Spoiler alert: Ted Cruz will not be the Republican nominee for president but he will build a valuable mailing list.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) March 23, 2015
By Sunday night, TedCruz.org was live as the senator’s presidential campaign site. The campaign failed to secure TedCruz.com, which features a pro-Obama message… – Politico
Dave Weigel, Bloomberg Politics:
Announcing his presidential bid at Liberty University is giving Ted Cruz something that some candidates dream of: A massive crowd that has to be there. The Texas senator is speaking at the Christian university’s convocation, a mandatory event for the school’s students, held in the made-for-TV Vines center.
Not everyone enrolled at Liberty University, which says it has more than 13,500 residential students, is thrilled by this. According to an organizer with Young Americans for Liberty, the group started in 2008 by former Texas Representative Ron Paul, around a dozen Liberty undergrads had been ready to start a Students for Rand Paul chapter. They took the Cruz visit as an opportunity to start promoting the cause and signing up their peers…
By announcing so early, Cruz is giving up what Bush has now: A long in-between period to shake the $ tree. One reason: His is a bonsai tree.
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) March 22, 2015
Margaret Talev, Jonathan Allen & David Weigel, Bloomberg Politics, yesterday:
Senator Ted Cruz’s plan to kick off his presidential campaign on Monday at Liberty University is an acknowledgement by the Texas freshman, firebrand, and tea-party candidate of just how difficult a path he faces to the Republican nomination and how crucial it may be for him to break out first and seize attention early…
The timing and focus may help Cruz, who lacks the major Wall Street backing of hopefuls such as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, build a national donor base for the $40 million to $50 million he’ll seek for a primary. While Cruz is unlikely to draw away early support from establishment-aligned hopefuls such as Bush, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, or Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, his immediate task is to pull supporters away from candidates who’ve shown strength with evangelical voters; namely, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, and neurosurgeon Ben Carson…
In a crowded field of anti-establishment presidential hopefuls, Cruz has been stuck in the single digits in Bloomberg Politics polls this year in the key nominating states of Iowa and New Hampshire. He also placed a distant third at last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll, behind Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky and Walker. He’s trying to change that dynamic and get out ahead of rivals like Paul, who was expected to announce a presidential bid April 7 in Louisville, Ky…
By announcing with a bang at the near-end of a financial reporting quarter, Cruz hopes to raise a bigger sum than any comparable candidate, and, ideally, to crack the $1 million mark. Cruz has already won over Fort Worth money manager Hal Lambert, who backed former Texas Governor Rick Perry’s 2012 bid. He’s also courted some of the evangelical donors who backed the Huckabee and Santorum campaigns. (A question to Santorum donor Foster Friess was returned with an apology: “Foster’s focus is on helping to arm the Kurds so he will not be considering any new projects for several months.”)…
Cruz’s skeptics—and there are many in the GOP—brought up his lack of concrete Senate victories right away. Strategists for potential 2016 rivals see Cruz as a reliable and opportunistic ally of the groups that set up endless litmus tests for conservatives, setting up most Republicans to fail while a few members of the party can cast pure “no” votes. Fergus Cullen, a former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party, hosted Bush at his home this month, then told a radio interview that Cruz would never “darken my doorstep.”
“Here’s a question: How many of his Senate colleagues will endorse him?” asked Cullen, who had met Cruz in 2010 at a Heritage Foundation conference and soured on him after seeing his work in the Senate. “There’s a significant block of votes for the I-don’t-give-a-damn candidate. They’re not interested in someone with accomplishments. They’re interested in someone who fights. If Ted Cruz’s strategy is to be the most conservative candidate and unite the right wing, he’ll be a finalist—but the problem is that lots of candidates have tried that, and failed. The only person I can think of who tried and succeeded was Pat Buchanan in 1996.” …
The only first announcers to secure nominations since the second half of the 20th century were Democrats Adlai Stevenson in 1956 and George McGovern in 1972.
The best way to think of the Cruz candidacy is as a long and expensive audition for a Fox News show.
— Jamelle Bouie (@jbouie) March 23, 2015
***********
Apart from the Cruz-ifiction Circus, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
muddy
I made gluten free crackers for a friend out of almonds, cheese, egg. They were quite excellent and now I have to make some for my friend.
Eric U.
the thing that bothers me is that Liberty University really doesn’t have the racist cred needed to launch a run for the republican nomination. What, was he too brown for Bob Jones or something?
cokane
Bouie’s tweet really couldn’t be more wrong.
Fox News would love to hire Cruz, but that man wants to stay in government. Lots of things to criticize him about, but he is not a grifter a la Sarah Palin. He is a true believer.
Violet
Nobody likes Ted Cruz. I wonder if his family likes him.
Roger Moore
I don’t think so. Even if he fails to win the presidency, I expect Cruz to want to stay in the Senate for as long as he can. I think he genuinely wants the kind of power you can’t get from being a talking head.
ETA: or what @cokane said.
Amir Khalid
@muddy:
You mean, you eated ALL of them? Tsk, tsk. I bet you’re totally ashamed of your complete lack of willpower.
I guess for American-politics junkies the main thing about a Ted Cruz presidential run will be the betting on how soon he face-plants, and how hilariously.
Violet
@cokane:
@Roger Moore:
Agreed. I’m actually shocked people think this is some kind of act and they’re comparing him to Sarah Palin as a similar type grifter. He’s a true believer. That’s what makes him kind of scary. True believers do crazy things. Grifters are in it for the money and step back when it gets to be too hard. Ted will never do that.
