Decision 2016 data point: right now, making fun of Ted Cruz doesn't inspire all that many commenters to call you a butthurt libtard.
— Tom Scocca (@tomscocca) March 24, 2015
The title is a Yik-Yak comment Gawker helpfully collated after Monday’s Big Reveal at Liberty University. It’s to be expected that us Demon-crat lie-brals have treated Senator Cruz less than respectfully, but he doesn’t seem to have many friends on his side of the ideological aisle, either. Charles C.W. Cooke, at the stalwartly reactionary National Review, carps that “Ted Cruz Should Try Speaking to People Instead of at Them“:
… Striking a pose that lands somewhere between the oleaginousness of a Joel Osteen and the self-assuredness of a midwestern vacuum-cleaner salesman, Cruz delivers his speeches as might a mass-market motivational speaker in an Atlantic City Convention Center. The country, he tells his audiences rather obsequiously, will be saved by “people like you” — people, that is, who are willing to text the word “Constitution” to the number 33733, and to contribute generously to his political action committee…
If I am not alone in my reaction, this tendency will damage Cruz more than it will help him, for as The Weekly Standard’s Andrew Ferguson observed trenchantly in 2013, he is pretty much incapable of turning it off. Indeed, by most accounts, Cruz speaks in exactly the same way when he is addressing CPAC; when he is meeting with small, friendly, informed groups; and, by Ferguson’s testimony, when he is “at close quarters, only a few feet away, in the back seat of a car.”… Sure, the man is probably sincere. Certainly, he is one smart cookie. But to my skeptical ears, there is always a touch of condescension in the pitch — a small whiff of superciliousness that gives one the unlovely impression that Ted Cruz believes his listeners to be a little bit dim…
… Thus far, Ted Cruz has proven to be extraordinarily effective at corralling his own people, but far, far less persuasive attempting to convince the Senate to play ball. Is there any particular reason we should expect his campaign to play out differently?
For what it is worth, my prediction is that there is not. Rather, I expect that Cruz will push the Republican field a little to the right, but that he will ultimately fail to catch fire. Moreover, I’d guess that if Cruz does somehow end up as the nominee he will lose convincingly…
Not-insane conservative Daniel Larison, at the American Conservative, on “Ted Cruz’s Latest Stunt“:
… Like many other Republican would-be 2016 candidacies, a Cruz presidential bid doesn’t have a realistic chance of succeeding, but then Cruz has already shown during his very brief stint in office that success in achieving tangible results is not what interests him. Cruz likes to present himself as the most committed opponent of Obama’s agenda, and it makes no difference that his stunts and tactics have had absolutely no success in making a dent in that agenda. What counts for him is demonstrating the intensity of his opposition and pandering to voters that care a lot more about affect than they do about policy substance.
Cruz is a skillful demagogue, and he’ll be able to put on quite a show during candidate debates, but that will probably take the form of accusing the other candidates of being sell-outs and attributing views to them that they don’t hold. That is normally how he responds to criticism from within his own party. He also repeatedly misleads his followers about what can be achieved by following his lead, and then denounces people on his side for “failing” to defer to his bad leadership and blames them for the failure he orchestrated. Since he claims to believe that the party must nominate a “real” conservative in order to win, he will be at pains to portray all of his rivals as anything but that. All of this will remind the voters outside of his core supporters why so many people that have dealt with him viscerally dislike him. If his favorability numbers are any indication, Cruz annoys more people than he attracts...
Since the purpose of the campaign is just to raise Cruz’s profile at the expense of his ostensible political goals, it will be like every other Cruz effort of the last two years. I would say that a presidential campaign is self-defeating for Cruz, but it actually serves his own narrow political interests while undermining the interests of conservatives more broadly…
Even Politico’s panel of anonymous Insiders “Pump the Brakes on Cruz“:
… Not one of the 100 respondents believes that Cruz would win the Iowa caucuses or New Hampshire primary if they took place this week, though there is widespread agreement that he is much better positioned in the Hawkeye State than the Granite State. And nine out of 10 Republican insiders in the early states believe Ted Cruz couldn’t carry their state — both Iowa and New Hampshire are swing states, though relatively small electoral-vote prizes — against Hillary Clinton in the general….
“Announcing first is an advantage in that he was able to fill a news vacuum for a few days,” said an uncommitted New Hampshire Republican, who — like everyone else — completed the questionnaire anonymously in order to speak candidly. “He’s a tremendous orator with great stage presence … However, he’s still Ted Cruz — a polarizing person who is more interested in making headlines than making policy.”…
One can only hope Cruz’s flame-out will be swift, conclusive, and as damaging to the GOP “brand” as his conservative critics fear.
