This is all wishful thinking. Cruz is a nobody. Trump is the culmination of thirty-five years of Republican pandering to the know-nothings, paid for by billionaires fleecing the rest of us. Trump wins the GOP title, loses to Bernie in the finals!
8
What about John Kusick, who came in second, and is ignored by The New York Times and all the media drumbeats. Instead of listening to polls and "ground game," look, for once, at the Establishment candidate that came out head and shoulders above Cruz (not an Establishment candidate) and Bush.
The New York Times simply won't give equal coverage to the candidate that doesn't swear, speak in tongues, or has Paul Wolfowitz as his campaign advisor. Your editors need to re-think their election coverage. STAT.
The New York Times simply won't give equal coverage to the candidate that doesn't swear, speak in tongues, or has Paul Wolfowitz as his campaign advisor. Your editors need to re-think their election coverage. STAT.
2
No two better lines:
"...if Bernie Sanders is the nominee, the whole nation may Feel The Bern ~ Socrates
" You may feel a Berning sensation, but that's part of the healing process." ~ gemli
Both, as always, BRILLIANT!
"...if Bernie Sanders is the nominee, the whole nation may Feel The Bern ~ Socrates
" You may feel a Berning sensation, but that's part of the healing process." ~ gemli
Both, as always, BRILLIANT!
5
It blows me away to read:
"76 percent of Republican voters said abortions should be legal in cases of rape and incest; 22 percent said they should be illegal under such circumstances."
Who are these Republicans who think they can regulate the freedom of a woman to have an abortion based on her personal religious beliefs? Freedom of religion is protected by the US constitution and in fact a careful reading of the Bible also dismisses the false notion that God does not approve voluntary abortions since an INVOLUNTARY loss of fetus results in a fine rather than treated as loss of a living person that would result in capital punishment.
Exodus 21:22 If men strive [fight] and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit [fetus] depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
OK I get it some religions differ on this but they absolutely have no business forcing their religion on others. NOT IN AMERICA and not according to our Constitution.
"76 percent of Republican voters said abortions should be legal in cases of rape and incest; 22 percent said they should be illegal under such circumstances."
Who are these Republicans who think they can regulate the freedom of a woman to have an abortion based on her personal religious beliefs? Freedom of religion is protected by the US constitution and in fact a careful reading of the Bible also dismisses the false notion that God does not approve voluntary abortions since an INVOLUNTARY loss of fetus results in a fine rather than treated as loss of a living person that would result in capital punishment.
Exodus 21:22 If men strive [fight] and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit [fetus] depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
OK I get it some religions differ on this but they absolutely have no business forcing their religion on others. NOT IN AMERICA and not according to our Constitution.
6
If my math is correct, about 15,000 women in Iowa voted for Cruz, apparently dying to turn their uterus over to him, the man whose dad said was anointed by God to be our leader and turn the treasures over to the priests. So, I would have to believe his appeal to these women is based on their belief that his dad was right about this, and that it is the will of God that Ted be in charge of their reproductive rights, believing, as he does, that all life is sacred from "conception to natural death" which incidentally puts Cruz in good graces with the Pope, too. And I'm pretty sure the Pope is in his corner, too. Pretty decent coalition, eh? Conservative Protestants and all Catholics?
Of course, I personally do not have a uterus, and have little to no chance of ever being raped, unless I happen to get thrown in prison with some "deliverance" types. Still, I have a daughter, and I would prefer that she would never be denied the freedom to make her own decisions in life, decisions that all these decent religious men and women believe they should be able to make for her. Just know this: support for Ted Cruz means you seek to take away the freedom to chart their own destinies in life from millions of women like my daughter. And people like me and my wife, and many millions more, will not take kindly to that.
Of course, I personally do not have a uterus, and have little to no chance of ever being raped, unless I happen to get thrown in prison with some "deliverance" types. Still, I have a daughter, and I would prefer that she would never be denied the freedom to make her own decisions in life, decisions that all these decent religious men and women believe they should be able to make for her. Just know this: support for Ted Cruz means you seek to take away the freedom to chart their own destinies in life from millions of women like my daughter. And people like me and my wife, and many millions more, will not take kindly to that.
7
Before we elect Cruz we should determine if he is a natural born American citizen. If he is the nominee will the Republicans take to wearing party armbands and saluting each other
2
I cannot vote for any candidate who opens or closes a speech, talk, debate, conversation, with any praise of the lord.
I do NOT want a candidate referencing G-d, or religion, and in fact, I hate it when they close with "and G-d bless the United States."
NO NO NO. And Cruz, heaven forbid -- to become the President of the United States will have a hand in destroying what little is left of separation of Church and State.
No. Please make him go away. Go back to alligator skin boots and a big bowl of cruz chili.
I do NOT want a candidate referencing G-d, or religion, and in fact, I hate it when they close with "and G-d bless the United States."
NO NO NO. And Cruz, heaven forbid -- to become the President of the United States will have a hand in destroying what little is left of separation of Church and State.
No. Please make him go away. Go back to alligator skin boots and a big bowl of cruz chili.
6
One could argue that the Republicans lost 5 of the last six presidential elections.
3
When will the media ask Sanders and Clinton about their extreme abortion views including partial birth abortion (infanticide)? Or about their rabid support for Planned Parenthood whose roll, in the most favorable light, has been made obsolete by Obama Care. Why should a controversial, unnecessary private organization continue to receive half a billion in tax payer dollars while we have a growing $19 trillion dollar deficit. Cruz would welcome those questions. No, they won't be asked. The media is too busy sliming Cruz nonstop even though they tell us every day he doesn't have a chance.
1
Cruz received the same kiss of death to his political career that Huckabee and Santorum received--he won the evangelical primary known as the GOP's Iowa caucus. Cruz's Senate career like Santorum's will be a short one. Can I have an amen?
5
I could argue that, given the sorry state of politics in this country, what is needed is a complete flushing of the system, something that might well be accomplished by a Sanders v Trump or v Cruz.
The only problem, and it's a big one, is that the rest of the world would hide under the bed as the U.S. tried to sort things out. Just what the Taliban and ISIS (and Russia) would welcome.
The only problem, and it's a big one, is that the rest of the world would hide under the bed as the U.S. tried to sort things out. Just what the Taliban and ISIS (and Russia) would welcome.
4
MY comment is not revealing, but there is something quite strange about Cruz, not sure what it is, some have commented on his demeanor and looks , someone mentioned his eyes, that they are lizard like, as youngster I had lizards, prefer them to Cruz ,
11
No real adult arguments right? Sanders and Hillary are real lookers....
1
And there are Christians hunkering down, fearing to declare themselves so because they may be associated with these narcissists. If ever a "Christian voice" was needed in our politics it is now. But how to raise that voice loudly enough to be heard above the rabble without sounding as strident and exclusionary as the likes of Trump, Cruz, Rubio, and Carson?
Sometimes the only way to quiet the rabble is to speak so softly that everyone has to shut up in order to hear what you are saying. Then your words have to be convincing enough to keep them quiet. In our media-driven era of sports area, ratings seeking "debates" it may be impossible to quiet the rabble.
Sometimes the only way to quiet the rabble is to speak so softly that everyone has to shut up in order to hear what you are saying. Then your words have to be convincing enough to keep them quiet. In our media-driven era of sports area, ratings seeking "debates" it may be impossible to quiet the rabble.
2
And just who comprises this "rabble" of whom you speak? Does it include self important twits?
1
A small point.
"He subscribes to the belief that life begins at fertilization. This position would not only criminalize abortions in the case of rape and incest but would prohibit the use of contraceptive methods that are understood to prevent the uterine implantation of a fertilized egg like the intrauterine device and the morning-after pill."
The thesis that (human) life begins at fertilization is not very controversial. At what other point does the life of the human organism begin? But from this uncontroversial fact alone nothing much about abortion follows, certainly not the kind of position that Cruz espouses. Many of moderate and more radical defenders of abortion grant the claim about the beginning of life but argue instead that human fetuses do not have a right to life early in their biological lives.
In addition, even if a fetus were to have a right to life at conception, Cruz's position would deny that a woman whose life is endangered by a continued pregnancy has the right to take steps to preserve her life if it would result in the fetus' death. Anyone who believes that is committed to pacifism (or at least virtually no right to self-defense), something Cruz is not.
Someone like Cruz should asked to spell out his position, the missing premises between the (uncontroversial) claim about the beginning of human life and the remarkably controversial conclusions about abortion.
"He subscribes to the belief that life begins at fertilization. This position would not only criminalize abortions in the case of rape and incest but would prohibit the use of contraceptive methods that are understood to prevent the uterine implantation of a fertilized egg like the intrauterine device and the morning-after pill."
The thesis that (human) life begins at fertilization is not very controversial. At what other point does the life of the human organism begin? But from this uncontroversial fact alone nothing much about abortion follows, certainly not the kind of position that Cruz espouses. Many of moderate and more radical defenders of abortion grant the claim about the beginning of life but argue instead that human fetuses do not have a right to life early in their biological lives.
In addition, even if a fetus were to have a right to life at conception, Cruz's position would deny that a woman whose life is endangered by a continued pregnancy has the right to take steps to preserve her life if it would result in the fetus' death. Anyone who believes that is committed to pacifism (or at least virtually no right to self-defense), something Cruz is not.
Someone like Cruz should asked to spell out his position, the missing premises between the (uncontroversial) claim about the beginning of human life and the remarkably controversial conclusions about abortion.
1
Conception is not fertilization. A fertilized egg will NEVER be a person unless and until it is implanted into a uterus. Just look at all the fertilized eggs languishing in the freezers of fertility clinics. They simply are not persons. So yes, Mr. Cruz's position is extreme and even irrational - unless he is planning to force women to provide uteri (hmm, maybe as a condition for receiving welfare?) or is bankrolling an effort to make an artificial uterus.
3
Why wait for conception? Human semen, like human ova is (are?) human too! Outlaw masturbation (the Bible does, see Onan spilling his seed); outlaw menstruation, the sad waste of human potential!
2
"is the willingness of Republican lobbyists — men and women whose livelihoods depend on good relations with potential presidential administrations — to disparage Cruz."
Lobbyists claiming that they do not like them should be a good thing, no? It shows he cannot be bought, to me. That's has been the basis of Bernie's whole campaign.
Overall though, I don't like or trust Cruz. But the fact that other Senators or lobbyists don't like him is a positive to me. Not a negative.
Lobbyists claiming that they do not like them should be a good thing, no? It shows he cannot be bought, to me. That's has been the basis of Bernie's whole campaign.
Overall though, I don't like or trust Cruz. But the fact that other Senators or lobbyists don't like him is a positive to me. Not a negative.
2
What about him? He has a 4.3% winning the Republican nomination. So that means he has 95.7% of not winning the nomination. I am really confused about all these numbers, the permutations and combinations. A few days ago, a very wrought Ross Douhat predicted as to how Trump would never get to the winning line. All the evidence points to the contrary now. Will wonders ever cease?
What about Cruz? Cruz is odious.
5
The people I hear from who aren't solid for Trump are indeed solid for Cruz - and they seem to all have their heads on straight.
The most fun aspect of Cruz is that he makes the anti-God, anti-religion people try to sound sane while they are sitting there tearing their hair out in fury. You just can'y buy this feeling! Cruz-fury has already taken YEARS off the lifespans of some of the Soros drones reporting in today with their book reports.
The most fun aspect of Cruz is that he makes the anti-God, anti-religion people try to sound sane while they are sitting there tearing their hair out in fury. You just can'y buy this feeling! Cruz-fury has already taken YEARS off the lifespans of some of the Soros drones reporting in today with their book reports.
2
Do you honestly think that Republicans NOT work with Cruz if he won the presidency?
That's delusional.
No matter how much they hate Cruz, those in Congress are just not that far away from Cruz ideologically and they would jump at the chance to enact anything that Cruz proposed, particularly if it were ALEC and Koch approved. And, that would be the case.
Lindsey Graham and John McCain and Peter King would be kissing his behind in record time, along with the lobbyists.
They may hate the jerk. But, they would love the winner as their means to an end.
If a single member of the MSM lived in a Red state and knew regular GOP people (that excludes columnist Kathleen Parker here in SC), you would have a better grasp of the GOP mentality than you do.
That's delusional.
No matter how much they hate Cruz, those in Congress are just not that far away from Cruz ideologically and they would jump at the chance to enact anything that Cruz proposed, particularly if it were ALEC and Koch approved. And, that would be the case.
Lindsey Graham and John McCain and Peter King would be kissing his behind in record time, along with the lobbyists.
They may hate the jerk. But, they would love the winner as their means to an end.
If a single member of the MSM lived in a Red state and knew regular GOP people (that excludes columnist Kathleen Parker here in SC), you would have a better grasp of the GOP mentality than you do.
5
Cruz is a better fit for a totalitarian form of government. He has an allergy for Democracy and he wants to eradicate it. He sees and experiences Democracy as a disease process. Cruz is too far right to allow the basic process of democratic compromise. He has the mind, policies, that leads to a right wing coup of the government suppressing democracy as much as possible in America.
Sanders is not far left enough to form a government that would suppress democracy and their is not hint that he is speaking toward a platform of the totalitarian government.
He is a true Democratic Socialist as per the many governments and cultures of Europe. Europe has had their fill of suppressive ant-democratic governments. Have we?
Sanders is not far left enough to form a government that would suppress democracy and their is not hint that he is speaking toward a platform of the totalitarian government.
He is a true Democratic Socialist as per the many governments and cultures of Europe. Europe has had their fill of suppressive ant-democratic governments. Have we?
5
Michael Bloomberg, anyone?
1
Yes!
No.
What?! Ted Cruz hasn't heard of the zika virus yet? It has yuuuge implications for pregnant and to be pregnant women. Likely an association with microcephaly deformities in babies, “We've been told by clinical experts in maternal-fetal medicine and it is our impression from the literature that it is very difficult to accurately determine microcephaly at the mid-pregnancy ultrasound that most women get as part of routine prenatal care at about 20 weeks. From reports by Brazilian physicians it appears that around 30 weeks is when the microcephaly is best detected along with the abnormalities of the developing brain.
One of the challenges is that the timing of the damage to the brain and resultant small head probably varies depending on when in pregnancy the infection occurred. Other signs that may also be picked up such as brain calcifications are also variable in the time they are detected by ultrasound. This is the best information we have at this time but of course subject to change as we get more information.”
One of the challenges is that the timing of the damage to the brain and resultant small head probably varies depending on when in pregnancy the infection occurred. Other signs that may also be picked up such as brain calcifications are also variable in the time they are detected by ultrasound. This is the best information we have at this time but of course subject to change as we get more information.”
4
The fact is that the establishment candidates gave the GOP their *best* shot to win. They did not lose because they weren't conservative enough. Just because they've managed to gerrymander far-right loonies into Congress doesn't mean the country as a whole wants it that way. By all means, please nominate this non-establishment "true conservative" and see what happens. Good grief.
4
Ted Cruz is not a conservative and gives actual conservatives a bad name by stealing their mantle. Conservatives believe in small, effective government. Cruz is opposed to all government. He is an anarchist, plain and simple. He lacks only a black flag.
10
I think he would use government for his ends. He would not only get Roe v Wade overturned -- and thus leaving states to decide on abortion -- but would go further and outlaw abortion for any reason nationwide by federal law.
3
I think states should decide on abortion and gay marriage. I voted for gay marriage to pass in NH and I would vote for abortion rights. I read Roe v Wade and the later abortion case, Casey, and do not see a Constitutional right to an abortion in the Constitution. I also read Olberfell and do not see a Constitutional right to marriage but have and would always vote for gay marriage.
The respected Judge Posner said he would have ruled in favor of gay marriage now, and not in 1999, because it has over 50% national support. Justices are not supposed to rule based on national polling! Otherwise, what is the point of the Court at all?
Having 9 people decide our most personal social issues creates resentment and takes control of government from the people and gives it to 9 unelected people.
The respected Judge Posner said he would have ruled in favor of gay marriage now, and not in 1999, because it has over 50% national support. Justices are not supposed to rule based on national polling! Otherwise, what is the point of the Court at all?
Having 9 people decide our most personal social issues creates resentment and takes control of government from the people and gives it to 9 unelected people.
3
This is an excellent summary of Cruz and reasons he would fail as president: In his demand for conservative, ideological purity Cruz goes too far. The dislike for Cruz, right, left, and center, is strong.
Sanders is in no way the left's equivalent of Cruz. Even those who aren't supporting Sanders admit that they favor much of his message; they like him (eg Dana Milbank). Furthermore, Sanders is not asking for some extreme left, ideological, impractical purity. Sanders proposals, regardless of what he calls himself, are mainstream Democratic, in line with FDR, JFK, and (on domestic issues) LBJ. And those proposals from Sanders are resonating with voters, not because of ideology, but because they are needed to improve the lives of the poor, and the working and middle classes.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties place their hopes of success on attracting independents, as New Hampshire showed. But Cruz is appealing to the political right's worst instincts, while Sanders' appeal is an honest call to give the poor, the middle and working classes the help they need. Sanders will pull in the majority of independents; Cruz won't.
Sanders is in no way the left's equivalent of Cruz. Even those who aren't supporting Sanders admit that they favor much of his message; they like him (eg Dana Milbank). Furthermore, Sanders is not asking for some extreme left, ideological, impractical purity. Sanders proposals, regardless of what he calls himself, are mainstream Democratic, in line with FDR, JFK, and (on domestic issues) LBJ. And those proposals from Sanders are resonating with voters, not because of ideology, but because they are needed to improve the lives of the poor, and the working and middle classes.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties place their hopes of success on attracting independents, as New Hampshire showed. But Cruz is appealing to the political right's worst instincts, while Sanders' appeal is an honest call to give the poor, the middle and working classes the help they need. Sanders will pull in the majority of independents; Cruz won't.
9
I give Cruz a zero percent chance of ever being elected to anything ever again.
8
Hillary will be the democratic nominee. Bernie will be very successful, however, in forcing Hillary to shift to the Left on many issues to be more in alignment with the democratic rank and file. That will only improve her chances in the general election. Hillary and Elizabeth Warren would be an unbeatable ticket.
Trump and Cruz will flame out at some point. Once the adults vote, I think Kasich and possibly even Jeb will rise to the top of the republican race. I thought months ago that Kasich and Rubio could deliver Ohio and Florida to the republicans, but Rubio may have sunk his boat in the last debate. Now, it could be Kasich and Nikki Haley on the republican ticket as voices of reason, relatively speaking.
Trump and Cruz will flame out at some point. Once the adults vote, I think Kasich and possibly even Jeb will rise to the top of the republican race. I thought months ago that Kasich and Rubio could deliver Ohio and Florida to the republicans, but Rubio may have sunk his boat in the last debate. Now, it could be Kasich and Nikki Haley on the republican ticket as voices of reason, relatively speaking.
4
The challenge of Cruz is chiefly to the Republican Party. Is it to become the Tea Party, the ultra right, opposed to nearly everything (e.g. medicare, social security), or is it to be conservative and a serious participant in governing the nation? It will have to decide before November when the nation as a whole will judge the choice made.
5
Are you frightened now that the ravens have come home to roost, and that Trump The Impaler or FrankenCruz might be the Republican nominee? Would you like a somewhat less disgusting monster instead? How about Eddie Munster?
A friend of mine offers an intriguing scenario: the Republican Convention will be brokered, and Paul Ryan will be the nominee.
Reasons: #1: He did not want to be Speaker of the House, but he did take the job. What was the quid pro quo? #2: He's decided that he wants to help the poor. #3 He smirked like a 10 year old behind Obama while the President gave his last State of the Union address, as if he had a delicious secret and could not wait for his own coronation.
Far fetched? The Republican candidates are already way beyond the pale, and I'm sure moderate GOP operatives (if there are any left), are having nightmares, just like we are.
A friend of mine offers an intriguing scenario: the Republican Convention will be brokered, and Paul Ryan will be the nominee.
Reasons: #1: He did not want to be Speaker of the House, but he did take the job. What was the quid pro quo? #2: He's decided that he wants to help the poor. #3 He smirked like a 10 year old behind Obama while the President gave his last State of the Union address, as if he had a delicious secret and could not wait for his own coronation.
Far fetched? The Republican candidates are already way beyond the pale, and I'm sure moderate GOP operatives (if there are any left), are having nightmares, just like we are.
4
This may seem very unsympathetic, but some reporter should at least fact check Cruz's story about the degree of his involvement in trying to save his sister from drugs. I don't know anything about him as a person, but it doesn't seem to ring true.
5
I've never understood the totality of what being "conservative" means. Is there a set standard of conservative values that must be adhered too? Is being considered as moderately conservative, that you're conservative about some issues, not so much about others? Does it mean that you're a knee jerk reactionary, oppose to everything progressives proffer, no matter what?
Here's part of my confusion:
In 2012, when Cruz was running for the Senate, the Houston Chronicle reported that “Cruz would allow abortion only in cases in which the mother’s life is in jeopardy” and quoted him as saying “I think that every human life is a precious gift from God and should be protected in law from conception until natural death."
Does he believe in the death penalty, which would cancel his quote about how precious a gift life is?
So, I am confused about, how as I see it, cherry picking convenient conservative values, suited to your own perspective at the exclusion of someone else's, as if their lives don't matter. If so, It invalidates their experiences.
So, my question is, what does being conservative really mean in 2016?
Here's part of my confusion:
In 2012, when Cruz was running for the Senate, the Houston Chronicle reported that “Cruz would allow abortion only in cases in which the mother’s life is in jeopardy” and quoted him as saying “I think that every human life is a precious gift from God and should be protected in law from conception until natural death."
Does he believe in the death penalty, which would cancel his quote about how precious a gift life is?
So, I am confused about, how as I see it, cherry picking convenient conservative values, suited to your own perspective at the exclusion of someone else's, as if their lives don't matter. If so, It invalidates their experiences.
So, my question is, what does being conservative really mean in 2016?
5
Ted Cruz can't be President. He was born in Canada and no one disputes that fact. His mother, a Delaware-born US citizen but also a registered voter and citizen of Canada at the time of her son Ted's birth in Canada, does not provide Ted with "natural born" citizenship to the USA; it only provides Ted with "Naturalized citizenship" at his birth. There IS a difference between those two terms that the Conservatives are of course ignoring now, and Ted Cruz is not a natural born citizen of the USA and therefore under our Constitution (something the conservatives always say must be "strictly construed") he is not eligible to be President. And if he is eligible, then why was there such a ruckus about President Obama not being eligible because he was alleged to have been born in Africa while everyone accepted that his mother was born in Kansas and was a citizen of the USA, when President Obama was born? Hypocrites. those Conservatives.
7
There was so much ruckus created by Mr Trump about Mr Obama being a Kenyan born Muslim. There is such a thing as karma, in some way or form it comes back...
7
Time for the big money Republican establishment to change from Bush to Kasich. He really is conservative, but comes across as "reasonable" to independents. If Trump loses the nomination, he will go 3rd party. then it becomes possible for the 14th amendment rules to throw the decision to the Republican-majority House of Representatives and thus the Republican candidate.
Yeah, Kasich! Mr. Charisma. Kasich, Bernie, Trump, Bloomberg, now there's some real choice-not-an-echo in '16! Bring it on. No more Democrats, no more Republicans!
Sen. Cruz states that "I think that every human life is a precious gift from God and should be protected in law from conception until natural death."
Yet he is an enthusiastic supporter of the death penalty, opposes medicaid expansion, opposes Obamacare without putting forward any alternative for access to health care. The man is not pro-life in any sense of the word and his hypocrisy should be brought front-and-center.
Yet he is an enthusiastic supporter of the death penalty, opposes medicaid expansion, opposes Obamacare without putting forward any alternative for access to health care. The man is not pro-life in any sense of the word and his hypocrisy should be brought front-and-center.
9
The Republican primary season has at least provided the hollow pleasure of watching truly detestable people duke it out among themselves.
Chris Christie had never done or said a single thing I liked, then he surprised me by his deliciously expert (practice makes perfect) bullying of entitled empty-suit Marco Rubio, triggering Rubio's implosion on national TV. For once, Christie was punching up! Go, Chris Christie!
As a longtime New Yorker, I had already overdosed on Trump 30 years ago, during the era when Spy magazine so memorably labeled him "short-fingered vulgarian Donald Trump." Trump has only become more repellently megalomaniacal over the years, and of course has recently morphed into a fascist demagogue. But, let's look at the bright side: at least he is serving a useful purpose in thwarting the ambitions of the even more odious and dangerous Ted Cruz.
This would all be highly entertaining but for what it says about the devolution of conservatives in this country.
God Help America.
Chris Christie had never done or said a single thing I liked, then he surprised me by his deliciously expert (practice makes perfect) bullying of entitled empty-suit Marco Rubio, triggering Rubio's implosion on national TV. For once, Christie was punching up! Go, Chris Christie!
As a longtime New Yorker, I had already overdosed on Trump 30 years ago, during the era when Spy magazine so memorably labeled him "short-fingered vulgarian Donald Trump." Trump has only become more repellently megalomaniacal over the years, and of course has recently morphed into a fascist demagogue. But, let's look at the bright side: at least he is serving a useful purpose in thwarting the ambitions of the even more odious and dangerous Ted Cruz.
This would all be highly entertaining but for what it says about the devolution of conservatives in this country.
God Help America.
11
Robert Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney were not "insufficiently conservative" as this Thomas Edsall opinion contends. To the average voter who does not know the difference between a conservative or a liberal they were just plain unlikeable. Likability has a lot to do with winning elections.
5
You can call what Cruz represents "conservatism" but while I hesitate to say it, in my mind he represents something akin to fascism. Extreme? Yeah. But consider his statements across the political spectrum. That's my opinion.
7
If Trump and Sanders are nominated, the general election is going to be frightening, hopeful, inspirational and downright dangerous all at the same time.
It will be a time warp back to the past for both parties except their histories will not run in simultaneous lockstep to the same times past. Ted and Bernie will remind us of where we have been but at different times which are both not so different from now when you think about them.
On the GOP side we will have Ted Cruz, spitting image of Joe McCarthy in both attitude and rhetoric spewing his lies, innuendo, fear, tough talk and self promotion, using unfounded fears of Obama's legacy and misconstrued associations with the word "socialism", a term misunderstood by too many of our willingly misled fellow Americans.
On the Democratic side we will have Bernie Sanders, who sounds more like Franklin D. Roosevelt than any candidate since Roosevelt himself. A man who has big ideas...as big or bigger than any "New Deal" in terms of changing the course of our government to what this country is supposed to be about...promoting and protecting We The People, our freedoms and the future for our progeny.
The GOP campaign will be like being in the equivalent of the 1950s cold war / states rights and a prejudicial and fearful mentality.
The Democratic Campaign will be like being in the equivalent of the 1930s New Deal rhetoric, more isolationist, but a more hopeful mentality.
For me, it will be an easy choice.
It will be a time warp back to the past for both parties except their histories will not run in simultaneous lockstep to the same times past. Ted and Bernie will remind us of where we have been but at different times which are both not so different from now when you think about them.
On the GOP side we will have Ted Cruz, spitting image of Joe McCarthy in both attitude and rhetoric spewing his lies, innuendo, fear, tough talk and self promotion, using unfounded fears of Obama's legacy and misconstrued associations with the word "socialism", a term misunderstood by too many of our willingly misled fellow Americans.
On the Democratic side we will have Bernie Sanders, who sounds more like Franklin D. Roosevelt than any candidate since Roosevelt himself. A man who has big ideas...as big or bigger than any "New Deal" in terms of changing the course of our government to what this country is supposed to be about...promoting and protecting We The People, our freedoms and the future for our progeny.
The GOP campaign will be like being in the equivalent of the 1950s cold war / states rights and a prejudicial and fearful mentality.
The Democratic Campaign will be like being in the equivalent of the 1930s New Deal rhetoric, more isolationist, but a more hopeful mentality.
For me, it will be an easy choice.
7
Reading this article left me with a sense that I was reading a high school social studies paper, which hadn't been researched, and which may have been written with music blaring in the earphones , and the TV on loud.
What the author referred to as a Sean Spicer pro-Sanders tweet, was actually a disparagement of Sanders.