K488
I find it …interesting… that attendance at this event was required, apparently at pain of being fined if you didn’t go. *Liberty* University, eh?
cokane
I’d say Cruz is also not an absurd vice prez candidate. first off Dick Cheney was VP, not too many that conservative. Second off, if a (relatively speaking) moderate wins the nomination, like Bush, Christie or Walker, then Cruz can provide some redmeat kind of balance to a ticket. Having a bomb throwing VP can work too, it did for Obama/Biden.
gf120581
@Roger Moore: I actually don’t expect Cruz to hang around the Senate long, even after his Presidential hopes go down in flames. This is not a guy who planned on a long Senate career, not with the way he’s pissed off most of the members of his own caucus. He’s always planned to emulate Obama; come in, make a quick name for himself and then run for the big chair.
I could easily see him doing a Jim DeMint and quitting to go cash in at a think tank and be an outside power broker. He’d still be able to influence his cadre of crazies in the House.
Calouste
Might not want to hire that man for his day job.
cckids
@Violet:
I agree with the part about the true-believerhood. But I’ve yet to see or hear anything about Ted that convinces me he will do the hard grunt work needed to win the nomination. You have to talk to lots of people, many of whom will not love you, you have to work out a path to victory (which neither McCain or Romney managed to convincingly do), you have to step way, WAY outside your comfort zone & work, work, work.
Ted’s had life, overall, pretty easy. Not Romney-easy, but still; he gets so much attention & acclaim just for being hateful, that isn’t going to play well on the big stage.
On another note, open-thread-wise, the spouse & I saw Bill Maher live here Saturday night. He did a gag about not understanding why older white guys didn’t like Obama; “he’s like you!! He plays golf! He wears mom jeans! Pretty soon, he’s going to lose his job to a WOMAN!”
The place just roared – not with laughter, but a huge, FUCK YEAH! It was, by far, the biggest reaction of the night. It surprised me; I know Maher’s crowd is going to be mainly liberal, but you hear so much about people’s “meh” attitude about Hillary. Maybe not :)
Violet
@cokane: He’s just such a dick. I can’t see him working well with someone like Jeb and his old school Bush family. No one seems to like the guy and there has to be some level of cooperation between the President and VP. Plus, he’s be looking to step into the top position at any opportunity. Anyone who puts him on the ticket as VP better have a good food tester among other security measures.
Mustang Bobby
Sounds like an event planned by Kim Jong Un.
jl
@cokane: If Cruz is put in charge of the veep selection committee he would surely pick himself, just like Uncle Dick did.
Only difference is that Cruz would simmer with rage that the veep search would not allow him to pick himself for top of the ticket and bump that undeserving loser (whoever it may be) down to veep. Cheney is capable of more perspective.
piratedan
Cruz = Greg Stillson brought to life…..
gf120581
@cokane: Except that Biden is likable, while Cruz is not.
Cruz simply wouldn’t bring anything to the ticket that would outweigh his negatives. If you’re the GOP nominee and you have a choice as running mate between Cruz and, say, John Kasich, there’s no contest who you pick. (Personally, if he doesn’t run himself for the top spot, I think Kasich is the most likely Veep choice; they’re fucked if they can’t win Ohio and Rob Portman has a tough reelection fight, so he’s not really an option. )
Amir Khalid
@cokane:
John McCain lowered that bar all the way down to the floor when he picked Sarah Palin.
Another Holocene Human
@Violet: Doesn’t mean he’s not lazy. Intellectually lazy if nothing else.
gf120581
@piratedan: No kidding. We’re lucky that unlike Stillson, Cruz has such a talent for pissing people off.
raven
I realize that it is important to freak the fuck out about this shit all day but:
It’s not like it was just for this dope.
Violet
@cckids: Yeah, I think Ted has had it easier than some, but he has had to work for what he’s had. His parents aren’t from old money and didn’t have tons of political connections. He’s smart and he’s willing to work when it’s required. You don’t get into Princeton or Harvard by being dumb and having a poor academic record unless you’ve got connections.
Ted’s huge blind spot seems to be his assholery. He either doesn’t understand it’s a liability, doesn’t care or thinks he can work around it. That’s not going to work on the big stage.
piratedan
@gf120581: he does, just hope like hell he’s repudiated at the ballot box. He scares me because he believes every damn thing that comes out of his pie hole and there’s apparently no room for reflection or introspection. Guy think he has it all figured out.
Calouste
@gf120581: Cruz sounds like the type who thinks he’s always the smartest guy in the room at everything. Which means he’ll either piss off any competent campaign folks who work for him or just not hire them at all in the first place.
Karen in GA
Why oh why does my husband, man otherwise intelligent man, listen to Mike Francesa? Why?!
Anyway. Open thread? Iggy battles morning nose.
Amir Khalid
@raven:
So the entire student body has to gather anyway, those three mornings every week. You have to wonder: how many students would turn up of their own free will, if Cruz showed up on, say, a Thursday?
srv
I’m glad we’ll be talking about all this stuff rather than Fast Rammed ObamaTrade
Some one has to pay for that library.
cokane
Theres a weird projection by some of the commenters here on Cruz and likeability. Cruz is not disliked by the conservative base / tea party patriots. He is very much loved. That is not a small fraction of the country, it’s at least 27 percent.
