Tag Archives: Ted Cruz

national news, political news

Boehner spills the beans on Cruz

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I guess the proverbial cat is out of the bag regarding Ted Cruz.

His relationships with fellow lawmakers appears to be, well, in shambles.

Former House Speaker John Boehner calls the junior U.S. senator from Texas “Lucifer in the flesh” and the “most miserable S.O.B” he’s ever known.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/boehner-uncorks-on-%e2%80%98lucifer%e2%80%99-cruz-says-he-wouldn%e2%80%99t-back-him-in-fall/ar-BBsnfD6?li=BBnb7Kz

Yep, and to think that Cruz thinks he can work with the legislative branch of government to enact whatever agenda he proposes if he’s elected president of the United States.

I get that Boehner is just one individual. I also get that Boehner left public office in 2015 after serving a tumultuous tenure as the Man of the House. The tumult, though, seemed to come as much from the TEA Party wing of the GOP as it did from Democrats who sat on the other side of the aisle from Republicans who control Capitol Hill.

Frankly, Boehner’s critique of his former legislative colleague isn’t surprising. Others have offered biting commentary about Cruz’s time in the Senate. They are critical of his grandstanding, showmanship and his theatrics.

Perhaps they are annoyed in the extreme at Cruz’s insistence on criticizing the “establishment wing” of the Republican Party — while serving within that very establishment.

The wackiness of this primary campaign is continuing at full throttle.

Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich have formed a non-aggression pact to deny Donald J. Trump the GOP presidential nomination. They’re tag-teaming in this desperate move to clear the paths for each other to take on Trump in selected remaining primary states.

Trump’s standing within the Republican Party is, well, tenuous.

One of the men who seeks to topple Trump is a politician who engenders the kind of spite that a former leading public figure has just revealed.

 

national news, political news

Cruz-Fiorina: that’s the ticket

fiorinacarly_042716getty

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz wanted to “shake up” the Republican Party presidential primary contest.

So, what does he do?

He selects a former fellow GOP candidate, a failed U.S. Senate candidate and (some would say) a failed business executive as his vice-presidential running mate.

Welcome back to the battle, Carly Fiorina.

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/277956-cruz-rolls-dice-with-fiorina

I don’t have a clue how this will catapult Cruz to the GOP nomination at this stage of the primary campaign.

Donald J. Trump scored a five-state sweep Tuesday. He took several big steps toward cinching the party nomination. So, his main rival picks a has-been candidate to shore up his failing bid?

Go figure.

I’m going to give Fiorina some praise. I thought she was the best candidate of all the then-large GOP crowd during that first debate. When was that again? I can’t remember.

She was on the so-called “happy hour” roster of candidates who didn’t fare as well in public opinion polling as the leaders. I thought she killed it with her crisp answers and command of the facts.

I’m still trying to figure out how she gets past her failed effort at being elected senator from California and her forced resignation as head of Hewlett-Packard.

That initial debate performance was her high-water mark, as near as I can tell.

This is the first time in 40 years that a major-party presidential candidate has named a running mate in advance of the party convention. The last one to do so was former California Gov. Ronald Reagan in 1976, when he picked moderate GOP U.S. Sen. Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania. Reagan still fell short in his effort to topple President Ford in his bid for election that year.

I cannot fathom how this derails Trump.

At least Cruz has enlisted a fearless and ferocious critic of Hillary Clinton.

Come to think of it, that might be Cruz’s strategy: soften up Hillary for Trump.

Before you think that’s an utterly preposterous notion, then consider that Donald J. Trump is about to become the presidential nominee of a once-great American political party.

 

national news, political news

Hell freezes over for one Republican

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It’s official: Hell has frozen over.

A friend called me today. He lives in Gray County, Texas. He’s a long-standing Republican. He then warned me about what was about to come out of his mouth.

“I’m going to vote for Hillary,” he said.

To say I was taken aback would be to commit a profound understatement.

