DES MOINES, IOWA—Except for the mirror in his hotel room, Tailgunner Ted Cruz is running out of influential friends here in the heartland. The latest person to give him a slip in the shiv is Governor Terry Branstad, who shared some thoughts with The Washington Post. Branstad put his thumb on the scale, and then he jumped on it with both feet.

Branstad, who announced last week that he wants Cruz to lose his state's kick-off contest over his opposition to the Renewable Fuel Standard, was in the audience and recalled how the Texas senator got booed when he clashed with the moderators. "It was a poor performance on his part," Branstad said, twisting the knife. "Some of the other candidates came across a lot better … Renewable energy is very important to our state. A lot of jobs are at stake. … His stand on that issue is definitely going to hurt him. We've seen in recent polls he was ahead, but now he's dropped behind Trump. … Trump had 1,700 people in Ottumwa," said Branstad, in an interview conducted by reporters from The Washington Post and Politico. "I didn't know there were 1,700 Republicans in Ottumwa! That's a huge turnout."

Now this is a dilemma. The Tailgunner is starting to fade in the stretch, but the main reason for that is his opposition to the idiotic ethanol boondoggle that is the primary reason why Iowa should conduct its caucuses in May, when nobody has to notice them. But it is something of an indication that the not-entirely-theocratic wing of the GOP is coming to grips with the notion that nominating He, Trump would not be as much of a disaster as nominating the Tailgunner, who naturally generates vast pastures of loathing almost to the horizon. This also is not something anyone expected.

Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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