Helms was truly great.
But I think Cruz is better. Helms was smart, tough and wily. But Cruz is brilliant, fearless and at times winsome.
Did you happen to see any news accounts of his speech to the New York GOP? Apparently after it, attendees were falling all over themselves handing out 5 and 6 digit checks to the State GOP Chair (who is probably a big time “moderate”!). So, basically, Cruz set the GOP in New York (!) on fire.
Helms never really did that. He had some national networking, and used it effectively. But I think Cruz has a broader appeal. Perhaps approaching Reagan....though no one will be as winsome as REagan.
But bottom line, he’s amazing and would that Helms were still around to help!
But Sen. Helms came on the scene when the GOP was even more outnumbered. He stopped so much really, really bad legislation against all odds: UN Treaties, giveaways to union thugs, destruction of national sovereignty, etc. He also paved the way for Ronald Reagan more than any other elected official.
I know, different times and different styles. I'm very hopeful that Ted Cruz will be to our era what Jesse Helms was to his.