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Cruz’s Choice
Via the WSJ
, there may be some fireworks this evening when Sen. Ted Cruz takes the podium at the GOP convention:
The big question is what, if anything, will Mr. Cruz say about Mr. Trump. The Texan will have no trouble joining the parade of speakers prosecuting the case against Mrs. Clinton, but it remains unclear whether he will offer a formal endorsement of Mr. Trump – who has suggested Mr. Cruz’s father was complicit in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and besmirched the appearance of Mr. Cruz’s wife. Mr. Trump has never apologized or recanted for either incident in public.
Mr. Cruz, for his part, has refrained from endorsing the Trump ticket. Cruz supporters made up the core of the anti-Trump forces this week, but when it became clear they did not have the votes to even delay the process, let alone impede Mr. Trump, the Cruz backers conceded defeat. Needless to say, if Mr. Cruz endorses Mr. Trump from the stage, that will be the biggest news of the day.
What do you think, Ricochet? Is Cruz going to try to make peace or cause trouble? Regardless, what should he do?
Published in General
People who have chosen to slap Donald Trump with a stick are foolish. I refuse to do so and praise him and the people who are coming out to see him. I salute him for focusing on the need to address illegal immigration. … Ted Cruz
He doesn’t have to nor should he endorse Trump. He should express what it means to be a conservative, why it matters, what needs to be done and then he can discuss the certainty that Hillary will not do the things that need to be done, and that he will fight for the policies based on the principles he lays out.
I don’t think he needs to endorse Trump. It may make for an awkward 4 years if Trump wins, but I am not sure that matters.
Hopefully he keeps his options open for 2020 regardless of who is in office.
If history holds Cruz is the front runner for the next Presidential contest and I will not be surprised if leverages that position to primary Trump in 2020.
Ted Cruz was my favorite from the get-go. I voted for him in the primary. I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in him since the Indiana primary. He is a sore loser. He is a self-absorbed individual. He portrays an image that puts a glossier finish to his real self. His message was the perfect one. Unfortunately, he was not the right person to carry that banner. He was not likable to a broad enough base of people to win. It was easy for Trump to caricature him as conniving and hypocritical because his exterior persona fit that profile and was opposite the image he tried to depict.
In political terms, that quote is from the Jurassic Period.
And Tom: Don’t get our hopes up. Wait and see.
Assuming the trend holds of Cruz insulting the alleged Cartel and Establishment like he did on the senate floor against McConnell then he would probably lay some hits into trump or he might be like Chris Christie at the 2012 RNC and simply talk about himself without regard for trump.
But I think the trend will not hold for Cruz because trump and his lackeys have been busy silencing any dissent. Thus they would not allow Cruz to bring a speech that would hinder trump, but Cruz was a debater and no doubt can memorize a whole speech (we have seen him drone on and on before without written speeches, it is well within in capacity).
Ultimately I would gander that in order to answer your question we need to be looking at Cruz’s staff and which polling agencies he has been using prior to the RNC. After all poll testing issues is one of Cruz’s political habits. Cruz doesn’t like to champion issues or use lingo that isn’t in the on going fad.
I don’t follow. He has been invisible since he suspended his campaign and given just 1 interview 2 days ago. What was he supposed to be doing?
What’s the point in making trouble after the nomination has been made?
He’ll find a way to thread the needle; one thing Ted Cruz is really good at is talking. He won’t “make trouble,” but he’ll avoid outright endorsing Trump. He’ll probably go at length about what conservatism means, possibly passive-aggressively highlighting those areas where Trump fails to measure up, and end up saying something like, “Hillary Clinton should not be President,” which sounds like an endorsement but offers plausible deniability.
Ted Cruz was one of seventeen candidates at the get-go. He was the only one left standing against Trump at the end. Eight million people voted for him. Since he bowed out, he has kept his mouth shut, and allowed the process to go forward without disruption.
What, in your opinion, should he have done differently?
And which of the other fifteen candidates (other than Cruz or Trump), has done better and will be worthy of your support in the future?
Or are you hoping that a new shining knight will emerge from somewhere?
