Originally Posted By Mr X What's up with that? Apparently some tabloid gossip about 5 (FIVE!) mistresses or something? Wow. And Eww. It's been a run-of-the-mill, dull and boring election season so far boy, but it seems about to kick into high gear! Now we just need the FBI to indict Clinton and it'll be all-extreme, all-the-time! (of course, the whole thing could just be a silly rumor...one look at Ted makes me think that might just be the case lol)
Originally Posted By Mr X <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.conservativeoutfitters.com/blogs/news/94574273-8-things-you-need-to-know-about-ted-cruzs-sex-scandal">http://www.conservativeoutfitt...-scandal</a> Some points to ponder... * WASHINGTON TIMES REPORTER CONFIRMS STORY * BREITBART HAD STORY BUT CHOSE NOT TO PUBLISH * CRUZ ALLEGEDLY PAID "HUSH MONEY" TO CARLY FIORINA
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <Wow. And Eww.> Kinda says it all, doesn't it? Note that this story ("story??") broke in the National Enquirer. So there's a grain or 20 or salt right there. Then note that the NE broke the story on John Edwards, which of course turned out to be true. As did their stories on Tiger Woods, Jesse Jackson, and all the way back to Gary Hart. (Which of course doesn't mean this one is.) Apparently it's blowing up the conservative blogosphere, with Trump supporters and Cruz supporters going at each other with renewed fury. Supposedly #CruzSexScandal is now the #1 trending topic on Twitter, with various Trump supporters taking credit for making it so. And finding its way into the mainstream, with comics like Patton Oswalt tweeting also: "'Ted Cruz sex scandal.' Welp, off to scream myself to death. Bye, everyone!" What's weird is that two of the 5 women involved supposedly worked for other campaigns. Fiorina's, and... wait for it... Trump's. Curiouser and curiouser.
Originally Posted By Mr X "What's weird is that two of the 5 women involved supposedly worked for other campaigns. Fiorina's, and... wait for it... Trump's. Curiouser and curiouser." Definitely. Kinda puts Trump's latest Twitter slam into perspective though...I wondered at the time why he wrote "no need to 'spill the beans'" when slamming Ted's wife. Anyway he's been hinting at it for the better part of a day now. Clearly he's well aware of what's about to go down. I, for one, look forward to Cruz' weepy mea-culpa speech. For a sanctimonious creep like him, it'll be delicious, particularly given the stances of some of the anti-GLBTQ clowns he endorses and believes in. I DO, however, feel for his wife and kids. That's gotta suck.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 At this point, I could totally believe several completely contradictory things: a). Cruz was schtupping all these women. He's a complete hypocrite and thought that somehow, in the midst of a presidential campaign and even with the myriad scandals that have felled others before him, that he could get away with it. He's never had women throwing themselves at him before (totally believable) yet always wished he did (see reports of his college days - also totally believable), so when he got the chance, he ran with it. b). Cruz is completely innocent. Even if he's a dirtbag, he's too smart to have done this sort of thing IN THE MIDST OF A PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. This is just the NE (whose publisher has indeed been a friend of Trump's for years) trying to sell papers and get clicks, and maybe do a favor for a friend. c). Trump had his aide seduce Cruz and was waiting for the right moment to spring the news. The other 4 are made up by the Enquirer, but the Trump aide was sent by Trump himself to derail Cruz. d). Same as above, except the other 4 are for reals too. e). Cruz thinks this will actually burnish his credentials with male voters who think Donald is "more alpha" than he is. f). Cruz operatives planted the story, knowing it was untrue, so they can pin the planting on Trump. At this point, I could believe any of it!
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Mostly, I should add, because I wouldn't put any of it past either one of them.
Originally Posted By ecdc Yeah, I have no idea what to make of this. Several reporters I follow on Twitter are pointing out that this is not the same NE that broke the Edwards, Woods, etc., affairs. Those people have moved on to other publications and the NE isn't the same. Also, it does have strong ties to Trump. I also can't help but wonder how much of this is just people wanting it to be true because it so perfectly confirms our view of Cruz as a slimy, two-faced liar. It *feels* like it makes perfect sense because that's the kind of politician he is. But it doesn't follow that that's the kind of husband he is. The flip side is the NE posted photos of these women. Yeah, they blurred their faces but they had to know it would come out who they were. I mean, talk about opening up to a crazy lawsuit. Not just with one woman, but with five! And with Cruz! You'd think they'd run it by a football stadium full of lawyers before doing that. And in the political and celebrity world, there's a lot of rumors about stuff like this. Turns out this has been a Cruz rumor for a long time now. Which doesn't make it true, but it also didn't come out of nowhere.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Supposedly (and that's a key word...), Rubio was prepared to drop this on Cruz; his staffers referred to it as "the thing," as in "When are we going to drop the thing on Cruz?" One wonders, though, why they didn't do it earlier if they had it. Cruz dropping out would definitely have helped Rubio. Then there are counter-rumors that Rubio didn't drop it because he had his own, um, extra-curricular activities he didn't want exposed. I can't imagine Kasich isn't sitting somewhere today thinking "Maybe... just maybe!!" - because if Cruz does have to drop out, that gives him a clear path to at least amass a lot more delegates than he would have, and perhaps present himself as the obvious alternative if Trump doesn't get 1237 delegates before Cleveland. He was going to try to present himself as that anyway, but had a tough row to hoe if he went into Cleveland a distant third in delegates. That's it! Kasich is behind it! I KNEW it!!!!