The author repeatedly posits that Cruz' extremist stands are taken for the purpose of advancing his career. An open minded, adult approach, would be to investigate whether his radical stands are instead, expressions of strong personal beliefs. Stream, and Cruise may not make a good president, but if he is in fact a man of conscience, rather than a self-serving political hack, we deserve to know that.
What the author referred to as a Sean Spicer pro-Sanders tweet, was actually a disparagement of Sanders.
The author repeatedly posits that Cruz' extremist stands are taken for the purpose of advancing his career. An open minded, adult approach, would be to investigate whether his radical stands are instead, expressions of strong personal beliefs. Stream, and Cruise may not make a good president, but if he is in fact a man of conscience, rather than a self-serving political hack, we deserve to know that.
1
i voted for President Obama twice and would vote for him again if he could run. but i will never vote for Sanders. If Sanders gets the nomination its my prediction that the republicans will win in November if they can avoid nominating Cruz.
3
Reading between the lines, it appears that Mr Edsall, whom I highly respect, has realized that the Republican Party currently has NO viable candidate other than Trump.
This is what happens when a party becomes too one sided in its beliefs
This is what happens when a party becomes too one sided in its beliefs
7
"I think that every human life is a precious gift from God and should be protected in law from conception until natural death". I guess carpet bombing is a natural death ?
19
people are asking the wrong question regarding Ted Cruz. The issue is less about his reactionary political views and more about whether he is genuinely suffering from some kind of mental illness or emotional disturbance. I'm not a psychologist but it seems to me that when you look up "sociopathy" in the DSM Manual, all you see is Ted Cruz's picture. In other words, Cruz is dangerous not because of his extreme positions but becuase he may genuinely be mentally unstable.
10
"The chart shows Cruz’s voting record as substantially more conservative ..." What little voting record there is. “ 'Our representatives aren’t representing us ... ' Mr. Cruz declared". (Wall Street Journal) Indeed. Mr. Cruz started his first six year U.S. Senate term about three years ago. He apparently decided quickly that he didn't need to concentrate on the Senate business, make some allies, work for Texas, etc., but rather run for president. Regarding his Senate committee assignments: "According to transcripts as reported by Politico, in his first two years in the Senate, Cruz attended 17 of 50 public Armed Services Committee hearings, 3 of 25 Commerce Committee hearings, 4 of the 12 Judiciary Committee hearings, and missed 21 of 135 roll call votes during the first three months of 2015."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz#U.S._Senate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Cruz#U.S._Senate
2
"People don't trust him ( Cruz )"
Trust is a huge issue when casting a vote. This is what's bringing down Hilary so far.
Trust is a huge issue when casting a vote. This is what's bringing down Hilary so far.
2
Yes but Hillary isn't a sociopath. Plus people only assume Hillary is untruthful. There really isn't any proof.
4
Cruz doesn't have a chance. So why are the corporate media, corporate pundits and establishment politicians and their legions of associates so obsessed with Cruz? He doesn't have a chance. So why the daily slimming and discounting of Cruz?
Because Cruz is the guy you see on TV. He has been a true conservative at least since high school. He mean what he says and that means that he will bring real change to Washington. The establishment's power will decline and they will have to learn new tricks and a new game. Worst of all they will lose control of trillions of Federal dollars that are steered daily to big corporations and the politicians cronies, families and pay masters. The media won't say it but the real welfare queens are not poor ghetto women. No, the real welfare queens are corporations , hedge fund operators, big banks and politically connected power groups. That's where all the money goes. How many big corporations like GE, GM, Boeing, Goldman Sachs would just be memories now without the government?
Whether you like Cruz or Trump they are the only ones that, for better or worse, mean real change. The rest, both parties, represent business as usual or worse. Sanders wants to make us Venezuela Norte. The establishment believes that Cruz especially, but Trump too, must be stopped at all costs. They have too much invested in the status quo, even if it is a mess. Their loss of power would cripple them. That is why they attack Cruz, who has no chance, every day. Hmm...
Because Cruz is the guy you see on TV. He has been a true conservative at least since high school. He mean what he says and that means that he will bring real change to Washington. The establishment's power will decline and they will have to learn new tricks and a new game. Worst of all they will lose control of trillions of Federal dollars that are steered daily to big corporations and the politicians cronies, families and pay masters. The media won't say it but the real welfare queens are not poor ghetto women. No, the real welfare queens are corporations , hedge fund operators, big banks and politically connected power groups. That's where all the money goes. How many big corporations like GE, GM, Boeing, Goldman Sachs would just be memories now without the government?
Whether you like Cruz or Trump they are the only ones that, for better or worse, mean real change. The rest, both parties, represent business as usual or worse. Sanders wants to make us Venezuela Norte. The establishment believes that Cruz especially, but Trump too, must be stopped at all costs. They have too much invested in the status quo, even if it is a mess. Their loss of power would cripple them. That is why they attack Cruz, who has no chance, every day. Hmm...
3
Tolstoy said it best: "Fools -- in their madness -- pray for storms, thinking storms will bring them peace." What will "real change" look like? How will it be better than "the status quo"? This endless yearning for "the end" makes certain voters look like characters from Tolstoy (or H. P. Lovecraft) who will learn to regret what they wished for.
1
The endless fear of change, denial of reality and the continuous corruption of the status quo paralyzes and seduces many. Will more of the same change things? Look up Einstein's definition of insanity
I would think pro-life should include opposition to the death penalty and support for national health insurance. As it stands, pro-life really just translates to anti-woman.
10
Felito finito.
Cruz is invulnerable. Nothing decent will ever get in his way.
1
One key factor in Mr. Cruz attaining critical mass is the absence of compelling other candidates for the Presidency in either major party.
In this near vacuum, we can only hope that the well qualified Michael Bloomberg, who has proved his competencies in both the business and public service worlds, will continue on the path that will offer a viable candidate by running as an independent candidate.
If Bloomberg has the exceptional Robert Gates as a running mate, I predict that we would see a strong message being sent to both the major parties that they need to reform to protect themselves from extremist control or become extinct.
In this near vacuum, we can only hope that the well qualified Michael Bloomberg, who has proved his competencies in both the business and public service worlds, will continue on the path that will offer a viable candidate by running as an independent candidate.
If Bloomberg has the exceptional Robert Gates as a running mate, I predict that we would see a strong message being sent to both the major parties that they need to reform to protect themselves from extremist control or become extinct.
3
This piece by Thomas B. Esdall is a hit piece on Ted Cruz, plain and simple.
Ted Cruz did well to come in third in New Hampshire. Rubio did poorly. The amount of money spent by Cruz's opponents was incredible. They are throwing everything and the kitchen sink at Ted's campaign but he is going strong.
Kasich and Bush will stay in the race until South Carolina. (The GOP Establishment’s goal is to make Trump the nominee by the convention after which he will “blow up” his chances and lose to Hillary Clinton. There is not really a two party system in the USA anymore.) Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina will drop out of the race in the coming days. Ben Carson will continue on for one or two more primaries and then drop out. The spoiler to the GOP Establishment’s plans is of course Ted Cruz.
The delegate count now for the Republican race is : Trump 17; Cruz 10; Rubio 7; Kasich 4; Bush 3; Carson 3; Fiorina 1. The next hurdle in the race, the third one, will be in South Carolina on Sat. 20th Feb. It is a hybrid “Winner Take All” voting system.
Interestingly and most instructive is the fact that at the last Republican debate the threat of Zika-Microcephaly was mentioned for the first time…
Stay tuned everyone…The best laid plans of mice and men…
Ted Cruz did well to come in third in New Hampshire. Rubio did poorly. The amount of money spent by Cruz's opponents was incredible. They are throwing everything and the kitchen sink at Ted's campaign but he is going strong.
Kasich and Bush will stay in the race until South Carolina. (The GOP Establishment’s goal is to make Trump the nominee by the convention after which he will “blow up” his chances and lose to Hillary Clinton. There is not really a two party system in the USA anymore.) Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina will drop out of the race in the coming days. Ben Carson will continue on for one or two more primaries and then drop out. The spoiler to the GOP Establishment’s plans is of course Ted Cruz.
The delegate count now for the Republican race is : Trump 17; Cruz 10; Rubio 7; Kasich 4; Bush 3; Carson 3; Fiorina 1. The next hurdle in the race, the third one, will be in South Carolina on Sat. 20th Feb. It is a hybrid “Winner Take All” voting system.
Interestingly and most instructive is the fact that at the last Republican debate the threat of Zika-Microcephaly was mentioned for the first time…
Stay tuned everyone…The best laid plans of mice and men…
3
The idea that the GOP Establishment's goal is to make Trump the nominee so he will lose strikes me as pretty crazy. If they wanted to lose, why not lose with Cruz?
If this kind of thinking is representative of Cruz supporters ... yowza.
If this kind of thinking is representative of Cruz supporters ... yowza.
1
Politics and ideology aside, Ted Cruz is, plainly and simply, a mean man. No one likes mean people aside from other mean people.
Ronald Reagan sold America on a conservative agenda by convincing us that it was morning in America. With Cruz it would be more like a Class 5 hurricane at midnight with the power knocked out.
I have too much faith in America to believe that there are enough mean voters to elect Ted Cruz President.
Ronald Reagan sold America on a conservative agenda by convincing us that it was morning in America. With Cruz it would be more like a Class 5 hurricane at midnight with the power knocked out.
I have too much faith in America to believe that there are enough mean voters to elect Ted Cruz President.
12
Lumping Bernie with Cruz. Did you actually write that? I think so! Also, don't assume that African American will once again flock to the Clintons. Give them credit for understanding that the plight of many African American's stems from income inequality, low paying jobs, and a riggd elction system. You may be right about Cruz but your logic in placing Bernie in the same category is extremely flawed. You may not have said so directly but you sure were heading in that direction.
6
The Republicans' problem is that their leading candidate is a wealthy, ignorant loudmouth who's lying a lot and doing a lot of race-baiting, and a wealthy, well-educated weasel who's either a far, far-right loon or a simple opportunist. Neither has much interest in tellng the truth.
The Democrats' problem is that their leading candidate is a well-polished, smart politician with a very good record who'd make a good President, but whose "message," isn't a message, and whose Wall Street ties and propensity for unforced errors are going down badly with voters. And their popular candidate is a guy who's got a strong, clear message and some good programs, but has little or no record of getting legislation passed, zero record on foreign policy, and some very, very flaky claims about waving a wand and getting his programs enacted.
I intend to vote Democratic no matter what--the only sane candidate for the GOP is Kasich, and he's pretty far right--but it's a case of hold your nose and vote for Hillary, or cross your fingers and vote for Bernie.
The model for an election that Mr. Edsall likely should have cited comes from Florida's last gubernatorial election. Both candidates stank.
The Democrats' problem is that their leading candidate is a well-polished, smart politician with a very good record who'd make a good President, but whose "message," isn't a message, and whose Wall Street ties and propensity for unforced errors are going down badly with voters. And their popular candidate is a guy who's got a strong, clear message and some good programs, but has little or no record of getting legislation passed, zero record on foreign policy, and some very, very flaky claims about waving a wand and getting his programs enacted.
I intend to vote Democratic no matter what--the only sane candidate for the GOP is Kasich, and he's pretty far right--but it's a case of hold your nose and vote for Hillary, or cross your fingers and vote for Bernie.
The model for an election that Mr. Edsall likely should have cited comes from Florida's last gubernatorial election. Both candidates stank.
10
I hope Ted Cruz wins the race to become the nominee for the Republican party. He's such a loathsome character, I think it will guarantee a Democratic victory (and perhaps change the complexion of the Congress) in November. Hope springs eternal.
11
Won't he be running against equally loathsome and infinitely more corrupt people?
2
Nope. Not even close.
5
This is from Wikipedia's entry on the "1948 GOP presidential platform" ...
"The party platform formally adopted at the convention included the following points:
-Reduction of the public debt
-Reduction of the inheritance tax
-Labor reform
-Promotion of small business through reduction of governmental intervention and regulation.
-Elimination of unnecessary federal bureaus, and duplication of functions of necessary governmental agencies.
-Federal aid to states for slum clearance and low-cost housing
-Extension of Social Security benefits
-A federal anti-lynching law
-Federal civil rights legislation....
-Abolition of the poll tax
-A crackdown on domestic Communism
-Recognition of the state of Israel
-International arms control 'on basis of reliable disciplines against bad faith'.
-The admissions of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico as states to the union."
Clearly, there was a time when there sensible and sane Republicans on the national stage. I wonder whatever happened to "sensible" and "sane"?
The GOP is setting itself up for a mighty fall, thanks in great part to the sustained and protracted "journalism" provided by Roger Ailes and his minions in the Fox empire. And for all that ... I tip my hat to Mr. Ailes.
"The party platform formally adopted at the convention included the following points:
-Reduction of the public debt
-Reduction of the inheritance tax
-Labor reform
-Promotion of small business through reduction of governmental intervention and regulation.
-Elimination of unnecessary federal bureaus, and duplication of functions of necessary governmental agencies.
-Federal aid to states for slum clearance and low-cost housing
-Extension of Social Security benefits
-A federal anti-lynching law
-Federal civil rights legislation....
-Abolition of the poll tax
-A crackdown on domestic Communism
-Recognition of the state of Israel
-International arms control 'on basis of reliable disciplines against bad faith'.
-The admissions of Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico as states to the union."
Clearly, there was a time when there sensible and sane Republicans on the national stage. I wonder whatever happened to "sensible" and "sane"?
The GOP is setting itself up for a mighty fall, thanks in great part to the sustained and protracted "journalism" provided by Roger Ailes and his minions in the Fox empire. And for all that ... I tip my hat to Mr. Ailes.
8
Edsall has made a larger point, as have other analysts. Sanders proposes to combat a hard-right Republican party by whipping up a hard-left Democratic party. It is delusional and destructive to think the American people will or should divide ourselves by these two extremes. I haven't heard anybody yet say we should "think the Bern," because there doesn't seem to be much thinking going on. The opportunity is to realign a center left party and a governing majority, but the "revolutionaries" will throw it away. That's what revolutionaries do.
3
Only in the USA would Sanders' platform be considered "hard left". It appears to be a sensible avocation of programs that are at the foundation of social democratic governments. These policy's are proven to work and contribute in no small way to the Social Democratic countries' highest world rankings in areas such as health, education, average income, happiness, honesty, longevity and low infant mortality rates. Rubio slams Obama for an imagined agenda of making the USA like other countries. I would say that American exceptionalism is fine if it can address the needs of its' citizenry with home-grown solutions. It is patently clear that the present American approach isn't working and apparently never will for the majority of its' citizens. A social democratic approach is a proven and successful solution, one worth emulating if the US truly desires to be exceptional in fact as well as rhetorically.
1
I don't mind the bread. But the circuses are driving me crazy!
7
I'm sorry that I can only recommend this post one time.
Ted Cruz is a very smart, sharp, calculating, and conniving politician. He knows exactly what to say to the voters he’s courting, and he makes no attempt to disguise his extreme conservatism and blending of religion with politics. Yet, he’s not above taking campaign funds from people whose lifestyle he roundly condemns at every opportunity. That brands him as an opportunist.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/politics/at-new-york-reception-ted-...
As a Princeton and Harvard-educated lawyer, he has to know what the U.S. voting and ethnographic trends are over the past 20 years, and that he hasn’t got a shot in a general election by tacking hard to the right. I think there’s another, ulterior motive at work here. Again, he’s an opportunist, and the primary election cycle is giving him a national platform, raising his visibility to -- what end? A lobbyist position? Consulting? (His own party largely detests him, so good luck with that.)
He’s accomplished almost nothing as a senator, except to shut down the government to boost his ego. He has almost no friends in Washington (something he’s quite proud of) and not much support in his home town of Houston.
What’s the end game, Rafael? Is this just an ego trip? Or do you really think there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/us/politics/at-new-york-reception-ted-...
As a Princeton and Harvard-educated lawyer, he has to know what the U.S. voting and ethnographic trends are over the past 20 years, and that he hasn’t got a shot in a general election by tacking hard to the right. I think there’s another, ulterior motive at work here. Again, he’s an opportunist, and the primary election cycle is giving him a national platform, raising his visibility to -- what end? A lobbyist position? Consulting? (His own party largely detests him, so good luck with that.)
He’s accomplished almost nothing as a senator, except to shut down the government to boost his ego. He has almost no friends in Washington (something he’s quite proud of) and not much support in his home town of Houston.
What’s the end game, Rafael? Is this just an ego trip? Or do you really think there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?
5
hdtvpete, you are quite right that the Left hopes to make permanent it's shredding of the Constitution and imposition of Orwellian rule by a corrupt elite by insuring that low information voters predominate at the polls. Their policies implementing this strategy (e.g., open borders; manufacturing dependency, despair and resentment in the underclass; replacing a liberal education with Marxist indoctrination in the schools, colleges and universities; etc.) are indeed proving successful. However, I think you are premature in your victory dance. There are still enough voters who long for a restoration of limited government and traditional values that the right candidate can reassemble the Reagan Coalition and crush the Left in the 2016 elections. Cruz is the right candidate with the right principles. The fact that he is true to his principles is what sets him apart from Establishment phonies in both parties.
2
@Socrates
Both you and I are old enough to remember more than a few elections back and so I respectfully remind you that the last time a victorious Democrat stormed out of New Hampshire with plans for income redistribution was in 1972. Senator George McGovern, so proud of his Demogrant program, went on to one of the worst defeats in U.S. political history and all the rest of us received for the was a second term of Richard Nixon's presidency. Do be careful before you give the steering wheel a sharp turn to the left - You may not know what is around the bend.
Both you and I are old enough to remember more than a few elections back and so I respectfully remind you that the last time a victorious Democrat stormed out of New Hampshire with plans for income redistribution was in 1972. Senator George McGovern, so proud of his Demogrant program, went on to one of the worst defeats in U.S. political history and all the rest of us received for the was a second term of Richard Nixon's presidency. Do be careful before you give the steering wheel a sharp turn to the left - You may not know what is around the bend.
8
I'm a married white Christian. Please don't associate me with Ted Cruz, he does not represent me nor any of my friends or colleagues.
5
Why does he keep appealing to the brain-dead?
4
The awful thing about Cruz is that it seems blazingly clear that he doesn't actually BELIEVE in any of the positions he holds so dogmatically. He really is one of the Eastern "elite" by education and background, but his personal ambition has taken him in a completely opposite direction--presumably because he's made the calculation that that's how he can gain power. That makes him evil, in my book.
5
With regard to the sub-heading of this piece: you know, strategists are a dime a dozen, blowing in and out with each election cycle. But leaders, leaders are another species and try as I might I can't with any conviction identify the "leaders" of the Democratic Party.
1
What comes to mind whenever I see Rafael Cruz is Greg Stillson (the Martin Sheen character) in The Dead Zone.
3
Interesting to see that Ted Cruz once said, “I think that every human life is a precious gift from God and should be protected in law from conception until natural death.”
Does this mean he would outlaw intensive care units and jail anyone who used a mechanical ventilator to keep a person alive? After all, that is absolutely interfereing with a "natural death."
I will take my tongue out of my cheek now, but clearly the man is at best a fringe candidate and at worst disconnected from the real world.
Does this mean he would outlaw intensive care units and jail anyone who used a mechanical ventilator to keep a person alive? After all, that is absolutely interfereing with a "natural death."
I will take my tongue out of my cheek now, but clearly the man is at best a fringe candidate and at worst disconnected from the real world.
4
And I assume from those comments that Mr. Cruz favors abolition of the death penalty. Oh, wait...no.
4
It it has occurred to me that even the Bible is divided between liberals and conservatives. The Old Testament is pretty totalitarian, pro slavery, and endorses harsh punishment for even minor offenses. The New Testament promotes compassion, forgiveness, inclusiveness, charity, and has a negative opinion regarding great wealth and Pharisee behavior.
This helps to explain why evangelicals, despite claims of Christianity, are more comfortable with the unforgiving Old Testament of fire and brimstone.
Cruz blew his chance to emulate John McCain's finest moment when he (Cruz) showed tacit approval for a reverend that advocated the extermination of homosexuals. This alone affirms that Cruz is totally unacceptable for all but extremists.
This helps to explain why evangelicals, despite claims of Christianity, are more comfortable with the unforgiving Old Testament of fire and brimstone.
Cruz blew his chance to emulate John McCain's finest moment when he (Cruz) showed tacit approval for a reverend that advocated the extermination of homosexuals. This alone affirms that Cruz is totally unacceptable for all but extremists.
6
I would hope that you are aware that the difference between the old testament and the new is Jesus, and that defines what it means to be "Christian?"
1
What you sow, so shall you reap. Welcome to reality republican party.
3
As an expat I decided to leave the US after draft-dodging George Bush defeated decorated veteran John Kerry because voters seemed more upset by the lies of the Koch-financed "swift-boaters" than by the lies of an incumbent administration, which led the nation into a costly, unnecessary and ultimately unwinnable war in a region that was already a tinderbox.
If the American electorate was capable of doing that, then in any election pitting an extreme rightist like Cruz against anyone the Fox-Koch right can smear as a "liberal," never mind a proud "socialist" like Sanders, the hard rightist (especially one filled with Yeats' "passionate intensity") is going to have the edge.
If the American electorate was capable of doing that, then in any election pitting an extreme rightist like Cruz against anyone the Fox-Koch right can smear as a "liberal," never mind a proud "socialist" like Sanders, the hard rightist (especially one filled with Yeats' "passionate intensity") is going to have the edge.
3
he will never be president
he projects disturbing facial features
in th age of tv/internet, that precludes him
th first victim of that was nixon vs kennedy
Kennedy looked like sir Galahad and Nixon looked like a second story man
he projects disturbing facial features
in th age of tv/internet, that precludes him
th first victim of that was nixon vs kennedy
Kennedy looked like sir Galahad and Nixon looked like a second story man
3
Thx1138,
I understand why you made your comment, but you must have burned the history books that would have informed you that Nixon came back to be elected twice--in spite of his looks.
I understand why you made your comment, but you must have burned the history books that would have informed you that Nixon came back to be elected twice--in spite of his looks.
With all due respect, the only people who see Bernie Sanders as a "loser" are Clinton supporters and the the very serious (but not very imaginative) people in our commentariat. I make these comments, Mr. Edsall, for my own satisfaction, I suppose, not in the hope that they'll cause you to reconsider your position. If a 22 point win in New Hampshire over an "inevitable" candidate who was up by 40 points just a few months ago cannot convince you that the Sanders campaign is viable then I acknowledge that further argument isn't going to help.
4
Cruz knows how to reach, to capture and to exploit an audience. He has an almost diabolical sense of how to use the code words, the emotions, pious refrains and apocalyptic speech of a preacher - in order "the better to eat you, my dear."
Not everyone will be caught in the Cruz Trap. But for a certain audience, a fundamentalist, evangelical audience the man is Catnip!
He's a sociopath, another term is psychopath. Like a stage hypnotist or a world-class actor, he knows how to modulate his voice, utilize his emotional range, sense the audience itself and "hold" them.
Beware Ted Cruz. He is, by far, the most dangerous demogogue, who has risen or better, cruised, to a spot too close to the Oval Office for the safety and well-being of this nation.
Like some type of infectious disease, he must be stopped. Cold. Over and over, if necessary.
Not everyone will be caught in the Cruz Trap. But for a certain audience, a fundamentalist, evangelical audience the man is Catnip!
He's a sociopath, another term is psychopath. Like a stage hypnotist or a world-class actor, he knows how to modulate his voice, utilize his emotional range, sense the audience itself and "hold" them.
Beware Ted Cruz. He is, by far, the most dangerous demogogue, who has risen or better, cruised, to a spot too close to the Oval Office for the safety and well-being of this nation.
Like some type of infectious disease, he must be stopped. Cold. Over and over, if necessary.
7
The Founding Fathers certainly did not intend nor contemplate that a Canadian born to an all white Anglo- American mother and an white Cuban father named Rafael Edward Cruz was or would ever be a "natural born citizen" qualified under the Constitution of the United States to be President.
Nor do the 2/3rds of Americans who are Mexican mestizo, mulatto, Garifuna, African and Native identify with a half White Cuban as being a fellow Hispanic/Latino.
There is no Houston Texas Ted macho cowboy to trust. There is only the cowardly corrupt cynical effete Ivy League plutocrat Calgary Alberta Canadian Rafael Edward Cruz.
Nor do the 2/3rds of Americans who are Mexican mestizo, mulatto, Garifuna, African and Native identify with a half White Cuban as being a fellow Hispanic/Latino.
There is no Houston Texas Ted macho cowboy to trust. There is only the cowardly corrupt cynical effete Ivy League plutocrat Calgary Alberta Canadian Rafael Edward Cruz.
4
"Cruz...is ideally suited to mobilize every Democratic constituency, including single women, minorities, young voters and socially liberal professionals — with the possible exception of some Hispanic voters who would be drawn to a Cuban-American candidate."
Seriously? His given name is Rafael Eduardo Cruz. However, the only place he has ever seemed to use it was when he signed articles at the Harvard Latino Law Review, where he went as "Rafael E. Cruz." When he wrote at the same time for the conservative Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, he was "R. Ted Cruz." So his naked ambition and un-authenticness was always there.
Here's another thing about the occasionally Hispanic Mr. Cruz. He doesn't speak Spanish. Wait until he's on a national ticket and he can't address Spanish-speakers in their native language (granted, most of them will be able to understand Mr. Cruz when he talks because, they, unlike the supposedly brilliant Mr. Cruz, are bilingual). Given his hard line views on immigration--and his embrace of right-wing policies in general--the 27% of Hispanic votes Mr. Romney received in 2012 will seem like a pipe dream to the Cruz campaign. The only energizing he will do among Hispanics is getting them to vote for the Democratic candidate.
Seriously? His given name is Rafael Eduardo Cruz. However, the only place he has ever seemed to use it was when he signed articles at the Harvard Latino Law Review, where he went as "Rafael E. Cruz." When he wrote at the same time for the conservative Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, he was "R. Ted Cruz." So his naked ambition and un-authenticness was always there.
Here's another thing about the occasionally Hispanic Mr. Cruz. He doesn't speak Spanish. Wait until he's on a national ticket and he can't address Spanish-speakers in their native language (granted, most of them will be able to understand Mr. Cruz when he talks because, they, unlike the supposedly brilliant Mr. Cruz, are bilingual). Given his hard line views on immigration--and his embrace of right-wing policies in general--the 27% of Hispanic votes Mr. Romney received in 2012 will seem like a pipe dream to the Cruz campaign. The only energizing he will do among Hispanics is getting them to vote for the Democratic candidate.
6
I would like to remind the serious adults here at this paper that the last time Americans had the chance to vote for a socialist we elected him four times.
This election may, at long last, finally give Americans the chance to prove who we really are; are we a Nation of hope and promise or a Nation of fear and oppression?
We may have the chance to vote for a real progressive, a democratic/socialist, vieing
This election may, at long last, finally give Americans the chance to prove who we really are; are we a Nation of hope and promise or a Nation of fear and oppression?
We may have the chance to vote for a real progressive, a democratic/socialist, vieing
15
Roosevelt wasn't a socialist, period.
But Bob La Follette and Eugene Debs did do pretty well--back when working people knew stuff and had some pride.
But Bob La Follette and Eugene Debs did do pretty well--back when working people knew stuff and had some pride.
I like it that even republicans realize what a hateful, evil creep Cruz is. Why did you let him get so far, he sounded bad when he was campaigning for the senate seat. So nice you are accepting Donald because I think that is what you are going to end up with.
4
Ted Cruz is very much like another Senator that he bares a striking resemblance to, Joseph McCarthy, but without the charm and charisma.
7
Davidd, McCarthy (a liberal Republican from Wisconsin) was mostly correct about communist influence in America and was far more sinned against than sinner. His demonization by the Left is typical of its smear tactics but for those interested in the truth there is no better starting point than "Blacklisted by History", a terrific book by the great newspaperman M. Stanton Evans.
"What About Ted Cruz?" ?
The less said--or thought--about Cruz, the better!
For both democracy and for America! He's a darkly malign influence, tied to forces having a corrosive effect on our nation's ability to rule itself.
The less said--or thought--about Cruz, the better!
For both democracy and for America! He's a darkly malign influence, tied to forces having a corrosive effect on our nation's ability to rule itself.