Failure to get this just demonstrates a lack of emotional imagination by some on here. Projecting your own feelings onto the nation as a whole. Just as many unabashed liberals on here idolize or have idolized pols that the right hates — Elizabeth Warren anyone? So too the right has their heroes. I mean hell, conservatives still idolize the shit out of Palin and she is obviously grifting. Cruz is no idiot either, he is a smart guy and he beat a formidable Texas Republican to get that Senate nomination. I would not underestimate him nor completely write him off as some joke the way many here and in the liberal media bubblesphere have
NotMax
Just because someone announces he is running does not mean we have to listen or pay notice.
Villago Delenda Est
@Violet: His father, a Dominionist preacher, says that Rafael is “The Anointed One”.
Just let that soak in for a moment.
Violet
@cokane: Apparently his Senate colleagues don’t like him, and neither did his classmates at Princeton or Harvard. He may be beloved by crazy people but if he’s that unlikeable it’s a liability. 27% won’t get him elected president unless no one else votes.
Just One More Canuck
@Calouste: you’d think that after wasting so much dough on such a completely obvious empty suit like Perry, he might have stepped back an thought, “maybe politics ain’t my thing”. But then, maybe he’s just a rich idiot
Turgidson
I think the theory of Ted’s candidacy is that the country is so sick of the DC establishment that he’ll be rewarded with millions of small donors and volunteers for being the guy who had the cojones to go in there and piss off every single establishment figure of either party, for no particular reason other than to be seen pissing them off.
And that’s not even a totally crazy theory given how pathetic politics has become. But those establishment squishes he pissed off still control the big money, which is more needed than ever to run a competitive campaign. And Cruz is such an obnoxious little shit with a whiny, nasal voice that I don’t think he has the charisma to turn his assholery into a charming attribute.
I wouldn’t put it entirely past Ted Cruz as VP to take his cues from Frank Underwood and deliberately bring down his own president from the inside. Particularly if it’s a milquetoast squish like Jeb Bush who Tailgunner Ted would hate for not being sufficiently aggressive in turning this country into a “Galt’s Gulch for theocrats” hellscape. He’s so ambitious and convinced of his own greatness that I could see him thinking every step of the way that he was only doing what was best for the country.
And given how much of an insufferable asshole he’s been to his Senate colleagues, I find it exceedingly unlikely that he’ll be picked for VP anyway. If you want token diversity, you ask Rubio or Sandoval or Martinez before you ask Ted. If you want to move a swing state a couple points in your direction, you ask Kasich, or maybe Walker (if he’s not the nominee himself) or Snyder.
If properly motivated, Cruz might be an effective attack dog on the campaign trail. But that’s about all I see him bringing as a VP choice.
Violet
@Villago Delenda Est: Meh. Mitt Romney’s church says he’s the one who’s supposed to rid in on the white horse and lead the world. Sarah Palin was supposed to be Esther. See how that worked out.
WaterGirl
@muddy: You made me laugh. I particularly appreciated your subtlety!
Edit: now where’s the recipe, dammit!
Amir Khalid
@cokane:
The thing with our friend is that those who encounter him in person quickly discover he’s an Arschloch, as TPM’s Josh Marshall was reminded by surveying their mutual acquaintances from college. In his presidential run, many will encounter him in person. Instances of Cruzian Arschlocherei will abound, and tales of them will spread by word of mouth/social media. (You might remember the tale of Romney and the cookies, how socially inept it made him look. Like that, but with Ted’s own special touch.)
Villago Delenda Est
@Amir Khalid: I’d say to the second sub-basement.
dedc79
@Karen in GA: At least when he was with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo, there were two people to hate. Now that he’s on his own, I can only stand to listen for a minute or two.
He’s also wrong about everything but nonetheless presents himself as an expert. Come to think of it, he’d be perfect for cable news….
Karen in GA
I’m old and not familiar with Yik Yak, but Gawker says Liberty U students were on it, saying quite a bit about future non-President Cruz. Good times.
Germy Shoemangler
Every picture I see of Cruz, it’s like he’s looking up at the halo over his head.
trollhattan
@Turgidson:
Top item in a BBC list of “5 Things to know about Ted Cruz”
He’s no more comfortable among the rubes he needs for his run than he is among fellow senators, even the crazy ones.
beltane
The Donald is questioning Cruz’s eligibility for the presidency: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/23/1372842/-Donald-Trump-questions-if-Ted-Cruz-can-run-for-President
Karen in GA
@dedc79: It’s like someone said, “I can’t get enough of my loudmouthed ignorant brother-in-law. If only there were some way to relive the magic after he goes home.” And then that guy hired Mike Francesa.
beltane
@Germy Shoemangler: He looks like an overtly corrupt Renaissance bishop, a seller of indulgences.
Germy Shoemangler
What I don’t understand are the tri-cornered hat folks with the gadsden flags and the tea party signs … making Cruz their hero, a guy who is married to a Goldman-Sachs executive. What am I missing?
Germy Shoemangler
@beltane: I believe you nailed it.
jl
As long as clouds of hot gas, I think also referred to as balloon-juice, is the topic:
The Gulf Stream system may already be weakening. That’s not good.
http://www.vox.com/2015/3/23/8277345/atlantic-overturning-circulation
Nice video at link of circulation of new CO2 into atmosphere, in addition to other useful graphs.
Violet
@Villago Delenda Est: What did the second sub-basement every do to deserve that.
WaterGirl
@cckids:
I suspect that as soon as Cruz experiences a few more audiences like the firefighters he recently spoke to, he will only be speaking to friendly audiences. Like the students today who were REQUIRED to attend. Ugh.
dmsilev
Wait, what?
