The Void Ted Cruz Fills-Someone must communicate GOP ideas, party leadership can't be bothered

The National Review ^ | February 20, 2014 | Thomas Sowell

[2ndDivisionVet]

Senator Ted Cruz is a hero in some Republican circles — and the opposite among many of his Senate Republican colleagues.

At this crucial juncture in the history of America, internal battles within the only party that can turn things around are the last thing Americans need. Moreover, each side in this political civil war has all too many valid criticisms of the other.

The Republican establishment’s criticisms of Senator Cruz are criticisms of his rule-or-ruin strategy, which can destroy whatever chance Republicans have of taking back the Senate in 2014 and the White House in 2016. And, without political power, there is no real hope of changing things in Washington.

Senator Cruz’s filibuster last year got the Republicans blamed for shutting down the government — and his threatened filibuster this year forced several Republican Senators to jeopardize their own reelection prospects by voting to impose cloture to prevent Cruz from repeating his self-serving grandstand play of last year. The Republicans need every vote they can get in the Senate — plus additional votes by defeating some Democrats who are running for the Senate this fall. It can be a very close call. Jeopardizing the reelection of current Republican senators is an act of utter irresponsibility, a high risk with zero benefits to anyone except Ted Cruz — and the Democrats.

However unjustified Senator Cruz’s actions, the very fact that a freshman Senator can so quickly gain so many supporters with so much enthusiasm ought to be a loud warning to the Republican establishment that they have long been a huge disappointment to a wide range of Republican voters and supporters....

[DoodleDawg]

Did someone get to him?

Sowell has always been pretty establishment. It's not surprising he has his doubts about Cruz. Same with Coulter.

[lodi90]

Sowell ticked off a lot of Conservatives with Part I of his diatribe earlier in the week, and is trying to walk it back a bit. But for some weird reason, he’s now advocating a “party-first” agenda while attacking Cruz for doing what we’ve all been demanding for years out of our elected leader. Seems very hypocritical to me.

---

What is happening now is the GOP elites like Coulter and Sowell are trying to pull the unruly conservative base back on the GOP plantation for the midterms.

The GOP leadership wanted the preemptive surrender on the budget and debt ceiling wrapped up quickly so they could start up the meaningless election season rhetoric.

I really don’t care about the rhetoric any more. The only thing that matters now is a articulate, consistent, and engaged opposition to the rampaging Dems. Cruz is the one doing that right now. Not Boehner. Not McConnell. That’s why he is so popular.

[lodi90]

The GOP has been running around in circles scared since the kenyan won in 2012.

All the GOP leadership should have been fired after the beltway GOP wasted 2010-12 and Romney ran a terrible campaign. Pribus, McConnell, Boehner and all the useless consultants are to blame for the GOP non agenda and non engagement of the Dems.

Now we are getting more of the same proven loser tip toe strategy for 2014. Fire them all.

[chris37]

LOL!

Stupid elephant!

You know I hate even saying that, vet, because the other day I saw a video of an elephant that painted a picture using its trunk of an elephant in the wild. The painting was quite good.

This absolutely blew my mind.

Elephants are smart, GOP is not.

I hereby apologize to all elephants.

[eddie willers]

So, even though their impressions, fostered by a Marxist and self-serving Media, DNC, and GOP-E, are incorrect and not based on the truth, we should not try to correct their incorrect opinions, we should not fight back?

I saw it fail back when Newt Gingrich "shut down the government".

And Newt was a much better communicator of the virtues of conservatism than Ted.

If you think the American hoi polloi has become brighter in the last two decades....well...let's just say you are more optimistic than either Sowell or me.

[SoConPubbie]

If you think the American hoi polloi has become brighter in the last two decades....well...let's just say you are more optimistic than either Sowell or me.

Don't care about that perception of yours one way or the other.

It is not a reason or should be the basis of a political strategy.

Political stratigies driven by outcome-based ethics are worthless and bound to fail.

The only fight worth fighting for is one driven by ethics and principles, conservative principles, especially when you are trying to get conservatives to go along with you.

Otherwise, it is a worthless endeavor.