And for those of you who are so over Ted Cruz, get ready for further insults to your sensibilities. Paul Rand is expected to officially announce his candidacy on April 7th; Hillary Clinton will probably make an announcement in April; and now Marco Rubio is supposed to announce his official candidacy on April 13th (so at least we know he’s not superstitious).
"America has never been stronger," Ted Cruz says, presidentially. "And yet hundreds of bullshit political memes pose an existential threat."
— David Roth (@david_j_roth) March 23, 2015
How sure are we that Ted Cruz isn’t just a Markov-chain chatbot that’s been fed a decade of RedState diaries and Drudge headlines?
— Chase Woodruff (@dcwoodruff) March 24, 2015
@dandrezner This deserves a Kickstarter.
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) March 25, 2015
srv
You know, I try to open-minded like you liberals, but this mixing of Twitterations and long block quotes seems to be a bit schizophrenic. Is this the new hip thing? Couldn’t you just make up foot-note memes for everyone to be in on?
fuckwit
When the Village has decided you’re stiff and unlikable, you’re as good as fucked.
Just ask Al Gore.
Still, what makes Cruz noxious is his political opinions, not his lack of likeability. But thus turns the Village.
jibeaux
I don’t know whether “oleaginousness” is a legit word, but I like it.
because he’s oily, but without the charm that oily people are supposed to have to be effective.
askew
Speaking of 2016, O’Malley had an appearance on ABC This Week today and did a great job. He took a mild shot at Hillary/Jeb by saying that the presidency is not a crown to be passed among two families but has to be earned. Clinton supporters are not handling this well. Jennifer Graholm already took a shot at O’Malley. Apparently, they were really expecting a coronation.
Hillary, on the other hand, has just admitted that she wiped her e-mail server clean and deleted all e-mails. Not sure why didn’t just admit that at her press conference. Also, in a conversation about Israel, she hopes that soon U.S. – Israel relationship will return to constructive footing. We’ll see what that means when she finally gets around to declaring.
Her rollout plans on her doing another listening tour. Lordy, those are so condescending.
jurassicpork
I don’t believe Cooke has Cruz summed up properly. Just because a Republican knows how to get elected to high office in an incurably red state like Texas doesn’t make him “a smart cookie.” Would anyone call the dimwitted Rick Perry smart for being the longest-serving Governor in Texas history? Being a conniver and schemer and having the ability to seduce and hoodwink those less smart than you does not make you smart by conspicuous relief. I look at Ted Cruz and see a man dumber than a bag of elephant penises. I mean, seriously, how stupid do you have to be to announce your presidential candidacy in a college where attendance is mandatory and filled with Rand Paul supporters? Cruz is like a Fuller brush salesman that can’t or won’t take no for an answer. He’s like a Special Needs Icarus who doesn’t understand the magnitude or even the possibility of his imminent Fall From Grace. Here endeth the rant for now.
For those of you who haven’t heard, there was a death in our family the day before yesterday and we really need assistance. Details are here, if you wish to help or at least pass the word. Thank you all in advance.
Cervantes
@jibeaux:
It is, as are the following: oleaginosity, oleaginity, and oleaginy; all meaning the same thing.
NotMax
One more time.
Ted Cruz: All exclamation, no point.
kc
Go Ted!
fuckwit
It occurred to me that Citizens United and the Great Grift could be the undoing of capitalist politics– possibly even of capitalism itself over time–, a final suicide move. Because those perverse incentives and unintended consequences are a bitch, y’all.
The vast sums of money that can be grifted by being a nonsensical, batshit-insane, ego-driven candidate with a nutbar base and a demonstrated apitude and eagerness to lovingly fellate right-wing billionaires are so huge now! It’s a growth industry.
The whole thing could– and I hope does– crater itself.
Peak Wingnut may not be anywhere in the horizon, but I see Peak Clown Car coming up within the next few cycles. And there’s nothing that can stop it, the Invisible Hand is jerking itself off furiously.
EDIT: I apologize for the sheer number of competing metaphors in this comment. I try to keep it to one but I think I ended up going for like four here and it’s too many. If I had to cut it to just one it’d be the Invisible Hand jerking itself off. That one’s too good not to keep.
