Posted on 11/24/2015 5:28:49 AM PST by VinL
Over the course of his brief, polarizing career in electoral politics, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has been called many names, especially by liberals. "Dirty Syrup Guzzler" (Jon Stewart). "Creature from the Nether Regions" (Cher). â"The Most Dangerous Canadian in America" (the Huffington Post).
Yet so far the most indelible description of Cruz has come from a fellow conservative. In 2013, when Cruz decided to protest U.S. drone policy by filibustering the nomination of incoming CIA chief John Brennan, John McCain told reporter Jon Ward.. now a senior political correspondent for Yahoo News .. that his junior colleague was a "wacko bird."
The sobriquet stuck. It was emblazoned on T shirts. It appeared in countless headlines. Cruz himself proudly displays a black WACKO BIRD baseball cap with a picture of Daffy Duck on it in his Senate office.
By using that particular moniker, McCain was, in effect, dismissing Cruz as both flighty and crazy. And for the most part that is exactly how the Texan has been characterized in both the press and the public imagination since he alighted on Washington, D.C., nearly three years ago and immediately set about trolling his fellow Republicans and hijacking the legislative process: as an irresponsible far right demagogue prone to behave in irrational, counterproductive ways. Cruz's showy obstructionism suffers from "basic logic problems" and "just doesnât make sense," wrote the Atlantic's Molly Ball in 2013. "Zealot leaders" like Cruz "forget that the key to leadership is essentially getting results by moving agendas ahead," added Inc. magazine.
Many pundits were skeptical when, in a speech at Virginia's evangelical Liberty University on March 23 , Cruz became the first Republican to announce he was entering the 2016 presidential race. As the New York Times' Nate Cohn put it at the time, "The most interesting question about Mr. Cruz's candidacy is whether he has a very small chance to win or no chance at all."
But suddenly it seems that Cruz is running what even Dan Pfeiffer, a former top aide to President Obama, concedes is "the best campaign on the other side." (snip)
" Ted Cruz has always been more of a mastermind than a wacko bird. Every politician plans, plots or schemes (depending on how pejorative you want to be about it); that's part of the job. But not every politician is a prodigy at it. Ted Cruz is. "
Long article, folks should read it all.
Ted is the man! GO CRUZ!!!
This should be interesting. I suspect a lot of Trump supporters actually preferred Cruz, but didn’t think he had a shot.
I still think a Trump/Cruz ticket is ideal - I could be way off the mark, but I think Trump is the battering ram needed to get into the White House, and Cruz being along with him to advise would be perfect. I think The Donald can bring in votes from the other side, due to his name recognition and popularity. Cruz can then take over after four years, with much of the cleanup well underway.
Join the Cruzade.
Agree completely with your analysis.
I think Trump would be a one term President--in four years he could do wonders--and then he would position Cruz for the Oval Office.
Cruz is not a natural born citizen, our Constitution says only a natural born citizen can be president of the USA. Plus he is one of the biggest flip floppers ever. Flip floped on TPA, flip floped on Syrian refugees, flip flop on H1B visas, flip floped on immigration. You want to put a foreign born flip flopers in the White House? Really?
Now, the drive-bys are in a bit of a panic.
I guess if you don't have substantiation, you can throw all sort of crap out there.
Good luck with the Donald.
Wow sixteen years a member?
Answer me this, who is more conservative and Constitutionally minded than Ted Cruz?
“As the New York Times’ Nate Cohn put it at the time, ‘The most interesting question about Mr. Cruz’s candidacy is whether he has a very small chance to win or no chance at all.”
Nate, you’re a prognosticating genius. Your mommy must be really proud.
Vote for whoever you wish, but if you are looking for the perfect candidate, you aren't going to find it.
If the good stuff is in the rest of the article I didn’t that far. Couldn’t take the insults tossed at him at the beginning.
Cruz first, Trump second.
BWWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA keep the fires burning Sparky.
The Left wants conservatives and those on the other team who have switched sides from D to R that are fed up with 0 to fight and bicker to split the vote to ensure that Hillary assumes the throne. We need to keep this in mind and not fall for the trap. We have some hard choices to make come 2016 and we better get to one side or the other or we are going to have Hillary and socialism all over again.
“But suddenly it seems that Cruz is running what even Dan Pfeiffer, a former top aide to President Obama, concedes is “the best campaign on the other side.””
Well...yeah?
He sat back and let Trump get the big issues on the table, and thus taking the massive hits and attacks. Trump survived and is now at the top of the bord.
2) Then the GOPe sent in waves of losers to take Trump down, along with open help from the media (Fox, Gawker,Huffington Post, Blaze, MSNBC). Each and everyone of them have been effectively repulsed.
Again, Cruz has had to do nothing but politely agree with Trump’s positions without having to be the ones taking the positions first.
3) Now that Trump has essentially destroyed his competition, the Cruz base is pouring on the sap about how Cruz is the only brave one in the race and is the true conservative....blah blah blah.
His poll number went up, not because “he’s catching fire”, but because everyone else has flamed-out by attacking Trump and some defaulted to Cruz, because...well he’s there and registers above 4% in polls.
And now we get hourly PSAs from his supporters demanding that we all get in his camp because Cruz is the “real nominee” and he will “destroy” Hillary. Never mind the fact that he still is just running as far from the heat as possible in order to keep under the radar. We get big bravado more now due to the effective neutering of the GOPe by Trump. So I guess it’s cool to do a Trump impression while screaming how he is the ultra-conservative and making appeals to conformity and purity to all of the people that got behind Trump because he was the one that made the big moves when it counted early on.
It’s frankly distasteful. And the massive pats on the back for him is embarrassing.
“With the possible exception of Frank Underwood, the fictional star of Netflix’s House of Cards, there may be no shrewder, more calculating figure in American politics than Cruz ... and so far, nearly all his calculations have paid off.”
Thee isn’t, not today. One of a kind.
We literally tear each other apart!
And there will be more of it as we close in on Nov. 2016.
But, of course, you're right; if we don't get behind a candidate, we'll get Hillary!
((shudder))
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