6
Ted Cruz fits perfectly with the current collection of weirdos we have running Texas and I think we should keep him to ourselves. What's a junk-yard dog without his junk yard?
If he doesn't stay in Texas, I think he should become the next Roy Cohn. That's the way he could fit into Washington.
If he doesn't stay in Texas, I think he should become the next Roy Cohn. That's the way he could fit into Washington.
7
Given everything in this article I am more convinced than ever that at Cruz candidacy is a good thing; it will put a nail in the conservative vampire.
7
Ted Cruz is the face of The New American Taliban. If he is elected, Canada here I come!
8
I've lived 43+ years in Marina Del Rey CA. If Cruz is elected, Montreal here I come back home again. Oh,for those cold winters days:Maui or Tahiti? Oy Vey.
It's amazing how fanatical politicians can fool themselves into thinking that they haven't been fanatical enough to win elections. We have seen this twice in relatively recent times in the UK but the fanatics were on the left as opposed to the right. In the early 80's we had Michael Foot lead the Labour Party and here in 2016 we have Jeremy Corbyn both left wing zealots doubling down on lunatic policies. Corbyn like Foot will of course fail spectacularly to win power. The general population is much more sensible when they find themselves in the polling booth. And so I am confident that there is no demand for Cruz in the general population of the USA either. Perhaps the GOP should select Cruz. The extent of his defeat will lead the party back on the road to some sanity much as it did for Labour in the UK when Blair became leader. Of course we all know how that worked out.
1
I would like to know, where is all the exuberance from those Miami-Dade Cubans!
2
Any of the Republicans, if elected, will cause political mayhem both domestically and internationally. Kasich, the sanest in the bunch, would have a failed presidency because House Republicans would treat him as they do Obama.
The alternative is Clinton who has never seen a problem that she could not fix with a "Big Government" program. That is not in the cards; the millennials are taking over the country. Clinton brought two Sixties-women on the stage to endorse her, perhaps thinking that would help reduce her stigma evident in polling among the millennials. Ha!
Hillary change your platform. At each event have a successful millennial introduce you with the following type of statements: "She will get government out of your bedroom!" "She will fight to bring daylight into corporate behavior and reduce the Washington power given corporate "persons" by the Supreme Court." "She will reject her history of trying to keep countries whole such as Iraq and Libya by promoting the separation of religious and cultural groups into their own territories. Ditto for Afghanistan." Such would be diplomatic/military objectives that do not need a World War or big money for their achievement and would, eventually, be blessed by the European countries. Why? Because it would sharply decrease emigration from the Middle East.
Hillary: Give millennials control over their lives. Hillary: Offer the peoples of the world control over their lives.
The alternative is Clinton who has never seen a problem that she could not fix with a "Big Government" program. That is not in the cards; the millennials are taking over the country. Clinton brought two Sixties-women on the stage to endorse her, perhaps thinking that would help reduce her stigma evident in polling among the millennials. Ha!
Hillary change your platform. At each event have a successful millennial introduce you with the following type of statements: "She will get government out of your bedroom!" "She will fight to bring daylight into corporate behavior and reduce the Washington power given corporate "persons" by the Supreme Court." "She will reject her history of trying to keep countries whole such as Iraq and Libya by promoting the separation of religious and cultural groups into their own territories. Ditto for Afghanistan." Such would be diplomatic/military objectives that do not need a World War or big money for their achievement and would, eventually, be blessed by the European countries. Why? Because it would sharply decrease emigration from the Middle East.
Hillary: Give millennials control over their lives. Hillary: Offer the peoples of the world control over their lives.
2
If Phyllis Schlafly considers Ronald Reagan a conservative Republican, it's about time she retired from punditry.
He won for the same reasons Trump is winnng: they've heard of him (movies, reality TV) and he says what people want to hear ("Get government off people's backs." "Make America great again."
He won for the same reasons Trump is winnng: they've heard of him (movies, reality TV) and he says what people want to hear ("Get government off people's backs." "Make America great again."
I disagree with Cruz on every issue but with regards to abortion, at least his stand is consistent.
If you believe the fetus is an actual life, then you should be opposed to abortion no matter the circumstances of the pregnancy be it incest or rape. After all, you can't murder someone and claim that is allowable if that person resulted from incest or rape.
And regarding George McGovern being a "lemon," does Mr. Edsall really believe any other Democrat in 1972 could been elected in the face of what turned out to be the corrupt and illegal methods of the Nixon re-election campaign.
And there's one difference between the parties. After Goldwater's defeat, the Republicans take the view that the party wasn't extreme enough and went far to the right (Goldwater was for abortion and gay rights). The Democrats took McGovern's defeat and said the party had to be more moderate giving us those Republicans in Democratic clothes Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
If you believe the fetus is an actual life, then you should be opposed to abortion no matter the circumstances of the pregnancy be it incest or rape. After all, you can't murder someone and claim that is allowable if that person resulted from incest or rape.
And regarding George McGovern being a "lemon," does Mr. Edsall really believe any other Democrat in 1972 could been elected in the face of what turned out to be the corrupt and illegal methods of the Nixon re-election campaign.
And there's one difference between the parties. After Goldwater's defeat, the Republicans take the view that the party wasn't extreme enough and went far to the right (Goldwater was for abortion and gay rights). The Democrats took McGovern's defeat and said the party had to be more moderate giving us those Republicans in Democratic clothes Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton.
What a cynical and horrible approach.
I am an avowed Democrat, perhaps somewhat to the left of many of my fellow party members. But above all, I love my country. So, what do I wish for in the 2016 election?
(1) Bernie Sanders presidency.
(2) If not Bernie Sanders, then Hillary Clinton, because I believe her viewpoints and stated policy objectives are next closest to mine.
(3) If not Clinton, then Kasich, Bush, or other Republican candidates with whom although I disagree with on many issues, I respect as statesman and whom I believe would take their duty to govern and represent all Americans seriously.
Trump and Cruz do not disrespect the process, do not respect large portions of the electorate, and most alarmingly, implicitly and explicitly seek to limit the definition of "American" to members of a select few groups.
Anyone who cares about the nation, Democrat or Republican, should work to ensure that these men have no chance at the presidency. Playing the odds at having either as a candidate to increase the odds of a Democrat winning is a risky, irresponsible game.
This is not a game.
I am an avowed Democrat, perhaps somewhat to the left of many of my fellow party members. But above all, I love my country. So, what do I wish for in the 2016 election?
(1) Bernie Sanders presidency.
(2) If not Bernie Sanders, then Hillary Clinton, because I believe her viewpoints and stated policy objectives are next closest to mine.
(3) If not Clinton, then Kasich, Bush, or other Republican candidates with whom although I disagree with on many issues, I respect as statesman and whom I believe would take their duty to govern and represent all Americans seriously.
Trump and Cruz do not disrespect the process, do not respect large portions of the electorate, and most alarmingly, implicitly and explicitly seek to limit the definition of "American" to members of a select few groups.
Anyone who cares about the nation, Democrat or Republican, should work to ensure that these men have no chance at the presidency. Playing the odds at having either as a candidate to increase the odds of a Democrat winning is a risky, irresponsible game.
This is not a game.
56
I think that you meant to say "Trump and Cruz do not respect the process", which is more in line with the rest of your sharp-eyed analysis of The Donald and The Bigot (well, one of several bigots).
1
I have to wonder what Mr. Edsall thought of Ronald Reagan. I have to also consider the source. Being terrified of a true conservative seems to be a problem for both political parties and the hacks in them. It's about time we saw a real conservative running for President, not what we've been subjected to for almost thirty years. RINOs are not conservatives, just for the record.
2
Lets just say we seem to be between a rock and a hard place. If sanders won we might as well bring out the hammer and sickle. If Cruz wins lets start reading Mein Kampf. In any case we all better buckle up because 'it looks like we're in for a bumpty ride'.The choices this year are the worst I have ever seen and I've been voting since 1964.
1
If Cruz would win the Republican nomination for the national ticket, it would be likely that a handful of current Republican Senators would switch parties, realizing that the party in no longer one they could represent.
The odds of Cruz getting the nomination is mathematically ZERO. No one with his likeability rating will ever get the nomination in either party. Cruz is probably the most disliked politician since Joe McCarty.
The odds of Cruz getting the nomination is mathematically ZERO. No one with his likeability rating will ever get the nomination in either party. Cruz is probably the most disliked politician since Joe McCarty.
Cruz, as the Republican nominee would be the very best thing to happen to Democrats in decades. Please, please....nominate the grim reaper. After the defeat, send him and his fake Texas twang back to Canada.
3
While a dose of confidence and self-assuredness is expected in those who decide to seek the highest office in the land, we can all agree on one thing - the most important person in Ted Cruz's world is.........Ted Cruz!
20
At least he hasn't posted his selfies to the internet yet...
You could say that exact thing about a lot of candidates, including Hillary.
2
Dear Mr. Edsall: You query, "What About Ted Cruz?". Well, let me think for a minute and see if I could think of an plausible answer.
First of all, are you referring to that supremely optimistic happy warrior from Texas via Canada?, that dear lovable bloke we know by his Christian given moniker, Rafael? Yeah, what about that guy? Why are people getting fed up with someone who tells stupid jokes, misses the irony of "Green Eggs and Ham" even as he's reciting it, who quotes and acts out long passages from films like "The Princess Bride"? a movie I'll never be able to view with the same joy I once had. Is that the guy you mean?
Well, maybe, just maybe, people can take just so much fire and brimstone, gloom and doom, tales of the Earth being on fire before, like Cruz's daughter, they push the doomsayer's face away and shriek in horror. Maybe because this guy's such a Debbie, make that Donnie, Downer. Good God, if this guy continues for much longer I'm going to go nuts and book passage on the Armageddon Express just to escape the misery should this guy come even close to the White House, a place by the way he hates with a passion deep in his dark black soul. Sweet Jesus! Guess it's a good thing Will Rogers is dead. He'd have to alter his most famous line.
DD
Manhattan
First of all, are you referring to that supremely optimistic happy warrior from Texas via Canada?, that dear lovable bloke we know by his Christian given moniker, Rafael? Yeah, what about that guy? Why are people getting fed up with someone who tells stupid jokes, misses the irony of "Green Eggs and Ham" even as he's reciting it, who quotes and acts out long passages from films like "The Princess Bride"? a movie I'll never be able to view with the same joy I once had. Is that the guy you mean?
Well, maybe, just maybe, people can take just so much fire and brimstone, gloom and doom, tales of the Earth being on fire before, like Cruz's daughter, they push the doomsayer's face away and shriek in horror. Maybe because this guy's such a Debbie, make that Donnie, Downer. Good God, if this guy continues for much longer I'm going to go nuts and book passage on the Armageddon Express just to escape the misery should this guy come even close to the White House, a place by the way he hates with a passion deep in his dark black soul. Sweet Jesus! Guess it's a good thing Will Rogers is dead. He'd have to alter his most famous line.
DD
Manhattan
3
As a rock ribbed pro-choice voter, I am actually more respectful of people on the other side of this debate who believe abortion should be banned in all cases. Allowing abortions in some cases undermines the whole argument. If the premise is that a human life is sacred, what on earth do the circumstances of conception have to do with it? It's completely hypocritical. To put it another way, people who say that abortions should be permitted in cases of rape or incest are in fact saying that abortions should be permissible when we determine them to be so, but not in situations that a woman might choose for herself.
3
Did you notice that the NARAL tweet about the ultrasound referred to "mom" and "dad"? Hmmm... if a fetus isn't human, how does it have a mom and dad?
Presidential elections are decided by about 50% of the electorate who vote, and the outcome usually comes down to a few percent. A candidate who can energize the people who don't usually vote has a good shot. But this possibility is not on the radar of the legions of media talking heads who focus only on the usual 50%. Sanders can win if he gets people to the polls that otherwise stay home.
6
Cruz could not have tolerated Harvard as a Dominionist Christian. He is phony through and through.
3
Maybe the GOP has to hit rock bottom before it can go into recovery. The party’s plan to moderate was too early because conservative ideologues could keep saying they lost because Mitt and McCain weren’t true conservatives. Until they’ve gone down that road and been royally trounced, that argument isn’t going away.
4
I suspect Cruz will change his stances on these issues as soon as he realizes they won't get him the power he so obviously craves.
Even if Cruz does try to moderate his positions, his past record of his extreme positions trails him, and all the Democrats have to do is to contrast any theoretical recent "flip-flops" with his past statements, which are legion and easily compiled. In other words, he'll readily be shown to be a total liar. The question is then how well American voters catch on.
1
5'8" and loves to hate!
5
Dear Mr. Edsall,
You talk about Republicans/conservatives with terms like "extreme", such as:
"Cruz’s extremism has been statistically presented..."
What about Bernie Sanders? Do you consider him "extreme" on the liberal side?
You talk about Republicans/conservatives with terms like "extreme", such as:
"Cruz’s extremism has been statistically presented..."
What about Bernie Sanders? Do you consider him "extreme" on the liberal side?
As much as I appreciate this academic analysis, how about this -- he's not going to win because he is creepy. His smile is a horizontal rictus. He can't even read Green Eggs and Sam with a modicum of decency. That's not superficial -- his relentless self-aggrandized quest for power is obvious, and people don't like him.
5
Typical Edsall MO: He speed-dials three elitist ivory tower leftist "academics", they congratulate each-other about being in lockstep agreement, and he transcribes their answers to create his "column". Ah, but first he labels the bozos who've saddled us with endless war, endless surveillance, and a $19 trillion debt as "the pragmatic wing".
Nice non-work if you can get it.
Nice non-work if you can get it.
2
I'm not at all alarmed at the prospect of a Cruz candidacy - amused, yes, but hardy alarmed. In fact, I hope he gets the nomination this summer. There is nothing in the realm of the most twisted possibility that I can foresee that would be as delightfully weird as Ted Cruz playing the part of the right wing's standard bearer for 2016. The guy is so extreme and vulgar that, for people like me who thrive on this stuff, a Cruz run would be a demented dream come to life. Oh, please, fate....
Here is something that is the worst kept secret in Washington: His colleagues in the senate can't stand him. Think about that just for a second. A party that has lowered the bar so far in recent years as to what constitutes "statesman-like behavior" finds Ted too insufferably obnoxious for comfort. That takes some doing. When a right wing politician becomes too extreme for the GOP even, it's time to prescribe some lithium. Seriously.
I don't suspect that Ted is going to be taking the oath of office on January 20, 2017; then again, early in the candidacy of George W. Bush, I never dreamed that one day he would be living in the Executive Mansion. Stuff happens, you know?
Should that unthinkable scenario ever come to pass, I'll learn to live with it. As bad as a Cruz administration would be for the country and the world, at least it would never be boring. We must seek these silver linings behind the darkest of clouds.
Tom Degan
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Here is something that is the worst kept secret in Washington: His colleagues in the senate can't stand him. Think about that just for a second. A party that has lowered the bar so far in recent years as to what constitutes "statesman-like behavior" finds Ted too insufferably obnoxious for comfort. That takes some doing. When a right wing politician becomes too extreme for the GOP even, it's time to prescribe some lithium. Seriously.
I don't suspect that Ted is going to be taking the oath of office on January 20, 2017; then again, early in the candidacy of George W. Bush, I never dreamed that one day he would be living in the Executive Mansion. Stuff happens, you know?
Should that unthinkable scenario ever come to pass, I'll learn to live with it. As bad as a Cruz administration would be for the country and the world, at least it would never be boring. We must seek these silver linings behind the darkest of clouds.
Tom Degan
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
12
Your comment reflects the thinking of so many Texas Republicans who considered Cruz a squalid little nuisance who would be steamrolled by the better known, more established, and better financed Lieutenant Governor, David Dewhurst. When the primary votes were counted. Cruz was the winner. Texas Democrats had a similarly low opinion of him and Cruz went on to win a U.S. Senate seat. Please do not underestimate an opponent just because you intensely dislike him.
3
QW -- that was Texas. They elected his boss, Abbott, as governor.
Thankfully the US as a whole is not Texas.
Thankfully the US as a whole is not Texas.
1
I always get so confused about the weird bond that the conservative right has with the religious right in American. What does being against abortion have to do with lower taxes for the rich or privatizing abortion.
Seems like just pandering to get votes.
Seems like just pandering to get votes.
9
I think people overestimate their ability to predict the future. Doing anything that gets Cruz closer to the Presidency, such as crossing over to vote, is not worth the risk . Things happen. No way do i want to see Cruz win the Republican nomination. Let's not get too clever here.
4
I am sick of this false equivalency. Bernie Sanders is not at all on the same level as Cruz or Trump. He is lifelong, very successful public servant who has earned our respect for his ability to get things done for his constituents. No one says the things about Bernie Sanders that fellow Republicans say about Ted Cruz or that everyone says about Donald Trump. Please do not be ridiculous. This defies patience.
14
a typically insightful column by mr. edsell ... but i'd make a single essential clarification.
"Cruz’s appeal is restricted to core Republican constituencies" places the fulcrum of analysis on the two party system. it's more accurate to say, "Cruz’s appeal is based in core conservative constituencies." a large part of his appeal flows from the conservative belief that the republican party has repeatedly sold conservatives down the river, and therefore reject the party itself. that is not a constituency.
who are conservatives, and what do they want? the answer can't be limited to the policy proposals they advocate, but must ask *why* those policies matter to conservatives so much -- what is the overarching objective.
the answer is: conservatives want no future. they only want the past. certainly the past embodied in the bible, but also the past embodied in the constitution, in an 18th century concept of economics, a 19th century concept of females and moral order, and in a frontier concept of "freedom".
we dawdle in irrelevancies when we project this image onto the crumbling masonry of two party politics. the hatred cruz inspires in all who know him is a reflection of the conservative hatred of the future. and the antipathy cruz inspires needs a bold face footnote ... the conservatives are the ones with the guns: the malheur "occupation" was not an aberration, but a harbinger.
"Cruz’s appeal is restricted to core Republican constituencies" places the fulcrum of analysis on the two party system. it's more accurate to say, "Cruz’s appeal is based in core conservative constituencies." a large part of his appeal flows from the conservative belief that the republican party has repeatedly sold conservatives down the river, and therefore reject the party itself. that is not a constituency.
who are conservatives, and what do they want? the answer can't be limited to the policy proposals they advocate, but must ask *why* those policies matter to conservatives so much -- what is the overarching objective.
the answer is: conservatives want no future. they only want the past. certainly the past embodied in the bible, but also the past embodied in the constitution, in an 18th century concept of economics, a 19th century concept of females and moral order, and in a frontier concept of "freedom".
we dawdle in irrelevancies when we project this image onto the crumbling masonry of two party politics. the hatred cruz inspires in all who know him is a reflection of the conservative hatred of the future. and the antipathy cruz inspires needs a bold face footnote ... the conservatives are the ones with the guns: the malheur "occupation" was not an aberration, but a harbinger.
24
This political year is really scary in that there are so many people who are voting for candidates who are crazy, extreme and have no shot at winning. I am a Democrat and even Bernie Sanders scares me. He is being pushed through by extremely liberal Democrats and young pie-in-the sky kids who have never had to pay a mortgage or earn a liivng. You have to love the cute VT college kids whose rich parents are footing the bill while they joust for an old man who has a fantasy campaign.
If I hear one more candidate insert a sentimental anecdote about their drug addicted kid, sister, cousin, or neighbor, I will hurl. Is this now the standard stump speech? Even Kasich is getting on my last nerve. His face is annoying and don't be going on about how people come out of the audience to tell how you saved their life with your touch. Ich and ugh.
If I hear one more candidate insert a sentimental anecdote about their drug addicted kid, sister, cousin, or neighbor, I will hurl. Is this now the standard stump speech? Even Kasich is getting on my last nerve. His face is annoying and don't be going on about how people come out of the audience to tell how you saved their life with your touch. Ich and ugh.
3
While I don't think Cruz would make a good president ( understatement of the century), I do have a job that's perfect for him- head of the Spanish Inquisition.
6
Amen to Mr. Huban's entry. The republicans have reaped what they have sewn. They have been telling us for eight long years that the country is falling into the abyss. Now they will have to deal with the result of the illusion they have carefully created....Donald Trump!!!! It could happen., Oh Canada!!!!
5
The problem is that the GOP the GOP controlled Congress and the White House for most of the Bush years, and Bush responded by moving the GOP way to the left. Instead of doing all the things the Democrats warned about he:
Vastly expanded government funded healthcare (Medicare Part D)
Vastly expanded government involvement in education (No Child Left Behind, written by Ted Kennedy)
Vastly increased government financial regulations (Sarbane Oxley, too bad it didn't work)
Put aside a conservation area the size of Mexico (Hawaiian national monument, Guam national monument, Marianas trench national monument)
Removed the most theocratic regime in the world from power (Taliban)
Had foreign policy that most closesly resembled that of LBJ (Iraq and Vietnam)
Raised the minimum wage
Bailed out the United Auto Workers
The only conservative things he did:
Temporarily lower the top income tax rate
Appoint Alito and Roberts to the SCOTUS (and Roberts saved Obamacare)
I think conservatives have come to realize that most of the GOP doesn't share our values or interests or priorities. Hence the support for Cruz.
Vastly expanded government funded healthcare (Medicare Part D)
Vastly expanded government involvement in education (No Child Left Behind, written by Ted Kennedy)
Vastly increased government financial regulations (Sarbane Oxley, too bad it didn't work)
Put aside a conservation area the size of Mexico (Hawaiian national monument, Guam national monument, Marianas trench national monument)
Removed the most theocratic regime in the world from power (Taliban)
Had foreign policy that most closesly resembled that of LBJ (Iraq and Vietnam)
Raised the minimum wage
Bailed out the United Auto Workers
The only conservative things he did:
Temporarily lower the top income tax rate
Appoint Alito and Roberts to the SCOTUS (and Roberts saved Obamacare)
I think conservatives have come to realize that most of the GOP doesn't share our values or interests or priorities. Hence the support for Cruz.
2
Just so that I understand where Cruz is coming from: His conservatism is to Republicanism is like what the Taliban's is to Islam? That speaks for itself on a host of levels and real-life applications. Sometimes the easiest things to get only get harder to understand and see the more that's spoken and written about it in an attempt to explain it . . . or disguise it.
2
For me, the contest between Cruz and Sanders would be the contest between two nightmares. Sanders who calls himself a socialist is the nightmare of the past: of the grinding poverty and repression of the USSR; devastated economy; and disastrous foreign policy. Cruz is the nightmare of the future: he represents the specter of theocracy that is haunting the world after the specter of Marxism was finally exorcised. If this is the choice, I'll sit the elections out and so will many others. However, I am afraid that the evangelicals won't, and so we might still see President Cruz. Compared to this prospect, the idea of President Trump is beginning to sound attractive: at least, he'll build casinos instead of churches or concentration camps.
1
This comment about Sanders exemplifies his biggest problem. Many Amercians equate his Socialism with the Communism of the USSR and Mao's China, when what he advocates in fact are policies akin to those of the Scandanavian countries. The Reoublicans are fully aware of this misconception and will exploit it to the fullest should Sanders get the nomination. By the time they are done, many Americans will think Bernie's to the left of Stalin.
2
USSR means the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics. No socialist country in the world, including China, ever claimed its economic policy to be communist - communism was seen as the future goal to be achieved. Perhaps you should ask the people of Eastern Europe what they think of socialism as it was actually practiced in their countries. As for Scandinavian countries - their ruling parties are Labor (in Norway, in coalition with Conservatives), and Social Democrats (in Sweden, also in a coalition). Words matter in politics. Nobody forced Sanders to adopt a tainted label of socialist. Would you vote for a New Nazi Party if it swore to promote a moderate agenda?
2
Electing Cruz to the presidency is analogous to electing Joseph McCarthy. He's a demagogue through and through, and this moderate nation would be revulsed by having him in the Oval Office. I could see him, however, on the Sunday morning television evangelical circuit.
5
Step back just a few short feet, and observe... The National political landscape has been transformed into a caricature of itself, and an ugly one to boot! The obvious flaws of the major players, on the main, quite obscure the occasional flashes of humanity, humility and good sense. The visions of what the U.S. should be at its core promoted by the various candidates often appalls. For instance, take Second Amendment gun "rights," as espoused by Mr. Trump and others of the Republican persuasion. It reduces to the manifestly absurd proposition that each citizen protect him/herself with the firearm of his/her choice. Take also the mass refusal in the U.S. to consider the well-documented probability of significant climate change/sea level rise. Talk about reversion to the Dark Ages, negative cultural evolution, and down right tomfoolery. For some time now, I have feared that the great slosh of humankind would overwhelm the ability to intelligently deal with the ever-increasing complexities of homeostasis of a crowded planet. I'd speculate that we're currently at 11:59:59 on this sad scale, and closing the remaining sliver of time at warp speed.
1
If there is a God, He, She or It will let Ted Cruz win the GOP nomination, and then, hopefully, our nation can begin to free itself from the grip of the radical Christian right.
8
I would say that Ted Cruz gives conservatism (which I oppose) a really bad name, and his fellow congresspeople apparently agree with me. He will never be president.
4
Remember what Molly Ivins told everyone about electing Presidents from Texas? Oh, that's right. Ted is about as Texan as my MINI Cooper.
1
Thomas,
Just read your article "What about Ted Cruz". I would like to point out that reason the republicans have a majority in both the house and senate is because people hate and despise the republican establishment. You should note that most of the new people that were elected into the house and senate were elected BECAUSE of support from hard right republicans. This also included Senator Marco Rubio when he ran a campaign that was far right.
The quote from Bob Dole is absolutely ridiculous at best. One would think you would also disclose the fact that Bob Dole is working as a lobbyist for alston and bird if you were going to quote him, since the lobbyist are a huge part of this problem. Maybe it would have been best to say "Lobbyist Bob Dole says...." It is articles like these that make the American people loose all faith in any media outlet and start to see it as pure propaganda for the establishment.
I don't know if you were aware of him working for that firm, or just chose to overlook it. I do think however when writing something like that, it should be noted so the entire world wont look at you as a puppet for the establishment. I don't mean that in a mean way, I'm just saying it comes across that way to a person who has never met you.
"Full disclosure I am a Ted Cruz supporter"
Just read your article "What about Ted Cruz". I would like to point out that reason the republicans have a majority in both the house and senate is because people hate and despise the republican establishment. You should note that most of the new people that were elected into the house and senate were elected BECAUSE of support from hard right republicans. This also included Senator Marco Rubio when he ran a campaign that was far right.
The quote from Bob Dole is absolutely ridiculous at best. One would think you would also disclose the fact that Bob Dole is working as a lobbyist for alston and bird if you were going to quote him, since the lobbyist are a huge part of this problem. Maybe it would have been best to say "Lobbyist Bob Dole says...." It is articles like these that make the American people loose all faith in any media outlet and start to see it as pure propaganda for the establishment.
I don't know if you were aware of him working for that firm, or just chose to overlook it. I do think however when writing something like that, it should be noted so the entire world wont look at you as a puppet for the establishment. I don't mean that in a mean way, I'm just saying it comes across that way to a person who has never met you.
"Full disclosure I am a Ted Cruz supporter"
2
Want to bring down Ted Cruz? Ask him what policy he would adopt re the effects of Zika virus on fetuses.
3
Cruz has no chance. It will be Trump or Kasich. If it is Kasich, he will be the next President. If he is the next president, America will cease to be politically dysfunctional and will actually make real progress for the first time in many years. With anyone else in the current crop of contenders (Democrat or Republican) as President, the dysfunction will continue, with the possible exception of Donald Trump. With Trump, anything might happen, and some of it may be good.
2
"When fascism comes to America, it will wrap itself in the flag and carry a cross".
Cruz is the prototype of what that quote warns us about, but then a few of his co-contenders for the Republican nomination are already trying hard to catch up to him, including the other Cuban guy, Robot Rubio, by invoking the name of the Jesus ad infinitum.
God forbid, pun intended, if any of these 'conservatives' - the ones that should actually be described as arch-right - should win the presidency. They would turn the country back to the era of pre-Enlightenment and make our Founders spin in their graves.
Cruz is the prototype of what that quote warns us about, but then a few of his co-contenders for the Republican nomination are already trying hard to catch up to him, including the other Cuban guy, Robot Rubio, by invoking the name of the Jesus ad infinitum.
