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Ted and Carly — and Daring
Naming a running mate some three months before the convention makes Ted Cruz look desperate — so goes the charge I’ve encountered on Drudge, in half a dozen reports of the event, and at saturation levels on Facebook and Twitter. You know what? Ted Cruz was — is — desperate. After Cruz’s victory in Wisconsin, a lot of observers (I include myself here) thought that Trump had peaked. He’d win in New York, but probably fail to take much more than 50 percent of the vote even there, in his home state, then sink. Instead Trump won big in New York — very big, even carrying all the upstate congressional districts — and then just yesterday he swept five out of five northeastern primaries. Ted Cruz had to do something. He had to.
Given that exigency, how has Cruz performed? In my judgment, impressively.
Carly Fiorina will give Cruz a couple of entire news cycles, and at a time when Trump would otherwise have dominated the news, that’s invaluable in itself. She also extends a certain appeal to Republican women, among whom she has higher favorability ratings than Cruz himself. She’s also a very fine campaigner — well spoken, endlessly energetic; the kind of performer who may very well make a material difference in coming days in Indiana. Most important? Carly is a believer. She adds credence and a certain new energy to what has always been Cruz’s fundamental appeal: devotion to the Constitution and an insistence — a really very fierce determination — to roll back the administrative state to protect the liberties of the people.
Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina are both, as I say, believers: and one tenet of their belief is that despite the importance of this or that tactic or maneuver, politics in a democracy is in the end something noble, and that whether you win or lose you owe it to your countrymen to stand on principle.
Win or lose — and as they themselves are both surely acutely aware, the latter, alas, is far more likely — Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina did something brave and fine today.
Published in General
This strikes me as supremely probable given where we are now. The conventional wisdom of the right, it seems to me, is that rebuilding to something that might be presidentially competitive again would be easier after a Cruz loss. I used to believe this rather firmly. Given Trump’s lead and Cruz’s profile and performance, is this the case?
Note:
Both members are requested to dial it back a notch and to de-personalize the response.The GOP you believed in was weak. It was the eternal scapegoat for the Left and that’s all it would have ever remained.
If you hate your fellow Republicans so much, perhaps you would feel more comfortable voting for the Democrats. Birds of a feather…
So the GOP needs to be strong. Are there any policy deficiencies in the GOP you would cure? If so, what would be an example?
The GOP I believed in was coherent philosophically and didn’t use leftist tactics or espouse big government solutions and policies that undercut free markets. It didn’t see the limits the Constitution put on would-be strongmen as bugs, but rather the whole point of the document.
And if you think that party was weak, wait til you see the new one lead by Trump. It will be the most reviled and ineffectual one the country has ever seen. It won’t even exist come the next presidential contest.
I would say it is desperate not “daring.” After placing last in 5 of the most recent 6 primary contests I doubt it will make any difference.
It is basically an act of desperation, but that is about all that the 40% of Republicans who will not vote for Trump have left. We have to try everything we can to prevent Trump from getting the nomination.
I think Carly is a good match for Ted.
Actually, I think part of what’s noble about our system is that it does sometimes stymie the will of the people. It recognizes that man is flawed and prone to the mob mentality. It accepts human nature for what it is. That’s a very noble system in my view.
I would say it shows Cruz, unlike many, is willing to do whatever it takes to fight against tyranny.
Gentlemen, dial it back a notch.
Fair enough. I think Carly is a good fit for him and she was a supporter more recently. But it still feels like a publicity stunt meant to change the subject about his colossal loses in the last 6 states.
Fight against tyranny???? Does that mean Hilary or Donald?
Both. Hillary lies about state secrets and terrorist attacks. Trump threatens the Bill of Rights.
Hilary has American blood on her hands so I can never support her. How does Trump threaten the Bill of Rights?