GOP Clown Car Part 10: Ted Cruz

  Of all the candidates in the 2016 election, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas scares me the most. His main goal in the Senate appears to be cause as much chaos as possible. Pushing for a government shutdown over defunding Planned Parenthood is the latest in a series of moves Cruz has used to bring the chaos of the House into the Senate. His tactics are used not only to poke at the Democrats, but also the Republicans. When they try to reign him in, he can claim he is the only true conservative and that the other Republicans have sold out. Given that most of his moves are over the top showy attention getting moves that don't actually accomplish anything it's hard to figure out what he would do when he becomes president. As we have seen with the House struggling to replace Speaker Boehner, you simply can't just obstruct. At some point you have to govern and often times that will mean compromising with the other side. I may not like the idea of what a President Huckabee or President Santorum would do in the White House, I know what agenda they would probably bring to the job. Cruz would represent a different kind of president, who in the Senate has been solidly against the normal mechanisms and protocol of our government.

  Cruz has not gone directly at Donald Trump, and has done nothing to antagonize Trump or his supporters. A lot of people think that is part of his strategy, and when Trump crashes and burns, Cruz will come and in scoop up his supporters. With the base currently liking the outsider candidates, Cruz is trying to play the outsider card. This makes sense seeing that Cruz has pissed off the Senate Republicans as much as the Democrats. For now, Trump keeps defying the the political gravity, but I do think Cruz has a good chance to win at least a good portion of the Trump supporters. How long Trump hangs on will play a big role on how that will play out.

  The bigger question for Cruz and all the other anti-establishment candidates, what happens if you win and you have to deal with Congress to get anything done? The excitement of getting elected will only last so long, and after that, you need to be able to get things done. Knowing that's a given that the Democrats will do absolutely nothing to help you out, that means you have to depend on the Republicans that you have spent years calling squishes and not conservative enough. There would be a honeymoon period, but after that - can you depend on that group to have your back when you spent a lot of time insulting them? If Cruz is able to ride a huge GOP wave into the White House, and the Republicans hang onto both houses of Congress, he will be able get some of his agenda through. Even with majorities in both house things could get bogged down, and  he could face a tough 2018 midterm. However with Cruz being so extreme, it might have the opposite effect in November. Cruz, as the nominee, may scare the rest of the country so much that it creates a Democratic wave that gives us both President Clinton and a chance to at least win back the Senate.

  When you get down to it, Ted Cruz is a bit of a enigma, when it comes to what he is actually trying to achieve with not only his 2016 run, but also his overall goal of his time in DC. Is he that true champion of conservatism, that will fight for the cause until the bitter end or is he just another huckster trying to make as much money as possible off of the rubes? Looking at Cruz's background, he is a smart man, that graduated from Harvard law and was a clerk for Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. With that kind of pedigree he is wasting the advantages he has created for himself just to make money. I will be interested to see how this plays out, because where I could see Ted Cruz taking several paths, hopefully he will not be on the one that leads to the White House.