Cruz in Iowa: "Fortune 500 is running shamelessly to endorse the radical gay marriage agenda over religious liberty." http://t.co/LFjcQHBDfo
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 2, 2015
… because — and nobody knows this better than a Texas legislator — no GOP candidate gets to be the presidential nominee by bad-mouthing “Fortune 500”. Although Cruz can surely use his Bible-based dog-whistling to collect a sufficiency of “love offerings” to make up for putting his wife’s Goldman Sachs career on a temporary hiatus.
But if he’s knocked out early, at least he won’t have to defend his record, and EvenTheDeterminedlyBothSiderist Politico can find lots that needs defending:
Ted Cruz thunders about what he calls a “fundamentally unserious” U.S. defense policy, but when he had a chance to weigh in during Senate Armed Services Committee hearings, he rarely showed up.
Cruz, who announced last week he’s running for president, has the committee’s worst attendance record — by far.
The Texas Republican attended just three of the panel’s 16 public hearings so far this year, according to a POLITICO review of transcripts from full committee hearings. The average committee member attended 13 of the 16 hearings, and Cruz is the only one of the panel’s 26 members with an attendance rate below 50 percent.
Cruz missed opportunities to cross-examine the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan and was absent from a session on the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay — despite being a leading opponent of President Barack Obama’s decision to swap five Taliban commanders at Guantánamo for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. The freshman senator also missed opportunities to cross-examine officials about the effects of across-the-board spending cuts on military readiness and the appropriate levels of compensation for the troops…
Ted Cruz: Fundamentally Unserious.
On Ted Cruz's big campaign debut in Iowa, no "Cruz for president" signage or stickers or swag. Is Cruz himself all the stagecraft needed?
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 2, 2015
Baud
MSNBC just said Cruz was creeping up in the polls.
Villago Delenda Est
Cruz is Dominionist scum.
Wipe them out. All of them.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Well, he is creepy.
Kropadope
@Baud:
Just because he managed to worm his way out of the dirt, doesn’t mean he’s going any farther.
BGinCHI
Cruz is a populist if by that you mean popular among a list of fucking brainless, selfish people.
SiubhanDuinne
If nothing else, I hope all the other candidates hammer him mercilessly on this during the GOP debates.
jl
@Kropadope: I think I read that Cruz was creeping up in GOP primary polls, but not sure.
And yeah, that tweeter is damn straight that there is no Cruz signage nor stickers nor gear, since that would distract from the World Historical Figure Himself. Now, a huge pic of his mug hanging over the stage while he speaks, that just might do very nicely.
So far, Cruz is playing a wonderful role in the GOP primary, dragging all close to him ideologically, like ol’ Huck, into ugly extremist and patently deranged hate and fear mongering. And getting brave and intrepid leaderererers like Jeb! and Christie into pissing themselves with panicked double talk and passive aggressive waffle panders.
Edit: I can see the piss stains spreading on the front of Jeb! and Christie’s pants just reading their drivel, and I think many others can too.
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
Creeping.
The perfect word for him.
Roger Moore
@Baud:
He got a bump because his name was in the papers after his announcement. That’s all.
Mike in NC
More like Cruz is creeping out in the polls.
Would do himself a great favor by growing a toothbrush mustache.
Hal
I would love Cruz to be the nominee. It would be nice to have a republican Mondale.
Baud
All Cruz needs is a single billionaire and he can go far into the primary.
Kropadope
@jl:
Yeah, like I said, the dirt.
Mike E
@Baud: Holy shit, I’m gonna have nightmares now…not because of him mebbe winning but just from the image alone. Thx!
Baud
OT: MSNBC’s website is the Ted Cruz of websites. #DoesNotWork
RSA
It’s just a matter of appearances, but that is a seriously unflattering photo of a Presidential nominee. I’d imagine a serious effort means having someone on your team pay attention to how you look when giving a talk.
Villago Delenda Est
@jl: You mean a really big one ala Citizen Kane?
Wag
@Hal:
That’s too mean by far to Mondale. At least he had accomplished a few things in the Senate prior to his nomination
jl
@Villago Delenda Est: it would be better if Indiana just repealed the law,and Arkansas gave up on their version, and the pressure made the very few other states with similarly extreme laws, like Mississippi, do something too.
But if this kind of nonsense keeps up, it can only hurt the GOP. Read the rancid garbage that Jeb! and Christie are putting out. If this issue is still around right before the election, HRC or Biden, or O’Malley (or Booker, or some others too) could wipe the stage with the likes of Jeb!. Who has the deep bench now, GOP political hacks masquerading as ‘analysts’?
The GOP stands for allowing intolerant majorities to screw any group they don’t like with impunity. Stands for eagerly chasing after perpetual war. I hope no more issues like the Indiana BS and the Iran talks come up. Sadly I think probably some will.
Tree With Water
“Fortune 500 chases the money” is more like it, as Cruz damn well knows. What a putz.
Wag
@efgoldman:
Beaten to it by efgoldman, but now doubly true. And as a Mondale voter I resent the comparison of Fritz to Ted.
jl
Huck tries to match Ted:
Huckabee: Gay-Rights Movement ‘Won’t Stop Until There Are No Churches’
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/mike-huckabee-gay-no-churches
The GOP primary is full of lying clownish demagogues. What else? Cowardly fakes like Jeb! and Christie.
You see this garbage and just have to hope that none of this swill gets into the WH.
schrodinger's cat
@RSA: The problem is not with the photo but the subject of the photo.
Shana
@efgoldman: Despite those oh so sincere eyebrows.
cokane
Cruz really should be the Republican nominee. He represents their agenda with more of a bold face than almost anyone else. It would do well for the body politic to see a true conservative trounced in a nationwide election.
schrodinger's cat
Ted Cruz may not be able to do much about his face, but can buy pants that fit better.
David Koch
@Baud: you didn’t know he was creepy?
NotMax
Cruznado!
pluege
cruz is the new palin.
What would US politics every do these days without an inane effluent spewing, egomaniacal, insane republican to entertain the corporate media?
Violet
So Rand Paul is supposed to declare his candidacy for president on Tuesday? Did I hear that right?
Exurban Mom
Grifters gonna grift. Dude is in it for the wingnut welfare check at the end, not to win.
Misterpuff
@Villago Delenda Est: Citizen Cruz – oops that would be Canada!
jl
@pluege:
” republican ”
Why the singular?
RSA
@schrodinger’s cat:
“I think I’ll wear my Presidenting pants today.”
feebog
I went to the Des Moines Register’s page where they had a series of pictures. Never mind the pants, he was wearing a sports coat that seriously looked liked it had been used as a doormat for the last month. I know you want to project a folksy, aw shucks image, but WTF?
Splitting Image
@Hal:
I see him more as a latter-day Alf Landon. Landon may not have deserved to win in 1936, but he had an otherwise long and distinguished career and I think he has been the butt of jokes long enough.
I think it is high time that somebody broke the record for fewest electoral votes won in a presidential election, and I think that somebody should be Ted Cruz.
Yatsuno
@jl:
While cutting taxes to the rich to the point of a near negative tax rate while creating a permanent underclass that pays for everything. Becuz Merika.
Ripley
Is that Betty Draper in the foreground? Figures.
Applejinx
@jl: missing signage fixed
a certain eerie resemblance part deux
lou
Ted Cruz is a flim flam artist. Every time I see him speak, I think of Upton Sinclair’s comment: “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross.”
Fester Addams
Money-grubbers vs. bible-beaters. It’s like it’s War-on-christmas in April!