Tenar Darell
Cousin in New Yawk sent me this compilation of satellite snow pix for Bahston. If I didn’t dislike Florida, (pace Betty et al) humidity especially, after this winter I would almost think being a snowbird was a good idea.
Violet
@Karen in GA: What does your husband say when you ask him why he listens to that guy? Does he have a reason?
Mike E
@cokane:
Works better for our side, methinks.
Fuckin A!
Germy Shoemangler
@WaterGirl: Reminds me of Rush Limbaugh. In the early ’90s (I think it was) they put him in front of a real audience of real people. Once he started spouting his bile, he was heckled.
From that day on, he spoke only from the comfort of his studio, or at carefully planned personal appearances in front of the faithful.
You never hear him debate anyone. And he boasts he has the hardest-working call screener in the business.
jl
I heard some clips of the event where the Cruz broke the truly wonderful news, the, as it were, gospel for all human kind. I thought it was hilarious.
Though, probably not new gospel for all humankind, only USians. Others may be unworthy of Ted.
If only the standard corporate BS TED talk could compete with Ted on slick production values with no content. But Ted wins.
Edit: no disrespect intended toward science and community organizer TED talks, some of those are very good.
Another Holocene Human
@srv: WTF is TPP hysteria about? I keep hearing it’s the end of the world. Meanwhile the Obama admin put out some source-free infographics claiming it was a progressive dream that protects labor rights. You know it’s funny, Clinton made all kinds of shady trade deals in Asia during his second term and nobody on the left emitted a peep, but now it’s Obama and all these serious over the hill white labor guys, including a bunch of avowed Republicans for Cnl Sanders, are shrieking about how the sky is falling.
pseudonymous in nc
I believe that Cruz wants power, but he doesn’t want long-term Senate Power, seeing as his sense of what the Senate should be doing is repealing laws all over the place. (Elizabeth Warren, on the other hand, could do a lot of good stuff with an extended Senate career.)
It’s the whole “master debater” thing (yeah, I’m setting up the joke) — the debate champ mentality is to win through performance on stage. That’s not so useful for primary politics and smalltalk with the plebs in New Hampshire diners or smiling at butter sculptures at the state fair.
cckids
@Violet:
I get that, I was thinking more along the lines of the smartest person in their high school, etc – they can coast through & get excellent grades because it comes easy to them. They don’t have to work for the grades, or when they do, its because they enjoy it. I have a hard time seeing Cruz work really hard at something he hates (like schmoozing someone who isn’t kissing his ass)
Karen in GA
@Violet: We’re from the NY area (I’m from Brooklyn, he’s from NJ). He likes sports. We live in Georgia now, and New York sports radio reminds him of home. He knows Francesa’s a moron — he just has more tolerance for it than I do.
Another Holocene Human
And environmentalists are freaking, but when are they not? All this shit they say is gonna happen is already happening. Closer trade ties actually give the US gov’t more leverage. No, that’s okay, mang. Leave it to multinational corps passing bribes to local kleptocrats. At least that way our hands are clean.
Germy Shoemangler
Right now Ted is dancing naked in his house, lip syncing to Lady Gaga’s “Edge of Glory” (somewhat like the “Broad City” scene):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uv2QrtQh-4
ranchandsyrup
ooopsie, someone linked that above. *giant hook takes me offstage*
Arclite
It doesn’t help Cruz that he looks like The Penguin.
sharl
Well, there are at least a few morsels of comedy – dark though they may sometimes be – here-and-there:
Amir Khalid
@WaterGirl:
If Cruz speaks only to friendly audiences because he’s afraid of skeptical ones, he’ll be revealing himself as a coward. That might not keep him from winning either the primary or the election proper — it didn’t seem to hurt George Walker Bush — but on occasion even Mitt had more balls than that.
Arclite
@Violet:
Did you see the look on his older daughter’s face at the announcement?
Villago Delenda Est
@beltane: The thing that lives on The Donald’s head may have just bit off a bit more than it can chew. Rafael Cruz is a darling of the teabangicals, he’s no Barack Obama in their eyes.
David Koch
Who?
cckids
@Germy Shoemangler:
Here’s one for you then. He looks like a wannabe drag queen on her day off.
Another Holocene Human
@cokane: You’d be more persuasive if you googled a bit and got your facts right.
Last month some focus groups found that Warren has defined herself successfully with a populist message on economics and she has broad appeal including to those right of center.
Sarah Palin’s appeal has been waning for years but she got openly kicked to the curb by the conservative establishment following her teleprompter fail word salad, which was hardly more word salady than normal. The user activity on her fansites is way down, less users, more paranoid.
Cruz is so disliked by the religious/social conservative students at Liberty that a group of them showed up to his mandatory convocation wearing RAND PAUL shirts. They also trashed him in real time on YikYak.
We do understand his appeal. Some subset of authoritarian followers love themselves a bully. That’s why Newt GIngrich was briefly shining during the 2012 GOP Debatorium Season.
The establishment will use him if they can use him, and freeze him out if they can’t. Maybe he will dig deep and reinvent himself, or maybe he’s just too self absorbed to ever see what a mess he’s made of it.
But likable? Never.
WaterGirl
@Villago Delenda Est: The Anointed One? I thought that was Romney?
shell
Looking for a Cruz-free evening. I mean, Criminy, people. All this frumious discussion and it’s only been one day since he announced his canidancy.
Another Holocene Human
@Villago Delenda Est: That reminds me of being 14 and pretending my life was a movie.
Another Holocene Human
@Just One More Canuck: They grow ’em in Texas oilfields.