Doug r
@srv: to be or not to be
catclub
This is used to say he will not get many primary votes, but that sure SOUNDS like it will appeal to a lot of GOP primary voters.
catclub
@askew: Golly! Askew thinks Hillary did something bad. Big news!
Doug r
@fuckwit: I suspect that’s why the billionaires are pouring so much money into it they can feel their influence slipping away.
Wag
I personall hope for a long, divisive, and ultimately losing Cruz campaign followed by a Cruz third party run for the White House. The entertainment possibilifies are endless.
srv
@fuckwit: It was good for me too.
Villago Delenda Est
@catclub: The rubes are played by grifters like Cruz again and again. They learn absolutely nothing from people who are all hat and no cattle. Robertson, Gingrich, Palin…all play these pathetic marks repeatedly.
Mandalay
@askew:
Because she is a savvy politician, and she knew back then that a lot of the people who were unhappy about her conduct (including me) eventually no longer care as much. She has avoided alienating some of the fence sitters by dragging the story out as long as possible while it slips off the front page and fades away. And Clinton is now inoculated against attacks on this issue from Jeb Bush since his own email behavior has arguably been worse than hers.
askew
@Mandalay:
I think dragging out the story just makes it worse for her as it puts the story back in the news for her and gives the GOP another opening to attack her.
The right is now attacking her for deleting emails that were under supeona. We’ll see if that amounts to anything at all or not. At least that attack is somewhat reality-based as opposed to the weird attacks on Bill Clinton due to him hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein.
Mike J
@Mandalay: I would not care if Hillary ate a live puppy during the first debate against Republican X. If she promised to boil kittens and use the fluid for fracking and then start bombing countries alphabetically she’d be better than any republican other than Abraham Lincoln.
WaterGirl
@askew: I just finished watching the latest episode of the good wife. She is told over and over again in this episode to learn to seem open to whatever is being asked of her and to tell everyone that she will make a decision in 48 hours. Because apparently people prefer to wait for a period of time before they hear what they don’t want to hear.
I couldn’t help but think of that when I read what you wrote about the Hillary email messages all having been deleted. It wasn’t 48 hours, but the principle is apparently the same: stall as long as you can; bad news should be given later.
I thought the most interesting this you wrote was that Hillary supporters are upset to hear O’Malley say that this isn’t a coronation. Wow. Last I heard, this was still a democracy.
WaterGirl
@Mike J: I agree with your sentiment here, but I would also like to have some real competition for the democratic nomination.
GxB
@jibeaux: So you’re saying he’s a pretty weak at even bring sincerely greasy… maybe we can call him “olestraginous”
(BTW do they still use that gunk in anything these days?)
Tree With Water
“I would say that a presidential campaign is self-defeating for Cruz, but it actually serves his own narrow political interests’.
That makes a certain sense. Cruz can’t possibly believe he’ll gain the nomination, any more than Gingrich did in 2012. But it also begs the question: exactly what does constitute those narrow interests of his? Who specifically does Cruz serve? Lord knows its not the people of his state. Are his masters all the usual rich Texan crowd, or does he answer to others outside the state?
Mike J
@WaterGirl: I’m all for it. Bring out damn near anybody in the primaries and I’ll probably vote for them. Hell, I’ll do what I did in 08 and stack the delegates in my precinct at the caucus so my preferred candidate wins. After the convention I’m for the Democrat even if we ran the ghost of Andrew Jackson.
shirt
Ted Cruz may be many despicable things (yes, he is) but stupid isn’t one of them. He’s playing ya’ll! I hope you enjoy it.
He’s building up name recognition and moving into position to sabotage any asshole that out-asses him. He’s positioning hisself
for 2020 or 2024 Late in the primary he’ll bow out gracefully out of the primaries while sticking a shiv into his close opponents. He’ll work for one of them (the shiv-less one) to earn favor in the future.
There is nothing nice or unpredictable about this piece of work, eh, brutus?
Omnes Omnibus
@shirt: I would hesitate before associating Cruz with Brutus.
askew
@WaterGirl:
I had to give up on The Good Wife when Peter was running for Governor. The political plotline was so stupid and had no resemblance to reality that I couldn’t take it anymore.
But, from your description it sounds like the advice that Hillary got which is worrisome. I thought she was supposed to have better advisors this time.