God forbid, pun intended, if any of these 'conservatives' - the ones that should actually be described as arch-right - should win the presidency. They would turn the country back to the era of pre-Enlightenment and make our Founders spin in their graves.
4
Senator Cruz only upsets Republican establishment because he articulates in uncompromising terms the views that the rest attempt to moderate. Even a cursory comparison with the rest reveals much the same ideology and policy: anti-immigrant, anti-women's rights. anti-voting rights, anti-gay rights, climate denial, tax breaks for the wealthy and effective elimination of Social Security and Medicare. After a Republican Congress passes all of this legislation would a President Kasich somehow not sign it into law? The fantasy of moderation is just another Republican ruse to mask the extremism that characterizes the lot of them. Good news is that Cruz might well be the nominee and that bodes well for any Democrat. Of course, the Republican response to a Goldwater-esque loss will be to double down yet again and go for someone even more crazy than the oleaginous Cruz. Go figure.
34
Feel the Bern-out. I can deal with Bernie as a candidate, but his rabid followers are insufferable, more akin to Tea-Partiers than Democrats. Brooking no disagreement, tolerating no criticism, and convinced that he is being deliberately dissed by the man (or The Old Gray Lady to be specific) it is an ugly, ugly display. Their criticisms of Clinton are as distorted as the Republicans at the Benghazi hearings. And yet we're supposed to believe that the movement is an informed one rather than a bandwagon. I hope Bernie gives Secretaty Clinton a vigorous fight, but his supporters need to get some balance and stop tearing our party apart.
3
The candidate who gets the most electoral votes wins the Presidency. We have had a number of Presidents who did not win the popular vote.
Cruz or Trump will carry the Confederacy (Florida might be an exception). They will also carry Idaho, Wyoming, Utah. A Democratic win is very narrow with Hillary requiring success in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and some border states. It makes no difference how big Hillary wins in California, New York, and other NE states. There may not be enough available electoral votes.
Hillary may be an admirable person. She is very bright and knowledgeable but she carries too much baggage and, I fear, Cruz or Trump would destroy her in a debate or on the campaign. The PACs will do it for them.
The Democrats rather than gleefully hoping for a Cruz or Trump opponent should be doing the electoral math and recognize how weak Hillary is as a candidate. Bernie who is clearly an admirable and principled person would lead the party to a McGovern type of defeat.
Unfortunately the Democratic Presidential bench is virtually empty. Senator Tim Kaine, a potential VP nominee, would make an excellent Presidential candidate. He is committed to Hillary so unavailable.
Do not despair. Our Republican friends may NOT nominate either Cruz or Trump. If they nominate Kasich I may vote for him because he may be able to heal the divisions in the country, a task that the neo-Confederates would never agree to with Hillary.
Cruz or Trump will carry the Confederacy (Florida might be an exception). They will also carry Idaho, Wyoming, Utah. A Democratic win is very narrow with Hillary requiring success in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and some border states. It makes no difference how big Hillary wins in California, New York, and other NE states. There may not be enough available electoral votes.
Hillary may be an admirable person. She is very bright and knowledgeable but she carries too much baggage and, I fear, Cruz or Trump would destroy her in a debate or on the campaign. The PACs will do it for them.
The Democrats rather than gleefully hoping for a Cruz or Trump opponent should be doing the electoral math and recognize how weak Hillary is as a candidate. Bernie who is clearly an admirable and principled person would lead the party to a McGovern type of defeat.
Unfortunately the Democratic Presidential bench is virtually empty. Senator Tim Kaine, a potential VP nominee, would make an excellent Presidential candidate. He is committed to Hillary so unavailable.
Do not despair. Our Republican friends may NOT nominate either Cruz or Trump. If they nominate Kasich I may vote for him because he may be able to heal the divisions in the country, a task that the neo-Confederates would never agree to with Hillary.
9
And that is it in a nutshell. The Democrats think that just because the GOP candidates are so bad, that a Democrat is a shoo-in. Wishful thinking. Choose the best of the worst - we have a good chance that will be our leader.
Kasich is a phony. I have watched him and worked with his people for a long time. He presents a somewhat likable exterior while he guts healthcare (Medicaid expansion notwithstanding), education, the environment, and infrastructure. He is also arrogant and impulsive: a "loose cannon" not to be trusted with the Red Phone. Beware!
1
I disagree with your electoral analysis. In order to get the 270 electoral votes to be the next POTUS the Republican candidate in addition to their solid base in the South and the West will also need to win both Florida and Ohio and at least one of the following swing states: Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Republican candidates in 2008 and 2012 lost every state I've mentioned.
2
It is naive to nth degree to worry, as establishment Republicans do, that, if the party does not adopt more flexible stands on social issues like abortion and immigration, it will turn away and turn off the coming generation of voters. Anti-establishment Republicans have made it quite clear that they do not care about these voters. What that portends is a Republican move away from democracy and a "universal" franchise, as we see in Republican-controlled states with various forms of legislation to suppress voting. The formula is the familiar combination of pro-business, pro-military, and anti-minority positions across the board. Welcome to the Fourth Reich.
1
Your comment, Michael L. Hays, would have been more persuasive without the final sentence. Cruz is creepy, and real Americans should not want any part of him. Let's leave it at that.
Perhaps. But I was talking about Republican candidates, not just Cruz.
I have detailed the major constituents of German fascism. I have no apology to make for drawing that parallel, however politically correct you would like me to be.
I have detailed the major constituents of German fascism. I have no apology to make for drawing that parallel, however politically correct you would like me to be.
Any political scientist will tell you the key to winning the presidential election is capturing the middle -- those 4 or 5 million voters in the swing states who can be convinced by a well run campaign to go either D or R. It's not about getting the fringe voters at the extremes, although in this regard the R's have a slight advantage: young liberal D's are less likely to vote at all in November if Sanders doesn't get the nomination, but conservative old Rs will show up at the polls anyway (out of a sense of civic duty), hold their noses, and vote for whomever the R's have chosen as their candidate.
As we have watched the Democratic Party move ever further to the left, and the Republican Party, prodded along by the likes of Mr. Cruz, move ever further to the right I find myself increasingly disenfranchised. I am one of those people in the middle who the political parties are going to need if their candidates are to win the Presidential election, but increasingly I have found myself thinking, 'None of the above.' Neither is bullying or being shrill going to win my confidence and therefore my vote.
I suspect there are millions like me who are throwing their hands up in despair. Moderate seems to have become a dirty word, but I pride myself in being one. My choice right now looks as if it is going to be to either hold my nose and vote GOP or Dem, go for a smaller marginal party, or something I have never considered before -- and that is abstaining.
I suspect there are millions like me who are throwing their hands up in despair. Moderate seems to have become a dirty word, but I pride myself in being one. My choice right now looks as if it is going to be to either hold my nose and vote GOP or Dem, go for a smaller marginal party, or something I have never considered before -- and that is abstaining.
15
Don't abstain. Vote for a veto and a potential Democrat Court selection, or vote for no veto, Republican Court selection. The President is a huge part of how checks and balances work.
It really does make a difference, no matter how unappealing the choices are.
It really does make a difference, no matter how unappealing the choices are.
Really? "Democratic party move even further to the left"? The Democratic Party now resembles the GOP of the 60s and 70s. Much of the party has become Republican (not so) lite and has suffered the ill effects in the past two congressional elections. It is high time that the Democrats redeveloped a soul and began again representing the middle class aspirations of its supporters, including you.
1
Richard Kew, don't sit this one out. If you do, you forfeit the right to complain. Of course, if someone like Cruz is elected, the Republican Congress probably will make complaining a federal crime anyhow.
Those of you thinking about crossing over to get Cruz nominated: please consider how you would feel if you woke up on the day after the election to a President Cruz and the Republicans still controlling Congress.
3
A good analysis, but personally I feel a Cruz nomination only suffers against Sanders. Against Clinton, the same level of passion (hatred) on the right will drive turnout as well. I know I'd be far more inclined to get out to deny Clinton a turn at the wheel than I would someone like Sanders. So, this kinda works both ways...
Every politician in this election cycle is in the tank for special interests. And it’s not even a tank, more like an aquarium, where money swirls like chum and the bottom feeders wait for the detritus left behind by sharks, grouper and opportunistic eels. While we place bets on which fish gets the largest share, the real owners count the money we all paid to watch the show.
There is only one exception, a 74 year old sea turtle named Bernie Sanders.
There is only one exception, a 74 year old sea turtle named Bernie Sanders.
Cruz is right that the current crop of mainstream Republicans will have difficulty winning popular votes for President. But he's wrong about the reason - it's not that they are too liberal, it's that they are too conservative. The Republicans won't return to popularity until they acknowledge that the culture war is over, and that the other side won. Distasteful though it is to some of the core supporters of the Republican Party, they have to embrace a future platform of fiscal conservatism combined with more liberal policies on social issues.
1
After reading this column I think the odds that Michael Bloomberg will enter the presidential election as a third party candidate, and very likely hand the White House to the Republicans, is very high.
The brave patriots in the republican party will handle this problem. One can only hope.
If Ted Cruz were the Republican candidate It would set back the party for a decade. The problem is that other candidates are almost as far right as Cruz. Whomever wins the Republican President will like lose in the fall.
Many of these comments assume it is laughable to suggest that someone as odious as Cruz might be elected President. I remember how we laughed at the thought that an actor might become President. Progressives are experts at snatching disaster from the jaws of victory.
3
What about Ted Cruz? If we are lucky he will return to Cuba and take his ideas with him. He can take Robot Rubio with him and together they can restore democracy in Cuba. Leave America for the rest of us.
55
The Republicans may have lost the elections not for political conservative/moderate reasons, but just because people like to change parties after one party's run in the Presidency: Eisenhower-R; Kennedy-D; Nixon/Ford-R (Nixon Resigns in disgrace); Carter-D (1 term); Reagan-R; GHW Bush-R EXCEPTION-ONE TERM, Clinton-D; G. Bush-R; Obama-D. With the exceptions of the R's getting a few more years after Nixon's resignation, and a short 4 year extension after Reagan, alternating parties has been the pattern since 1952, 64 years ago.
1
The candidate who prolaims that "every life is a gift from God" also proposes to carpet bomb the Middle East, civilians be damned. Presumably he means every American life, except those that are terminated, wrongly in many cases especially for minorities, by the death penalty for which he demonstrates a morbidly twisted fascination.
As for the expasion of Medicaid afflicting Texas's "most vulnerable" citizens, it's hard to imagine affliction crueler than that which Texas already visits upon them.
What's Ted Cruz pushing to "conserve:" jihad emblazoned with a cross?
www.endthemadnessnow.org
As for the expasion of Medicaid afflicting Texas's "most vulnerable" citizens, it's hard to imagine affliction crueler than that which Texas already visits upon them.
What's Ted Cruz pushing to "conserve:" jihad emblazoned with a cross?
www.endthemadnessnow.org
7
Let him get the nomination. Let the hard-right get their pure conservative. Watch him and the GOP go down in flames. It'll be Kansas on a national level. Watching that state circle the drain in painful is many ways, but it'll be the only way that voters can be convinced that fairy-tale tax policies, a crippled educational system, and a loss of basic governmental services are all you get when an purist is elected. If Ted is the GOP candidate, the likely outcome will be one that could finally prod the GOP to regain its sanity and become a partner in government, instead of a party that disrespects the President, demeans and demonizes the voters who elected him, cripples government, and is devoid of solutions for advancing the interests of this country and its citizenry.
3
"The second basis for Republican animosity toward Cruz is the widespread conviction that Cruz would not only lose in a landslide, but that he would bring the Republican Senate majority and many House Republicans down with him."
I can only hope that Cruz is the candidate. That outcome would indeed be the end of the Greed Only Party as we know it and install Bernie Sanders as the next President.
Feel the Bern!!!
I can only hope that Cruz is the candidate. That outcome would indeed be the end of the Greed Only Party as we know it and install Bernie Sanders as the next President.
Feel the Bern!!!
20
Bernie is the greed candidate. He is just playing on people's envy. He wants you to vote for him, so he will satisfy your greed by stealing from the productive.
2
The biggest threat to Democrats, and probably a comfort to Thomas B. Edsall, may be the looming candidacy of Michael Bloomberg as an Independent. For all of his good ideas and intentions and competence, Bloomberg seems determined to have our nation’s next president selected by Speaker Paul Ryan.
7
I like Sanders. I will vote in the Republican Primary for Cruz and Democratic Primary for Sanders. The best chance he has is has to win. If Hilary is the nominee, I'll stay home altogether. No other politicians in recent times, except for Nixon, have behaved as if the rules don't apply to them. Could you imagine a career bureaucrat or some lowly contractor setting up their own mail server at the State Department? They'd get canned. Cokie Roberts once reported that when Bill was governor of Arkansas, they ran it as feudal lords. I've seen enough. Give me a grumpy, rumpled, 74 year old Bernie Sanders being chauffuer driven a Subaru.
3
Not voting for a democrat would be really dumb.
If you don't vote for whoever the Democratic candidate is (including someone pulled randomly from the phone book!) then you are voting for a Republican. Not good.
1
So you would rather see a republican extremist as president than Hillary.
After reading Mr. Edsall's analysis, I'm beginning to wonder if we haven't seen the last of Jeb Bush. He is clearly a poor option in a general election and would not do well against even "long-shot" Bernie Sanders. People will make Ted Cruz's Canadian birth an issue-- just for openers. If Cruz became the party's nominee, people in the GOP would run for cover. An analogy might be the moral repugnance to a forced marriage between a father and his step-daughter: socially unacceptable. The Cruz problem is one of the party elders' creation; they did nothing and said less when their federal, state and local offuce-hildets attached President Obama for nothing else but his color. Now, with Cruz in Washington courtesy of the Tea Party insurgency which was born if racial animosity to the president, the establishment is alarmed by the ticking time bomb in the room. Sorry, but you built that.You're left with Jeb Bush because He-whom-I-refuse-to-name is not electable. He's got no ideas and as the general looms on the horizon, even stay-at-homes will realize he's a disaster. Cruz memorized "Oh! Canada" before he took up the Keys anthem to freedom by battle and sacrifice. I don't think Americans will look the other way on this with Cruz. Bush III will look more appealing as the winter yields to spring, ad unappealing ad that prospect is to them (and us).
31
As a life-long independent voter who leans left, I welcome the nomination of Sen. Cruz. Upon his landslide defeat in a general election, it will force the Republican party to assess its far-right positions, and return to being a conservative, not radical, party of reasonable adults who work to conserve that which is best for all Americans.
6
"... prospect of a general election between candidates whom leaders and strategists see as losers"
Sounds like the real losers are the alleged (and unnamed) leaders and strategists who live in their little bubbles and have no clue what voters want.
Well, other losers will be all of us, if Cruz is elected.
Have you noticed that even in a hit piece on Cruz, they have to call Bernie a loser? The Times really is gunning for Hill, isn't it? Bern, baby, Bern.
Sounds like the real losers are the alleged (and unnamed) leaders and strategists who live in their little bubbles and have no clue what voters want.
Well, other losers will be all of us, if Cruz is elected.
Have you noticed that even in a hit piece on Cruz, they have to call Bernie a loser? The Times really is gunning for Hill, isn't it? Bern, baby, Bern.
11
The choice of Ted Cruz as the Republican nominee would be God's gift to the Democrats. It might also sever once and for all the GOP's self-destructive alliance with the hard-right extremists who sully the term "conservative."
5
Does his political philosophy really matter. This odious, sanctimonious, self aggrandizing, opportunistic, cowardly, mean spirited chicken hawk is so unlikable that it doesn't matter what he believes. I suspect he believes in Ted Cruz.
Besides, it's hard to take someone seriously when he looks like "grandpa" from the Munsters. (Had to get in that gratuitously nasty bit cuz it's so like what Donald Trump would do?)
Besides, it's hard to take someone seriously when he looks like "grandpa" from the Munsters. (Had to get in that gratuitously nasty bit cuz it's so like what Donald Trump would do?)
10
You totally nailed the 'grandpa' characterization :) lol
Thought I was the only only one who saw that resemblance. Someone else suggested Mr. Haney from Green Acres. His actions also match Haney,
Response to John MD: John, that's a terrible slight of Grandpa Munster! I'd trust Grandpa with his finger on the nuclear button far more than Cruz. In fact, I'd trust the dragon under the staircase more than Cruz.
1
I'd be truly surprised if Hillary didn't win the Dem nomination in IL, so now I'm thinking about grabbing an R ballot and voting for Cruz because he is so odious and would be the perfect candidate to defeat in the general election. But there is the niggling fear in the back of my mind that we could end up with him as POTUS (anyone ever hear of voter machine tampering--yeah you, Florida) and that would mean I'd be looking for a different country to live in. What to do...
5
just vote your heart so we can have representative democracy please
Cruz is DOA. Many of us, even conservatives, won't vote for an Evangelical and he does not have the female vote in any form.
4
“I think that every human life is a precious gift from God and should be protected in law from conception until natural death.”
Except capitol punishment!
Ted Cruz is diametrically opposed to everything I stand for which is the right of individuals to make decisions for themselves about their personal lives. That is only usurped when there is an OVERRIDING societal concern. I guess I'm sort of a libertarian. While neither party currently reflects that libertarian streak, the direction the Dems want to go in will cause less harm than what the Repubs want to do to this country.
Never Ted Cruz!!!
Except capitol punishment!
Ted Cruz is diametrically opposed to everything I stand for which is the right of individuals to make decisions for themselves about their personal lives. That is only usurped when there is an OVERRIDING societal concern. I guess I'm sort of a libertarian. While neither party currently reflects that libertarian streak, the direction the Dems want to go in will cause less harm than what the Repubs want to do to this country.
Never Ted Cruz!!!
7
"candidates whom leaders and strategists see as losers...". But it is the leaders and strategists who are losers. The leaders and strategists have no credibility. Leaders and strategists gave us the current situation with 85% disapproval rate in congress.
This is the whole point that is taking FOREVER to sink in to political writers like Edsall. They, the writers, the pundits, the strategists, the analysts all suck at their job.
They should provide insight, provide advice, provide information and clear analysis and they can't even get on board that Trump and Sanders are the choice of the people this year.
I can't believe the level of denial in these old school set in their ways political writers. Just like the establishment candidates that Trump and Sanders are crushing these writers are just horribly bad at their jobs.
This is the whole point that is taking FOREVER to sink in to political writers like Edsall. They, the writers, the pundits, the strategists, the analysts all suck at their job.
They should provide insight, provide advice, provide information and clear analysis and they can't even get on board that Trump and Sanders are the choice of the people this year.
I can't believe the level of denial in these old school set in their ways political writers. Just like the establishment candidates that Trump and Sanders are crushing these writers are just horribly bad at their jobs.
4
Sanders may be the choice of tiny New Hampshire, but he is not the choice of the rest of America.
Cruz says "“I think that every human life is a precious gift from God and should be protected in law from conception until natural death.”
Cruz also says he wants to keep the death penalty, calling the use of capital punishment a “recognition of the preciousness of human life.”
The speciousness of these far-right demagogues is terrifying. I would prefer Trump to the Cruz option. That it should come to this!
Cruz also says he wants to keep the death penalty, calling the use of capital punishment a “recognition of the preciousness of human life.”
The speciousness of these far-right demagogues is terrifying. I would prefer Trump to the Cruz option. That it should come to this!
5
Both parties hate Cruz because he refuses to fold to the establishment, when Cruz shut down the government he wasn't throwing a temper tantrum, he was doing exactly what he promised his constituents when he was running. I know that's something most of you people could care less about, since you're bashing him but supporting either a lying, treasonous felon or a communist loving lunatic that will send this country into the greatest depression ever. I mean none of you seem up in arms about Obama adding more debt than every other president combined in history.
3
I support him, because he shut down the government.
In the 90s we had a government shutdown and we got welfare reform, a balanced budget and the longest economic expansion in American history. Why does anybody think that shutting down the government is a bad thing?
In the 90s we had a government shutdown and we got welfare reform, a balanced budget and the longest economic expansion in American history. Why does anybody think that shutting down the government is a bad thing?
1
Cruz, the rabid politician, will be steamrolled by Trump, the rabid businessman. After sustaining an injury from Fox News & retreating, losing Iowa as a result, T-rump won't make the same mistake again. How can carpet bombing Isis compete with 86ing all Muslims from the USA? No contest from here on out for the Donald in securing the blessings & the nomination of his party. Sure Cruz has a great ground game, but Donald rules the air & like Billy Mitchell will persuade a reluctant Repub establishment to come aboard.
2
Cruz (and Trump and Sanders) are symptoms of a larger process: the demise of partisan relevance.
Voters and citizens generally care far less about party labels than do Mr. Edsall and his ilk. Because parties hold a monopoly on the nominating process, they garner the lion's share of attention in February of an election year.
It remains to be seen what independent candidates emerge in coming months. Clearly, voters want something different. 2016 could be the year when these 19th century political parties finally give way to citizens' preference for a fresh start.
Voters and citizens generally care far less about party labels than do Mr. Edsall and his ilk. Because parties hold a monopoly on the nominating process, they garner the lion's share of attention in February of an election year.
It remains to be seen what independent candidates emerge in coming months. Clearly, voters want something different. 2016 could be the year when these 19th century political parties finally give way to citizens' preference for a fresh start.
2
Is it really an argument for Clinton that Republican strategists think Sanders would be easier to beat? Leave out the fact that the only "support" cited for this claim is one tweet crediting Sanders with a good debate performance. Dems should pick the candidate tithe you want and stand by him or her in November, as should Republicans. Take comfort in the fact that even if "strategists", columnists and editorial writers are united, this past political year has proved they are likely wrong. Cruz (or Trump) v Sanders would present the country a clear choice for the future, especially if everyone votes a straight ticket. Is that so bad if the alternative is more gridlock?
3
I know, right? Representative democracy. It's a thing.
1
All of his stands are so unrealistic that they can only be held by pretending to ignore their existence in the modern world. All of their impending calamities are fake, straw men.
On abortion, for instance, their ignorant (or stupid) efforts to counter pregnancy prevention, show that their only interest is in controlling the lives of others, trying to hold them to their own perverted world view.
On abortion, for instance, their ignorant (or stupid) efforts to counter pregnancy prevention, show that their only interest is in controlling the lives of others, trying to hold them to their own perverted world view.
10
In a little-noticed news clip prior to the Iowa caucuses, Ted Cruz stated quite clearly that he is "...a Christian first and an American second..." Those were his exact words. So much for the Constitutional rights of Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, and just plain old secular folks under a Cruz presidency.
254
There's that old line: "You don't need to tell me you are a Christian, let me figure it out for myself."
As it applies to Cruz, if the man ever opened the bible and read the words of Jesus it is clear he gained nothing from it.
As it applies to Cruz, if the man ever opened the bible and read the words of Jesus it is clear he gained nothing from it.
4
He's actually a Christian first and a Canadian second. Oh that he would return there for good.
Well, he IS "an American second," seeing how he was born in Alberta, Canada and lived there for several years - and only renounced his Canadian citizenship when someone made an issue of it last year.
1
I do wish columnists like Edsall would stop referring to politicians like Ted Cruz as "Conservative." There is nothing conservative about him. Reagan was a conservative. George H.W. Bush is a conservative. Bob Dole is a conservative. Ted Cruz can be most accurately described as a radical right wing extremist.
Of course, that's assuming Cruz actually believes anything he says which is highly unlikely. More likely, he's simply a hypocrite. To paraphrase Mary McCarthy's comments about Lillian Hellman just about every word out of Sen. Cruz's mouth is a lie including "a," "an," and "the."
Of course, that's assuming Cruz actually believes anything he says which is highly unlikely. More likely, he's simply a hypocrite. To paraphrase Mary McCarthy's comments about Lillian Hellman just about every word out of Sen. Cruz's mouth is a lie including "a," "an," and "the."
155
If Cruz does not believe what he says, then he would be every bit as bad as Sen J McCarthy who aligned with J E Hoover in an attempt to stifle all thought among writers and scientists.
2
Senator Cruz may not meet your definition of Conservative but he sure seems like a good representation of the Republican base which is indeed becoming a radical right-wing party.
70
He doesn't believe what he says. A Dominionist would never be able to navigate through Harvard. They can barely tolerate public school.
1
Throwing Sanders in with Cruz, with plenty of supporting evidence regarding Cruz, and none regarding Sanders, is intellectual dishonesty unworthy of publication in the Times.
13
In repeatedly putting Cruz and Bernie together as "extreme" candidates, you are willfully forgetting one thing: that the things Bernie backs, such as healthcare for all, are the way things are in many advanced nations.
Cruz's ideas, such as draconian abortion laws and taking away equal rights for gays, are much closer to those of developing nations where religious fundamentalism (Islamic or otherwise) holds sway.
Cruz's ideas, such as draconian abortion laws and taking away equal rights for gays, are much closer to those of developing nations where religious fundamentalism (Islamic or otherwise) holds sway.
33
"developing nations"? Surely you meant to say "failed states".
1
Ted Cruz as the Republican nominee has potential benefits for everyone (though not without a cost):
1. If he loses it will dispel the far right myth that recent nominees haven't been sufficiently conservative and the Republican party can (maybe) make its way back from crazy.
2. If he wins he will do to the country what his buddy Sam Brownback has done to Kansas - destroy it. Yes, there will be bodies piled up, but it might be the only way to really get the voters attention.
1. If he loses it will dispel the far right myth that recent nominees haven't been sufficiently conservative and the Republican party can (maybe) make its way back from crazy.
2. If he wins he will do to the country what his buddy Sam Brownback has done to Kansas - destroy it. Yes, there will be bodies piled up, but it might be the only way to really get the voters attention.
4
"... Cruz would test the argument made by leaders of the hard right that Republicans have lost four of the last six presidential elections because their candidates ... were insufficiently conservative." You are absolutely correct, Ted Cruz is the perfect test of this argument.
3
All the current presidential candidates from both parties with the honorable exception of Bernie Sanders are intellectually handicapped individuals, especially Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
If all of them were in charge in the White House over the last 15 years, we would have been in exactly the same position.
See, it’s not the individuals that rule the world but the principles.
Only the different principles would deliver the different results.
The truly smart people can immediately recognize the wrong principles. They immediately warn against them to protect their country if they are truly patriotic.
Go back in time and examine every presidential candidate if they had the courage and intellect to warn America that we were implementing the wrong ideas that would deliver the bad results.
Nobody has ever done it meaning none of them is capable of leading America successfully.
The great leaders don’t solve the problems. They prevent them!
If all of them were in charge in the White House over the last 15 years, we would have been in exactly the same position.
See, it’s not the individuals that rule the world but the principles.
Only the different principles would deliver the different results.
The truly smart people can immediately recognize the wrong principles. They immediately warn against them to protect their country if they are truly patriotic.
Go back in time and examine every presidential candidate if they had the courage and intellect to warn America that we were implementing the wrong ideas that would deliver the bad results.
Nobody has ever done it meaning none of them is capable of leading America successfully.
The great leaders don’t solve the problems. They prevent them!
1
Cruz is banking on the support of hard line evangelical Christians and other anti-government voters. He is the US version of France's Marie Le Pen, an ultranationalist as dedicated as Trump to closing the door to Muslim and Hispanic immigrants and extinguishing ISIS and "radical Islam" with "carpet bombing." Women seeking abortion, gays seeking acceptance, college students seeking debt relief, unemployed seeking jobs are to be turned away and instructed to accept Jesus as their savior instead.
85
Cruz is preening, smarmy, oleaginous. But he is not the first to hold any of those extreme positions, not even the first, I would think, who holds them all at once. In a very real sense the repubs have created this dilemma for themselves- as they've done just about everything, for themselves. Sometimes I pray for Cruz- well, not pray exactly, I keep god out of it like the good liberal I am- but Cruz or trump too, I think, as repub nominee would bring a sea-change to congress & put this country on the move again. If the dems have the good sense to let Hillary do it. ... If.
52
Oleaginous. Thank you.
To me the most damning thing about the Clinton campaign is that her own party doesn't trust her. She is being supported because they think she is electable. If the primaries show that the American people don't trust her either, then the Democrats have a serious problem.