I was LOVING the story of how Ken Davis, brother of unconvicted murderer T Cullen Davis (spit), got taken to the tune of $3 million by grifters last year.
jl
@Another Holocene Human:
” Clinton made all kinds of shady trade deals in Asia during his second term and nobody on the left emitted a peep ”
I remember quite a few loud ‘peeps’ in the economic community about the direction trade deals were taking during the Clinton years.
What specific Asian trade deals are you talking about?
Arclite
@K488:
Like all things conservative, the name is opposite from the actual intent in order to obfuscate:
Clear Skies Act – Allows more pollution
Right to Work Act – Fewer workplace protections
And most recently, the Internet Freedom Act which would allow ISPs to block sites and throttle traffic.
Another Holocene Human
@Turgidson: Cruz is going to have to dig deep to get RW radio on his side. He needs to make them forget about the government shutdown, a big loss for the GOP and the Tea Party, and those people HATE to lose!
(They probably hate Jeb Bush more, but there are lots of belles at the ball. If Cruz even catches on that he has to woo the likes of Mark Levin, his act should be memorable.)
Cervantes
@jl:
Plus, had Cheney been president instead of vice, he might not have been able to do what he did.
Arclite
@cokane:
I agree he’s not a grifter, but he’s not a true believer either. He’s an egoist. The Presidency is just to temporarily slake his insatiable narcissism.
Amir Khalid
@shell:
He’s such an unlikeable arsehole, he’s going to trip and fall pretty quick. If we want to talk about his candidacy we’d better do it now.
Another Holocene Human
@jl: Uh-oh.
Gin & Tonic
@Amir Khalid: If we want to talk about his candidacy
Uh, no thanks.
Violet
@shell: It’s the same day he announced, depending on your time zone when it hit Twitter. Candidates always get a flurry of attention on the day they announce. It’ll die down and then someone else will announce and get the spotlight for a day or two.
jl
I guess this is the deep GOP bench I keep hearing about from GOP hacks that the media keeps putting on the air, as ‘political analysts’.
A deep bench of fail.
You only need one winning candidate. The Democrats have HRC and I am sure a few more winning ones to spare.
Donald Trump Redirects His Birther Fire At Ted Cruz
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-birther-ted-cruz
Edit If there is a pool for number of GOP candidates at the first televised debate, I am still hoping I can safely go in with 50!
WaterGirl
@Germy Shoemangler: No kidding. I think we should be saying: “Ted Cruz? Next candidate, please” and then stop talking about him.
The guy is probably counting google hits for his name when he gets home at night.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
This was painful to read, I can’t imagine what it was like to watch.
We bury the past by keeping the stars and bars alive. Okay.
Turgidson
@trollhattan:
Interesting – I didn’t mean to say that his “outsider” positioning is sincere – only that he calculated that there is a path to the nomination by being that guy. And hey, it’s probably good fun to piss off people like John McCain, anyway.
His belief in his own brilliance, on the other hand – that shit is sincere.
Another Holocene Human
@Amir Khalid: Mitt thought it was his heavenly duty to talk down to, criticize, and lecture lesser folks who were not Mormon stake leaders/Bishops.
Roger Moore
@cckids:
OT, but this is one reason I support school sports. I was one of those people who could cruise through classes without much effort in High School, but I had to work hard to get anywhere in sports. When I went to college and was around a bunch of people as smart as I was, I found the habits of hard work I picked up in sports were vital to succeeding. I notice that none of Cruz’s biographical info mentions him participating in sports.
WaterGirl
@Arclite: I wish you hadn’t said the word “daughter” in the context of a republican candidate.
Now I can’t get that horrible, horrible image of Santorum on the stage with his family and the one daughter holding that doll. creepy and awful.
Another Holocene Human
@jl: Sending State to twist arms on US tobacco products and tobacco advertising seemed pretty scummy to me.
It was all in the papers … to a collective “meh”.
Hungry Joe
The last president who wasn’t likeable on some level — even if one inaccessible to me — was Nixon, but he was one of a kind. I’ve despised all Republican presidents since Teddy R, but I can at least see why some people liked them. Cruz, however, presents as across-the-board repugnant; he all but triggers a gag reflex. It’s almost (almost!) not his fault — he just registers as a hateful S.O.B., while other hateful S.O.B.s can smile and wave and the mob loves them.
As for a Veep spot, good god — I bet not a single one of the clowns currently cramming themselves into the primary VW bug is quite dumb enough to want that slimeball at his elbow, not to mention scanning his back for the best spot to plunge the dagger.
Roger Moore
@WaterGirl:
Mitt thought he was the Mormon anointed one, while Ted thinks he’s the Evangelical Christian anointed one. Not the same thing.
Cervantes
@Calouste:
Here is one of his senior hires.
shortstop
@cokane: He polls under 5 percent among self-identified conservatives. He isn’t “loved” by anyone but the fringe of the fringe.
muddy
@Amir Khalid: @WaterGirl: I did eat all of them, but I didn’t make very many to start with as I was trying a new cheese and didn’t want to waste it if it didn’t work. And I don’t have to feel a bit guilty as it is mostly just nuts!
2 Cups ground almonds, approx 4 oz. cheese, 1 egg. I usually make them with Romano, but tried smoked Gouda this time. I just throw the almonds and cheese in the food processor and when it’s crumbs add the egg. Then roll it out between sheets of parchment. Lift it with the bottom sheet onto a cookie sheet, score with knife. 350 degrees for about 12 minutes, depending on thickness.