He’s getting ahead of himself just a little bit. My friend presumes that Donald J. Trump will be the Republican Party’s presidential nominee and that Hillary Rodham Clinton will be the Democratic Party’s choice.

He doesn’t like Clinton. My friend said she lies too much and that he doesn’t trust her.

Still, according to my friend, she remains preferable to who he believes — and so do I — is the probable GOP nominee.

“I am not a Trump guy,” my pal said.

There was another element that drove my friend over to the other side. It was the non-aggression pact agreed to by Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich. My friend doesn’t think much of Kasich and he said he voted for Cruz in the Texas GOP primary at the beginning of March. He said he liked Cruz’s claim of being an “outsider.”

Then Cruz struck the deal with Kasich in this last-chance bid to derail Trump. To my friend, that smacked of “establishment politics.” So, his support for Cruz disappeared when he teamed up with Kasich in this stop-Trump gamble.

At one level, his acknowledgement surprises me. At another level, my friend seems to symbolize the national mood about the upcoming contest for the presidency.

He vowed to vote for one of the major-party nominees. He said he didn’t want to “waste my vote” on a fringe candidate; he also said he didn’t want to sit this election out.

Trump’s candidacy has produced this kind of impact with Republicans all over the country. They don’t buy his newfound “conservative values.” They don’t trust him. They are horrified at the things that he has uttered along the campaign trail.

With that, Hillary Rodham Clinton has gained at least one vote from someone in the Texas Panhandle where she likely never thought she would.

Go figure.

national news, political news

‘Tag team’ gangs up against Trump

cruz and kasich

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio have formed a tag team.

The want to stop Donald J. Trump’s march to the Republican Party’s presidential nomination so badly they’re willing to forget the mean things they’ve said about each other.

Will it work? I am not holding my breath for this strategy to cause the sky to crash down on Trump’s campaign.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/04/ted-cruz-john-kasich-team-up-222377

It is an interesting alliance and an interesting strategy.

Kasich is going to bow out of campaigning actively for the Indiana GOP primary in two weeks, intending to leave the field more open to Cruz. Meanwhile, Cruz said he’s going to cede the anti-Trump vote in Oregon and New Mexico to Kasich.

What does this to — or for — Trump? It gives him some ammo to fire in his effort to suggest the GOP primary nomination selection process is “rigged” against him.

Yep, it’s going to fire up those devoted Trumpsters — or should I call them Trumpkins? — who are standing by their man through thick and thin.

My nagging question, though, is this: Suppose this strategy works. Who between the tag-team partners is going to emerge as the top dog in this fight for the party’s presidential nomination?

 

national news, political news

Transgender bathrooms become a POTUS campaign issue?

Transgender-Bathroom-600x321

What in the name of bathroom breaks has happened to the presidential campaign?

Let’s see: Donald J. Trump said something about it being OK with him if a transgender individual wants to use a bathroom that makes him/her comfortable.

Then we hear from fellow Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, who starts peppering Trump with criticism over his statement.

Holy mackerel, man!

First of all, I am not dialed in to this transgender issue. If I were king of the world — which Trump seems to aspire to become — I wouldn’t waste a moment of time worrying about this issue.

Transgenderism isn’t on my radar. I guess if I had to make an argument for it one way or the other, I’d oppose allowing transgender individuals to use whatever rest room they wish.

People are born with certain physical attributes that make them either male or female. I guess physiology rules out over emotional psyche.

OK. That said, why are presidential candidates even talking about this issue?

It won’t matter one bit to any president. This is a state issue exclusively. If there’s a law to be enacted, it will be done by state legislatures and signed into law — or vetoed — by governors.

The LGBT community seems to want to make an issue of it. While I oppose laws aimed at discriminating against Americans based on their sexual orientation, this transgender bathroom issue that has blown up in some states takes this tempest a step too far.

And for the life of me, I don’t understand why presidential candidates are talking about it now.

 

 

national news, political news

Trump needs to play by the rules

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The Republican National Committee says it won’t change the rules governing its upcoming presidential nominating convention.