Counting on your opponent to do something stupid (Trump / Cruz) is not a winning strategy. If Clinton has to face someone like Kasich, she is toast.
Counting on your opponent to do something stupid (Trump / Cruz) is not a winning strategy. If Clinton has to face someone like Kasich, she is toast.
the GOP/T offer tax cuts for the very rich, while Sanders offers free college education for the young. Sanders is not that extreme.
9
Ted Cruz is not going to win the nomination -- that's a basic sanity check for the Republican party at a level far below Goldwater -- so far down that even in their current dementia ... they'll pass.
Trump is far more interesting as a phenomenon, dangerous to the party and the nation. Trump is fracturing the party and has laid bare real problems in the party's appeal. He is running on neo-Peronism, if not outright neo-fascism. He's playing all the lines of fascist appeal: a strong man who will make the country great, never mind how. El Lider Boca Grande has found is American descamisados ... perhaps 15% of the American electorate, and that's disturbing, potentially disastrous for the GOP.
Trump's messaging destroys the party alignment for the destruction of the social safety net -- one should remember that Hitler's National Socialism is the prototype of fascist appeals, and how it came about. But Trump's tax plan is the most outrageous deficit-inducing give-away to the rich in the whole bunch.
Trump is not anything like an authentic Lider for his disgruntled can't-take-it-anymore people. Look at the lives of Hitler, Mussolini, Peron ... or if you like Stalin or Lenin. Their next Lider will be more authentic ... and more dangerous.
Many people are playing with a vote for Trump as a way to send the GOP a message -- the real core of neo-fascism in the US is smaller than Trump's current numbers, precisely because Trump-as-Lider makes it comic opera.
Trump is far more interesting as a phenomenon, dangerous to the party and the nation. Trump is fracturing the party and has laid bare real problems in the party's appeal. He is running on neo-Peronism, if not outright neo-fascism. He's playing all the lines of fascist appeal: a strong man who will make the country great, never mind how. El Lider Boca Grande has found is American descamisados ... perhaps 15% of the American electorate, and that's disturbing, potentially disastrous for the GOP.
Trump's messaging destroys the party alignment for the destruction of the social safety net -- one should remember that Hitler's National Socialism is the prototype of fascist appeals, and how it came about. But Trump's tax plan is the most outrageous deficit-inducing give-away to the rich in the whole bunch.
Trump is not anything like an authentic Lider for his disgruntled can't-take-it-anymore people. Look at the lives of Hitler, Mussolini, Peron ... or if you like Stalin or Lenin. Their next Lider will be more authentic ... and more dangerous.
Many people are playing with a vote for Trump as a way to send the GOP a message -- the real core of neo-fascism in the US is smaller than Trump's current numbers, precisely because Trump-as-Lider makes it comic opera.
2
I'm not sure I understand the reason for this column. Does Mr. Edsall think his readers are unaware of Ted Cruz's ideological extremism, that Cruz is disliked by his fellow Senators and the GOP establishment, or that he will make a weak candidate for President? Unless you pay no attention to politics, and if so you're unlikely to be reading this column, none of this is news.
Perhaps Mr. Edsall might invest some time thinking about how Bernie Sanders might win the Presidency? Or perhaps he might start paying attention to the other important 2016 election, the one for control of the Senate. Reiterating well-known facts about Ted Cruz is hardly worth the column space devoted to this column.
If, as I suspect, Sanders will have a substantial lead in Massachusetts on March 1st, I'll be taking the Republican ballot and voting for Cruz.
Perhaps Mr. Edsall might invest some time thinking about how Bernie Sanders might win the Presidency? Or perhaps he might start paying attention to the other important 2016 election, the one for control of the Senate. Reiterating well-known facts about Ted Cruz is hardly worth the column space devoted to this column.
If, as I suspect, Sanders will have a substantial lead in Massachusetts on March 1st, I'll be taking the Republican ballot and voting for Cruz.
5
What about Ted "Eddie Haskell" Cruz? He's toastier than breakfast at a nursing home. Keep in mind that Dominionist Ted thinks the end times are upon us. His slash and burn economic plan, meaning slashing then privatizing Social Security and eliminating all social programs and "burning" its recipients is of little consequence to him. If the soon to be homeless elderly and poor are right with Jesus it will all work out in the end. Climate change? Who cares, Jesus will take of that.
He's done.
He's done.
4
Ted Cruz is a republican theocrat. Hopefully, the republican party and its primary voters will nominate him and make Barry Goldwater's debacle look like a victory parade.
4
You utterly fail to mention Cruz's stance a constitutional conservative, who believes that the Federal government has no place in many issues, including nearly all the social issues.
His stance would mean that each state would be completely free to pass whatever laws on abortion it wants. While some states might ban or restrict abortions, others would offer the opposite extreme, and encourage and pay for abortions. The same thing would be true of gay marriage. Each state could offer gay marriage, heterosexual marriage, both, or neither.
With Cruz as president, the Federal government would run the post office, the customs, and a military consisting of 100 volunteers who have to supply their own horses and muskets.
His stance would mean that each state would be completely free to pass whatever laws on abortion it wants. While some states might ban or restrict abortions, others would offer the opposite extreme, and encourage and pay for abortions. The same thing would be true of gay marriage. Each state could offer gay marriage, heterosexual marriage, both, or neither.
With Cruz as president, the Federal government would run the post office, the customs, and a military consisting of 100 volunteers who have to supply their own horses and muskets.
9
Jonathan - Articles of Confederation version 2? Worked out so well the first time, no? Oh, wait, THAT's how we ended up with that Constitution of which, as you claim, Cruz is a "constitutional" conservative. With a built in means to AMEND (aka, change) the Constitution, I'm now sure either how Mr Cruz thinks about amendments in general or how that influences him being a self-described constitutional conservative. Which iteration of the Constitution does he support?
As Paul Krugman pointed out on Monday, even moderate savior John Kasich is no moderate, touting theories that Aussie John Quiggin has termed Zombie Economics. Marco Rubio has been banished by someone finally asking what the next ten words are that follow his canned ten-word answers.
But let's get back to Ted Cruz, whose loyalty to the country in which we live is tenuous at best. You see, Mr. Cruz believes that a book written by ignorant itinerants by the light of a campfire thousands of years ago was dictated, at least in large part, by a mercurial deity who smote a lot of people before undergoing a remarkable personality makeover, sending to Earth an emissary who smote no one, as far as we know, and who counseled charity, especially toward the poor.
Right, kill no one and show kindness to the poor. Let's examine Mr. Cruz's Christianity using the words of his own Savior. (Disclaimer: I admire Jesus Christ as a historical figure, but I don't believe one word of his marketing.) Cruz wants to carpet bomb portions of the Middle East (while many of us may feel that way during periods of frustration, only the irresponsible say so aloud) and repeal Obamacare, which dignifies poor people for whom Jesus probably would have wished medical care.
Ted Cruz embodies my contention that many religious people feign humility while crowing that they're best friends with the Creator of the Universe. Oh to be a cosmic second banana.
For whom would you-know-who vote? I'm guessing Bernie.
But let's get back to Ted Cruz, whose loyalty to the country in which we live is tenuous at best. You see, Mr. Cruz believes that a book written by ignorant itinerants by the light of a campfire thousands of years ago was dictated, at least in large part, by a mercurial deity who smote a lot of people before undergoing a remarkable personality makeover, sending to Earth an emissary who smote no one, as far as we know, and who counseled charity, especially toward the poor.
Right, kill no one and show kindness to the poor. Let's examine Mr. Cruz's Christianity using the words of his own Savior. (Disclaimer: I admire Jesus Christ as a historical figure, but I don't believe one word of his marketing.) Cruz wants to carpet bomb portions of the Middle East (while many of us may feel that way during periods of frustration, only the irresponsible say so aloud) and repeal Obamacare, which dignifies poor people for whom Jesus probably would have wished medical care.
Ted Cruz embodies my contention that many religious people feign humility while crowing that they're best friends with the Creator of the Universe. Oh to be a cosmic second banana.
For whom would you-know-who vote? I'm guessing Bernie.
29
“I think that every human life is a precious gift from God and should be protected in law from conception until natural death.”
Does this mean that Cruz opposes the death penalty?
Does this mean that Cruz opposes the death penalty?
342
And health care?
3
Protected in law BEFORE birth ... In life only the moneyed classes , in the Cruz doctrine, are protected. Everyone else exposed to neglect & worse. Trump actually seems to see it, promising (for what it's worth) that in his administration, people wouldn't be left to "die in the streets."
2
No, it does not mean he is opposed to the death penalty. Children in the womb are not only defenseless they are innocent of any violation of man make law or God's law. People do not understand that the killing of human life is prohibited by the Fundamental Constitution of the United States. Alexander Hamilton, who was not a political friend of Thomas Jefferson, said that The Declaration of Independence was the Fundamental Constitution. The first promise in the Declaration was that if the Colonists whipped the British the new government to be formed would protect human life. You do not have to be a right wing religious person to come to the conclusion that abortion is unconstitutional. In 1973 the Sp. Ct. ruled, in effect, that God was not the Creator, that woman was the creator of human life. This country has been in decline morally since Roe v. Wade. In my opinion it can never recover. Women are not going to give up the right to kill their babies. A nation cannot sink any lower morally than the killing of innocent, defenseless humans.
The base of both parties are pretty well polarized to their core beliefs. The key to the election will be energizing the large number of "my vote doesn't count" eligibles to enter the voting booth and make a selection. Senator Cruz will run a very well crafted campaign in an attempt to capture those voters.
1
I doubt he will. Ted Cryz seems to draw pleasure from scaring and alienating people and it would be hard for him to give that up.
7
What strikes me about this piece is how completely undemocratic the party leaderships are and how unaware they are of how they think/sound. In spite of strong voter support for candidates and ideas in each party the leadership is aghast and in denial. Maybe the gop leadership should quit and become democrats? They don't believe in the ideals they have been promoting all these years? Now that Trump and Cruz are promoting them?
When dem voters support a candidate who promotes democratic ideals the leadership pushes back with centrist pablum.
Voters may finally get some say in government, which is long overdue.
When dem voters support a candidate who promotes democratic ideals the leadership pushes back with centrist pablum.
Voters may finally get some say in government, which is long overdue.
8
How can anyone seriously support Cruz, the freshman senator whose temper tantrum shut down government, to be the president of the United States? It's an oxymoron.
13
Because he shut down the government doing exactly what he told his constituents, which in today's politics is more than I can say for anyone else.
2
Can we stop calling ted Cruz a conservative? He is a radical and should be treated as one.
306
Reactionary is a more complete description!
1
Radical means root or root-like. Roots support life, roots are good. Let's not insult roots. He's not even really much like a tuber, Bush is, but not Cruz.
Conservatives want to slow things down (or stop them). Reactionaries want to go back in the other direction.
If you are going the wrong way, what makes more sense, slamming on the brakes and sitting in the middle of the road, or turning around and going back in the right direction?
If you are going the wrong way, what makes more sense, slamming on the brakes and sitting in the middle of the road, or turning around and going back in the right direction?
Cruz is the creation of the Rush Limbaugh/FOX News machine that requires Republican candidates to be strict conservatives, checking off all the right (correct) conservative boxes. This has led Republican candidates to run candidates touting their conservative purity and criticizing the lack of such in their rivals. Of course, this philosophy has also led to government gridlock with Obama who is seen as an enemy. I wonder if Republican voters are tiring of this and candidates like Ted Cruz who most represent it in its purist form. Of course, Cruz could never be elected because his stances are too extreme and he cannot back down now. It's reassuring, and a little scary, to a life long Democrat like myself to see someone like John Kasich start to emerge from the pack. This country has a lot of problems and there are good ideas on both sides. Compromise and cooperation should not be viewed as traitorous.
74
"This country has a lot of problems and there are good ideas on both sides."
Nope. For example, a good Republican idea, one that addresses serious issues and has some track record of success in one of the "laboratories of democracy" run by the likes of Snyder, Brownback, et al? Anyone?
Cut taxes for the top: fiscal disaster, worse inequality
Bust public-employee unions: stagnant/declining wages, private-sector spillover, understaffing of agencies
Continue to flog the dead horse of abortion: horrendous waste of legislative and executive energy, almost always disallowed eventually by the courts. where are the schools and jobs for all those unwanted fetuses?
Deny climate change: accelerated degradation of our one and only planet, delay the transition to renewables and sustainability, stifle job creation and proliferation of solar and wind
Voter suppression: addresses a non-existent "problem" by using devious subterfuges to disenfranchise millions of voters who, given the opportunity and accurate information, wouldn't elect a Republican dogcatcher
Good ideas on both sides? No.
Nope. For example, a good Republican idea, one that addresses serious issues and has some track record of success in one of the "laboratories of democracy" run by the likes of Snyder, Brownback, et al? Anyone?
Cut taxes for the top: fiscal disaster, worse inequality
Bust public-employee unions: stagnant/declining wages, private-sector spillover, understaffing of agencies
Continue to flog the dead horse of abortion: horrendous waste of legislative and executive energy, almost always disallowed eventually by the courts. where are the schools and jobs for all those unwanted fetuses?
Deny climate change: accelerated degradation of our one and only planet, delay the transition to renewables and sustainability, stifle job creation and proliferation of solar and wind
Voter suppression: addresses a non-existent "problem" by using devious subterfuges to disenfranchise millions of voters who, given the opportunity and accurate information, wouldn't elect a Republican dogcatcher
Good ideas on both sides? No.
2
"Compromise and cooperation should not be viewed as traitorous."
Please tell me how the Democrats compromised on the Affordable Care Act, or how President Obama's lies about the ACA are considered compromise or cooperation.
Please tell me how the Democrats compromised on the Affordable Care Act, or how President Obama's lies about the ACA are considered compromise or cooperation.
I'm a life long Democrat also, but I think Cruz would win the Presidency if the Democrat nominee is Bernie Sanders. If John Kerry, a wealthy Christian Yale war veteran, was "swift boated" and put down as effete elite, the Republican and PAC publicity on Bernie Sanders just on his demographics and past history will be horrifying, relentless and destroy his chances for election.
Time to shut Cruz down, permanently.
7
How much far-right Cruz can the American public survive? He certainly doesn't appear to be supportive of 230 million Americans. A lot of the voters who consider themselves conservative have needs that run counter to Cruz policy: the needy and the elderly fall in that category.
"Far outside of mainstream" may be comforting to many angry Americans, but it won't benefit them. Flexibility and understanding are far more palatable foundations on which to run.
"Far outside of mainstream" may be comforting to many angry Americans, but it won't benefit them. Flexibility and understanding are far more palatable foundations on which to run.
13
Yea so we can have a bigger, more corrupt federal government controlling your whole life.
2
Our cruz to bear!
3
Cruz is animated by his father, who said "god has him destined for greatness".
After New Hampshire, A better quote would be, "god, why have you forsaken me?".
While christianity looks to be sensible next to islam, it's only a matter of time for the far right christians to leave their dormant period, and become as violent as any radical muslim.
That Huckabee could title his book, "God, Guns, Grits and Gravy", is a dead giveaway to what's on these people's minds.
There is a huge price to pay, when religion is mostly superstition and delusion.
It becomes evil itself.
After New Hampshire, A better quote would be, "god, why have you forsaken me?".
While christianity looks to be sensible next to islam, it's only a matter of time for the far right christians to leave their dormant period, and become as violent as any radical muslim.
That Huckabee could title his book, "God, Guns, Grits and Gravy", is a dead giveaway to what's on these people's minds.
There is a huge price to pay, when religion is mostly superstition and delusion.
It becomes evil itself.
17
So what you guys are saying is since Obama has taken our debt from 10.7 trillion to 19 trillion and we have the smallest workforce since the 70s, and entitlements have more than tripled, and our country is more racially divided than at any point since the civil rights movement and his and hillary's reset with Russia has done so well, and Bill clintons nuclear deal with n. Korea has gone so well the Obama decided Iran should be our next "success" story that we should vote Democrat?!
4
14.5% chance of winning the nomination is about 1 in 7, whereas the 20 to 1 odds cited for a win in the general election makes it three times as unlikely that Cruz could advance all the way. That is the dilemma that the GOP faces with Cruz - one unelectable candidate amongst several who have as just as much chance of getting the nomination, but just as much chance of losing big in the general election. All playing into Trump's greedy hands, as many have pointed out.
Unless Clinton can hold on to her diversified base through the next month or so to beat back Sanders, the pendulum swing for radical change in this country's politics will have swung to its highest oscillating frequency since FDR. Given the economic plight of many, and the unfairness that has multiplied exponentially since Reagan, it should come as no surprise.
Unless Clinton can hold on to her diversified base through the next month or so to beat back Sanders, the pendulum swing for radical change in this country's politics will have swung to its highest oscillating frequency since FDR. Given the economic plight of many, and the unfairness that has multiplied exponentially since Reagan, it should come as no surprise.
106
McGovern vs. Nixon.
Forty-four years ago I voted for George McGovern. Had he won, over half our kids fighting in Southeast Asia would be alive today. And a disgraced President would never have changed the country's attitude that now bleeds mistrust of our elected leaders.
Mondale-Reagen
Forty years ago I voted for Walter Mondale. Had he won, the middle class would be the envy of the world because the strength of our country is about working men and women that dream of a better life for their children and grand children that includes college education and future jobs with meaningful compensation. Mr. Mondale represented a generation of true public servants. His accomplishments in Civil Rights and worker rights have contributed greatly to a stronger more decent country.
No, these two public servants, the former a fighter pilot that successfully flew 82 missions freeing Europe from Nazi Germany, and the latter, having served as Attorney General in his state before serving 12 years in the Senate, understood the accountability of power and the importance of telling the truth to the American people.
These fine public servants are no lemons. They are heoro's because they led by example and they contributed greatly to ending unjust wars and elevating our desire to treat every citizen with respect.
My votes in 1972 and in 1984 remain my proudest votes ever cast. I have never missed voting in any election which makes these votes even more meaningful!
Forty-four years ago I voted for George McGovern. Had he won, over half our kids fighting in Southeast Asia would be alive today. And a disgraced President would never have changed the country's attitude that now bleeds mistrust of our elected leaders.
Mondale-Reagen
Forty years ago I voted for Walter Mondale. Had he won, the middle class would be the envy of the world because the strength of our country is about working men and women that dream of a better life for their children and grand children that includes college education and future jobs with meaningful compensation. Mr. Mondale represented a generation of true public servants. His accomplishments in Civil Rights and worker rights have contributed greatly to a stronger more decent country.
No, these two public servants, the former a fighter pilot that successfully flew 82 missions freeing Europe from Nazi Germany, and the latter, having served as Attorney General in his state before serving 12 years in the Senate, understood the accountability of power and the importance of telling the truth to the American people.
These fine public servants are no lemons. They are heoro's because they led by example and they contributed greatly to ending unjust wars and elevating our desire to treat every citizen with respect.
My votes in 1972 and in 1984 remain my proudest votes ever cast. I have never missed voting in any election which makes these votes even more meaningful!
54
@Concerned Citizen, Well Said! These two candidates would have made excellent presidents, and your votes were good ones.
But, the fact remains that they both lost, badly.
Why did they lose?
Let's compare their candidacies with successful Democrat candidates JFK, LBJ, Carter, Clinton (Bill) and Obama.
These two are not like the others because they did not inspire the hope and optimism the winners did. They certainly were able to get the votes of committed, informed, reliable Democratic voters like you. But they didn't provide the motivational inspiration to unreliable Democratic voters - primarily the young, the people of color. Most reliable D voters are stable. We live in a house we own, we earn a reliable paycheck, we are not beset by financial insecurity, and we vote at the same place every time. But there are huge numbers of D-leaning folks who are not established, who may be living someplace different every election cycle, who can't afford to be late for work in order to go vote. These people need to be inspired by the Democratic candidate, and when inspired, they provide the winning margin.
You and I will vote, and we will vote for the D nominee. But to win, the D nominee needs to inspire to motivate the sometimes-voters. That's why, for me, the question is: which D primary candidate is most inspirational?
I think we have our answer. People are feeling the Bern.
But, the fact remains that they both lost, badly.
Why did they lose?
Let's compare their candidacies with successful Democrat candidates JFK, LBJ, Carter, Clinton (Bill) and Obama.
These two are not like the others because they did not inspire the hope and optimism the winners did. They certainly were able to get the votes of committed, informed, reliable Democratic voters like you. But they didn't provide the motivational inspiration to unreliable Democratic voters - primarily the young, the people of color. Most reliable D voters are stable. We live in a house we own, we earn a reliable paycheck, we are not beset by financial insecurity, and we vote at the same place every time. But there are huge numbers of D-leaning folks who are not established, who may be living someplace different every election cycle, who can't afford to be late for work in order to go vote. These people need to be inspired by the Democratic candidate, and when inspired, they provide the winning margin.
You and I will vote, and we will vote for the D nominee. But to win, the D nominee needs to inspire to motivate the sometimes-voters. That's why, for me, the question is: which D primary candidate is most inspirational?
I think we have our answer. People are feeling the Bern.
1
Concerned citizen I agree with you completely, but you should know that McGovern was in fact a bomber pilot. That's important because bomber personnel had to complete a "tour" of a certain number of missions after which they no longer flew in combat. When McGovern completed his tour he volunteered for a second one. And he didn't mention his personal bravery during his campaign as the peace candidate.That's the true measure of the mans bravery and character.
Ted Cruz is the absolute antithesis of the "unalienable " right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" which the Founding Fathers so eloquently set out for us in the Decalaration of Independence.
He clearly subscribes to the H.L. Mencken definition of "Puritanism: the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."
He clearly subscribes to the H.L. Mencken definition of "Puritanism: the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."
264
"Ted Cruz is the absolute antithesis of the "unalienable " right to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness""
No, that description should go to Hillary and Bernie, both backers of bigger government.
No, that description should go to Hillary and Bernie, both backers of bigger government.
1
If Bernie wins the nomination, I will vote for him. ‘Cause if he wins I’ll get lots of free stuff.
And then when I die, it’ll get even better. My own cloud to relax on, no mortgage payments, AND - free cable.
And then when I die, it’ll get even better. My own cloud to relax on, no mortgage payments, AND - free cable.
10
For me, the scariest path to a Republican victory is Sanders against Kasich.
A review of Kasich's career over the years shows he is very conservative, but he comes across as moderate in this environment. He had a successful career in Congress and now works to defeat unions at every turn. He did expand Medicare, but that alone is not enough to make him a moderate.
If it's Kasich against Sanders, a lot of moderates will think he's the more reasonable option, and we will see the Supreme Court go into full corporate and anti-anyone-not-a-white-male mode for a generation.
A review of Kasich's career over the years shows he is very conservative, but he comes across as moderate in this environment. He had a successful career in Congress and now works to defeat unions at every turn. He did expand Medicare, but that alone is not enough to make him a moderate.
If it's Kasich against Sanders, a lot of moderates will think he's the more reasonable option, and we will see the Supreme Court go into full corporate and anti-anyone-not-a-white-male mode for a generation.
21
Kasich signed abortion laws stricter than in Texas. He had destroyed public schools with corrupt and unregulated charters that take public money and leave the state. He is no moderate.
7
Thomas, just where, on the political continuum of left to right, does "hard right" end and "fascist" begin?
38
Just a step to the right of Kasich.
3
Fringe political insider candidates, like Cruz and Sanders, can't be effective in the Presidency. Neither has had any substantial success in the Senate - Sanders has only sponsored three pieces of legislation that has passed into law, and two of those were bills to name post offices.
7
I'm a Right Wing Extremist, Wall Street 1%er (by a narrow definition) and a Trump supporter (because I oppose globalization, and identity politics)
The deafening echo chamber here in NYTimesland is alternately entertaining and appalling, the desperation and sanctimony of political purity, and provincialism (narrow mindedness), caricaturing of an honest man, Mr Cruz
Over in Conservostan, there are likewise many self-styled conservatives, main example National Review, William Buckley's magazine, who wet themselves in panic that We The People (51%?) like the short-fingered vulgarian and reality star
Elections are the best Survivor going, voting people off the island? heck vote them out of the lifeboat! is what I say
Mr Cruz appeals to people who have a certain view of our Constitution (originalism, textualism), our foundation document, rule of law and all that yadda yadda
Some of us antiques, geezers, walking-dead dinosaurs remember Pauline Kael's famous 1968 lament - "How did Richard Nixon get elected, no one I know voted for him"
I expect Trump as POTUS, and Cruz as AG as a temporary position until the next SCOTUS opening occurs then we will have a REAL food fight over confirmation, "you ain't seen nothing' yet!"
In Pubistan, the circular firing squad is even more fun than the sanctimony on the Left, high speed rapid cranial disassembly, as the bubble is burst, and recto-cranial inversion becomes untenable
The deafening echo chamber here in NYTimesland is alternately entertaining and appalling, the desperation and sanctimony of political purity, and provincialism (narrow mindedness), caricaturing of an honest man, Mr Cruz
Over in Conservostan, there are likewise many self-styled conservatives, main example National Review, William Buckley's magazine, who wet themselves in panic that We The People (51%?) like the short-fingered vulgarian and reality star
Elections are the best Survivor going, voting people off the island? heck vote them out of the lifeboat! is what I say
Mr Cruz appeals to people who have a certain view of our Constitution (originalism, textualism), our foundation document, rule of law and all that yadda yadda
Some of us antiques, geezers, walking-dead dinosaurs remember Pauline Kael's famous 1968 lament - "How did Richard Nixon get elected, no one I know voted for him"
I expect Trump as POTUS, and Cruz as AG as a temporary position until the next SCOTUS opening occurs then we will have a REAL food fight over confirmation, "you ain't seen nothing' yet!"
In Pubistan, the circular firing squad is even more fun than the sanctimony on the Left, high speed rapid cranial disassembly, as the bubble is burst, and recto-cranial inversion becomes untenable
2
Cruz is not a "true conservative". A conservative would favor logical reassessment of programs and policies with an eye to making government work better for the people. Cruz is not that. He is a destroyer, fueled by hubris and an unstoppable ambition that many see as dangerous, especially given his theocratic tendencies. You want to live in a country where a megalomaniacal demagogue is president, and who will (among other things) pollute the Supreme Court with his pernicious ilk? Will that make you prouder? Happier? More prosperous? More secure? I think not.
404
He will "...pollute the Supreme Court with his pernicious ilk." When and where and why did so many NYT readers learn to write with the grace and style of stereotyped right-wing conspiracy theorists?
"A conservative would favor logical reassessment of programs and policies with an eye to making government work better for the people."
These are words just put together that have no substance. That's what you think a conservative is?
These are words just put together that have no substance. That's what you think a conservative is?
Lose with Cruz; he is "too right" and my prediction is he will not make it. And most smart republicans know this (except for Iowa).
4
Virtually everyone who works with Cruz hates him. So maybe I should stop worrying and hope he WINS the nomination.
8
Cruze comes from a solid tradition where people believe it's normal for Father's to sell their daughters to the farmer next door in exchange for some hogs and land. He certainly see women as vessels for "men's" children; indeed - he even made his wife stop working to be able to slave for him in his incessant craving for political power. After all, not only is is embarrassing for such a tough guy to be supported by his wife - but having other solid conservatives seeing him allow his wife to work would be simply unacceptable.
11
Of course Cruz's conservative inclinations would be "extremely constrained" as President. That's why we have democracy. The President has no say over abortion. That's why there's a Supreme Court. To vote as a Republican in a Democratic primary would be to elevate this candidate to a vaunted status and supply him with more intense momentum than you would ever wish.
True, to a point. However, you point to the Supreme Court and as others have said before, that is one place he could do an enormous amount of damage for generations to come. I could comfortably vote for either Democrat but even Kasich, who seems "moderate" at this point in time, is far to the right of the GOP of a few years ago, in my opinion.
2
Most of the country regrets electing a community activist with no concept of economics and world politics.
Trump is the best choice for undoing many of Obama's disasters and make the US great again.
Trump is the best choice for undoing many of Obama's disasters and make the US great again.
1
Most? 15-20% is most likely.
4
Edsall says that Among Latinos could get the support of a few Latinos attracted because of his last name. But the reason those Latinos would be attracted is their political heritage, the Latin American right wing. Funny. The most conservative presidential candidate has the potential of turning the USA into a banana republic.
