Moderate GOP Rep.: ‘Malleable’ Trump More Electable Than ‘Rigid’ Cruz

UNITED STATES - MARCH 13: Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., listens to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate testify before a Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing in Rayburn entitled "FEMA Hurricane Sandy Funding Oversight." (P... UNITED STATES - MARCH 13: Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., listens to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate testify before a Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing in Rayburn entitled "FEMA Hurricane Sandy Funding Oversight." (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA), a moderate Republican, believes that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has too “rigid” of an ideology to win the presidency, making Donald Trump the better bet.

“Ted Cruz is a rigid ideologue,” Dent told the New York Times in an interview published on Tuesday. “Donald Trump is ideologically scattered and malleable. In my view, a more rigid ideology would have a much harder time assembling a winning general election coalition than the less doctrinaire candidate.”

It’s not surprising that Dent does not believe Cruz’s beliefs would best represent the party in the general election. The congressman often bucks the party’s most conservative members and has previously criticized Cruz’s “incendiary” remarks.

But Dent joins a few other establishment Republicans who have voiced their preference for Trump over Cruz, arguing that that the real estate mogul would be easier to guide and work with.

Dent told the New York Times that the Republican nominee “must build a winning coalition that extends beyond the Republican base.”

“Some Republican presidential candidates are in demographic denial,” he said. “Winning a larger percentage of the conservative white vote in 2016 is neither a viable nor realistic general election strategy.”

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  1. Avatar for bkmn bkmn says:

    I wasn’t aware there were any moderates left in today’s GOP.

  2. a winning general election coalition

    … like what?

  3. Avatar for rssrai rssrai says:

    This is hilarious. Moderate republicans for Trump. The republican establishment gets their candidate after all. I thought Trump was going to be the anti establishment candidate. How sad.

  4. Avatar for mantan mantan says:

    I must have missed the TPM article on moderate white nationalists…

  5. President “Landslide” Romney totally agrees. He even offered to let Derpy-D borrow his malleability enhancement device…

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