Keller @ Large: Trump Gets Honey Badger In South Carolina
BOSTON (CBS) - Donald Trump gets it -- Ted Cruz is the only thing between Trump and undisputed control of the anti-establishment vote in the GOP presidential race.
So despite his seemingly comfortable lead in the South Carolina primary polls, Trump lashed out at Cruz as a "liar" during Saturday night's debate, and hammered the theme home in a Monday press conference where he repeated multiple variations on this theme: "I have never ever met a person that lies more than Ted Cruz."
During forty years in the New York real estate business? Is he kidding?
Anyway, the one-on-one wrestling match seemed to be just what Cruz wanted. "I'm the most horrible person in the world because I keep repeating the things he said," Cruz said to laughter from a South Carolina crowd. "I guess the only explanation one can have is that his internal poll numbers must be plummeting following that debate."
One post-debate poll shows very slight deterioration of Trump's lead. But if Trump's Honey Badger-esque performance in the debate does in fact damage him, it creates an opportunity for a candidacy-saving showing by one or more of the establishment candidates, in addition to Cruz.
We'll find out Saturday night if significant numbers of voters heed the admonition of former President George W. Bush, who campaigned for his brother Jeb on Monday and made several oblique references to Trump.
"There seems to be a lot of name-calling going on," he said. "But I want to remind you of something our good dad told us - 'labels are for soup cans.'"