Politico makes it sound like Cruz was a mere legal assistant.
He has taken cases before the Supreme Court and has won. Big difference.
In other words - he knows what the hell he is talking about.
Law clerks for Supreme Court justices have a lot of prestige, and frequently have distinguished careers. Justices Roberts and Kagan are former clerks.
Actually, any Supreme Court clerk is a huge deal. My husband clerked for a local judge, and that was a highly respected and desired position for a new law school grad. It went only to the top students. It ensured he got more experience than most attorneys from his class and set him up for life in the field of law. After his clerkship, he had his pick of local law firms, primarily because of that experience and because of the connections he made.
And that was just working for a local judge. Any lawyer takes pause when he hears someone clerked for the SCOUS Chief Justice, as did Cruz. That’s THE top spot in the nation for a young lawyer.