So this is an interesting tidbit from a story in the LA Times on Trump’s rise to power:
Indeed, at one crucial point, a rival campaign aided Trump’s rise. After Trump’s loss in the Iowa caucuses, Jeff Roe, campaign manager for Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, called Lewandowski to warn him that polls they had done showed Trump’s support dropping in the coming New Hampshire primary because Trump was attacking other candidates too much.
Trump was not doing his own polls, Lewandowski said, so the insight provided key guidance which allowed them to recalibrate strategy.
A loss in New Hampshire might have crippled Trump. Instead, his victory there, followed by triumphs in Nevada and South Carolina, virtually assured him the nomination.
Roe, in an interview, confirmed Lewandowski’s account. At that point in the campaign, “we needed Trump” to defeat other candidates, he said, ruefully.
Wow. I never would have thought Cruz’s campaign would have helped Trump win a state during the primary. So I guess running for president is really like the reality TV show “Survivor”.
If Cruz would’ve won we’d say that was a brilliant move! But since he didn’t, it just looks like he contributed slightly to the rise of Trump.
Ah well…