Nor should it — despite the wailing and whining from Donald J. Trump.

Trump, until this week’s New York primary, hadn’t been faring well in some of the recent primary contests. Sen. Ted Cruz has been scoring a lot of convention delegates through a rules process that’s been written in stone for some time by the RNC.

Trump’s assertion that the process is “rigged,” that it’s a “disgrace” and that it’s a “sham” must be taken with a huge dose of salt.

The man entered the Republican nominating contest knowing — at least he should have known — how the rules work. Had he studied the process he would have crafted a campaign team trained to work within that process and would have been able to compete head-to-head with Cruz’s more experienced campaign staff.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/republican-committee-reject-convention-rules-delegates-222285

Now his campaign’s inexperience has been exposed and so Trump wants to change the rules.

The RNC has declared that the candidate who earns a majority of the delegates at the convention will be nominated. It’s not a plurality contest, which Trump seems to want.

The real estate mogul/reality TV celebrity should have known what to expect going in.

Oh wait. He’s not a politician, right?

That doesn’t excuse his ignorance on how one party’s political process works.

 

national news, political news, State news

Cruz didn’t expect sacrifice when running for POTUS?

cruz

Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren put a funny note out on social media this morning.

It concerns a fundraising message she said went out from the presidential campaign of her fellow senator, Republican Ted Cruz of Texas. It says in part, according to Warren:

“Yesterday, Ted Cruz sent a campaign fundraising email whining about the ‘significant sacrifice’ he’s made to run for President. He whined about facing constant attacks, nonexistent family time, his limited health and sleep, and having no personal time.

“Are you kidding me? We’re supposed to pity him because trying to be the leader of the free world is hard?! I’ve got two words for you, Ted: Boo hoo.”

She goes on to say that those who don’t work for a livable wage are suffering far more than Cruz; she added some other criticism as well.

I just want to focus briefly, though, on the “sacrifice” that Cruz is making while seeking the highest office in the land.

It is just this: He knew going in that he was going to give up family time and personal time, adequate sleep and, yes, he would face “constant attacks.”

He knew the price would be steep.

I’m guessing Cruz’s donors expected him as well to pay that price.

Presidential politics isn’t for the faint-hearted. It’s a tough business.

As another Texan — the late, great U.S. Sen. Lloyd Bentsen — used to say, politics is a “full-contact sport.”

local news, State news

Do these guys represent the state … or not?

Cornyn_jpg_800x1000_q100

Hurricane protection is a real big deal if you live along the Texas coast.

My family and I lived there for nearly 11 years before high-tailing it to the High Plains more than two decades ago. We still have dear friends there who face the threat of being wiped out by killer hurricanes that blow in from the Gulf of Mexico.

The Texas Tribune reports that many of the state’s congressional delegation, including some House representatives from the imperiled region, aren’t yet willing to commit to spending what it takes to protect coastal cities from potential destruction.

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/04/17/congress-mostly-silent-hurricane-protection-texas/

What’s up with that?

They don’t want to spend the money it will take, for example, to buttress the seawall protecting the Houston-Galveston region. It’s not politically prudent, apparently, in this age of penny-pinching for the sake of penny-pinching.

“While state officials say the project enjoys the full support of Texans in Congress, almost every member has been silent on the issue, including those who hold the most sway,” the Tribune reports.

Don’t these individuals represent the state that sends them to Washington to certain things for us, such as argue for legislation that benefits the state?

Sen. John Cornyn, the senior man from Texas, isn’t weighing in on the coastal protection plan. Texas’ other senator, Ted Cruz, is too busy running for president to give much careful thought to the needs of the home folks … or so it seems.

The Tribune reports that Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has placed coastal protection at the top of his own agenda. Bush hopes Cornyn will climb aboard the protection bandwagon. If he does, he figures to bring considerable political clout to the battle, which matters a lot, given that Cornyn is a key member of the Senate Republican leadership team.