Tree With Water
@shirt: “He’ll work for one of them (the shiv-less one) to earn favor in the future”. Yes he will. Still, how big a contribution could he possibly make? He’s no kingmaker, and his support will be held cheap. And as has been noted, he’s a deeply unpopular guy. I don’t see him being nominated for anything substantive, much less confirmed. Man, Texas is a weird state, and Cruz is a weird guy.
scav
@Omnes Omnibus: Iago more like?
Omnes Omnibus
@scav: Probably a better choice, but then Iago convinced Othello to trust him. Who would trust Cruz?
sharl
Unless JGC gets a camera out tonight, this may have to do as a pupdate (from about 25 minutes ago):
So far, no encouragement for him from the gallery:
Mike E
@srv: What exactly is the shape of the cloud you’re shouting at?
SuperHrefna
@Mike J: It’s true, she would be a better president than any of them but only in the sense that she would be a sane Republican president and any candidate the current GOP fields would make an insane Republican president. I want a Democrat. A proper one, someone who sides with the people who do the work rather than the people who own the workplaces. Someone who sides with the ill and the weak and the poor rather than with the strong and the rich and the powerful. OK, she’s not as bad as Ted Cruz, or Scott Walker, or Mitt Romney or Jeb Bush, but by golly do we really have to settle for that? Really? I’m not as bad as them either and I’d make a terrible president. (I don’t deal with stress well and would be mainlining valium within a week) I live in NY and I know Hillary has her strengths, she’s done some good work, but absolutely none of her strengths relate to her ability to lead and inspire people. She’s a back room gal to her very marrow, she can breathe in quiet smoke filled rooms the way fish can breathe in the wide Sargasso Sea. We need a better candidate. We need a better candidate. We need a better candidate. And maybe I need some sleep.
scav
@Omnes Omnibus: I was rather wrestling with the essential competence, but the seemingly motiveless malignity enticed . . And the lean and hungry option A) didn’t work with oleaginousness and B) ran into the thinking issue again.
Mandalay
@Mike J:
That is a popular view around here, but shortsighted. Careful what you wish for. You may end up with a Democrat becoming president by running half an inch to the left of her Republican opponent.
You may actually end up with a president bragging that she’ll be the best friend Wall street ever had. You may end with a president who will swear that we are joined at the hip with Israel. You may end up with a president who thinks that boots on the ground in Syria will be an excellent adventure. None of those scenarios are completely implausible.
But all that is no biggie as long as she wins?
FlyingToaster
@srv: You actually spend time complaining about the style sheet? That’s the hill you wanna die on?
Brace yourselves; the Grammar Nazis will start flocking here now.
Mike J
@Mandalay:
The republicans have the house and the senate for the foreseeable future. All they need is the White House and we’re back to 1865.
Cervantes
@Tree With Water:
Peter Thiel, Robert Arnott, and others in Silicon Valley.
Virginia James, John Childs, Goldman Sachs people, and others in the North-east.
Many of these “donors” try to launder their contributions via such entities as the “Club for Growth.”
Exurban Mom
Oleaginous is the perfect word for him, as is the word “creepy,” which was independently offered by no less than three people who knew him in college. The other thing the college acquaintances said about him rings particularly true: he hasn’t changed his beliefs or ideology one iota in 25 years. In other words, he didn’t learn anything in all that fancy Ivy League education. Scary.
I believe he’ll increase his profile enough to ensure a lifetime of “wingnut welfare.” And that’s it.
Villago Delenda Est
@Mandalay: If she’s the only viable alternative to Rethug filth, then yes. As bad as she might be, she could not possibly be worse than outright criminal scum like Jeb Bush.
RobertDSC (Quad Intel Mac)
@askew:
When Lanny Davis was trotted out to defend her when the email story broke, I knew something was wrong.
Pathetic.
Amir Khalid
Ted Cruz is too smart to be still getting into fights he obviously can’t win. His previous record as a litigator show he knows when he can win and how to win. I must conclude that he’s not in it to win it, like the common herd of politicos with their reaching across the aisle and their base compromises, but to fight the good fight.
Maybe he’s really the Republican Party’s Don Quixote de La Mancha: He’s not so much about winning any battles, rather he’s all about dreaming the impossible dream. This is his quest: to follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far …
eemom
It is going to be a long 19 months.
NotMax
@Amir Khalid
Hard to choose whose upbringing and formative years occurred under the tutelage of the more odiously fanatic parent, Ted Cruz or Mel Gibson.
Amir Khalid
@NotMax:
Ah, but Mel has at least made some movies people like, whereas Ted never will.