2
A small, but important correction: Ted Cruz may be anti-gay, but he is certainly not anti-gay-money. Mr. Cruz had no problem appearing at a "fireside chat" (read, fundraiser) at the very gay home of the very gay Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, as this very paper noted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/style/hospitable-till-it-hurt.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/28/style/hospitable-till-it-hurt.html
7
Why does everyone assume that Clinton will get the majority of African-American voters? When they listen to the message of Bernie Sanders along with finding out that the March on Washington with ML King is in his background, their support will make a strong shift in the direction of Bernie.
8
The fact that the so-called establishment, including the media, thinks that Sanders is unelectable only shows how out of touch they are.
10
Bernie says the things the "little people", like us, need said.
Trump says the things the "little people" just want to hear.
Kasich & Clinton say the things the best political machine spinmeisters say to say to get elected .... smoothly.
Rubio,Rubio,Rubio, not,not so smoothly.
And ole Teddy Cruz, well, the "little people" hear what he says, direct from his Goldman Sachs private loan financed pulpit in the Senate.
Trump says the things the "little people" just want to hear.
Kasich & Clinton say the things the best political machine spinmeisters say to say to get elected .... smoothly.
Rubio,Rubio,Rubio, not,not so smoothly.
And ole Teddy Cruz, well, the "little people" hear what he says, direct from his Goldman Sachs private loan financed pulpit in the Senate.
9
His loan was not a sweetheart loan, nor did he receive a better interest-rate. It has been paid off. He borrowed the money as he was in the Senate race against a multimillionaire.
1
It is going to be Bernie vs Trump in the election, you wait and see.
Bernie will win by a landslide.
And if he don't Trump is still better than anyone else the republicans have.
Bernie will win by a landslide.
And if he don't Trump is still better than anyone else the republicans have.
4
Get over it, NY Times! As much as it annoys your bleeding Liberal heart, Trump is the nominee and more than likely next POTUS.
I always thought Sanders was a winning candidate. You didn't, and you were wrong. And you're the expert while I'm just a rube. So where does that leave your analysis?
6
Cruz should be barred from running based on the notion of separation of church and state.
7
What a silly column. Anyone watching Cruz for more than 10 minutes can see that he is a panderer. More limited, clever, and strategic in his flip-flopping than other candidates in this election, no doubt, but ultimately more than ready to sacrifice consistency to supposed principle for the sake of political expediency.
Of course, he is running as a hardcore conservative now, to win the key base of voters in the primaries.
In the unlikely scenario of his succeeding in gaining a lead in the more sizable primaries yet to come, and in the even more unlikely scenario of his winning the Republican nomination itself, he will -as surely as the sun rising in the east of a global warming era Texas- pivot more towards the center.
Of course, he is running as a hardcore conservative now, to win the key base of voters in the primaries.
In the unlikely scenario of his succeeding in gaining a lead in the more sizable primaries yet to come, and in the even more unlikely scenario of his winning the Republican nomination itself, he will -as surely as the sun rising in the east of a global warming era Texas- pivot more towards the center.
2
American religious extremism has taken shape in Ted Cruz. Like extremists around the world, Cruz has beckoned the worst impulses that religion can arouse and exploited the genuine sentiments of some Christians to execute programs and policies anathema to Christianity and a clear violation of our First Amendment. American Taliban, Cruz, has risen to the level of desperation conjured by Republicans who have abandoned their principles, undermined democracy, and deranged our Constitution to survive a shameful shadow of it's traditions. The party that delivered us from slavery would shackle us to a racist theocracy devoid of democratic tolerance under Cruz. Instead of reforming, after the catastrophe of GW Bush, after Iraq, after torture, after dereliction that caused the financial collapse, Republicans repressed their guilt and rallied around a strategy to survive by riding a wave of race hatred, hatred and fear of immigrants, hatred of Muslims, hatred of women's equality, hatred of the poor, elderly, disabled, and the child "takers", and fear to arrive at Cruz.
Imagine what our opponents think, our allies, the people of the world think watching the Republican Party death throes. Consider what our children remember of what America has become. It would be a mercy for the Republican Party to just collapse.
Imagine what our opponents think, our allies, the people of the world think watching the Republican Party death throes. Consider what our children remember of what America has become. It would be a mercy for the Republican Party to just collapse.
17
Amen.
3
Good column up until the final paragraph! You've insulted there several outstanding politicians and leaders, men of integrity, several who fought for their country, and men who worked across the aisle to achieve good things for the country.
They may have lost, even been trounced in the *presidential* election, but to disparage them as "lemons" is insulting! You need to keep in mind that historical circumstances, economic conditions, and social upheavals were major factors in the elections not the qualities of the men themselves. That final paragraph is a "lemon"!
"There have been many elections in which one party chose a lemon — Barry Goldwater, Bob Dole and Mitt Romney on the Republican side; George McGovern, Fritz Mondale and Michael Dukakis on the Democratic side — but none in which both parties have chosen candidates with severe electoral liabilities."
They may have lost, even been trounced in the *presidential* election, but to disparage them as "lemons" is insulting! You need to keep in mind that historical circumstances, economic conditions, and social upheavals were major factors in the elections not the qualities of the men themselves. That final paragraph is a "lemon"!
"There have been many elections in which one party chose a lemon — Barry Goldwater, Bob Dole and Mitt Romney on the Republican side; George McGovern, Fritz Mondale and Michael Dukakis on the Democratic side — but none in which both parties have chosen candidates with severe electoral liabilities."
Not sure why Rubio would be more desirable candidate. See his posiitions on abortion, torture, climate change, taking the fight to ISIL.....not what I would call more moderate than Cruz. Maybe he's just cuter. All of the R candidates -except maybe Kasich - disastrous for US.
10
Well, Cruz is clearly more than an "army of one" since there seem to be a lot of Americans that are willing to vote for him, particularly in Texas. You have to remember that in a democracy elected politicians always represent a constituency, they are only there because people voted them in. When I look at Cruz I not only look at the person, as this article does, but I look at the potentially millions of Americans that say "Yes, he's exactly where I am at in the way he sees the world, I'm going to vote for him!"
So when you see Cruz as holding a lot of bizarre, radical ideas about being absolutely sure that we know God's will and that we must use government to impose God's will, then remember that a lot of Americans feel the same way. In this these Americans look to Iran as their shining example, step aside Khomeini, here comes Cruz!
So when you see Cruz as holding a lot of bizarre, radical ideas about being absolutely sure that we know God's will and that we must use government to impose God's will, then remember that a lot of Americans feel the same way. In this these Americans look to Iran as their shining example, step aside Khomeini, here comes Cruz!
11
Dear Mr. Edsall,
You really didn't need all the statistics and "proof" that Mr. Cruz is a conservative idealogue; I gathered all of that just listening to the guy. But thanks for showing proof that he is a paid for, through and through, shill for the 1%.
The question really is are there enough Ammon and Cliven Bundy's out in "voter land" to elect him?
And all of the writers and speculators seem blind and deaf to the possibilities of 3rd Party "start-ups", on either side of the divide, which could further hamper the success of the 2 so-called "major" parties.
Imagine a race featuring Mr. Trump, Ms. Clinton, Mr. Sanders and 2 or 3 of the other "nuts" from the GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE "can 'o' candidates" not to mention a run by Mr. Bloomberg?
At that point, one person's vote might actually count and the 50% of the electorate that usually sit all elections out will become less relevant while all those who do vote can actually have a tiny taste of real democracy, perhaps.
But that path might also lead to a President Trump, the thing even the RNC appears "uncomfortable" with.
Yeah, it's a SWELL time to be one of the few, the proud , the REGISTERED voter indeed!
You really didn't need all the statistics and "proof" that Mr. Cruz is a conservative idealogue; I gathered all of that just listening to the guy. But thanks for showing proof that he is a paid for, through and through, shill for the 1%.
The question really is are there enough Ammon and Cliven Bundy's out in "voter land" to elect him?
And all of the writers and speculators seem blind and deaf to the possibilities of 3rd Party "start-ups", on either side of the divide, which could further hamper the success of the 2 so-called "major" parties.
Imagine a race featuring Mr. Trump, Ms. Clinton, Mr. Sanders and 2 or 3 of the other "nuts" from the GOP/TP/KOCH AFFILIATE "can 'o' candidates" not to mention a run by Mr. Bloomberg?
At that point, one person's vote might actually count and the 50% of the electorate that usually sit all elections out will become less relevant while all those who do vote can actually have a tiny taste of real democracy, perhaps.
But that path might also lead to a President Trump, the thing even the RNC appears "uncomfortable" with.
Yeah, it's a SWELL time to be one of the few, the proud , the REGISTERED voter indeed!
3
It is important to point out that Mr. Cruz, as a fundamentalist Christian, is thoroughly anti-science. The findings of virtually all areas of science contradict his world view. It is obbious that the STEM fields are dominant forces in the 21st century. Can you imagine a Commander in Chief of a military that is dependent on technology for weapons research, intelligence gathering, waging war, etc. that rejects the scientific method? Cruz as president would be a disaster.
17
Hillary is not popular with Democrats. Most don't trust her.
Hillary is loathed by Republicans. Most would walk a mile, uphill, in a snowstorm to vote against her.
Stop calling Bernie a loser. It insults most of your readers, if the Comments Sections are an accurate gage of his support.
He just won a LANDSLIDE victory in New Hampshire.
Take a day off from the Bernie sniping. It's undignified.
Hillary is loathed by Republicans. Most would walk a mile, uphill, in a snowstorm to vote against her.
Stop calling Bernie a loser. It insults most of your readers, if the Comments Sections are an accurate gage of his support.
He just won a LANDSLIDE victory in New Hampshire.
Take a day off from the Bernie sniping. It's undignified.
10
Love Bernie, but using the times comment section as any gage of the overall electorate is dangerous.
1
Wake up! Republicans would love to have Bernie as a Democratic nominee. You are doing their work for them.
1
Who has called Bernie "a loser?" You make a strawman argument. And losing a political election does not make somebody "a loser" in the more generic sense.
You might take a day off from repeating Republican slurs about Hillary -- one does indeed wonder how many comments like yours are made by Republicans who would prefer to run against Sanders ... rather the way so many Democrats would love to run against Cruz.
For the record I do not buy into a false equivalence of Cruz and Sanders as equally extreme -- that's ridiculous ... but the facts of the matter are clear that Republicans have trained none of their slime machine on Bernie ... yet. If he wins the nomination we'll all find out what swift-boating and slime and opposition dirt they've got ready for him.
The Republicans really do want to run against Bernie.
You might take a day off from repeating Republican slurs about Hillary -- one does indeed wonder how many comments like yours are made by Republicans who would prefer to run against Sanders ... rather the way so many Democrats would love to run against Cruz.
For the record I do not buy into a false equivalence of Cruz and Sanders as equally extreme -- that's ridiculous ... but the facts of the matter are clear that Republicans have trained none of their slime machine on Bernie ... yet. If he wins the nomination we'll all find out what swift-boating and slime and opposition dirt they've got ready for him.
The Republicans really do want to run against Bernie.
Most of the nation is uncomfortable with candidates who are too far out, drifting on their own little rafts out at sea. Cruz is no exception. It is a fantasy that they lose because they are not conservative enough.
They lose because the center - the voters who are not part of either 47% percent that Mitt Romney talked about - vote for whoever they think will best hold the status quo. In some years, like 2008, it was for the candidate who wouldn't go for austerity as a solution to financial collapse; in other years it will be for the candidate that counterbalances Congress, as Clinton balanced out Newt Gingrich. In Bush/Gore they split almost evenly.
This year will be tricky, because the candidates who are loved by their supporters, are loathed by their foes (Trump seen as a fascist, Sanders as a communist) which may leave us deciding between candidates no one really likes. Clinton is so very qualified, but fails to inspire the love; Rubio, well... there isn't even much to say about him.
As a centrist myself, I will be voting Democrat this year, purely to check the influence of all the Cruz's and Cruz wannabe in Congress. Status Quo.
They lose because the center - the voters who are not part of either 47% percent that Mitt Romney talked about - vote for whoever they think will best hold the status quo. In some years, like 2008, it was for the candidate who wouldn't go for austerity as a solution to financial collapse; in other years it will be for the candidate that counterbalances Congress, as Clinton balanced out Newt Gingrich. In Bush/Gore they split almost evenly.
This year will be tricky, because the candidates who are loved by their supporters, are loathed by their foes (Trump seen as a fascist, Sanders as a communist) which may leave us deciding between candidates no one really likes. Clinton is so very qualified, but fails to inspire the love; Rubio, well... there isn't even much to say about him.
As a centrist myself, I will be voting Democrat this year, purely to check the influence of all the Cruz's and Cruz wannabe in Congress. Status Quo.
8
Ted Cruz is Donald Trump with a brain, a voice, and a cause. He is the "fear itself" that Roosevelt discussed so long ago.
7
Want will Mrs Schlafly do if Cruz Missle is beaten like a drum in November? Do a Weekend at Bernies with Francisco Franco?
1
It's not true that GHWBush, Dole, McCain and Romney lost because of their insufficient conservatism - or that Reagan won because he was very conservative - amnesty for illegals, raised taxes - Bush and Dole both lost to a more attractive personality [younger, better at making speeches, virile - to a fault] as did McCain and Romney [younger, better at making speeches]. Indeed, Bush WON as a non-incumbent against an unimpressive candidate [Dukakis] in 1988, lost as an incumbent to Clinton.
The race always comes down to two individual human beings. The ones who didn't get the nomination [too many examples to mention] do not figure in the actual election.
The race always comes down to two individual human beings. The ones who didn't get the nomination [too many examples to mention] do not figure in the actual election.
3
Nat, do factor in the swing of the pendulum. No Democrat has followed a two-term Democrat since FDR, and he was an anomaly, following himself. I don't know if Jackson and Van Buren were actual Democrats: if they were, that's the last example we have of one Democrat succeeding another Democrat as POTUS. Obama clearly deserved his victory, but there was a swing against the GOP then because of 8 years of Bush--9/11, wars, economic melt-down. The Pendulum is about to swing again.
1
To define Cruz along a single continuum of right and left is to suggest that the continuum parallels one of craziness, duplicity, and crookedness.
Evidence of moral vacuousness and craziness? He is firmly establishment (Princeton), talks as if he grew up fixing machines on a farm. He will repeal Obamacare, but is currently enrolled in it because neither he nor his spouse have a job. Principle would have required him to not do so. He wants to build a wall that would have prevented his parents from migrating. He was a Canadian citizen until recently, who argues strongly as a nativist. His mimicry of JFK alone should have him disbarred. He says he is Christian (love thy neighbor, dedication to the service of fellow humans, taking care of each other). If so, then vegetarians are beef eaters, up is down, and the earth is not moving.
Far right? EPA was a far right creation. Universal health care was a far right idea until Hillary touched it. Spending more than you have was not a far right mantra until Reagan. Unless of course right wing is another word for politics of convenience for seizing power.
Republicans and the likes of Cruz want power. That is it. Plain and simple. Power to redistribute wealth, make others squirm, and hurt people they don't like. Is all. All this about Christian values, loving America, and other espousal - is hokum.
Kalidan
Evidence of moral vacuousness and craziness? He is firmly establishment (Princeton), talks as if he grew up fixing machines on a farm. He will repeal Obamacare, but is currently enrolled in it because neither he nor his spouse have a job. Principle would have required him to not do so. He wants to build a wall that would have prevented his parents from migrating. He was a Canadian citizen until recently, who argues strongly as a nativist. His mimicry of JFK alone should have him disbarred. He says he is Christian (love thy neighbor, dedication to the service of fellow humans, taking care of each other). If so, then vegetarians are beef eaters, up is down, and the earth is not moving.
Far right? EPA was a far right creation. Universal health care was a far right idea until Hillary touched it. Spending more than you have was not a far right mantra until Reagan. Unless of course right wing is another word for politics of convenience for seizing power.
Republicans and the likes of Cruz want power. That is it. Plain and simple. Power to redistribute wealth, make others squirm, and hurt people they don't like. Is all. All this about Christian values, loving America, and other espousal - is hokum.
Kalidan
13
That part about "vegetarians are beef eaters, up is down and the earth is not moving"....you might wanna check, but it could be part of Cruz's platform.
2
Edsall's analysis focuses on the obstacles in the path of victory for either Cruz or Trump. These outliers lack the capacity to form the coalitions that usually lead to the nomination. At a time, however, when a radicalized base appears prepared to reject elite control of the party, the chances of one of them defeating the other lackluster candidates seem better than pundits will admit.
Professor Edsall and many readers assume this result would guarantee a Democratic win in November. I tend to agree, but consider a scenario in which the economy weakens perceptibly and terrorists launch an attack that kills dozens, or possibly hundreds, of Americans. Both events would discredit the incumbent Democratic party and just possibly anger or frighten the electorate enough to produce a narrow victory for Cruz or Trump.
Even if the Democrats won in November, the candidacy of either of these outliers would inject into the general election campaign the ugliness that has warped the primary process. The popularity of the two men exposes a paranoia and sheer meanness among many Americans that a general campaign could only intensify. The Democratic candidate, in fact, might face pressure to shift somewhat to the right to create a winning coalition.
Neither of these scenarios might occur, and a landslide might discredit a radicalized GOP. It would be well to recall, however, that the Goldwater debacle of 1964 probably helped pave the way for Reagan's victory in 1980.
Professor Edsall and many readers assume this result would guarantee a Democratic win in November. I tend to agree, but consider a scenario in which the economy weakens perceptibly and terrorists launch an attack that kills dozens, or possibly hundreds, of Americans. Both events would discredit the incumbent Democratic party and just possibly anger or frighten the electorate enough to produce a narrow victory for Cruz or Trump.
Even if the Democrats won in November, the candidacy of either of these outliers would inject into the general election campaign the ugliness that has warped the primary process. The popularity of the two men exposes a paranoia and sheer meanness among many Americans that a general campaign could only intensify. The Democratic candidate, in fact, might face pressure to shift somewhat to the right to create a winning coalition.
Neither of these scenarios might occur, and a landslide might discredit a radicalized GOP. It would be well to recall, however, that the Goldwater debacle of 1964 probably helped pave the way for Reagan's victory in 1980.
If elected president, Cruz would quickly become as ineffective and unpopular as Kansas' Governor Sam Brownback, the most unpopular governor in the nation.
http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/prairie-politics/article4...
http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/prairie-politics/article4...
4
If Cruz gets to the White House it might be the time to think about moving to Europe where they still believe that religion is your personal business and has no place in government.
14
Yeah, and that the earth is round, too.
3
Cruz's principles are rooted in the Constitution. The USA's problems are rooted in policies that violate the Constitution. Cruz is the right direction for the USA. Individual liberty protected by a constitutionally limited government is the prescription to heal this patient. Liberty is robust...give it an inch and we will get miles.
The progressive liberal Marxist Democratic Party has essentially become the enemy of the state within.
Cruz 2016
The progressive liberal Marxist Democratic Party has essentially become the enemy of the state within.
Cruz 2016
2
Religion in government is not constitutional.
13
Bruce, the earth really is round.
7
This is the year 2016. I'm afraid it is 1653 and Cromwell as Lord Protector that you want.
Lacking a time machine, I doubt you'll get it.
Lacking a time machine, I doubt you'll get it.
3
What these anti-government, elect an outsider, throw the bums out voters are pushing towards is another 4 years of Washington grid lock. Sanders is far to the left. If by some quirk the country would elect an avowed socialist the GOP controlled House would certainly see to it that nothing got done. My belief is that a nominee Sanders equals a President Trump or Cruz. Trump would find that he could not do most of what he promised since the president is not a CEO/business owner and the Congress is not composed of his employees. Cruz would meet resistance at every turn (a good thing considering what he wants to do) - more grid lock.
13
Sadly, I think you are right. A President Cruz would find that virtually every Democratic Congressional leader would be openly vowing to oppose his agenda from the start. He'd have every public liberal/progressive media figure openly hoping his Persidency was a failure.
1
Anne-Marie -- I am supporting Hillary, but I do not agree that Sanders is anything like "equals Trump or Cruz." That is an absurd false-equivalence. Sanders is basically a FDR-Democrat
While Sanders calls himself a "Socialist" so far as I know he has never advocated socialization of the means of production -- the key tenet of socialism.
All modern democratic nations run mixed-economies; this has been true since 1900. Modern Republicans never like to talk about T. Roosevelt, the man who set America on the modern economic path.
I do agree however that Sanders cannot possibly achieve his agenda without overwhelming support in Congress -- which is certainly not there at the moment and he (and his followers) have no coherent plan or likelihood of achieving.
Bernie's supporters confuse enthusiasm within their bubble with wide popular support, and ignore the realities of demographics and Congress. I am afraid that Tom Lehrer's "They won all the battles, but we won all the songs!" is the reality of the BernieBros.
While Sanders calls himself a "Socialist" so far as I know he has never advocated socialization of the means of production -- the key tenet of socialism.
All modern democratic nations run mixed-economies; this has been true since 1900. Modern Republicans never like to talk about T. Roosevelt, the man who set America on the modern economic path.
I do agree however that Sanders cannot possibly achieve his agenda without overwhelming support in Congress -- which is certainly not there at the moment and he (and his followers) have no coherent plan or likelihood of achieving.
Bernie's supporters confuse enthusiasm within their bubble with wide popular support, and ignore the realities of demographics and Congress. I am afraid that Tom Lehrer's "They won all the battles, but we won all the songs!" is the reality of the BernieBros.
3
Except for that (partial) band of anarchists, SCOTUS. Lots and lots of damage to be done there, even by an ineffectual president. They've already gotten more than half way to a coup d'etat of this nation with an unelected president and Citizens United. Voters need to keep this fact in mind more than any other, I think.
4
If you believe that every life is precious then you must abolish the death penalty.
Right.
Right.
33
"If you believe that every life is precious then you must abolish the death penalty."
And abortion.
And abortion.
And stop bombing wedding parties and funerals in the ME.
"[The] willingness of Republican elected officials to back Trump in order to choke off Cruz’s bid" says all you need to know about the deep, deep hole the GOP is in this election cycle.
That a proto-fascist carnival barker like Trump, who has exactly NOTHING to offer, is the only viable alternative to a far-right religious lunatic like Cruz leaves the GOP in the political desert.
Long may it stay there.
That a proto-fascist carnival barker like Trump, who has exactly NOTHING to offer, is the only viable alternative to a far-right religious lunatic like Cruz leaves the GOP in the political desert.
Long may it stay there.
167
Being, or at least pretending to be, a religious nut isn't necessarily being a conservative in the American tradition. It simply is a matter of being a religious nut. When did anti-constitutionalism become conservatism?
35
Great question - I'm pretty sure it happened beginning with a craven GOP strategy to dissemble to evangelicals and convince them that American Conservatism is about anything, at all, other than personal greed and sustaining institutional racism. The GOP has a long tradition of pretending to be religious nuts, so I'm not so sure what you're on about. When I watch the "news' on Fox, or listen to a GOP convention, I'n not sure where this strange confusion on your part could have come from.
3
Ever hear of a rhetorical question? That is not one, but here's another: you think pretending to be nuts makes people conservative?
Mr. Cruz could be elected President of the United States of Evangelicals.
Unfortunately, for him, the closest we have to that is Iowa.
Unfortunately, for him, the closest we have to that is Iowa.
24
"George H. W. Bush of 1992, Robert Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney — were insufficiently conservative."
Romney too conservative? He blamed his defeat on "the cities". It's too easy to see how he would have forged a pact with the Khmer Rouge and come up with a new vision for America. Haha!
Romney too conservative? He blamed his defeat on "the cities". It's too easy to see how he would have forged a pact with the Khmer Rouge and come up with a new vision for America. Haha!
5
Do you actually know what the "insufficiently" means?
This column could not be more wrong, and misses the entire point of resurgency candidates. It can't see the populist nationalism movement.
Trump and Cruz can definitely win a national election. And if the the establishment thinks they can "talk to" Trump, like training a monkey, they are in for a rude awakening.
Trump and Cruz can definitely win a national election. And if the the establishment thinks they can "talk to" Trump, like training a monkey, they are in for a rude awakening.
4
When poor candidates run for president, the US loses.
15
Cruz has no chance to be president of the United States. He does have a small but real chance of being Caliph or Dear Leader or whatever the angry far-right white men decide he should be called after the revolution. There has never been quite this degree of fury by so many, so heavily armed, so poorly informed people---who all hold that the lord and ruler of the universe backs their cause. And don't you dare think it could "never happen here," that people are just too sensible. Well, most are, but they don't have guns and the will to use them. The far-right does.
95
Rob -- when the far right really tries to mount a shooting revolution they will discover that a lot of people they dissed know, or will learn, how to shoot.
They'll also find that it's not easy to fight a modern organized technologically equipped military even if armed with Kalashnikovs -- note that the Iraqis and Afghanistanis fighting the US didn't do that effectively -- they were reduced to a war of IEDs.
Don't buy into the "2nd ammendment remedies" clap-trap of the gun nuts and the far right. Look at every successful revolution. Revolutions are won when some fraction of the military revolts -- in terms of the means there is a close relationship between successful revolutions and military putsches -- the difference is that a military putsch is "the most successful revolution" -- the military revolts completely with its command structure intact, elevating a military leader to dictator. Revolutions are contested.
George Washington was a colonial officer for the British. France spent the modern equivalent of 13 billion dollars to supply and aid the American rebels. France supplied Americans with over 100,000 French muskets to a Continental Army that never numbered over 20,000 (no matter how you count it) -- guns don't last long in a war -- and a modern war shoots a lot more bullets than those muskets did.
The NRA fantasies are exactly that.
They'll also find that it's not easy to fight a modern organized technologically equipped military even if armed with Kalashnikovs -- note that the Iraqis and Afghanistanis fighting the US didn't do that effectively -- they were reduced to a war of IEDs.
Don't buy into the "2nd ammendment remedies" clap-trap of the gun nuts and the far right. Look at every successful revolution. Revolutions are won when some fraction of the military revolts -- in terms of the means there is a close relationship between successful revolutions and military putsches -- the difference is that a military putsch is "the most successful revolution" -- the military revolts completely with its command structure intact, elevating a military leader to dictator. Revolutions are contested.
George Washington was a colonial officer for the British. France spent the modern equivalent of 13 billion dollars to supply and aid the American rebels. France supplied Americans with over 100,000 French muskets to a Continental Army that never numbered over 20,000 (no matter how you count it) -- guns don't last long in a war -- and a modern war shoots a lot more bullets than those muskets did.
The NRA fantasies are exactly that.
1
You are exactly right. They are are not arming themselves to the teeth to fight the military, the are arming to kill "Liberals" and immigrants.
1
Cruz is intelligent and extremely dangerous!!
18
I see no evidence of real intelligence. Cruz just stands out as smarter than the concentration of dimbulbs on the right.
The really intelligent have better things to do that debating club.
The really intelligent have better things to do that debating club.
1
RCR-"Cruz is intelligent and extremely dangerous!!"
Not sure about the intelligence part since he fails to grasp the simple theme of Dr. Seus' "Green Eggs and Ham" but do agree with the extremely dangerous!!
Not sure about the intelligence part since he fails to grasp the simple theme of Dr. Seus' "Green Eggs and Ham" but do agree with the extremely dangerous!!
1
When this election season started, I was most worried about the possibility of a Trump presidency, as we would be the laughing stock of the world. I didn't know much about Cruz, other than he was a far-right conservative. The more I learn about Cruz, the most I hope that he does become the GOP nominee, because I relish the walloping the GOP would get in the general election.
11
I personally am scared of what would happen if Cruz becomes the Republican nominee. Do we really think that all these people who have been voting Republican, after years of awful candidates, are really going to vote Democrat just because the 2016 candidate is more awful? Or that a greater number of "moderate" Republicans will abstain or vote Democrat than super "conservatives" (is this really what conservatism is?) will get out and vote for the first time?
When hasn't a party coalesced around their nominee? Just as Sanders supporters will vote for Clinton if she's the nominee (if they bother to vote, because his support comes from people less likely to vote), so will "establishment" Republicans (more likely to vote regardless of who the candidate is) do the same for Cruz.