The issue is money. As the Tribune reports: “But with a price tag sure to reach into the billions, the spine will almost certainly require a massive infusion of federal money, state officials agree. Whether Texas’ congressional delegation has the political backbone to deliver the cash remains to be seen.”

I’m trying to imagine an earlier generation of Texas pols — guys like Lyndon Johnson and Sam Rayburn — sitting on their hands.

national news, political news

Pass the pills to Rep. King?

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 06: Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz listens at the restaurant Sabrosura 2 on April 6, 2016 in the Bronx borough of New York City. Cruz, who won last night's Wisconsin primary, was visiting New York in advance of New York's Republican primary on April 19, 2016. (Photo by Bryan Thomas/Getty Images)

There’s hyperbole.

Then there’s this, from U.S. Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., about the prospect of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz becoming the Republican Party’s presidential nominee.

King said he might “take cyanide” if Cruz gets nominated.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/276789-rep-pete-king-i-hate-ted-cruz

Holy moly, Congressman. Don’t sugar-coat your feelings.

“I hate Ted Cruz,” King said.

I guess his mother needed to tell young Petey what most of our mothers told the rest of us: “If you can’t say something nice … ”

It must be Cruz’s “New York values” comment that got New Yorkers all riled up. Perhaps it’s the idea that a Texan could lead the party’s election ticket this fall.

I’m pretty sure, though, Cruz’s values statement really got under King’s skin. He said any New Yorker who votes for Cruz should “have their head examined.” That’s a clue, yes?

But then King said some more curious things.

He believes Donald J. Trump will be the GOP nominee, but he’s not “endorsing” his fellow New Yorker. Then King said he voted for Ohio Gov. John Kasich in early voting, but he isn’t endorsing Kasich, either.

A vote isn’t an endorsement? C’mon, Rep. King. Shoot straight with the rest of us. OK?

He said that Kasich would make a “good vice president” running with Trump at the top of the ticket.

King needs to go back just a few days. That was when Kasich said, in effect, that hell would have to freeze over for him to run on a ticket led by Trump.

Well, that’s what Kasich said. Politics, though, does have this way of changing politicians’ minds.

I’m sure, therefore, that Rep. King won’t be popping any poison pills if the Republican Party launches the Cruz Missile at the Democrats this fall.

 

national news, political news

McConnell wants Cruz to be nominated?

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

It must take a lot — as in a whole lot — to make Mitch McConnell angry.

Consider what he has said about the prospects of a contested Republican National Convention this summer.

The U.S. Senate majority leader said he is “optimistic” that the convention will go to a second ballot or even longer as it tries to nominate someone to be the GOP’s next presidential candidate.

What does that mean? It means that Sen. Ted Cruz’s chances of being nominated over Donald J. Trump might be enhanced.

So, why speculate on McConnell’s anger level?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/04/18/jab-at-trump-mcconnell-optimistic-about-contested-convention.html

Cruz has called McConnell a “liar.” Moreover, he recently said he has no intention of taking back that bit of name-calling. He means what he says, Cruz said.

So, it now seems that McConnell is lining up behind his Senate colleague in his fight against Trump.

The Republican presidential primary fight is getting down to brass tacks. Trump and Cruz are running first and second in the fight for the GOP prize. Meanwhile, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is hanging on, hoping that polls that show him as the only GOP contender who can beat Hillary Clinton this fall somehow will persuade convention delegates to defect to his side.

But the Senate’s leading Republican is saying he is “increasingly optimistic” that the convention will turn into a donnybrook.

From where I sit, an expression of optimism means the individual making it wants something to happen.

I guess it can be no secret that McConnell would detest a Trump nomination this fall. It would doom the Republicans’ quest for the White House, not to mention greatly jeopardize the GOP’s control of the Senate.

If, however, the most plausible alternative is Ted Cruz, then that must mean McConnell is ready to forget that Cruz has insulted the majority leader’s character as a human being.

I guess the enemy of one’s enemy really is a friend.