewsSunday .@SenTedCruz on criticism from fellow GOP members: We have a problem with career politicians on both sides of the aisle. #FNS
9:10 AM - 22 Sep 2013


Precisely. Keep holding their feet to the fire, Sen. Cruz. We have your back.


http://twitchy.com/2013/09/22/see-yo...chris-wallace/