Twenty four little hours passed, and now Trump realizes he was robbed:
Ted Cruz didn't win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
Based on the fraud committed by Senator Ted Cruz during the Iowa Caucus, either a new election should take place or Cruz results nullified.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2016
Also, too: he didn’t know what “ground game” meant.
To put this in terms Donald can understand: Sore loser – Bad!
Tractarian
To be fair, Cruz’s antics were sorta kinda fraudulent.
Felanius Kootea
He’ll also ask for a do-over of the general election if he is the GOP nominee and loses to Hillary. “Only the losers came out to vote. My voters need to be heard!”
Feudalism Now!
You would figure with all of his wealth, he could afford some psychiatric care before he really snaps.
Shakti
Why does Trump assume that people who would have voted for Carson would have chosen Cruz as their second choice? Carson’s percentage exceeds the gap between Trump and Cruz. I don’t think Carson’s polling going into Iowa differs significantly than his actual result. Did they?
I’m making the assumption Trump cares not a whit about process except when he’s on the losing end of it.
maya
He should make an appeal to SCOTUS. They have experience in this area.
gex
Seems like standard issue GOP. The polls are skewed, unskew them! The election was unfair, Voter ID! The right result is known ahead of time, they should be the winners. Any part of the process that doesn’t lead to the results they want is automatically suspect.
Linda Featheringill
I suspected that Trump didn’t understand “ground game.” Also, he had no concept of GOTV. He is an entertainer, not a candidate.
Linda Featheringill
@gex:
I think you nailed it.
Tripod
Rand is out.
He’s just not as good of a grifter as his old man. Probably because he lacks that authentic kook vibe, and it’s an easier scam to run as a House backbencher in a safe seat.
Jay C
Really! How could Trump have lost in Iowa? After all, he probably didn’t ever meet anyone in the whole state who wasn’t cheering loudly for him! AND assuring him he was the greatest thing to hit the place since the ethanol subsidy!
FIX!
dr. bloor
I’m lost. I thought Microsoft stole it for Rubio.
Punchy
Once Cruz is announced the nommy in August, will all these GOPers who profess to loathe Cruz more than the product of gonorrhea x Ebola x gay marriage actually stump for him and praise his virtues?
IOW, I’m dying to see what becomes more important in 6 months….lockstep support for the Cruz or personal integrity and honesty about one’s character? Ha Ha! I almost asked a real question with 2 possible answers! Nevermind….
Face
Wow, is GOP politics so fickle as to completely derail the guy–who had been leading national polls by a mile–for finishing 2nd? And Marco Polio can be crowned the champ by coming in 3rd? Whiskey Tango Flyboys?
Dork
@Felanius Kootea: How many guys is he sending to Hawaii to verify the results of the Iowa caucuses?
Gordon Schumway
@dr. bloor: Why does there have to be only one fraud?
NonyNony
@Shakti:
Naw, his actual accusation is that Cruz had people on the ground to a) spread a rumor that Carson had dropped out and b) suggest that Carson supporters vote for Cruz instead.
a) is the reason that caucuses are stupid, stupid things that should be eliminated for the purpose of actually choosing a candidate – in a primary system people trying to do that would be thrown out of the hall for electioneering. But in a caucus system it’s all about trying to persuade people to move their support to your candidate. Telling people someone has dropped out crosses a lying scumbag line, but Carson also should have had a rep there to say “nope – they’re lying scumbags” and he didn’t. Cruz’s lack of scruples and excellent ground game played the flaws in the caucus system exactly how they’re played every election cycle – he just had some opponents who couldn’t fight back.
b) is actually how the caucus system is supposed to work. Cruz people are supposed to be there advocating for Cruz, Trump people are supposed to be there advocating for Trump. The fact that Trump didn’t know that this is how it was supposed to work is unsurprising, but not really a knock on Cruz.
MattF
It’s a fact that Cruz is a crazy, dishonest SOB… but the R candidates generally could all be exhibits in a museum of psychopathology. Just take your pick.
Felanius Kootea
@Dork: The same crack team he sent to verify Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud. We’ll be hearing from his investigators any day now.
Amir Khalid
Maybe Trump will wise up before the New Hampshire primary and actually spend the week campaigning there. He’s smart enough to do that if he wants, I think. Or, who knows, Republican voters might come to realise, after what they’ve seen in Iowa this week, that the Donald doesn’t actually know his Arsch from his Ellenbogen about campaigning. And then Marco Rubio might overtake him. Who the fish knows what’s going to happen there?