I would love for Cruz to be nominated and get thrashed in the general election; perhaps that would be the best way of stifling the hard hard right. But don't underestimate his abilities as a candidate, or the Republican party's desire to do almost anything to achieve their basic goal, power.
When hasn't a party coalesced around their nominee? Just as Sanders supporters will vote for Clinton if she's the nominee (if they bother to vote, because his support comes from people less likely to vote), so will "establishment" Republicans (more likely to vote regardless of who the candidate is) do the same for Cruz.
I would love for Cruz to be nominated and get thrashed in the general election; perhaps that would be the best way of stifling the hard hard right. But don't underestimate his abilities as a candidate, or the Republican party's desire to do almost anything to achieve their basic goal, power.
36
I don't believe that Republican women, when they are in the voting booth and not being directly supervised by their husbands, will never vote for Ted Cruz as a group.
30
Hopefully, only self-loathing women would vote for Cruz.
6
threekings-" Do we really think that all these people who have been voting Republican, after years of awful candidates, are really going to vote Democrat just because the 2016 candidate is more awful?"
This will not happen. i was discussing this very concept with a conservative friend of mine about how awful, hateful and scary Cruz is. Her incredulous response? "So what do I do? Vote REPUBLICAN?" Another conservative friend was upset that the campaign signs don't list party affiliation because as an uninformed voter how can she possibly know who to vote for if the name isn't followed by an R? How many more voters are there with this mindset? They would do us and the rest of the world a tremendous favor if they just sat this election out instead of voting for such dangerous candidates, particularly Cruz or Rubio.
This will not happen. i was discussing this very concept with a conservative friend of mine about how awful, hateful and scary Cruz is. Her incredulous response? "So what do I do? Vote REPUBLICAN?" Another conservative friend was upset that the campaign signs don't list party affiliation because as an uninformed voter how can she possibly know who to vote for if the name isn't followed by an R? How many more voters are there with this mindset? They would do us and the rest of the world a tremendous favor if they just sat this election out instead of voting for such dangerous candidates, particularly Cruz or Rubio.
1
CRUZ Brings back to mind the 1964 quip about Goldwater in spades, In your heart you know he's right. Far right. Cruz will function as the Grand Inquisitor if elected president, clearly a religious function. That's a pretty big no no. I see Cruz and I see Joe McCarthy's look-alike (with a tad of Roy Kohn thrown in for good measure). i can see Cruz standing on the floor of the Senate, holding a folder, saying, In this folder I have the names of women who aborted their embryos at the 4 cell stage. Except for the fact that in order to determine when a woman is carrying an embryo of 4 cells, the testing would probably be so invasive as to put the viability of the embryo at great risk. Cruz is likely to adopt as his slogan, Life Begins at Conception and ends at Birth, a quote from Barney Frank, a married gay man, retired from the House. So where's the ideological purity there? Joe Stalin, in his quest for ideological purity, he is credited with between 32 and 59 million unnatural deaths in the USSR. The numbers speak for themselves. How many would be slaughtered so that a President Cruz could attain the ideological purity of the GOP? I sure hope we don't have to find out. To quote Santayana from 1905, Those who have forgotten the past are condemned to repeat it. Until they were in power, the 3 dictators of the 20th century at least tried to appeal to the people. Cruz hasn't done even that. His people are a vanishingly small group of the ideologically pure.
20
John, I must say your immunity to the irony in your own post is impressive. Accusing a libertarian-conservative like Cruz of seeking to be a Grand Inquisitor and comparing him to Stalin (a Leftist like Bernie Sanders) is akin to accusing Thomas Jefferson of secretly longing for an all powerful federal government. I will grant you this: it is a source of never ending amusement to read dispatches from the fever swamps of the Left and the propensity of Leftists to project onto their political opponents the Left's own lust for totalitarian power.
I don't see Cruz winning the presidential nomination, but he could become president if his hard-right religious base forces the eventual nominee to accept Cruz as VP, just as McCain was forced to accept Sarah Palin. Someone on the Republican nominee's staff needs to read the novel "Julian" by Gore Vidal, especially the ending. Republicans, think about your VP choice very carefully.
The hard religious right talks a lot about loving Jesus, but their heart is with the Old Testament - fire and sword for the non-believing sinners. The movie "Agora" perfectly captured their mind-set. They have their man.
The hard religious right talks a lot about loving Jesus, but their heart is with the Old Testament - fire and sword for the non-believing sinners. The movie "Agora" perfectly captured their mind-set. They have their man.
11
The other essential elements left out about Mr. Rafael Cruz is that he's both sanctimonious and so full of hypocrisy that it's spilling out of his ears.
Mr. Cruz has yet to be probed about how much American welfare his father received as an immigrant: food, housing, education, and stipend. Mr. Cruz would also like it if we didn't note that 99% of most immigrants are ineligible for this federal program simply because they are not Cubans.
Mr. Cruz also fails to explain the logic that presidential executive orders that benefited Cuban immigrants are fine but all others are unconstitutional. Cruz is clearly headed for the pasture of the Santorum and Huckabee gang of past Iowa "winners."
Mr. Cruz has yet to be probed about how much American welfare his father received as an immigrant: food, housing, education, and stipend. Mr. Cruz would also like it if we didn't note that 99% of most immigrants are ineligible for this federal program simply because they are not Cubans.
Mr. Cruz also fails to explain the logic that presidential executive orders that benefited Cuban immigrants are fine but all others are unconstitutional. Cruz is clearly headed for the pasture of the Santorum and Huckabee gang of past Iowa "winners."
65
Hard to believe that Ted and Pablo are from the same family. The latter's music is so laid back and happy.
3
Conservatives overwhelming interest is in eliminating taxes on their puppet masters the very rich. Neglecting this weakens this interesting piece.
The very rich view the other issues that you mention as convenient distractions from the tax issue. But Americans think that taxes and their twin of economic gaps between the 1% or the .1% and the rest of us is the key. That is what accounts for Bernie Sanders support.
To build a better America and a better world we must do the opposite of what Cruz proposes. We must tax capital gains *higher* than earned income, as Lincoln advocated. We must tax inheritance over $1 million at 100%, consistent with Thomas Jefferson outlawing extreme inheritance when he was governor of Virginia.
Go to YouTube watch Comedy Party Platform and Benton-Comedy2. Send a buck to Bernie and invite me to speak. Thanks!
The very rich view the other issues that you mention as convenient distractions from the tax issue. But Americans think that taxes and their twin of economic gaps between the 1% or the .1% and the rest of us is the key. That is what accounts for Bernie Sanders support.
To build a better America and a better world we must do the opposite of what Cruz proposes. We must tax capital gains *higher* than earned income, as Lincoln advocated. We must tax inheritance over $1 million at 100%, consistent with Thomas Jefferson outlawing extreme inheritance when he was governor of Virginia.
Go to YouTube watch Comedy Party Platform and Benton-Comedy2. Send a buck to Bernie and invite me to speak. Thanks!
5
I have never understood the Catholic church's position that abortion is allowed to save the life of the mother. This is exactly the value judgement in favor of the adult woman's life as opposed to the fetus's. Should not the fetus get priority, according to their belief system? I suppose if the fetus is pre viable the idea is to save someone but this position always struck me as arbitrary when the only way to tell if the abortion would save the life of a mother would be if the woman dies, such as in the case of the Irish Hindu woman who did, in fact, die waiting for an abortion. If Cruz is the nominee we must raise the specter, thought banished by JFK, that the USA would be governed from Rome if a Catholic won the Presidency. A hard cultural Right Catholic President combined with an overly Reactionary Catholic Supreme court would turn the USA into a more Polish, or 20th century Irish nation where the Church has too mcuh influence. Of course our Pope now is much more progressive than the US so I am not sure that would be a bad thing.
2
Ted Cruz, although Cuban, is an evangelical Christian. Marco Rubio attends both Evangelical and Catholic churches. While I share your concern about a theocracy, Ted Cruz' America would not be influenced by the pope but by Ted's personal revelations from God. That is even more scary!
11
Ted Cruz is not Catholic.
2
You're not making sense. "Life of the mother" is really the only morally acceptable exception to an abortion ban, if your position is based on the "sanctity of life," where that includes the fetus.
Why should the mother's life be worth less than that of her fetus, even you think all lives are "sacred"? As for the predictability of the mother's death, for example from eclampsia or a fallopian implantation, these things are quite well understood.
For my part, I don't think human lives are sacred anyway. I mean, just take a look at most of them.
Why should the mother's life be worth less than that of her fetus, even you think all lives are "sacred"? As for the predictability of the mother's death, for example from eclampsia or a fallopian implantation, these things are quite well understood.
For my part, I don't think human lives are sacred anyway. I mean, just take a look at most of them.
2
Cruz might be very smart and he might be very conservative, but one thing is clear, the man is certainly unctuous.
29
It is pathetic, but no surprise, that Mr. Edsall lumps Bernie Sanders in with Trump and Cruz. Some people just don't get it.
Over the past few decades, both political parties moved to the right, but not Bernie Sanders. He stayed the same. He was right on issues thirty-five years ago, and he is still right on issues. More than that, he is the most honest person running for President.
Sanders will beat any of the clowns nominated by the G.O.P. If Republicans choose the Cruz or Trump clown, Bernie will win in a landslide.
Over the past few decades, both political parties moved to the right, but not Bernie Sanders. He stayed the same. He was right on issues thirty-five years ago, and he is still right on issues. More than that, he is the most honest person running for President.
Sanders will beat any of the clowns nominated by the G.O.P. If Republicans choose the Cruz or Trump clown, Bernie will win in a landslide.
25
I know one group that would support Cruz for President: ISIS.
We should all understand by now, since 2001, compliments of Osama bin Laden, that radical jihadists only attack in the West to provoke us to attack and invade Muslim countries. Cruz would be catnip for the Caliphate.
Of course, if ISIS can't get Cruz into the White House, they'll settle for Trump or Rubio. Ironically, Cruz, Rubio and Trump are likely Israel's top choices as well.
We should all understand by now, since 2001, compliments of Osama bin Laden, that radical jihadists only attack in the West to provoke us to attack and invade Muslim countries. Cruz would be catnip for the Caliphate.
Of course, if ISIS can't get Cruz into the White House, they'll settle for Trump or Rubio. Ironically, Cruz, Rubio and Trump are likely Israel's top choices as well.
16
Edsall waste column inches again. Cruz is going nowhere so you can calm down now Thom. On the other hand his winning the nomination would be an incredible gift to the Dems. The GOP has surpassed all previous efforts at self destruction with the current group of clowns. How GOP leaders ever thought the middle would go for any of these nut cases is beyond understanding.
8
What is this 4 of the last 6 about which you natter? I'll see your 4 of the last 6 and raise you 4 of the last 9. That is a silly trope and whosomever says it is a silly person.
The post WWII norm is two and out for the incumbent party. This election also falls into the generational wave election time frame - 1932, 1952, 1980, 2008, except that 2008 seems to have come a cropper.
This election will be between two people - a Democrat and a Republican. Whatever your druthers the odds favor the Republicans.
The post WWII norm is two and out for the incumbent party. This election also falls into the generational wave election time frame - 1932, 1952, 1980, 2008, except that 2008 seems to have come a cropper.
This election will be between two people - a Democrat and a Republican. Whatever your druthers the odds favor the Republicans.
Ted Cruz = Rick Santorum on meth.
51
Lol!! Sorry couldn't resist.
1
Breaking Bad in a sweater vest. Dig it.
2
You underestimate Sanders. I used to underestimate him too. Tad Devine and Sanders have created a seamless electoral modus operandi and message that bears comparison to the hope&change campaign of Obama-Axelrod, but Devine-Sanders might even be more unassailable in the current political climate. Sanders can't be taken from the Left, only the Right, and Hillary is afraid to run from the Right: She will likely lose that way, especially with a Democratic Primary electorate that is considerably to the Left of the general election Democrats.
Ted Cruz and Trump both have ceilings. So does Bernie but his is much, much higher.
Ted Cruz and Trump both have ceilings. So does Bernie but his is much, much higher.
8
What a match up it would be - Sanders v. Cruz - polar opposites in philosophy, politics and personality.
Both have distinct, and distinctly different, visions for the America they want to lead.
Both have distinct, and distinctly different, positions on the issues Mr. Carmines lists in his "bill of particulars" - including social security, health care, taxes, abortion, and gay marriage - Mr. Sanders as a Social Democrat and Mr. Cruz as "the embodiment of the hard right".
And both have distinct, and distinctly different, ideas about the kind of man they should be, and the kind of man that is qualified, and entitled, to lead America.
Yes, what a match-up it would be.
Both have distinct, and distinctly different, visions for the America they want to lead.
Both have distinct, and distinctly different, positions on the issues Mr. Carmines lists in his "bill of particulars" - including social security, health care, taxes, abortion, and gay marriage - Mr. Sanders as a Social Democrat and Mr. Cruz as "the embodiment of the hard right".
And both have distinct, and distinctly different, ideas about the kind of man they should be, and the kind of man that is qualified, and entitled, to lead America.
Yes, what a match-up it would be.
2
Cruz's froth and fury is incapable of governing, which ought to sober up the likes of the Republican far right.
Sanders. however, has a positive, believable regard for well-intentioned compromise.
Sanders. however, has a positive, believable regard for well-intentioned compromise.
8
Compromise? Yes, he stopped calling himself a socialist and now says he's a democratic socialist.
1
Lots of European countries limit elective abortions to the first trimester.
"Abortion in Germany is permitted in the first trimester upon condition of mandatory counseling, and later in pregnancy in cases of medical necessity. In both cases a waiting period of 3 days is required. "
This is a sensible policy but the US is unable to arrive at sensible solutions because of people like Cruz and Carson on the one side and Clinton and Sanders on the other not to mention the Supreme Court with its fiction that a fetus with a beating heart is part of the woman's body.
I know many Republicans, and probably many Democrats would favor a policy like that of Germany. But they are afraid to speak out in favor of something explicit. I wish someone would.
A certain amount of social conservatism is healthy. Too much is harmful. But who will speak to that?
"Abortion in Germany is permitted in the first trimester upon condition of mandatory counseling, and later in pregnancy in cases of medical necessity. In both cases a waiting period of 3 days is required. "
This is a sensible policy but the US is unable to arrive at sensible solutions because of people like Cruz and Carson on the one side and Clinton and Sanders on the other not to mention the Supreme Court with its fiction that a fetus with a beating heart is part of the woman's body.
I know many Republicans, and probably many Democrats would favor a policy like that of Germany. But they are afraid to speak out in favor of something explicit. I wish someone would.
A certain amount of social conservatism is healthy. Too much is harmful. But who will speak to that?
2
Rohit- to refute your WIKI info-
Grounds on which abortion is permitted in Germany
per www.un.org/esa/population
To save the life of the woman Yes
To preserve physical health Yes
To preserve mental health Yes
Rape or incest Yes
Foetal impairment Yes
Economic or social reasons Yes
Available on request Yes
Additional requirements:
Except for abortion on medical grounds, the woman must attend a pre-abortion social counselling session with a physician. The intervention must be performed in a hospital or other authorized facility.
A little bit different than your cherry-picked information!
Grounds on which abortion is permitted in Germany
per www.un.org/esa/population
To save the life of the woman Yes
To preserve physical health Yes
To preserve mental health Yes
Rape or incest Yes
Foetal impairment Yes
Economic or social reasons Yes
Available on request Yes
Additional requirements:
Except for abortion on medical grounds, the woman must attend a pre-abortion social counselling session with a physician. The intervention must be performed in a hospital or other authorized facility.
A little bit different than your cherry-picked information!
2
Edsall accurately describes half of the problem. He tells us how this looks from the Establishment perspective.
The other half is the voter perspective from Main Street, the vast number of people who did not recover in the "Recovery."
Ronald Reagan is not far right. He was near where Hillary is today, and would be drummed out of anything run by Cruz. Goldwater was responsible compared to Cruz. These Republicans are way past anything we've seen before.
Why? It is entirely and completely the fault of the political Establishment. In both parties, it has outraged vast numbers of voters. It has ignored, even denied their problems and concerns. It takes care of itself, and its donors, not what voters care about.
This is because the Establishment of both parties has disconnected from voters. That fissure left an opening that is being exploited by opportunists and self promoters.
There is only one candidate who is rising to the challenge of that fissure in the way a statesman rises to lead a nation -- and this paper does not support him. It supports the massive failures of the Establishment that has created this problem over years.
Bernie Sanders is the only one who faces this problem without exploiting it for himself. There is room for more to do that. Sanders does not have all the answers, and is not the perfect candidate. He is the only one we've got who is both facing the problems for us, and not using them for himself. A statesman. Not perfects, but the only one we've got.
The other half is the voter perspective from Main Street, the vast number of people who did not recover in the "Recovery."
Ronald Reagan is not far right. He was near where Hillary is today, and would be drummed out of anything run by Cruz. Goldwater was responsible compared to Cruz. These Republicans are way past anything we've seen before.
Why? It is entirely and completely the fault of the political Establishment. In both parties, it has outraged vast numbers of voters. It has ignored, even denied their problems and concerns. It takes care of itself, and its donors, not what voters care about.
This is because the Establishment of both parties has disconnected from voters. That fissure left an opening that is being exploited by opportunists and self promoters.
There is only one candidate who is rising to the challenge of that fissure in the way a statesman rises to lead a nation -- and this paper does not support him. It supports the massive failures of the Establishment that has created this problem over years.
Bernie Sanders is the only one who faces this problem without exploiting it for himself. There is room for more to do that. Sanders does not have all the answers, and is not the perfect candidate. He is the only one we've got who is both facing the problems for us, and not using them for himself. A statesman. Not perfects, but the only one we've got.
69
It's refreshing to see Reagan described as "far right."
Thank you Mr. Edsall.
As for Sanders, though, he's a more modern New Deal Democrat!
I think it's just that the pendulum has swung so far to the Right, again since the "Reagan Revolution," that Bernie Sanders seems as far out as Cruz.
He really isn't, and, he's well within acceptable and time-tested American political philosophy. Even Richard Nixon believed in universal health care. Wealthy people in the past paid much higher tax rates, including under Republican presidents, which of course benefited the country greatly as it allowed for great infrastructure projects, space and other scientific exploration, technological leaps into the future.
Unfortunately, Reagan brought with him not only voodoo economics but the idea that government is always the problem, never the solution - which is manifestly untrue. And somewhere along the line we're acquired the bizarre notion that the US would be better served by "starving the beast," in short depriving the Federal government of tax funds.
That's an insane idea. So is allowing people to take over the our precious national parks, forests and other publicly owned land. Refusing to deal with climate change and other pollution, advocating torture and bigotry, essentially turning women into slaves of men who would force us to bear children, and otherwise rob people of their rights - those are not reasonable ideas.
Thank you Mr. Edsall.
As for Sanders, though, he's a more modern New Deal Democrat!
I think it's just that the pendulum has swung so far to the Right, again since the "Reagan Revolution," that Bernie Sanders seems as far out as Cruz.
He really isn't, and, he's well within acceptable and time-tested American political philosophy. Even Richard Nixon believed in universal health care. Wealthy people in the past paid much higher tax rates, including under Republican presidents, which of course benefited the country greatly as it allowed for great infrastructure projects, space and other scientific exploration, technological leaps into the future.
Unfortunately, Reagan brought with him not only voodoo economics but the idea that government is always the problem, never the solution - which is manifestly untrue. And somewhere along the line we're acquired the bizarre notion that the US would be better served by "starving the beast," in short depriving the Federal government of tax funds.
That's an insane idea. So is allowing people to take over the our precious national parks, forests and other publicly owned land. Refusing to deal with climate change and other pollution, advocating torture and bigotry, essentially turning women into slaves of men who would force us to bear children, and otherwise rob people of their rights - those are not reasonable ideas.
47
I do not like thee, Mr. Cruz.
The reason why, I cannot choose.
But this I know, you will abuse.
I do not like thee, Mr. Cruz.
...apologies to Ted Brown.
The reason why, I cannot choose.
But this I know, you will abuse.
I do not like thee, Mr. Cruz.
...apologies to Ted Brown.
18
If Cruz has a 20-1 shot a being President, what about Trump who displays his racism and bigotry with every breath he takes.. unless of course he is merely spouting vulgar misogynistic phrases that randomly enter his stream of unconsciousness. Are you saying Cruz who stands on stage with Pastor Swanson advocating the death penalty for gays and lesbians has less of a chance than Trump who hates just about everybody? What a dilemma!!
15
So -- if you stand on stage with someone, you automatically support everything they do or think.
That means when Hillary Clinton stood on stage with Lena Dunham, Hillary was going to take all of her clothes off, and then create an HBO series about young women in Brooklyn.
That means when Hillary Clinton stood on stage with Lena Dunham, Hillary was going to take all of her clothes off, and then create an HBO series about young women in Brooklyn.
CC- don't be so obtuse!! Cruz is ENDORSED by Kevin Swanson and is PROUD of it. He is PROUD of being endorsed by "Operation Rescue" a domestic terrorist organization that calls for the death of doctors who perform abortions. They even have a hit list of doctors they wish to murder. He is PROUD of and BRAGS about these endorsements so therefore he must agree with their dangerous agendas. Cruz is the most dangerous of any of those running for president and will cause unprecedented damage to our country if elected president and, God forbid, gaining control of the three branches of government. How anyone can support such a vicious, dangerous candidate is beyond my comprehension.
10
@sharon You are correct. Carpet Bomber Cruz is obsessed by the death penalty and much has been written about it even in the NYT. He is only attractive to the most extreme Christian Evangelists. and would represent a true threat to religious freedom in the US.
4
This election will depend more than ever on motivated voters showing up on election day. Republicans have a track record of rallying behind their candidates, and to quote Tina Turner, "What's love got to do with it?"
Republicans do not like nuance or compromise in their candidates, so to hold his base Cruz must be unrelenting clear to the 1% corporate owners that he is their man, rain or shine, and his anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-you-name-it rhetoric must be unwavering to sustain the social-issue Republican base. That is about all it takes.
Gore Vidal once asserted that if the United States ever created a counterpart to Adolf Hitler, such a politician would not be a shrieking manic like Der Fuhrer, but a reassuring smooth-talker in the style of the 1950s radio personality Arthur Godfrey. If so, this may be Cruz's chance...
Republicans do not like nuance or compromise in their candidates, so to hold his base Cruz must be unrelenting clear to the 1% corporate owners that he is their man, rain or shine, and his anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-you-name-it rhetoric must be unwavering to sustain the social-issue Republican base. That is about all it takes.
Gore Vidal once asserted that if the United States ever created a counterpart to Adolf Hitler, such a politician would not be a shrieking manic like Der Fuhrer, but a reassuring smooth-talker in the style of the 1950s radio personality Arthur Godfrey. If so, this may be Cruz's chance...
17
The American People hereby cordially invite our Elite to the Loser's Ball. We've been here for 20 years of slow degradation. Come join us for some fun!
3
Did any readers see David Brooks on PBS NewsHour tonight? Brooks was so confident that Cruz wd emotionally never be able to get out of his far-right cocoon, that Cruz didn't have a chance to be the GOP contender....it was rather "delicious" to hear Brooks speak this way from my Democratic point of view.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/shields-and-brooks-on-new-hampshires-prim...
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/shields-and-brooks-on-new-hampshires-prim...
1
I love it when a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat tells Republicans whom they shouldn't nominate.
3
Apparently you repubs don't have the sense to help yourselves.
13
"The Republican National Committee and other conservative groups are ... supporting Bernie Sanders on the calculation that he would be a much weaker general election candidate than Clinton."
Why does the Republican Party always feel that it has to rely on deceipt, lies, obstruction, and manipulation in order to win elections? Can't they for once try to win honestly and honorably? If not, it's time for them to embrace their real minority party status for this will come to pass sooner rather than later.
Why does the Republican Party always feel that it has to rely on deceipt, lies, obstruction, and manipulation in order to win elections? Can't they for once try to win honestly and honorably? If not, it's time for them to embrace their real minority party status for this will come to pass sooner rather than later.
72
"Why does the Republican Party always feel that it has to rely on deceit, lies, obstruction, and manipulation in order to win elections?"
Because they have been running really awful candidates.
Because they have been running really awful candidates.
5
The real question that remains is why are many Republican leaders pushing Sanders as the Democratic nominee? Is it because they are desperate to win the general election and see this as their only chance? As repugnant as many of us think these Republicans are, they aren't stupid.
2
The way the Republicans could get their way in national govt. would be to have what they have now, a Republican, conservative Congress, and combine it with a moderately right wing president. Well, there aren't many moderates to choose from among those running, but even someone who pretends to be moderate would do. Then, they could bit by bit, bill by bill, work their way. Over 4 yrs. the right would get most of what it wanted, then voters could then whether they were disgusted or not and another round of elections could follow.
Instead, a major faction of the Republican party wants to risk defeat in the name of getting everything on their shopping list, a list that has been in front of their eyes, and growing, since the days of Ronnie Reagan. Purity has been the chant heard in Republican circles every time they've lost: the candidates weren't pure enough, they weren't true conservatives.
Could it be that America has consistently rejected right wing candidates because they don't want them? The two Bushes pretended to (some) moderation and Reagan himself was willing to compromise. There is simply no way that the dreams of far right Republicans can come true unless they can command 60%+ of the vote for Congress and president.
You don't win the presidency by scaring the pants off a majority of voters. Democrats and independents, with Cruz nominated, would bum rush the voting booths like a third rate college team that just beat the SuperBowl champs going for the goal posts.
Instead, a major faction of the Republican party wants to risk defeat in the name of getting everything on their shopping list, a list that has been in front of their eyes, and growing, since the days of Ronnie Reagan. Purity has been the chant heard in Republican circles every time they've lost: the candidates weren't pure enough, they weren't true conservatives.
Could it be that America has consistently rejected right wing candidates because they don't want them? The two Bushes pretended to (some) moderation and Reagan himself was willing to compromise. There is simply no way that the dreams of far right Republicans can come true unless they can command 60%+ of the vote for Congress and president.
You don't win the presidency by scaring the pants off a majority of voters. Democrats and independents, with Cruz nominated, would bum rush the voting booths like a third rate college team that just beat the SuperBowl champs going for the goal posts.
12
If the conservative Republican dog catches the car that is abortion and bans it in California expect the car to back up and run over the dog. Many times.
We giggle and shake our heads about it in Texas and Mississippi, but it would be open warfare to ban it here. It won't stand.
We giggle and shake our heads about it in Texas and Mississippi, but it would be open warfare to ban it here. It won't stand.
9
Uh, California is a one party state -- all Democrat, all the time -- and no Republican even holds office.
According to the front page today, California has FREE abortions paid for by the state for poor women (unlike the other 49 states), and subsidizes abortion costs for the working poor. They are in the process of banning abortion-alternative clinics, in favor of those that promote abortion.
They are the MOST pro-abortion state in the union. So what you say (CA banning abortion) will happen....oh...never.
According to the front page today, California has FREE abortions paid for by the state for poor women (unlike the other 49 states), and subsidizes abortion costs for the working poor. They are in the process of banning abortion-alternative clinics, in favor of those that promote abortion.
They are the MOST pro-abortion state in the union. So what you say (CA banning abortion) will happen....oh...never.
@CC - ever heard of Arnold Schwarzenegger - the Governator? Guess not. Might want to check out his party affiliation and offices held next time before you quote "facts."
5
To paint Sanders as a loser you show the polls that say he is running behind Clinton in the primaries, but you don't show the polls that say he wins and she loses in the general election. You say Sanders would bring "striking liabilities" into the general election but it seems you think Clinton is well loved by all.
What about Tom Edsall? I think he is stacking the deck.
What about Tom Edsall? I think he is stacking the deck.
15
Nationwide, the Quinnipiac poll from about a week ago shows Sanders effectively tied with Clinton -- Clinton leads by a margin less than the margin of error of the poll.
1
As are literally ALL OF THE NYT columnists. Amazing, isn't it? Even the two so-called conservatives (*really NOT conservative at all, but social liberals who are moderate on financial issues) are pro-Hillary. Brooks has a HIllary crush that is downright embarrassing.
ALL the columnists appear to have been instructed to bash every GOP candidate -- some in absolutely vicious ways, with name-calling and ridicule -- and ignore Bernie Sanders ("maybe he'll just go away").