I pre-shredded the Gouda because I didn’t think it would grind well. These are good, but I think I prefer the Romano ones.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@shortstop: I’m always surprised by those polls, but given how consistent they’ve been, I’m even more surprised by all this hoopla. This is a rare case where I’m more in line with Dave Weigel than Jamelle Bouie: I think this is about building and maintaining a power bloc as a Senator than a Fox show. I think Cruz wants to keep on keepin’ on as a right wing troll in the Senate.
sparrow
@muddy: RECIPE PLEASE! thanks.
ERR — nevermind, just saw that it was posted above. Thanks!!
MattF
I don’t think Cruz is VP material– and I don’t see a Presidential nominee going ahead and making a worse choice than McCain did. And if, somehow, through some twist of the space-time continuum, Cruz gets the VP nom– I’d recommend that the Presidential nominee have someone always watching his back.
Turgidson
@Hungry Joe:
Even Ike?
shell
Everyone mentions that the Tea Party don’t like Cruz, Jeb!, Rubio etc. In the same way they had to be dragged kicking and screaming into finally supporting McCain and Romney.
So who exactly is their dream candidate? Santorum?
shortstop
@Arclite: I think this sums it up nicely.
burnspbesq
@srv:
False start, on the offense, five yard penalty, repeat second down.
Get back to us when there is an actual treaty to discuss, Chicken Little. The sky may end up falling, but it sure as shit isn’t falling today.
MattF
@shell: Rush.
Roger Moore
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The stars and bars is not the same as the Confederate battle flag. The stars and bars was a takeoff on the stars and stripes. It had only three horizontal stripes (the bars) instead of 13, and a variable number of stars (the stars, obviously) as new states joined the Confederacy. The flag with a red field, blue saltire, and 13 white stars on the saltire, i.e. the one that people use as a symbol of the Confederacy today, was a battle flag. The Army of Northern Virginia used a square one, while the Army of Tennessee used a rectangular one./pedant
Roger Moore
@shell:
Jeebus.
Another Holocene Human
@shell: Yeah, but he lost.
Hungry Joe
@Turgidson: You know, you’re right — I didn’t despise Ike. Didn’t like him, but didn’t despise him. Besides, I DESPISE IKE would make a lousy campaign button.
burnspbesq
@Karen in GA:
Would you rather he was listening to Hugh Hewitt?
srv
@Another Holocene Human: Er, people were a little busy getting smacked around in Seattle back then. Also, too, NAFTA broke a lot of people.
@burnspbesq:
With Fast Track, we’ll get to read it after it’s passed. W would be proud.
Mandalay
@Violet:
Maybe not, but Marshall didn’t really do himself any favors by posting that thinly veiled “I went to Princeton” swill. Given all his close connections at Harvard and Princeton, he sure spent a lot of time saying absolutely nothing at all about Cruz.
Gutter journalism at its very worst, not because it made nasty allegations against Cruz, but because it really said nothing at all; it read like it was written by a mean girl high schooler. Marshall has fallen a long way in the past few years.
jl
@MattF: That would be great if Rush decides to run.
Won’t happen. Rush is no Trump. At least Trump has some work ethic when it comes to self promotion in order to bask in any attention he can generate, just like Ted Cruz does.
Some one get some speed over to Rush asap, maybe that will pep him up enough to run.
David Koch
Maryland and Princeton in knock-down, toe-to-toe battle on ESPN2.
Meanwhile Stanford is going down.
Calouste
@Turgidson: Ike’s the guy who got the US in the shit with Iran, having the CIA commit a coup to protect British interests. Although he did learn from that and told the Brits to sod off the next time with the Suez crisis, we’re still dealing with the fall out of that 60 years on.
WaterGirl
@muddy: Please let the record show that watergirl said nothing about guilt! :-)
thanks for the recipe!
burnspbesq
@Gin & Tonic:
Amir is just trying to avoid having to talk about Gerrard’s red card and Skrtel’s probable three-match suspension. Give a poor Liverpool fan a break, can’t ya?
burnspbesq
@David Koch:
Go Tigers!
(by way of explanation, Duke gets the winner of that game in the Sweet 16).
Karen in GA
@Roger Moore: Just until they learn more about him.
burnspbesq
@srv:
False, and I’m betting you know it’s false. What fast-track actually means is that the treaty as signed by the president gets an up-or-down ratification vote, with no amendments or reservations allowed. There’s no getting around the ratification requirement.
Now, if you’d care to tell us where the 67 votes for ratification are going to come from …
Another Holocene Human
@burnspbesq: I guess that’s the kicker, if it’s what the Chamber of Commerce (read: big banks) want, it’ll get 67 votes and then some …
That would explain why my union went TPP truther only after the Dems lost the Senate. Huh.
Another Holocene Human
@srv: Oh pulease. Most of the relationships that would be most affected by TPP are with countries that aren’t even in the G20, never mind the G8/7.
Sure, US, Canada, and Japan are on both rosters, but we already have very close trade relationships.
Iowa Old Lady
Headline in the local paper today: State GOP Lawmakers Backing Off Social Issues.
In 2011, 83 legislators sponsored abortion and marriage equality laws. In this session, 28 did. The article says “It’s a signal of state lawmakers’ waning ambition to tackle those issues through legislation and a realization of the political realities surrounding them.”
I found that unexpected given the most recent election results.
jl
@Another Holocene Human: I remember Reid warning that fast track approval in Senate would not happen. Has he changed on that? Edit: Democrats can still block in Senate.
Another Holocene Human
I guess it’s easier to piss your pants about a treaty that hasn’t happened than to do a damn thing about the structures that are oppressing the working class economically right now.