Tree With Water
@Cervantes: Right. I sometimes forget the Citizens United decision opened a can of worms that’s just beginning to spill out and into our democracy. Hopefully, we’ve also entered an era in which genuine American/International journalists (god bless them) will bring a far deeper scrutiny to bear on the new American political super villains (such as those whose names you reeled off). After all, barring an outright reversal or legislative imperative that overrides that infamous decision, journalists are the last effective line of defense we’ve got.
NotMax
Proof that the cosmos possesses a well-honed sense of humor would be a Cruz/Bachmann ticket.
Suzanne
@Villago Delenda Est: And I wouldn’t even call her BAD. I would call her a mediocre Democrat.
And a mediocre Democrat is still, STILL infinitely preferable to a “good” Republican. Really, there’s only degrees of bad with Republicans.
WaterGirl
@Mandalay:
Go find the recent article titled Lesser Evil-ism and you will see that it’s not just one person we’re electing when we vote for president.
Better yet, I found it for you:
Lesser-Evilism You Can Believe In: The President Is A Thing, Not A Person
nfh
I imagine devoutly atheist Ayn would want nothing to do with disciple ‘Paul Rand’, even if he were her offspring.
fuckwit
@Tree With Water: Can of worms is pretty good too, though well-worn.
I still think what we are witnessing with these ridiculous grifter candidates, is the Invisible Hand furiously jerking itself off.
Damn proud of that one, I am.
sharl
@NotMax: I guess as political Silly Season heats up (and unfortunately it never goes entirely dormant), we’ll see plenty of wacky ideas.
In the comments to the joint ProPublica-Gawker piece on HRC’s e-mail kerfuffle, where wingnuts were doing their war-whoopin’ happy dance about how bad they think this looks for her, someone suggested “Cruz-Warren_2016”. Um, yeah, that’ll happen. (I suppose there might be a significant undercurrent of support for the general concept of economic populism that crosses political lines, but any attempt to arrive at even the most limited consensus among different camps wouldn’t survive the first attempt to agree on actual details.)
Tree With Water
@fuckwit: How about: ‘can of cankered worms with lasers on their friggin’ foreheads’?
NotMax
@Tree With Water
Wormnado!
Mandalay
@WaterGirl: @WaterGirl:
Well yes, but I’m addressing is the “winning-the-presidency-is-all-that-matters” mindset that prevails around here. Sure it matters, and there is no Republican that I would vote for over Hillary Clinton, even though I have real concerns about her. But the kind of president we get matters as well, even if it is a Democrat. It was good to see O’Malley flinging some shit Clinton’s way this weekend. I hope he keeps doing it – it is good for the party and (in the long term) for Clinton as well.
All the media look at is the horse race. I don’t think it’s asking too much that we also examine the horse’s themselves a bit more closely, especially the one that is the favorite to win the race. Winning matters, but it’s not the only thing that matters.
Mandalay
@Amir Khalid:
He may not be in it to win it this time. But as someone else pointed out earlier in the thread, he is in it now to help him win it later, in 2020 or 2024 or 2028.
This is Cruz’s dress rehearsal for the real thing. Despite appearing older, he’s only 44.
WaterGirl
@Mandalay: Believe me, I do not want Hillary Clinton as president and she won’t get my vote in the primaries.
But if when the primaries are over, she’s the one who won, then I will surely vote for her.
I do think, however, that Clinton (or the polls that are being reported) may be interpreting a potential vote like mine as a vote in support for her, and that would be a mistake.
if there are any other viable candidates I think she might be in for another surprise like in 2008. On the other hand, even though I don’t know anyone in real life who wants to vote for Hillary Clinton, she has a lot of supporters on this blog.
SRW1
Seems to work for Osteen. Plus, there would appear to be a significant deal of overlap in the target audiences. My suspicion is that what Crux (that typo will stand!) is doing wrong is that he isn’t matching Osteen’s eye blinking frequency.
Fred
Listening to Cruz I get the feeling that he just really likes to hear the sound of his own voice rolling out that measured Evangelical style grifter pich. He’s just pleased as punch with himself and doesn’t care if it makes any sense. When you’re selling BS religious fever the rubes will swallow any crap you pitch so long as you got the rhythm and hit most of the notes the way the slick preacher used to when they was kids. Sell redemption from the fire-n-brimstone and pass the plate.
Does anybody even care if Cruz is legally qualified to serve as POTUS? I like to think it’s a moot point as he can’t possibly win except I then think of all the times I’ve fooled myself with that idiocy (Nixon, Reagan, GWBush. all unelectable). But then our present SCOTUS would install a turd if it had that all important R after it’s name so I guess it is a moot point.
