Ted Cruz did not denigrate the military service of Dole or McCain. Their service does not give these men a pass on accountability for their failure to stand on Republican principle when they ran for president. McCain using Dole’s (and by association, his own) military service as a rationale to not criticize either man’s presidential campaign failures is as lame as McCain’s 2008 campaign.
What I find troublesome here is Ted Cruz even mentioning these men’s conduct as a benchmark to boost his own perceived political saleability, through his own implicit praise of himself. None of these past candidates were my favorites, but it was not the best forum to condemn them with faint praise. That’s what marks Ted as a little too brash, and probably due for some correctional experiences yet.