Last night, more even than the victory in Iowa, marked the change for which we had been waiting. To wit:
The Obsolete Press and FOX News went out of its way to keep sounding the "It's Over" horn. Each and all took the opportunity at each "catch your breathe" moment to diminish Cruz and to a lesser extent Rubio. Even this morning, a pseudo-conservative radio station in McAllen, during their morning programming pointed out repeatedly that Cruz had barely won his home State, and only won three States, and even then only by a plurality.
The ease of these deceptions, they think, is lain upon their knowledge that most of their audience, while more intelligent than the other audiences tuning in to AM or FM radio, are still dolts who can be dragged around by the rings in their noses.
The fact is that Cruz had not won three States; he had won four.
The fact is that Cruz did not overtake Trump in the vote; but Cruz did sharply gain in overall percentage of the delegate count, while Trump's share of said percentage sharply fell.
The fact is that the pundits failed to point out, quite purposefully, that Cruz enjoyed the best of the left-overs. His second-place finishes netted two-score delegates. The other fact is that, in spite of Trump's assertions and assurances, Donald's fortunes crashed and burned in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Alaska. In said States, Cruz took the "premio gordo"while enjoying the extra benefits of a really convincing victory in Texas. Three States and one Republic were carried by "that Mexican guy from Cuba who's a Canadian and can't be President".
To wit:
TRUMP - 316 Delegates now - Gain: 234 Percentage increase: 172%
CRUZ - 226 " - " 209 " 1,230%
RUBIO - 106 " - " 90 " 563%
KASICH - 25 " - " 19 " 320%
CARSON - 8 " - " 3 " 60%
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These figures are still a bit mushy, but they are derived from what El Gringo Viejo considers to be a worthy analysis by the New York Times. That analysis is not reflected in the editorial staff's opinions nor in the fluffy and superficial reportage they, the Obsolete Media, and the FOX News operatives are pushing out the sewer-plant door.
The labyrinthine delegate distillation process lends to the necessity to do some "home brewing" as well, but we assure the OROG community and all readers outside of the association of Official Readers of the Old Gringo that if were err, we err on the side of self-injury.
Our point in all of this is simply that the overwhelming majority of the talking heads' and "experts'" predictions were off, either moderately or substantially. A parallel and supporting point is that their prognostications were always off in their unbridled, slobbering adulation of Donald Trump and (Sir Edmund) Hillary.
So....Cruzcistas.....adelante con la Cruz....como simbolo de nuestra religion y filosofÃa y como nuestro candidato a la Presidencia de la Union Americana.
El Gringo Viejo
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