The NYT has clearly invested itself very deeply in Hillary, and has not come to terms yet with her opposition. They seem to have gotten the impression that "it is her time", and that it means "she has the right to run unopposed -- in her own party AND for the election".
They are wrong.
ALL the columnists appear to have been instructed to bash every GOP candidate -- some in absolutely vicious ways, with name-calling and ridicule -- and ignore Bernie Sanders ("maybe he'll just go away").
The NYT has clearly invested itself very deeply in Hillary, and has not come to terms yet with her opposition. They seem to have gotten the impression that "it is her time", and that it means "she has the right to run unopposed -- in her own party AND for the election".
They are wrong.
2
If they are the "pragmatic wing" why do they lose all the time?
4
Cruz--like virtually all of the other "conservatives" on the Republican side--is no conservative. Hoping for the olden days when abortion and homosexuality were illegal, when air and water pollution and car safety went mostly unregulated, when The Lord's Prayer was mandatory in schools, and when a social safety net was all but nonexistent is not conservative in any way. It's reactionary at best, troglodytic at worst. Calling these jokers "conservative" makes them sound reasonable. They're not. Start calling them out as the reactionaries they actually are.
297
I agree, Owl, except please do not insult troglodytes, they were better than you think.
3
Cruz is like a teenage boy in the throes of puberty who thinks he knows more than anyone else and that the world should revolve around him. This country needs and deserves something better than a man who has the maturity level of an hormonal adolescent.
153
The same could be said of Trump. And between these two we have the candidates favored by well over 50% of Republicans, according to polls. I guess Republicans' inner bullies come out in their support of Donald and Ted. What does this say about conservatives and Republicans? The GOP has certainly become the party of Trump, Cruz and bullying. End of story.
3
Yes ok I guess I have to throw my support to Cruz. It may be the best shot we have at bringing the House and Senate under Democratic control again.
95
Yeah, I would not do that. The damage that Cruz would do if elected is not worth hoped for benefits from his general election loss.
I'm trying to think of someone who has run for president and been less prepared to be president than Trump. Drawing a blank.
82
Of course Obama was full of actual accomplishments and relevant experience...
Obama's credentials appear to have been his color, hatred of the USA and Marxist principles. People who supported him then and now are either pathologically stupid or enemies of the high moral principles of equality under the law and individual liberty.
Obama's credentials appear to have been his color, hatred of the USA and Marxist principles. People who supported him then and now are either pathologically stupid or enemies of the high moral principles of equality under the law and individual liberty.
2
McCain.
4
Bruce: Clearly, the only thing you get right about Obama is his color.
11
A negative article on Ted Cruz !
I guess the plus is the NYT is at least is acknowledging him after the unprecedented Clinton/Trump 7 days a week coverage.
Folks, go back and read what the candidates wrote prior to the election and decide how their positions stand with yours.
This was the article I read in 2013 in the Washington Post that had me start to follow Ted Cruz's political career... It is the most well thought out nuanced article that I have read in a long time.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/34750cde-1972-11e3-a628-7e…
Now, consider the Iowa Republican caucus. I know most of you didn't follow the details of it. But, only one Republican stayed true to his principles.
Iowa is all about ethanol ( corn ) subsidies. Great for Iowa when the US government pays for the subsidies, but bad for the taxpayer in higher taxes and higher food costs at the supermarket.
Trump said he was against special interests. That lasted all of a few weeks before he got to Iowa, and become the Republican who supported Ethanol subsidies.
The Governor of Iowa.. whose son is in the ... Ethanol business.. endorsed Trump and openly said it was about Ethanol.
Ted Cruz stayed true to the principles of conservatism.
( foreign concept here, I know...)
True conservatism is not supporting special interests.
He said Ethanol would be phased out over 5 years ( to work with those who had contracts) .
Most politicians would give up their values to win a vote.
Ted Cruz did not.
I guess the plus is the NYT is at least is acknowledging him after the unprecedented Clinton/Trump 7 days a week coverage.
Folks, go back and read what the candidates wrote prior to the election and decide how their positions stand with yours.
This was the article I read in 2013 in the Washington Post that had me start to follow Ted Cruz's political career... It is the most well thought out nuanced article that I have read in a long time.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/…/34750cde-1972-11e3-a628-7e…
Now, consider the Iowa Republican caucus. I know most of you didn't follow the details of it. But, only one Republican stayed true to his principles.
Iowa is all about ethanol ( corn ) subsidies. Great for Iowa when the US government pays for the subsidies, but bad for the taxpayer in higher taxes and higher food costs at the supermarket.
Trump said he was against special interests. That lasted all of a few weeks before he got to Iowa, and become the Republican who supported Ethanol subsidies.
The Governor of Iowa.. whose son is in the ... Ethanol business.. endorsed Trump and openly said it was about Ethanol.
Ted Cruz stayed true to the principles of conservatism.
( foreign concept here, I know...)
True conservatism is not supporting special interests.
He said Ethanol would be phased out over 5 years ( to work with those who had contracts) .
Most politicians would give up their values to win a vote.
Ted Cruz did not.
2
To be honest I don't trust him. Awhile ago he pushed the idea of turning over the SS fund to wall street. Another time he said he wants to eliminate all regulations. How do you think that is going to work out?
18
Were I considering Cruz for a position at my company, regardless of other factors, I would take the overwhelmingly negative references--from seemingly every single person who every worked with or near him, ever--as a gigantic red flag.
291
So well thought and said, in so few words.
2
It's not his extremism that is attracting and winning voters, it is Ted Cruz's hard work and his undiscussed exceptional organizational skills. He organizes county by county. He has at least one pastor in each county who sells and supports his message. He enlists 100s of volunteers. More than any of the Republican candidates, he understands politics is retail.
Trump missed this point and lost in Iowa. The others rely too much on the money paradigm, broadcast ads, super-PACs, media messaging, the tools that President Obama twice showed could be easily defeated. Right now, Cruz's ground game is winning; his message reinforces and amplifies the teams that do the work of convincing their neighbors that Cruz's anti-democratic positions are only defiant to the mainstream, a message they have grown accustomed to hearing but until Cruz had seldom seen acted upon.
Politics is focused on inconsistencies. Cruz's rigid line on his many positions make him difficult to attack by candidates who do not want to appear weak or eager to appease the middle. The irony is the guy who is the most extreme is the least vulnerable!
Trump missed this point and lost in Iowa. The others rely too much on the money paradigm, broadcast ads, super-PACs, media messaging, the tools that President Obama twice showed could be easily defeated. Right now, Cruz's ground game is winning; his message reinforces and amplifies the teams that do the work of convincing their neighbors that Cruz's anti-democratic positions are only defiant to the mainstream, a message they have grown accustomed to hearing but until Cruz had seldom seen acted upon.
Politics is focused on inconsistencies. Cruz's rigid line on his many positions make him difficult to attack by candidates who do not want to appear weak or eager to appease the middle. The irony is the guy who is the most extreme is the least vulnerable!
111
Trump was never going to win Iowa, he's not evangelical. Huckabee, Santorum, and Cruz all are, which is why the won, period. Iowa has once again proven how irrelevant it is. Cruz's slimy campaign tactics apparently only work in Iowa, and who knows how many votes he stole from Carson with that lie about Carson quitting the races. I do not find Cruz impressive, he's a cheating liar and he's going to get pummeled.
In fact Cruz and Rubio each spent $15 million in Iowa, while Trump spent less than $10 million and he had a very weak ground game, yet he still came in second.
Only once in the past 16 years has an Iowa GOP caucus winner gone on to win New Hampshire. That was George W Bush running as the incumbent. Cruz's fate will become that of Huckabee and Santorum who now, as past Iowa caucus "winners" compete for last place in Iowa. Believe I'm glad Cruz is running, he's clearly helping the Democrats.
In fact Cruz and Rubio each spent $15 million in Iowa, while Trump spent less than $10 million and he had a very weak ground game, yet he still came in second.
Only once in the past 16 years has an Iowa GOP caucus winner gone on to win New Hampshire. That was George W Bush running as the incumbent. Cruz's fate will become that of Huckabee and Santorum who now, as past Iowa caucus "winners" compete for last place in Iowa. Believe I'm glad Cruz is running, he's clearly helping the Democrats.
5
Dear Walter:
As I was reading your comment, I mentally inserted two words, specifically in your last sentence: "The irony is the guy who is the most [loathsome] extreme is the [most] least vulnerable!"
I guess I'm just suffering from hopefulness and self-delusion.
As I was reading your comment, I mentally inserted two words, specifically in your last sentence: "The irony is the guy who is the most [loathsome] extreme is the [most] least vulnerable!"
I guess I'm just suffering from hopefulness and self-delusion.
1
"He has at least one pastor in each county who sells and supports his message."
And we give churches a free pass on taxes... why?
And we give churches a free pass on taxes... why?
6
Politics is a complex system, and complex systems are subject to disease. He's like a bug in a computer program, or sand in the gears, or a virus in the body. Cruz isn't someone we vote for. He's something we come down with. Right now he's a tickle in the throat that may be nothing, or that may be a harbinger of a long and miserable illness for which there is no quick cure.
Our system has been weakened by years of congressional inflammation that started as an immune reaction to Barack Obama. The system recognized him as an outsider, an invading organism that was not of the body. Defenses were mobilized. There was a swelling in the ranks of conservatives that caused pain and made movement difficult. Government came to a halt.
We were in pain not caused by Obama, but by the reaction to him. But when people are in pain, they'll try anything to eliminate it. Millions of people are willing to vote for candidates who despise the government they want to run. Cruz even shut it down.
Cruz is the antithesis of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He's a human wrecking ball that will take down the wall between church and state.
The cure is a massive dose of democratic socialism. You may feel a Berning sensation, but that's part of the healing process.
Our system has been weakened by years of congressional inflammation that started as an immune reaction to Barack Obama. The system recognized him as an outsider, an invading organism that was not of the body. Defenses were mobilized. There was a swelling in the ranks of conservatives that caused pain and made movement difficult. Government came to a halt.
We were in pain not caused by Obama, but by the reaction to him. But when people are in pain, they'll try anything to eliminate it. Millions of people are willing to vote for candidates who despise the government they want to run. Cruz even shut it down.
Cruz is the antithesis of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. He's a human wrecking ball that will take down the wall between church and state.
The cure is a massive dose of democratic socialism. You may feel a Berning sensation, but that's part of the healing process.
711
Always the best.
4
Awesome!
4
A desperate Republican party decided in 2008 to align itself with the racist backlash against a Black man, with a Muslim name and devote it's resources and narrative to focus on the hatred that they could generate from racists and bigots. Republicans chose to become a party without any principles that would do anything to survive. Racial hatred, hatred of Muslims, immigrants, and exploitation of religious superstitions and beliefs, exploitation of ignorance and fear, deliberate generation of fear and terror were and are the primary message of the Republican party. Shutting down the government on the principle that we must reduce the budget despite the cost of the shutdown, over $20 billion, was an example of the self destructive arrogance that holds the Republican party in it's grip. Undermining the ACA to the harm to Americans in states stupid enough to refuse it's savings, subverting American foreign policy, collaborating with the Ayatollahs in opposing the Iran nuclear deal, violating Constitutional prerogatives of the Executive with a seditious letter to Iranian extremists, and aligning itself with the polluting coal industry, the Republican party has proven it's willingness to abandon the traditions of our Nation, the principles of democracy, science, and common decency to survive. Surviving, Republicans have become vile unscrupulous enemies of all things American. Cruz is a natural outcome.
501
If Cruz is the nominee and the Republicans go down to defeat, the Tea Party will have to conjure up the ghost of Robespierre to find anyone sufficiently conservative to carry their banner in 2020.
139
Don't tempt them.
3
I get it. Ted Cruz is the conservative’s conservative.
But it seems that everyone but the most excessive conservatives can’t stand the thought of him gaining the nomination – it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that a lot of Republicans, when faced with the choice, would rather have Hillary run on BOTH Democratic AND Republican lines rather than take the chance of a Cruz presidency. Heck, Ed Koch did it in the NYC mayoral election of 1981 and garnered a vote from me, only the second time in a lifetime that I’ve voted for a Democrat. I was pretty satisfied with the consequences of THAT vote.
If Ted Cruz were to be nominated, I’d be forced to vote for a Democrat for a third time, provided that Democrat was Hillary. If the contest winds up Cruz against Bernie, I figure we will deserve the catastrophe an unlimited franchise has brought down on us, and I’d write-in Jeb Bush’s name, for what it would be worth.
So, let’s keep it sensible, shall we? Ideally, Hillary on the left and any of the Republican governors on the right, preferably Jeb! In such a case, we couldn’t go TOO far wrong.
But it seems that everyone but the most excessive conservatives can’t stand the thought of him gaining the nomination – it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that a lot of Republicans, when faced with the choice, would rather have Hillary run on BOTH Democratic AND Republican lines rather than take the chance of a Cruz presidency. Heck, Ed Koch did it in the NYC mayoral election of 1981 and garnered a vote from me, only the second time in a lifetime that I’ve voted for a Democrat. I was pretty satisfied with the consequences of THAT vote.
If Ted Cruz were to be nominated, I’d be forced to vote for a Democrat for a third time, provided that Democrat was Hillary. If the contest winds up Cruz against Bernie, I figure we will deserve the catastrophe an unlimited franchise has brought down on us, and I’d write-in Jeb Bush’s name, for what it would be worth.
So, let’s keep it sensible, shall we? Ideally, Hillary on the left and any of the Republican governors on the right, preferably Jeb! In such a case, we couldn’t go TOO far wrong.
27
Ted Cruz is not the conservative's conservative.
There are not enough conservatives in the Republican party for that to work.
But, consider the budget deal that just got passed.
Everyone went yea... Dems and Republicans worked together :)
Except the Obama/Boehner Budget was not a good thing.
We are at 17 TRILLION IN DEBT, THIS BRINGS US UP TO ABOUT 22 TRILLION. GREECE BABY....
It was passed by a 64-35 vote in the U.S. Senate, and the budget deal will eliminate the debt ceiling until 2017, well into the next presidential term when Barack Obama will be out of office. How Convenient.
18 Republicans voted for a budget that will saddle our children with an enormous debt........
Senator Ted Cruz voted no.
Senator Rubio was absent that day from the Senate..
There are not enough conservatives in the Republican party for that to work.
But, consider the budget deal that just got passed.
Everyone went yea... Dems and Republicans worked together :)
Except the Obama/Boehner Budget was not a good thing.
We are at 17 TRILLION IN DEBT, THIS BRINGS US UP TO ABOUT 22 TRILLION. GREECE BABY....
It was passed by a 64-35 vote in the U.S. Senate, and the budget deal will eliminate the debt ceiling until 2017, well into the next presidential term when Barack Obama will be out of office. How Convenient.
18 Republicans voted for a budget that will saddle our children with an enormous debt........
Senator Ted Cruz voted no.
Senator Rubio was absent that day from the Senate..
1
Republicans do not like Hillary. They hold her responsible for the torture and killing of the US ambassador. I know many liberals sneer at the word "Benghazi" but a killing is a killing and liberal sneering will not make the ambassador come back to life.
Hell, Richard, I would even vote for Bernie Sanders instead of Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz.
And as long as we're in hypothetical territory, the same goes for Donald John Trump, Marco Antonio Rubio, John Ellis "Jeb" Bush and all the other Republicants. Primarily because he only has one forename, even though Bernard Sanders is not an incognitomen.
And as long as we're in hypothetical territory, the same goes for Donald John Trump, Marco Antonio Rubio, John Ellis "Jeb" Bush and all the other Republicants. Primarily because he only has one forename, even though Bernard Sanders is not an incognitomen.
2
“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party.... it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”
― Barry Goldwater, 1994
Ted Cruz frightens Barry Goldwater.....and Senator Goldwater has been dead for over 20 years.
Pastor-In-Chief Cruz has no chance of being elected President; he is a far-right, religious whacko bird.
Cruz’s opposition to abortion in the case of rape and incest qualifies him automatically for deep intensive psychotherapy and electric shock therapy.
Who else does the GOP have left ?
Marco Rubio's Ken Doll expiration date has passed.
Jeb?
Kasich is at least reasonable, except for his fondness for forced pregnancies in Ohio and the fact that he was a Lehman Brothers managing director from 2001 until the firm's epic collapse in September 2008.
It's a Trumpolini year for the Greed Over People party in 2016; and Donald will Make America Great Again apparently by saying he'll Make America Great Again - no details or specifics or plans need apply.
There hasn't been any 'there' there in the Republican Party for many decades.
2016 will be a Democratic Year, and if Bernie Sanders is the nominee, the whole nation may Feel The Bern strongly enough to sweep in a Democratic Congress.
Political revolutions are fun.
― Barry Goldwater, 1994
Ted Cruz frightens Barry Goldwater.....and Senator Goldwater has been dead for over 20 years.
Pastor-In-Chief Cruz has no chance of being elected President; he is a far-right, religious whacko bird.
Cruz’s opposition to abortion in the case of rape and incest qualifies him automatically for deep intensive psychotherapy and electric shock therapy.
Who else does the GOP have left ?
Marco Rubio's Ken Doll expiration date has passed.
Jeb?
Kasich is at least reasonable, except for his fondness for forced pregnancies in Ohio and the fact that he was a Lehman Brothers managing director from 2001 until the firm's epic collapse in September 2008.
It's a Trumpolini year for the Greed Over People party in 2016; and Donald will Make America Great Again apparently by saying he'll Make America Great Again - no details or specifics or plans need apply.
There hasn't been any 'there' there in the Republican Party for many decades.
2016 will be a Democratic Year, and if Bernie Sanders is the nominee, the whole nation may Feel The Bern strongly enough to sweep in a Democratic Congress.
Political revolutions are fun.
559
The arsonist believes that playing with fire is fun.
1
Socrates-his opposition to an IUD is frightening as well. My daughter takes migraine medication. She has been emphatically warned by her doctor to NOT become pregnant since her medication causes severe birth defects. Her medication also renders birth control, the Pill, ineffective. She has had to use the morning after pill a few times when the condom her husband was using broke. She has recently been fitted with an IUD to avoid a disastrous pregnancy that would lead to an extremely deformed baby. How dare Cruz or anyone else in government force my daughter to take these unacceptable risks. How dare Cruz, Rubio, Kasich and the rest decide who forcibly gives birth to a child she feels she is unable to care for or must forcibly sacrifice her life for if a pregnancy has gone horribly wrong. I am pro choice not pro abortion as so many conservatives refer to it. I have 5 children, 2 due to contraception failure. While I would never have considered aborting my unplanned pregnancy I have no right to force my choice on others. However if I had been pregnant with a severely handicapped child or my pregnancy was endangering my life I would regrettably have chosen abortion. None in government, especially MEN, have the right to control a woman's choice if she is physically, emotionally or financially unable to care for an unplanned or a severely damaged baby. Being a parent is a life time commitment only the parents can make and none of these authoritarian despots business.
7
You are 3/4 right, respectable but less than your usual level of accuracy. No matter which Caliban the GOP nominates, Bernie is unelectable. The fact that he is a self-proclaimed socialist (whatever that may mean) makes him anathema to the self-destructive white working people in places that do not border on saltwater - or even in a lot of places that do. And they haven't even talked about his accent or religion yet.
Let's do the math. The only states that Bernie would have a reasonable chance of winning are CA, MA, RI, HI, and VT = 77 electoral votes. Be optimistic and add NY and CT and you get 113 EVs. A putative liberal third-party candidate like Bloomberg would make it worse. A conservative third party candidate could make it closer, but could also throw the election into the House, which would certainly support the GOP nomination.
I like Bernie; but if he gets the nomination the people feeling the Bern for another generation will be the increasing portion of Americans without health care, financial security, or hope. For all but the wealthy, it's Hillary or hell.
Let's do the math. The only states that Bernie would have a reasonable chance of winning are CA, MA, RI, HI, and VT = 77 electoral votes. Be optimistic and add NY and CT and you get 113 EVs. A putative liberal third-party candidate like Bloomberg would make it worse. A conservative third party candidate could make it closer, but could also throw the election into the House, which would certainly support the GOP nomination.
I like Bernie; but if he gets the nomination the people feeling the Bern for another generation will be the increasing portion of Americans without health care, financial security, or hope. For all but the wealthy, it's Hillary or hell.
4
What about a conniver named Cruz?
View him as POTUS? I refuse!
And yet which wannabe
Would you want to see
Steering Ship of State on a cruise.
SuperPac Oligarchs and Poltroons,
Have chosen these supposed boons,
Anyone at the head
Keeps equality dead,
And Cruz sings the worst of the tunes.
View him as POTUS? I refuse!
And yet which wannabe
Would you want to see
Steering Ship of State on a cruise.
SuperPac Oligarchs and Poltroons,
Have chosen these supposed boons,
Anyone at the head
Keeps equality dead,
And Cruz sings the worst of the tunes.
130
Point taken Mr Edsall, on all of this. But don't forget about Michael Bloomberg, who is weighing a third party run, if this race should indeed be it. It would scramble the race even more, and to spell things out more, a brokered GOP convention, another Florida, the election being thrown into the House, and so on.
11
And Hispanics and Cuban exiles are very different things. Very different.
The people who got thrown out of Cuba at the start of the revolution were the 1% of their day.
The people who got thrown out of Cuba at the start of the revolution were the 1% of their day.
20
Van Helsing (aka Ted Cruz) is running for President and the Vampire Establishment (aka the Left) is shifting uneasily in their coffins. If the Vampires played poker like they play politics they would be as bankrupt as a Trump casino project - the tell is the superheated rhetoric used to demonize the candidate who actually believes in liberty, limited government, free enterprise and Western Civilization (prior to it's takeover by the Vampires.) Their words are more snarl than thought, and reek not just of rage but fear. Thus Mr. Edsall calls Ronald Reagan and Ted Cruz "far right". The Left's reaction to authentic conservatism is that of the Vampire to the Cross.
4
@"Mo Gravy" (where do conservatives come up with these pseudonyms?): Do you sincerely believe that those of us on the left are frightened of Cruz? The fact is we're praying that he gets your party's nomination. Don't know about those "less-authentic" conservatives in Washington however (e.g., those who would deprive the poor of necessary SNAP benefits but might be moved to toss a starving individual a can of dog food). If the general election were to be thrown to the House of Reprehensibles, a Republican majority might well hand the keys to the White House to Hillary or Bernie before they'd turn them over to the despised and despicable Senor Cruz.
198
I think you have your images backward. Cruz looks more like Bela especially when he forces a smile. And Bernie is the Van Helsing trying to stop the draining of the life blood of the 99%.This is what I see Mo.
86
Whoa. Vampires now? Is that you Ted Nugent?
Cruz, sir, doesn't believe in liberty at all. He believes in the oppression of 50% of us, ie, women. You seem to believe in the oppression of non-Christians, which is also not freedom.
Certain people, including Mr. Cruz, seem to have some confusion about the 1st Amendment, the part where is says, "Separation of Church and State." This means people have freedom to worship but it also means, people have freedom from religion - it doesn't mean, the religious get to wield the power of the state to bother everybody else.
This especially applies to people who refer to their fellow Americans as "Vampires."
Anyway, a person who costs the American people 16 billion dollars while he indulges his desire to read Dr. Seuss in Congress is not fit to be President of this great nation.
Cruz, sir, doesn't believe in liberty at all. He believes in the oppression of 50% of us, ie, women. You seem to believe in the oppression of non-Christians, which is also not freedom.
Certain people, including Mr. Cruz, seem to have some confusion about the 1st Amendment, the part where is says, "Separation of Church and State." This means people have freedom to worship but it also means, people have freedom from religion - it doesn't mean, the religious get to wield the power of the state to bother everybody else.
This especially applies to people who refer to their fellow Americans as "Vampires."
Anyway, a person who costs the American people 16 billion dollars while he indulges his desire to read Dr. Seuss in Congress is not fit to be President of this great nation.
135
Why the bright line rule at conception? Why not acknowledge that each egg and sperm is in fact a unique human being? Why not criminalize menstruation and male masturbation as murder? Why not?
327
And criminalize cold showers!
38
Because every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great
If a sperm is wasted
God gets quite irate
- Monty Python, The Meaning of Life, 1983
Every sperm is great
If a sperm is wasted
God gets quite irate
- Monty Python, The Meaning of Life, 1983
41
50% of the women in this country are pro life and 50% are pro choice.
So, if you are 50% of the population ( that pay taxes equally ) would you want your tax money to go for partial birth abortion ( abortion in the third trimester).
Conservatives are not saying you can't have a partial birth abortion.
But, a conservative doesn't want her state money to provide for a public partial birth abortion. They oppose their tax money paying for it.
So, if you are 50% of the population ( that pay taxes equally ) would you want your tax money to go for partial birth abortion ( abortion in the third trimester).
Conservatives are not saying you can't have a partial birth abortion.
But, a conservative doesn't want her state money to provide for a public partial birth abortion. They oppose their tax money paying for it.
1
I think in a match up with Sanders and Cruz, our center-right electorate would overwhelming vote for Cruz. Recall in 1979, many Republicans felt that Reagan was unelectable.
19
Precisely. The author seems to think this is a Cruz hit piece; it is, in fact, a campaign ad for Cruz.
For Bob Dole to have an opinion, that's rich considering he represents the beige Buick wing of the Republican Party.
Conservatism wins over watered-down "Democrat Light."
For Bob Dole to have an opinion, that's rich considering he represents the beige Buick wing of the Republican Party.
Conservatism wins over watered-down "Democrat Light."
2
Ted Cruz is too much of a radical and a loose cannon. I think even those on the far right - those who would vote Trump, see him as dangerous. He is also a part of the same establishment voters are spurning, and his sterling arch-conservative voting record doesn't matter.
It's too late for Jeb Bush to make his way back. His performance this past year has weakened him, in addition to the objections voters had to begin with: his family association.
John Kasich did well today in New Hampshire. I don't think he will be able to replicate his success in many more states, certainly not south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Mike Bloomberg has now expressed his lack of confidence in the Clinton campaign both in person and through surrogates before that. He has to decide and sign up by end of March, and that is well before we will know which Democrat is nominated. If Bloomberg gives into his ego, and I believe he will, his entry as an independent will hurt Hillary Clinton.
In a matchup between Sanders and Trump, I see Sanders taking moderate Republican, Independent and Democratic votes. In a three-way match up with Bloomberg running, I see Bloomberg taking a sizable bite out of Trump's voters and a huge Democratic turnout for Bernie.
The pundit class is relying on the wrong portion of history. Look at what got us FDR. That's what gets us Bernie Sanders
--
More on Bloomberg: http://www.rimaregas.com/2016/02/bloomberg-confirms-every-point-sanders-...
It's too late for Jeb Bush to make his way back. His performance this past year has weakened him, in addition to the objections voters had to begin with: his family association.
John Kasich did well today in New Hampshire. I don't think he will be able to replicate his success in many more states, certainly not south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Mike Bloomberg has now expressed his lack of confidence in the Clinton campaign both in person and through surrogates before that. He has to decide and sign up by end of March, and that is well before we will know which Democrat is nominated. If Bloomberg gives into his ego, and I believe he will, his entry as an independent will hurt Hillary Clinton.
In a matchup between Sanders and Trump, I see Sanders taking moderate Republican, Independent and Democratic votes. In a three-way match up with Bloomberg running, I see Bloomberg taking a sizable bite out of Trump's voters and a huge Democratic turnout for Bernie.
The pundit class is relying on the wrong portion of history. Look at what got us FDR. That's what gets us Bernie Sanders
--
More on Bloomberg: http://www.rimaregas.com/2016/02/bloomberg-confirms-every-point-sanders-...
75
I'm wagering that before the primaries are over and done with some emissaries of the Republican "establishment" will go hat in hand to one of Mitt Romney's 47 or so places of residence and beg him to make another run at the White House. "Please, Mitt; we'll even let you take credit for Obamacare this time..."
41
Three billionaires in the same race would be quite the sight, Stu!
16
Jeb Bush has civility, decency and honor.
It is a hard matchup with Trump who talks about "blood coming out of whatever".
But, I wouldn't count him out.
It is a hard matchup with Trump who talks about "blood coming out of whatever".
But, I wouldn't count him out.
1