I think Cruz is in the perfect position to say something like this:
Cliff notes version:
My history in the Senate proves that I will stand up to policies and forces I disagree with even if it comes from my own party. I will champion conservatism. In the US Senate I will continue to fight for______(more)
Right now America hangs in the balance and we must change course after 8 years of Obama’s policies and an even longer course of overspending.(more)
The choice is between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Early in the campaign I saw why voters were attracted to Donald Trump. (more)
On many things we agree. Other things we disagree. While Melania is certainly a beautiful woman, my wife is even more beautiful to me.
Donald and I can disagree in the locker room, but we are on the same team and the job is to win the game. But this is not a game. It’s real.
(Then endorsement)
Then… But I will not change. If, or when some policy is debated in the Senate, I will just as easily rise up and exercise everything to my ability to improve it to make it or keep it more conservative, and if necessary stop it. I will remain loyal to the principles of the Constitution and fill my duties as a US Senator.
I will do everything in my power alongside Mr. Trump to Make America Great Again. God Bless America.
Let if fly, Ted. Stand up for principle when the Republicans have nominated a man with none.
I think he realizes that the best REALISTIC outcome of this election is for Trump to win by beating Hillary in the popular vote but by getting far under 50% due to massive 3rd party defections and squeaking by in the electoral college. 2018 holds the possibility of the Republicans having a veto-proof majority in the Senate with conservatives having the majority of the R seats in both houses and a conservative VP and conservative leaning SC. Trump will be one misstep from being impeached from day one and the man is an ego-maniacal lunatic. Cruz will be pro-conservatism but the media story will be him not uttering Trump’s name once.
I also think it would be a nice touch to invite John Boehner to join him on a dove hunt in Texas :)
In 1976, Reagan had lost the nomination to Ford, but he was unexpectedly asked to speak. So Reagan laid out a vision for conservativism–bold colors, no pale pastels, city on a hill–and didn’t endorse Ford.
I predict Cruz will attempt something similar tonight.
Good history. Thank you.
My guess is he’s coming to make peace, but I doubt he’s going to gush over Trump. He can offer a few words of support, a gesture to the Trump voters that he’ll need in his camp in 2020, and spend most of his time attacking Hillary or whatever else.
Surrender his father to the authorities in the interest of unity.
We may find out if he agrees with what Benjamin Disraeli said: “Damn your principles! Stick to your party.”
Yes. Imagine the reaction here if the roles were reversed … if Ted Cruz had won the nomination and Donald Trump was given a speaking slot tonight in the hope for unification ….
How many here would be flipping out if Donald did not endorse, unify and stood for “principle”?
Cruz should use this opportunity to distance himself from DT and claim the leadership of all NeverTrumpers. We will remember in 2020 who was steadfast and who buckled.
Ted Cruz vows to support Trump unless he shoots somebody
I hope Cruz will endorse Trump
So what is different about that than the pledge all of the candidates signed?
Usual disclaimer: I supported Cruz. I consider myself #NeverSoros, which places me as #ReluctantTrump.
I don’t know what Ted should do. What I hope he will do is this:
Bingo. Cruz sounds insincere and calculated even when talking about subjects – his family, for instance – about which I’m sure he has deep and genuine feelings. That plus his whiney voice and dramatic.and.wooden.gestures, and though I was intellectually attracted to many of his ideas, I found myself viscerally dreading a Cruz presidency which would have installed him on our screens for a term or two.
Here’s Sundance from Conservative Treehouse on Cruz at the convention :
The part off me that just wants drama would love to see Cruz give a Mark Anthony’s funeral oration style speech.
“And we all know that Donald Trump is an honorable man.”
This is exactly what I’m hoping for. The last year has been a long string of disappointments so I don’t expect this speech, but it’s what I’d like to hear.
I believe in both (probably all) cases it would be a mistake to invite speakers who did not endorse the nominee. To the extent that planners think this type of move helps create unity (and this wouldn’t be the first instance), this is the triumph of hope over experience. Just as true if Cruz were the nominee or anyone else.
Cruz is angling for 2020, but Eliana Johnson’s piece at NRO today makes me question my support of Cruz. He is too calculating.
There is no Reagan coming to save us in 2020.
SMOD 2016!
Well, we should expect the son of a traitor to lie, yes? ;)