But mostly I don’t think most of the guys would say they would like to have a beer with Ted so that probably sinks him. I mean that is the most important thing to consider.
NotMax
@Fred
Not a factor. He meets the Constitutional requirements.
scav
FYWP now has major competition. Personal details of world leaders accident. That auto-fill, gotta be careful.
The next oops is that they apparently didn’t think it important to tell ‘the clients’, a.k.a. world leaders, of the original whoops. (I mean they emptied the wastebasket!)
Icing is the govt passed controversial data retention laws last week and the sprinkles on that is the Immigration office was also responsible for the largest data breach by a govt agency about a year ago.
oops.
David Koch
@NotMax: try explaining that legal nuance to the teatard primary voters who say get gubmint outta medicare
Tommy
@NotMax: He totally does. Makes us look small even going there.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Tommy: Agreed, as Tweety says “natural born means you’re a US citizen that hasn’t been naturalized”. Though I hate to quote Tweety on anything, he’s spot on here.
Just One More Canuck
@FlyingToaster: shorter srv: the food’s lousy and the portions are too small
brantl
I think this is a contradiction in terms, actually. And who is this “Paul Rand” you’re talking about?
brantl
@Tree With Water: I don’t think you understand how deep his narcissism runs.
debbie
@scav:
I’ll go with Lear’s Fool.
Bobbo
It’s got to be Nathan Lane for the SNL parody
Josie
@SRW1: Even though I’m not buying what Joel Osteen is selling, I think he comes across as a kind person who actually cares about the people he is addressing. There is no universe in which you can say that about Ted Cruz.
Mobile Grumpy Code Monkey
@brantl: Obviously, we’re grading on a curve, here. Larison has his issues, but he doesn’t live in some mythical fantasy world where Ronald Reagan is Gandalf.
Booger
@jurassicpork: Dibs on Special Needs Icarus for band name.
grandpa john
@jibeaux: It’s an excellent one word description of Cruz
SRW1
@Josie:
I obviously don’t buy what Osteen is selling either, which is why his ‘oleaginousness’ doesn’t bother me one way or another. What I find weird about him is, as I indicated, his eye blinking.
The biggest difference in terms of what Osteen and Cruz are trying to sell, is that Osteen is unflappably upbeat while Cruz’s wares are the political equivalent of fire and brimstone. Cruz would have been phantastic in selling indulgences.
grandpa john
@SuperHrefna: Who??
grandpa john
@WaterGirl: The years 2001-2008 is a pretty damn good example of what the article is about and that too many self-rightous purity demanding Dems seem to forget all too often . Next pres will probably name 2-3 SCOTUS members . lest we forget
Brachiator
@jurassicpork:
I don’t think Cruz stands a chance in hell of getting the nomination, but I don’t understand this nonsense that Cruz is some kind of knuckle-dragger. The last time I saw Democrats and liberals woefully misjudge a politician was when the conventional wisdom insisted that Sweet Al Gore would reveal what a dope George Bush was just by standing next to him. Some of these people kept going on about Bush’s stupidity, but this did not prevent him from practically ruining the country economically and enmeshing us in the insane folly of the Iraq War. Bush found a way to wield power, which matters more than supposed brain power.
Cruz not only has Ivy League credentials similar to those of Obama, but Cruz was also the freaking clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Now, you can tell me that this does not prove that the guy has brains if you were a law clerk for any Supreme Court justice. Anyone? Anyone?
The March 25 Fresh Air discussion of Cruz by Terry Gross and Jeffrey Toobin was quite illuminating. I can’t do the link thingy here, but it is easy to find and is definitely worth a listen.
Bottom line, if Cruz can find a way to continue to galvanize the Tea Party, and piss off fewer of his own Republican colleagues, you just might be looking at the next Attorney General or Supreme Court nominee if a Republican wins the presidency. This would be a disaster for the country.
Grumpy Code Monkey
@grandpa john:
He (or she) will also need the Senate to confirm them. We need to pick those seats back up.
trnc
@Brachiator:
I don”t think we really misjudged anything about Bush. We misjudged how much the media disliked Gore and their capacity to whitewash Bush’s failures as a citizen, business owner and Air National Guard member. Sadly, despite the kind of coverage Cruz is getting now, the media will happily carry his water if he gets anywhere near a nomination.