Can’t take on the IMF, Chicago School, School of the Americas, Right to Work, so let’s join forces with angry right wing populists and throw a tantrum over this “mysterious” multilateral treaty. Finally, something to bring angry white guys together instead of tearing them apart! *dries tear from eye*
Mandalay
Semi O/T: Rubio is looking like he could be a goner from politics. He hasn’t got a hope of becoming president, and now his Senate seat is looking none too secure…
Murphy is close to a DINO, but he has a real chance of winning that Senate seat, and could end up kicking both Allen West and Marco Rubio out of Congress.
Roger Moore
@Karen in GA:
I got it wrong anyway. It’s actually Jeezus they want to vote for.
Another Holocene Human
@Mandalay: Well, Murphy can raise money and he’s proven he can pull it out in a tight race. He’s got no negatives to Floridians that I can think of. Having him run is just about best case scenario. That frigging Senate seat is the Democratic Party’s to lose.
Another Holocene Human
@jl: And if so, again, why all the crying, the tantrums, and the pants-pissing about this? It’s completely irrational.
Redshift
@Germy Shoemangler: The thing you’re missing is that the so-called “Tea Party” is just the Republican base playing dress-up. Despite all the rapturous media coverage a few years ago about how they were a new force, and really, they were concerned with fiscal issues and not social conservative ones, surveys of their actual attitudes showed that they hold social conservative views, and their virulent opposition to “bailouts” is (like Republican “concern” about deficits) is because a Democratic president was giving them out, not because big banks that screwed the little guy were getting them. Remember, Santelli’s rant that launched the Tea Party was over his outrage at “his” money being used to bail out some guy’s mortgage, not at bailing out the banks. And you can bet that outrage was, like all conservative outrage about social spending, was motivated by “those people” undeservedly getting something for nothing.
MomSense
According to my kids, Calgary Cruz looks like he is just about to shit his pants.
On Sunday I’m going to do the drop the kid off at school rite of passage. Of course I am thrilled for him because he is beyond excited to go to his dream college and because it is so cool to see the scholar in him emerge. I’m going to miss him terribly though. He is so much fun and makes me laugh all the time. There is lots of laundry and going through clothes and things. I still need to buy the dorm supplies. I’m actually glad that there is so much to do so I won’t have time to think about it. The drive home may be teary.
trollhattan
@Mandalay:
That’s hilarious, especially in light of the OpEd in my local (California) paper last week extolling him as the PERFECT Republican candidate to, you know, gather the Latin-types, laydees and especially Teh Youngs, because that Hillary is so not that anymore. It was from someone pretty establishment–might have been Gerson. I had a larf.
Another Holocene Human
At least 54 victims as US Military personnel sexually abuse Colombians with impunity – US “assists” with the guerilla war
apropos to the discussion from yesterday
Iowa Old Lady
@MomSense: Strength to you. When I left my son at college, it felt like the first day of kindergarten all over again.
trollhattan
@Redshift:
Tea Party was about as grass-roots and spontaneous as a Superbowl halftime show. It was scripted to a “T” and had a large and very willing (i.e., perpetually pissed off) and unpaid cast.And that was the extent of it. Confess I did enjoy the sign-makers’ heartfelt efforts to ed-you-kate me.
MomSense
@Iowa Old Lady:
Thank you.
Mandalay
@Another Holocene Human:
Yep. Rubio has already said that if he runs for president he won’t contest his Senate seat. That might look like a grand gesture from a man of real integrity, but I suspect Rubio already knows damn well that he won’t be running for president.
Like several other GOP “contenders”, he is just basking in the absurd fantasy for a while. I’m hopeful that retaining his Senate seat will become an absurd fantasy for Mr. Dumbass as well.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mike E:
There’s such a huge difference between Cheney telling Sen. Leahy (and a live mic) to go fuck himself, and Biden muttering to Obama (and a live mic) that ACA is a big fuckin’ deal.
SiubhanDuinne
@cckids:
I would put serious money on a wager that Ted Cruz spends at least 15 minutes every.single.morning posing and strutting and striking attitudes in front of the bathroom mirror.
WaterGirl
@MomSense: Is he starting school in April?
I remember when my older sister went away to college, I think I cried the entire day. Going away to school, and being left at home without them, is a big fucking deal. Joe Biden says so. I’m sorry you’ll have the long drive alone.
SiubhanDuinne
@shell:
Bandersnatch!
Josie
@MomSense: I wish you well. I always managed to hold up until I walked back to the car. I can imagine how much you will miss him.
MomSense
@WaterGirl:
It is a BFD! Yes, they are on a trimester schedule so he starts on the 30th.
@Josie:
If you could get through it, I will too!
RaflW
Probably already noted, but I was struck by how much the losers are gonna fight over the scraps:
But of course losers can be grifters, so … winning!
More seriously, is this going to make Cruz even more hated in the GOP Senate caucus. I would think that it would. As his preziting ego inflates, his insufferability in the well of the Senate should be legend. On the other hand, he’ll need to be shaking all those bonsai trees so he may be away from D.C. a lot.
cokane
@Another Holocene Human: wait college students at a conservative university are Rand Paul supporters??? STOP THE PRESSES !!!
muddy
@SiubhanDuinne: Especially Leahy. He’s civilized to a fault.
Before the 2006 election, I was talking to him in the street and I said the best part of it for me was that he could chair the Judicial Committee again. He got quite animated for a moment, and did this hand movement while saying about it. I was distracted in the moment because I couldn’t tell if he was miming steering a small boat or using a joystick on a video game. Later I wish I’d asked.
muddy
@RaflW: Not enough popcorn in the world.
