The Republican establishment is already terrified of Donald Trump being the party’s presidential nominee, and now the party’s House leadership is hearing that Ted Cruz should join Trump on the nightmare list. Speaker Paul Ryan and other House leaders recently heard from pollster Dave Sackett, and:
After the presentation to the group of elected Republican leaders, Ryan (R-Wis.) asked Sackett which of the Republican presidential hopefuls would be most detrimental to GOP House candidates on the ballot this year. Sackett replied that Cruz would have the biggest negative effect, citing the Texas senator’s starkly ideological positions, according to six sources who were in the meeting. Sackett told the group that the public’s perception of Cruz could shift if he becomes the nominee.
The reporting is murky, so we don’t really know what evidence Sackett had for Cruz being the worst. On the Trump front:
Sackett’s presentation confirmed those worries. His poll showed that a plurality of respondents — 48 percent to 40 percent — would be less likely to vote for a Republican congressional candidate or incumbent if Trump were the nominee. The business mogul and former reality TV star, who has been leading in most GOP polls for months, was the only candidate surveyed on that question, the sources said.
So Cruz wasn’t included in the question of whether people would be less likely to vote for a Republican for House, yet we’re told that he would be the worst. Okay … but the thing is, whatever the data would show if we could see it, what’s key here is that this is the word among top Republicans: Ted Cruz is maybe as dangerous as Donald Trump. And these are the party’s top two candidates in Iowa and nationally.