Ted Cruz announced that he was running for President at midnight last night. The midnight announcement came at Liberty University, the largest Christian university in the United was well-received by the conservative movement. With Scott Walker having had a bad last week, perhaps Walkermentum has ended and Cruzmentum has begun.
Cruz, regardless of one’s opinion of him, brings a number of things to the table. For one, his ability to effectively articulate conservative principles is second to none. Just check out his encounter with Seth Meyers last week. Meyers tried to corner him on global warming. Cruz didn’t budge and the audience was clearly disappointed by his inability to be pidgeonholed as just another neanderthal whose ideas are unworthy of being part of the political discourse. While Cruz might well be the most conservative candidate in the Republican field, he won’t be “Sarah Palined”. Cruz is no dummy. In fact, one of his law school professors at Harvard, Alan Dershowitz, called him “off-the-charts brilliant.”
In addition, he’s so far to the right that he’s never committed a conservative apostasy. Cruz, who has said he wishes the U.S. Senate was made up of 100 Jesse Helmses, is probably the most conservative candidate running who has served in public office. And for a lot of Republicans, that’s exactly what they want. So beloved is Cruz among conservatives that his first ad was released in Spanish. Just as only Nixon can go to China, only Ted Cruz can launch his first campaign ad in Spanish without incurring the wrath of conservatives.
So, why is Cruz not doing so well in Republican primary polling? Simply, it’s because the ultra-conservatives are split between a number of candidates. There’s the Walker people, the Ben Carson people, the Rick Perry people and even the Mike Huckabee people. On the other hand, the moderates really have only one candidate in mind: Jeb Bush. Right now, the conservative division is working in Bush’s favor. He’ll need to keep them divided in order to win the primary.
Incidentally, one key difference between Walker and Cruz is their degree of support from the moderate, establishment types. For the moderates, Walker is a perfectly acceptable candidate in case Bush falters. Not so with Cruz: they’re scared to death of him and the Republican leadership in Congress will be working behind-the-scenes against his candidacy. They don’t like Cruz because they don’t think he’s a team player.
In the end, the acrimony between Cruz and the GOP establishment is perhaps the Texas Senator’s biggest obstacle to winning the nomination. A Cruz nomination can only come about on the back of the grassroots, as his support from the establishment will be sorely lacking. And if history is any indication, the establishment will have a huge say in who gets to run under the GOP mantle.
John Wynne is the “conservative voice” at PoliticsNC, where he also provides polling analysis and commentary on legislative campaigns. When not writing about politics, he enjoys gardening and listening to opera. Contact: johncwynne@gmail.com.
Disgusted, isn’t it funny that all of those birthers who have denigrated Obama for the past 6 years are so quiet now? At least Obama was born on US soil of a US mother; how will the gop not go after Cruz for being born a Canadian of a US mother and a fascist Cuban father?
A Canadian born Tea Party’s pot smoking Ted Cruz want to be our President? I believe from now on I’ll refer to him as Tea Pot Cruz.
It is heartening to see Mr. Wynne weighing in on his own party’s presidential nominees and how they are regarded in conservative circles – however, that does not render many of them less scary; how has the upstanding house of conservatism become so rotten? In two words, Jesse Helms; both Cruz and Clinton are equally despicable politicians
“For one, his ability to effectively articulate conservative principles are second to none.”
His principles aren’t conservative, they are reactionary.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Cruz: “”What he said (on Seth Myers show) is absolutely false. Over 90% of the scientists who deal with climate are absolutely convinced that the human activity, industrial activity, generation of CO2, methane, oxides, nitrogen, and all the rest of those greenhouse gases are building up in the atmosphere. They are heat trapping. And they are causing not just warm, drought in California, but severe storms and cold in the East Coast. So it’s climate disruption of many different kinds. And that man betokens such a level of ignorance and a direct falsification of existing scientific data. It’s shocking and I think that man has rendered himself absolutely unfit to be running for office.”
I don’t have a problem with him if he doesn’t embrace Climate Scientology so long as he also renounces Flat Earth science and the theory of spontaneous generation as well. 🙂
John, if you think that Myers show interview painted Cruz an a positive light, I have to seriously wonder about you political judgment. Myers absolutely caught Cruz speechless…and I do mean without a comeback….by asking the simple question “How’d it go?” when Cruz admitted to recited “Green Eggs and Ham” in his filibuster against Obamacare (and which led to shutting down the government) in October 2013. See it all at:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/03/17/260000/cruz-on-late-night.html (at the 1:10 mark)
And re: his answers on climate change on that show, he is a lying denier who will be crushed by the national media on the topic if he’s the final candidate. He says we should “follow the science,” but fails to mention that near every credible climatologist on the planet says climate change is indeed happening. He claims that “satellite data” shows that the world’s climate is not warming, but it’s not “satellite data” that is used to track global temperatures. He also failed to mention that the biggest influence on global temperatures, the oceans, have seen an unprecedented rise in their deeper core temperatures during the last 20 years. I know what I am talking about here, John. Before I retired, I directed two major water research/educational programs at two major universities.
Cruz is a prevaricating purveyor of misinformation, and the worst sort of regressive pol.
And, jeez, John, doesn’t the fact that he “wishes the U.S. Senate was made up of 100 Jesse Helmses” tell you anything about whether the guy is worthy of leading a tolerant and open-minded America?
Dude….congratulation …I think it is damn wonderful that you good Republicans are putting forth the junior Senator from Texas and Palin protege Sen Ted Cruz. Albeit at a required assembly at Liberty. As a Democrat I can only hope you guys nominate good old Ted…might I suggest a running mate? How bout that Dr. Carson fellow. In the spirit of diversity of course. Just think…Cruz and Carson in 2016. Wow. Great, right? Ted’s dad will be a great stump speech guy…old Rafael will burn up the campaign trail for ya and that Canada red herring want come up at all. Plus you can say its not a Koch ticket since Scottie will be home trying to get his kid back into college or fighting a union of some sort. Yesirree…..Cruz and Carson in 16. Lets go with it!!!
Larry, I am all for Cruz and Palin. I am sure she is ready to try for another run for the WH; after all, McCain blamed her for the loss, and she blamed him for the loss. Besides, wasn’t it fun watching her make up words and show us the proper use of the English language?