Ted Cruz Could Be President—No, Seriously

Newsweek ^ | April 13, 2016 | Matthew Cooper

[2ndDivisionVet]

It’s a well known story: When Ted Cruz went to work for the George W. Bush presidential campaign in 2000, he had a lot going for him. He was in his 20s, a Texan, and smart, boasting a Harvard Law degree and a Supreme Court clerkship. It didn’t hurt to be young Hispanic man in a campaign looking for Latino votes. But Cruz was so self-aggrandizing and irksome that he managed to annoy folks at the headquarters in Austin so much that he never won a coveted slot at the White House. When Bush took office, Cruz was relegated to the hinterlands of the Federal Trade Commission.

Since then, Cruz’s unlikability has become legendary, especially in the Senate, where he really pissed off his colleagues with a government shutdown, and even called his party’s leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell, a liar. No wonder Ted Cruz was on CNN on Wednesday night as part of their family town hall series. With his telegenic wife and adorable daughters, Cruz did a lot to dispel the image of him as yucky.

Like Nixon in the 50s, Cruz in the 10s isn’t lovable but he has come very far very fast. Here he is, a first-term senator in second place for the Republican nomination, having outlasted the likes of Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush. Like Obama was when he ran and won the presidency, he’s only in the fourth year of his first term....

[tired&retired]

Trump and the “Art of the Deal.”

Chances of Trump forming an alliance with one of the other candidates who holds committed delegates if he does not reach 1237 himself....100%

[Washi]

Obviously you have not listen to Trump.

Oh, yes I have.

He's good at working people up, pissing them off, and playing the victim. Good at channeling their anger and exasperation at "the system". He doesn't speak in specifics, because he can't. He doesn't know the positions that are posted on his website. His "political handlers" wrote all of that.

[ripnbang]

onto go there...

[ripnbang]

Spoken like true establishment...

[tired&retired]

You said, “I don’t want a yes man that says what is politically correct to gain favor with the spenders of big government.”

How about a yes man to the big money like Goldman Sachs that says what the people want to hear just to gain their votes? While at the same time acting as a hypocrite in his personal life!

[tired&retired]

“Fidelito Cruz forgot he was born in Canada, parents didn’t file for CBRA within a year after his birth from American-born mom and Cuban-citizen dad.”

Who had both relinquished their US citizenship when they became citizens of Canada.

[RoosterRedux]

But Cruz was so self-aggrandizing and irksome that he managed to annoy folks

At least he's always been consistent.

He's just unlikable...even his wife looks sad in his presence.

[lucky american]

Comments.
Asking for trouble.
Reading the replies is worse than pulling a fishhook out of your eyeball.

[Roses0508]

The average voter will not take the time to figure out the GOP rules... 

---

They did NOT have to “figure out” anything. The newspapers had articles, both print and on-line. It was on all the local news shows. Brochures came in the mail. It was on all the morning radio shows. All the average voter had to do was show up.

[ObamahatesPACoal]

“When Bush took office, Cruz was relegated to the hinterlands ... “

That’s when Cruz become a “conservative”.

[Cobra64]

Had he hitched his wagon to Trump, he would have either been VP or Attorney General, or just campaigned for him in exchange for support down the road.

Instead, he wanted it all, and he wanted it now, and he will pay the price by becoming a footnote to the history of this campaign and to the history of the US Senate.

Excellent assessment and conclusion.

[stockpirate]

I’m waiting him to brag about argueing against dildo use in Texas, maybe a gif with him wagging a dildo at us.

[Cobra64]

NAFTA is bad for American business. Cruz supports NAFTA. TPP is bad for American business and US sovereignty. Cruz supports TPP.

There's a pattern here folks.

[MrEdd]

Cubanpresidentted

[nathanbedford]

I will give you Cruz simplified

It's good to simplify but not to distort or to mislead by omission. Cruz' supports a value added tax only as a substitute for income tax which would be eliminated.

There is nothing conservative about a VAT tax.

Certainly not if it is imposed in addition to an income tax, but that of course is not what Cruz proposed. What he proposed is in fact extremely conservative.

Cruz ethics…

I don't understand which side of this issue we are supposed to be on this time of day, because Trump criticisms varies not with the calendar but with the clock. Is Ted Cruz and insider because he is in the Senate or outsider because the rinos in the Senate despise him? Is Ted Cruz ineffectual because he could not stop Obama care in the Senate, although he raised public awareness, or is he a true conservative for his attempt? If his attempt to kill Obama care pissed off Rino Senators maybe you should consider that Ted Cruz is disliked by Rino Senators because he fought against Obama care for you. In any event, you can scarcely say he is an insider or that he is not conservative for this item that you cite.

