Unsuited

23 March 2015

Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

Ted Cruz Announces White House Bid

Texas Senator Ted Cruz has formally entered the 2016 presidential race. This journal expects another dozen before too much longer. This journal also has predicted that at least one of those will withdraw before the year is over (most likely using the verb "uspend" so as to continue fundraising). Mr. Cruz is unlikely to be an early quitter. However, he is completely unsuited for the presidency and will most certainly not be a contender much beyond the first few primary contests.

One expects a few barbs to fly his direction that are entirely false or unfair; this is the Republican Party after all. As other candidates grow more and more desperate to secure their right flanks, his birth in Canada will likely come up. Unlike the untrue allegations that Mr. Obama was not born in America, Mr. Cruz truly was born in Canada. However, the Constitution only requires that the president be a "natural born citizen," a term than has never been defined. Given that his mother was a US citizen, Mr. Cruz was certainly entitled to an American passport from birth.

Nevertheless, there are legitimate reasons for Republicans to deny him their support. First and foremost is his inability to get along with other Republicans. WMUR in Manchester, New Hampshire noted, "In December, Cruz defied party leaders to force a vote on opposing Obama's executive actions on immigration. The strategy failed, and led several of his Republican colleagues to call Cruz out. 'You should have an end goal in sight if you're going to do these types of things and I don't see an end goal other than irritating a lot of people,' said Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch."

That leads to the second big problem for Mr. Cruz. He has no strategic vision. "He's awfully good at making promises that he knows the GOP can't keep and pushing for unachievable goals, but he seems very popular with right wing," said veteran Republican strategist John Feehery. "Cruz is a lot smarter than the typical darling of the right, and that makes him more dangerous to guys like Scott Walker and Rand Paul."

A third issue for Mr. Cruz is his negative platform. He opposes a lot of things, and he favors very few. In his announcement speech at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, he said, "Imagine a new president repealing every word of Obamacare." In addition, he stated, "Imagine repealing every word of Common Core." And replace them with what? If the idea is to replace them with nothing, he owes it to the voters to say so. If he has a proposal beyond that, he must provide it to the electorate. Being against things is the way one becomes Leader of the Opposition, not the governing official in a democracy.

Another problem is his wife, Heidi, who is a managing director at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in Houston. That's not a crime, and in the Republican Party, it should be an asset. And to make it look more above-board, she will take a leave of absence during the campaign. However, it does create a problem in part of the Tea Party base, the populist part that hates bankers.

Ultimately, though, Ted Cruz comes from the scorched-earth branch of the conservative movement. He would rather be ideologically pure than accomplish part of what he is after. That is entirely contrary to political work in a democracy. His tenure in the Senate has proved him out of his depth there. One would hope that is sufficient for the primary voters in the Republican Party.

© Copyright 2015 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.



Kensington Review Home

Google

Follow KensingtonReview on Twitter