Jay C
Wasn’t that always considered one of the big flaws in The Donald’s Iowa campaign, that there really weren’t as many “Trump people” there as there needed to be? Whatever else their plentiful and manifold flaws, Cruz and Rubio (and even, as best as they could afford, the undercard candidates) supposedly spent a great deal of effort on trying to actually connect with the caucus-goers: Trump, OTOH, seems to have relied on the “celebrity” model: Fly in, give a speech, generate outrage, fly out.
Dork
@Felanius Kootea: Where do I sign up for a gig like that? I heard there’s also some Iowa Caucus Conspiracy evidence in Sydney and Singapore. Best to check on all these leads!
JDM
How long did it take him? Puts me in mind of F Troop, where it took Agarn the whole ride to the Hekawi camp to figure out that “I don’t know why everybody says you’re dumb” might not have been a great compliment.
shortstop
This is not how a WINNER talks. This is how WEAK LOSERS who are not well regarded talk. Sad!
Ryan
No doubt he has people on the ground who are uncovering some very interesting, very youuuuuge things!
shortstop
@Ryan: The best people. People you’ve never even heard of but who are big wheels, very, very good at what they do. I think you’re going to be pleased with the results.
Ohio Mom
@Linda Featheringill: Yes, he is an entertainer and a professional celebrity not a politician. He doesn’t have a party or any sort of experienced organization behind him. He doesn’t understand — and evidently doesn’t care — about nitty gritty technical details like GOTV efforts.
And STILL he came in second. I think that is amazing. Imagine if he DID have a um, more traditionally structured organization, with a wider base of wealthy donors. Really, an Eagle Scout Troop could put together a more organized campaign and they wouldn’t come in a second. Or third.
JPL
mistermix, Did you see Lukovich’s cartoon today? link
catclub
@Amir Khalid:
I think Cruz has a solid fraction of the GOP – the far right crazies. Given that he is going fro them he does not have to moderate himself at all. If there are enough other candidates, that will
be good for second behind Trump. Withe fewer viable candidates that will be third.
Calouste
@Punchy: I think if Cruz is the apparent nominee, Bloomberg will enter the race. Cruz is a religious extremist, so Bloomberg can get a decent chuck of GOP voters who aren’t, or at least not Cruz’s particular brand of religious extremism. He could also pick up a decent chunk of Democrats who either have Clinton fatigue or think Sanders is too far left (or not left enough on guns). In an election year where anti-establishmentarianism sells well, an independent run is likely to have the wind in its back.
MattF
@Calouste: But Bloomberg doesn’t have a national organization. And, as a third party candidate, he wouldn’t get staff loyal to the R party. There’s also the ‘problem’ that he’s socially liberal enough to get elected Mayor in NYC.
shortstop
Bloomberg has said that he’ll only get in if Clinton isn’t the Dem nominee plus either Cruz or Trump is the GOP nominee.
me
We misunderstood Trump all along. We thought he was claiming to be a winner when he was saying whiner.
stibbert
Trump should also learn about “boodle” – cash money distributed to delegates at the nominating convention. That’s a ground game he can understand.
Paul in KY
@JDM: I loved Corporal Agarn! Great character.
Paul in KY
@MattF: He would be in it to spoil it for someone. Have electoral college to worry about & then the House if no one hits the magic number.
Frankensteinbeck
Trump underperformed his polling by 10% (not 10% of total, 10% of his support). That’s not enough to stop him from getting the nomination as things stand.
Now, Loser Stink might stop him. Republicans are very sensitive to that.
Elie
Weeks ago I spoke about waiting to see what happened with the reality of voting… and so we see that Trump has problems with the ground game… which is not a bullshitable capability. You have to do the work of recruiting good people in the community in question, train them and spend a lot of time on site in boring coffee klatches and not so much big town hall type meetings. Add to that, Iowa is a caucus state and that requires an even more disciplined ground game. He doesn’t have enough people on his team or people who know how to do this and you can’t bullshit it. Will be interesting to see what he can do in NH or SC. Polls aren’t always a good way to measure this, as we have seen
Elie
@Frankensteinbeck:
Sorry – he has to prove that he has a ground organization. You are assuming he does. I don’t think we know yet
A Ghost To Most
Little Ricky is bowing out, per CNN
Elliott
WATB
but check out this little doll baby:
https://youtu.be/ZSfgCIGd7k4
Heliopause
I would say that if you are a political neophyte running for President on a whim and with no ground game, and you nevertheless finish a close second in a contest where the CW is that you need a strong ground game, then one of two things is the case; either your strategy was in fact a stunning success or the strong ground game is overrated.
JasonF
Trump is a lot of things, but stupid ain’t one of them. Who did the media spend the day talking about? Trump and Cruz. Who did they not talk about? Rubio.