Trump cracks Cruz’s lock on conservative media

Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) worked early and hard to cultivate the support of the most important voices in conservative talk radio and on the Web and was rewarded with an army of defenders who have for nearly a year inoculated him against criticism, advanced his message and bashed his rivals on a daily basis. No more. With just days to go before the Iowa caucuses, Cruz’s wires into conservative media have gotten crossed by Donald Trump.

While opinion-makers on the right found it easy to dismiss Cruz’s earlier rivals — from Sens Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rand Paul (R-KY) to former Gov John Ellis Bush (R-FL) — Trump has proved a tougher foil. That’s partly because his rhetoric and stated policy positions appeal to so many conservative listeners and readers that covering them generates ratings gold. Breitbart, the conservative site, says it has experienced a 75 percent growth in traffic in the past year. And Rush Limbaugh says his audience “is expanding at near geometric proportions, as people seek guidance, answers, explanations, information, and an answer to the basic question, ‘What the hell is happening out there?’” But it’s also because leading voices in conservative media recognize, and appreciate, that it has been Trump, even more than Sen Cruz, who has driven the 2016 field to the right.