Mike E
@SiubhanDuinne: As my friends’ 10 year old daughter informed me, cursing is bad only when it’s used to hurt another person…couldn’t agree more.
cc
Our local news (fl) has been reporting that our gov Scott will run for senate
SiubhanDuinne
@muddy:
LOL, I like either interpretation! I like Leahy, a lot. How neat that you were in a position to just walk up and talk to him.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mike E:
That is an extremely wise 10 year old.
SiubhanDuinne
I haven’t mentioned before, but next month I am heading to Plains, GA to participate in Jimmy Carter’s “Golden Peanut” auction. I’ve never been to one before, but I understand there are usually some very cool, one-of-a-kind, Presidential items. The guy who invited me is the Carters’ Canadian biographer — I got to know him four years ago when he published a book on the long friendship between Canada and Jimmy/Rosalynn Carter, and I organized the book launch event in Plains at Jimmy’s boyhood home. My Canadian friend has hosted the Carters in his home, and while they stayed with him they have planted a tree in his back years — as have several Canadian former and present Prime Ministers (both sides do it!). My friend has offered me an open invitation to stay with him and his wife, and it would be in the same bedroom that the Carters stayed in. I have met them (J and R) several times, but I am ridiculously excited about this upcoming visit (mid-April). The question is, can I be anything close to rational when it comes time to bid on items?
Mark B.
So he was born in a foreign country and one of his parents wasn’t an American citizen, and the Tea Party people aren’t questioning his citizenship.
[Spoiler: he is a citizen since one of his parents is, but if you apply the same ‘logic’ that was used by right wingers to question Obama’s citizenship, he’s nowhere near as qualified as Obama is.]
I have always intensely disliked Cruz, but after he used Nelson Mandela’s funeral as a publicity stunt (that apparently nobody noticed at the time) I have nothing but contempt for him.
SiubhanDuinne
@Mark B.: He is disgusting and shameless. I had forgotten that, but upon refreshing my memory, I am nauseated all over again. The man is contemptible.
Zinsky
I saw a video of the Cruz speech on TV, (no link), and it was the smarmiest, most pretentious pile of theocratic nonsense I have ever witnessed. I thought I would upchuck at several key applause lines. Cruz would have been a snake oil salesman had he been born 150 years ago. Cruz is the American fascist theocrat that Sinclair Lewis warned us about.
SiubhanDuinne
@SiubhanDuinne:
Back yard, not back years. FYAC.
Jeffro
We keep talking about whether he’s smart or dumb, grifter or in politics for the long haul, but one thing is for certain: for multiple utterly contemptible reasons, Cruz had no choice BUT to run.
– he’s spent his whole (short) time in the Senate being a bomb thrower
– he’s spent his whole life being told/knowing he’s the smartest guy in the room/university/world
– he’s apparently been told by his wacko dad that he is the anointed one or whatever
– the hard core 27% base loves him
– he’s shameless and that will always be the case
I mean, he would run for some higher office, but President is all that was available.
Jeffro
@Zinsky: Seconded.
Jay C
@piratedan:
For me, the first time I saw Tom Cotton on TV, that was the first thought that lashed into my head. Every bit as scary as Ted Cruz, but without the leavening aura of buffoonery…
Jeffro
@Jay C: Cotton, Ernst, Lee, Cruz: this wave of not-so-stealth Tea Partiers who are more media-savvy and can check what they say upon occasion and yet know how to inflame their supporters to the nth degree…scary stuff.
patrick II
Contrast and compare:
Jeb Bush Asks Donors to Limit Contributions to $1 Million Each…For Now.
RaflW
I did not know that Cruz only renounced his dual citizenship in 2014. So the dude was a Canadian national while serving in the US Senate. I’m shocked that Texans tolerated such duplicitous dual-allegiance.
I’m glad the Trump Tribble is on this now.
Tree With Water
@SiubhanDuinne: I remember when John & Yoko handed Pierre Trudeau a small bag holding a few acorns, or seeds from some other tree. And Pierre did Canada proud by accepting in the spirit of the gift. Nixon would have had them arrested and immediately deported.
SiubhanDuinne
@Tree With Water:
Oh, what a great story! I didn’t know that.
Mnemosyne (tablet)
@Germy Shoemangler:
My husband always says that Cruz looks like he just farted and thinks it’s hilarious.
cckids
@SiubhanDuinne: No takers :)
SFAW
@Another Holocene Human:
Gov. Charlie Crist agrees with you wholeheartedly.
SWMBO
@MomSense: It was rough the first time I left our daughter at college. She called every. single. day for six weeks. “How do I do this?” “How do I handle that?” “When and how did you find time to do this?”
She called once asking how do you get burnt melted plastic off en element in a dishwasher. First I asked her if anyone knew it was her. Yep. Good, then you don’t need to work on this in the middle of the night. (Take a sharp knife and lay the blade on the element. Cut through the plastic and peel it off. Then run two empty loads with a couple of cups of vinegar on the hottest setting. The apartment will smell like hot pickles but it won’t smell like burnt plastic.) “how do you know this works?” Shaddup, Kid, ya bothering me.
Steve Finlay
I see that Cruz renounced his Canadian citizenship to run. That’s very good news for us up here — but you would be justified in dropping retaliatory nukes on Toronto and Calgary. William Shatner, Jim Carrey, and now Ted Cruz. How are these not acts of war?