Originally Posted By ecdc LOL. It's also worth nothing that we all respond to things and make choices based on the information we have--the availability heuristic. But I imagine none of us actually read the National Enquirer. So we're likely unaware of how often they publish stories like this that are completely absurd and nothing comes of it. Such as... https://twitter.com/resnikoff/status/713388603032870913
Originally Posted By Dabob2 That's the National Examiner, but point taken. That said, the story has gradually moved from just the NE itself to bloggers and tweeters, to more respectable online sources like HuffPo, to CNN (at least, that I know of), to... Cruz himself. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.thewrap.com/ted-cruz-blames-national-enquirer-sex-scandal-story-on-donald-trump-and-his-henchmen/">http://www.thewrap.com/ted-cru...enchmen/</a> "Ted Cruz says a National Enquirer story accusing him of having affairs with five women is “garbage” and the work of “Donald Trump and his henchmen.” As many mainstream media outfits avoided the story, Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel live-tweeted a Cruz news conference and #CruzSexScandal became the top trend on Twitter. The story was out of the bag, and Cruz elected to address it head-on."
Originally Posted By Dabob2 As I said before, I could totally believe either that Cruz has been having affairs, or that Trump and his pals at the NE are attempting an untrue smear. Wouldn't put it past either one of them.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Probably the most respectable outlet to cover it so far. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-25/ted-cruz-sex-scandal-story-just-the-latest-bombshell-in-a-bizarre-campaign">http://www.usnews.com/news/art...campaign</a> As the story itself says, "Given that the Enquirer is widely regarded as a fringe tabloid publication, a Hollywood celebrity scandal sheet with an uneven reputation for accuracy, most mainstream news outlets had avoided the story so far, or handled it gingerly. Cruz’ comments will likely change that and assure it continues to be a topic of conversation on the campaign trail."
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I totally wouldn't put it past Trump to plant this. It does seem unbelievably stupid for Cruz to do this. He's constantly in the spotlight - he's running for president fercryinoutloud. And it seems to me it would be hard enough to keep one affair secret - let alone five. (!) And to do it with women who are involved in your competitors' campaigns??? That would be downright mindbogglingly stupid. That said, men sometimes are mindbogglingly stupid when thinking with their "other head." So I don't know what to think. But now that Cruz has addressed it himself, that gives respectable and non-respectable sources alike the go-ahead to dive in.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***But now that Cruz has addressed it himself, that gives respectable and non-respectable sources alike the go-ahead to dive in.*** Indeed. That's the oddest move thus far. If I were a betting man, I'd call that the tell. That plus he'd already started getting into it with Trump, calling him a snivelling coward and all - POSSIBLY genuine anger (though he DID attack Trump's wife first!), but could just as easily have been a smokescreen as he knew the heat was coming on fast. ***I can't imagine Kasich isn't sitting somewhere today thinking "Maybe... just maybe!!" - because if Cruz does have to drop out, that gives him a clear path to at least amass a lot more delegates than he would have, and perhaps present himself as the obvious alternative if Trump doesn't get 1237 delegates before Cleveland.*** If Cruz dropped out wouldn't that shoot Trump easily past 1237 himself though? I mean, at the moment it looks tight, but I can't imagine he wouldn't get SOME of the Cruz supporters to prop up his already considerable lead. Someone please explain it? Math makes my head hurt lol.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip How did Cruz attack Trump's wife first? Cruz had nothing to do with it. It was an Anti-Trump Super PAC. I think Cruz was smart to bring this thing into the mainstream. I think we will soon find out that this whole thing was ginned up by Trump and his people. Hopefully it will be the final blow to his sleazy campaign. The dude is 69 years old. Maybe he could conveniently die of a heart attack in his sleep tonight.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***How did Cruz attack Trump's wife first? Cruz had nothing to do with it. It was an Anti-Trump Super PAC.*** Oh come on man. You know how this stuff works. They wouldn't have run it if he didn't want it.
Originally Posted By Mr X It was also a stupid move. Trump was getting creamed in Utah anyway, there was no need to jump into the gutter.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip I truly don't believe Cruz knew anything about it. I'm not saying he hated that it happened, but I think he knew nothing about it before hand.
Originally Posted By Mr X Somehow I tend to doubt that. Not that he necessarily knew the precise details, but superpacs take their marching orders from somewhere, even if it's several layers removed.