The, "have you stopped beating your wife yet," tactics against Ted Cruz (also including fraudulent slanders of infidelity, no less) should now be obvious to any fair-minded reader of these threads.

[ADSUM]

You assume rumors are true.

[DaveA37]

Certainly Cruz “could” be president but will he eventually “be” the president, that is the real question.. He still has a long way to go with hundreds of landmines to step over.

[nathanbedford]

I am isolationist.

Me not so much but I am concerned that our round the globe commitments have overextended us, rendered us more vulnerable, placed the decision of war or peace in the hands of our allies who are clearly not willing to arm themselves much less defend themselves.

I am Nativist.

Me to

I am anti immigration, even when it may be legal.

Me to! My very first vanity in this forum was written excoriating George Bush for admitting aliens and I have subsequently posted ad nauseam on the need to reduce immigration. I now believe the Ted Cruz has a tighter immigration policy than Donald Trump. Although Cruz will deport by attrition , the tried-and-true method, Trump thinks he can effect the removal of millions almost as though they were to be thrown in boxcars and ridden out of the country. That is politically impossible. Cruz is tighter on immigration in that he will not let them back in once deported but Trump will let them back in if he fancies them.

I am for closed borders, north and south.

Me to

I am xenophobe and do not trust foreigners.

Living among them, I find the Germans, for example, to come in all flavors just like Americans.

I am anti Islam in all its flavors.

Me too!! It is a soul killing religion that has enslaved millions and impoverished hundreds of millions. It denies the scientific method, it will be a cancer on mankind until it experiences a Reformation and an Enlightenment.

I am for continuing displays of battle flag for the armies of Northern Virginia.

Me too and you can certainly believe that.

[scooby321]

Hillary would not have to spend a dime in California, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyanyia, Maryland, Delaware, Massachusetts, the whole midwest except maybe Indiana, After the non existence vote in Colorado she wins there. New Mexico, Nevada and the whole Pacific Coast.

Florida , Virginia, and Ohio Ted did not get 20% of the GOP vote nor win a County.

Landslide Hillary

When Ted has his sites on a 2,000 person rally and only gets 1,000 not Good.

I am sorry Ted Delegates are not General

[Mr Apple]

Wow.

I know. This eight women nightmare for Ted may seem like old news and these allegations have run their course. And that I'm just beating a dead horse by continuing to bring it up for discussion here at fr. I'm simply reminding everyone of a horrible and precarious situation we might all find ourselves in.

Now, I haven't kept track, but I'll guess that there have been a dozen or so Cruz supporters here (over the past ten days) who've attacked my position (attacked my posts) that I've taken on Ted's impossible situation. With each of these folks here, I've pointed out that Cruz is now in the dubious position of dealing with and living with ....a cloud over his head.
In some of my posts on this topic, I've gladly endured being flamed and in fact been called different names. A weirdo. A pervert. A screw up. A liar. An oddball. And....that I simply "make things up." Not so, as we'll all now see:

In each of these dozen or so heated discussions with my fellow posters, each one of them were in the unenviable and losing position of trying to prove that ...there is no such thing as a - 'cloud' - over Ted. This cloud hanging over Ted is in fact -embedded in the minds of millions and millions of people now since these sordid details came out on April 3rd.

I'll sum this up about this 'cloud' now hanging over Ted ...with this: Folks who take the position that there isn't any such thing -as a cloud- hanging over Ted ...are stopped in their tracks -when they finally and correctly come to the conclusion...that once a person has heard something, they'll never ever be able to get (what they heard)...out of their minds. And that's that. It's what God created us all with. Our natural ability to ...remember. And when folks go to the polls, I ask, is it possible that folks might -remember- these allegations about Ted and his lady 'friends' - - - why of course they can!

Unfortunately for Ted, it's not whether these allegations are true...or not true. But it's the perception! I'm not saying he is guilty of being with any amount of women outside of his marriage. But only that there is now...a cloud hanging over Ted. This damning cloud / perception is stuck over Ted and will remain so for the rest of this life. Period.

And we all must ponder ...another horrible and precarious circumstance! What if Ted does...happen to be our conservative nominee. And when Ted stands behind his podium...facing Hillary in the September and October debates -exactly what is Ted going to say...when Hillary inquires (on national television) about these eight women. Where does 'our' nominee even begin to start -with a defense against that insinuation from Hillary?

Now, I'm sure that some folks here -in this thread right now- might step up and attack my position, but we'll all know ...that they'll be operating from a position of weakness. They, like all the others, will end up sitting down -and look ridiculous having tried to prove that -clouds of suspicion- are a myth. That folks don't have long term memories. And that their bad memories of all this could cause them to just sit out and not vote -for our Presidential candidate. And Hillary overwhelms our conservative voters.

Now, let's see if anyone comes forward to argue the points I've made quite clear here.