Viewer’s Guide: Cruz, Trump, may clash on debate stage

First, Donald Chump Trump played the Cuban/Catholic/(Sp*c) card against Ted Cruz, musing, in his inimitable passive aggressive mode, that few evangelicals come out of Cuba, whereas, he, the Great White Hope of Protestant revanchism (Donald Trump-coming to an Orange Order Belfast march soon), was Presbyterian.

Florida senator Marco Rubio and Dr. Ben Carson are the only other republicans boasting double-digit support.

The heartland state of Iowa kicks off the voting in the race for the Republican nomination on February 1.

Asked about Clinton’s remarks that Trump “was basically a Democrat before he was a Republican”, Cruz said on Carr’s show: “Hillary would know well how to identify Democrats”.

Seven candidates will take the main stage in SC, with six focused on how to knock the real-estate tycoon off his perch and finally bring the 2016 campaign to a debate about issues rather than obsession over Trump’s celebrity bombast.

A poll out this week from the Des Moines Register showed Cruz with a 3 point lead over Trump, the latest in a series that shows Trump’s once dominant lead slipping.

“The market for Republican nominee has been the tightest betting contest in the 2016 USA presidential election so far and this the first time Trump has been favourite, which could well present a significant shift at a pivotal time in the campaign”, analysis on the Betfair website says. And will any of it matter for his legions of supporters?

Trump steps up non-stop attacks on Cruz’s eligibility to run for president.

Cruz was born in Canada, but was automatically granted American citizenship by birth because his mother was an American citizen – which most legal scholars contend meets the “natural-born citizen” requirement.

The sixth Republican presidential debate will air at 8 p.m. Thursday from North Charleston, S.C., on the Fox Business Network.

Cruz’s recent polling surge has thrust him into a two-man race with Trump in Iowa while he closes the gap with the GOP front-runner nationally – and as the race has tightened, the rhetoric has escalated.