Barnes is writing in big politcal brush strokes. In a 24/7 blogosphere world, it’s the moment after moment video, reporting that makes the big difference.
When Cruz declared as a candidate, he was awesome. On paper. Then as he started to campaign there were things that bothered me. The “we lost our health insurance due to Obamacare” (ooops...we are good...wife has coverage thru her work at Goldman Sachs. WHAT?
Then I learned more. Wife, Heidi Cruz, was promoted AFTER he was elected Senator. And along the way they took a million (totally forgettable “loan” from GS—around the time she was on the Committee for Foreign Relations and they were modeling a North American Union)...the soccer balls and teddy bears at the boarder w/Beck...but I still wanted to believe. Until...
TPP, The Corker Bill, the H1B Visa bills, on and on and on...and I really started under standing Trump. In plain language and what he wants to do. That Trump want a politician, he didn’t need to take the risk, spend his money and time, but there he was saying what needed to be said.
My last straw and absolute turn against Cruz (I don’t think I could ever vote for him in the future either) was the night of the mini riot in Chicago. PAID anarchists and stupid college “kids”’shut down the 1st Amendment. Cruz was giving a campaign speech at a Lincoln Day Dinner, the media caught him in the lobby for an impromptu press conference.
Cruz, who memorized the Comstitution in his teens, said about 8 words defending 1A...then, unscripted and “real” went into about a five minute “preacher mode” smack down of Trump and how HE caused the riots with his violent rhetoric. His demeanor before the cameras was giddy (I posted that word here on FR over and over that night). Giddy, jolly, thrilled that Trump had been shut down. Stopped. What 1A? Who cares “I’m THE candidate now!”
And I was done with Cruz. It’s whats done when NOT planned, scripted or rehearsed. There no handlers there to say “tone it down Ted” so the REAL man appeared.
No thanks.
Very interesting take on why you turned off Cruz, mom. I have different reasons (as a NYer I loathed his values comment) but enjoyed reading yours. Thanks for posting.
"Barnes is writing in big political brush strokes."
I agree. The more I learned, the more I was turned off by Cruz. I began to see why so many in his life just didn't like him personally, and then the Chicago riot statements, along with the cozying up to the GOPe kind of sealed the deal for me. But I still think the "big political brush stoke" look by Barnes is right on. Cruz just didn't really run his campaign right to overcome the personal and professional deficiencies.
An excellent summary of the very real problems with Carefully Constructed Candidate.
I walked down the same path, Mom. And came to the same conclusion.
Exactly correct.
I think a lot of what turned people off to Cruz was when he went into preacher mode. In fact, he really began to pick up what I believe is called preacher cadence in his speeches, where he makes short statements then pauses and looks around the room (I guess to let his point sink in?).
Look at his concession speech last night versus some of his speeches on the Senate floor from 2012-2013. His speaking style is radically different. He used to speak in full sentences without long pauses, and his voice was less nasally. Most people will accept being preached at if they’re in church, but they don’t want to be constantly bombarded by it.
That speaking style also makes it more difficult for him to get exposure. A news program isn’t going to run a 30 second clip of Ted Cruz when 15 seconds of the clip is him making dramatic pauses. In contrast Trump may ramble, but he fills up the space and keeps your attention.
Great summary: you captured many of my thoughts over the course of this campaign and expressed them more cogently than I could have myself.
“My last straw and absolute turn against Cruz (I don’t think I could ever vote for him in the future either) was the night of the mini riot in Chicago. PAID anarchists and stupid college “kids”’shut down the 1st Amendment. Cruz was giving a campaign speech at a Lincoln Day Dinner, the media caught him in the lobby for an impromptu press conference.
Cruz, who memorized the Comstitution in his teens, said about 8 words defending 1A...then, unscripted and “real” went into about a five minute “preacher mode” smack down of Trump and how HE caused the riots with his violent rhetoric. His demeanor before the cameras was giddy (I posted that word here on FR over and over that night). Giddy, jolly, thrilled that Trump had been shut down. Stopped. What 1A? Who cares “I’m THE candidate now!”
Excellent point. This was a particularly galling episode. Riots are caused by rioters, and Cruz blaming Trump for hooliganism was well beneath any notion of conservatism and smacked of craven opportunism.
Good call.