CEO, President, Managing Editor, CFO, Big Kahuna of Veritaspac, my friend, Roger, is correct when he wrote that I had lost my bet that Ted Cruz would not support/endorse the GOP presidential nominee. But to quote Lady Hillary MacBeth (named by some, most aptly, for “one of Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters”), “what difference, at this point, does it make”.
And now, he has…sorta. We’ll take it but it is not worth a whole lot at this stage of the game. In fact, the whole episode is probably to the Senator’s detriment. Mr. Cruz did alienate a large number of his primary campaign supporters, myself included. After all, he was among the candidates for the nomination to make the famous “pledge” to support whomever the eventual nominee would be. That was a practical thing to do…if indeed you intended to keep such a pledge.
But, that wasn’t Ted’s biggest mistake. It was a tough campaign, dominated by an unorthodox aspirant who was not likely, after it was all said and done, to be voted “Mr. Congeniality”. Cruz took a verbal beating from Mr. Trump. Some of the stuff was nasty. Understandable that there would be hard feelings on the part of the Senator in the immediate aftermath of the campaign. (In my own case, “hard feelings” would not begin to describe my reactions; but then, that’s just one of a few hundred other reasons I would not run for political office).
Most of us understood that it would take a while to get over the slings and arrows suffered by the Texan. But then,with a clear winner of the nomination, in a must -win contest for the fate of the nation, indeed, the entire world, the GOP convention was the place to put aside the animosity and honor the pledge and come out with a strong endorsement.
Unfortunately, Heidi forgot to pack Ted’s “big boy” pants.
Unlike Roger, I thought, as I, and I believe, most attendees and conservatives across the land concluded, he needed to make a much more definitive statement in support of the nominee than his sly, disingenuous, surprisingly un-artful remarks.
But, now, by delaying until the impact is marginal if any, Cruz makes his “support” public. Now, he has even lost Glenn Beck (horrors!).
All the reasons he now gives for why he’ll vote for Trump, were no less universally known and understood in July.
And interestingly, his belated declaration come as it becomes clear that he faces a genuine challenge to retain his seat in the Senate.
I still believe that Ted Cruz is a vital force for conservatism and that he has much more yet to accomplish on the national stage for the good of America.
So I wish him well and sincerely hope that voters return him to the Senate, but perhaps more so that President Trump chooses him for Supreme Court Justice.
Roger, your dollar is in the mail. DLH
Not an altogether surprising analysis from a Texas Cruz critic —
Ted Cruz Caves Why he will come to regret his endorsement of Donald Trump’s presidential bid. (excerpt)
Ted Cruz wants, above all else, to be president. He’s spent years working and strategically plotting toward achieving that goal. After endorsing Donald Trump today, Cruz’s chances of becoming president have, it seems to me, nearly evaporated.
(snip)
At the same time, I’m aware that even before today’s news, it was tricky to persuade anyone to consider giving Cruz the benefit of the doubt about anything—and after today, it will be impossible. Either his endorsement is a pack of lies, or his speech at the RNC was: they can’t both be true. And though it’s possible that “Lyin’ Ted” might still one day become president, the odds, in my view, are now vanishingly narrow. We’ve all heard it a million times: “Everyone hates Ted Cruz.” And now he’s given this faceless “everyone” plenty of reason to do so.
I note she is also a lefty writer, an Austin resident who also contributes to The Atlantic, NYT and The New Republic. Anyway here are a few reasons why I thought it safe to make the bet a few weeks ago . . . in particular that Cruz intentionally left himself room to do so. That is not bad politics, and something that can be observed in Trump (employing vagueness or avoiding specificity) and at other times taking back “revising” what was a pretty definitive statement.
The country was not at stake at any time without Cruz’s endorsement as conservatives are independent analysts. Whatever votes Cruz brings, he has done so in time, while giving Trump time to earn more than just notHillary voters.
I have seen a theme out there (AP and others) that says Cruz’s decision was “a shocking about-face.” — How so? That I am aware, Cruz was never ever “neverTrump” never said he would not vote for Trump, never told anybody not to vote for him, and to the Texas delegation the morning after his RNC speech, told them that he agreed with Newt Gingrich that Trump was the only candidate that met the criteria he (Cruz) laid out in his address to the RNC.
Now as absentee voting commences in a few early voting states, but still a month and a half before the election, Cruz has made it clear publicly that he will vote for Trump. I did not have much doubt. Trump has improved in that time period and made moves to assure conservatives that he would be conservative on key matters. Trump has responded and we should all support Trump for the key policies he will pursue.
Ted Cruz and his family have forgiven, ate crow, whatever. Self serving as to his political career? That can be said about any politician including Trump as he makes moves in his desires to be the political/policy leader of America. EVERY politician sees their election as what is best for America, just ask them.
An AP article I saw frequently read “for months (Cruz) balked in offering support, despite his previous pledge to endorse the eventual Republican nominee.” It is tendentious for AP to say “months” with reference to barely two, and as regards the pledge, failed to add the line that Trump’s pledge “to support the nominee” was on again, off again, and dependent on his subjective decision.