For Election 2016, I set deliberate metrics in my mind for supporting
Republican Presidential candidates. I wanted to avoid the personal mistakes of Election
2012, whose weak field resulted in a weak frontrunner. I struggled to get
behind that candidate, whom I had disparaged as DOA for months. I resolved
never to disparage or denigrate candidates so that I could vote for them should
my first pick fail.
This year, the bench of contenders is engaging, encouraging,
and refreshing. From the outset, I had outlined Scott Walker, then Bobby Jindal
for my Top Two: consummate conservative executives who turned their states around,
cut the spending, and enacted far-reaching reforms. Tested leadership
experience is essential. Commanding a state and protecting citizens commands
more respect than directing office staff in the US Senate building.
Then Walker walked away. Bad consulting doomed his bid,
sources suggested, with excessive spending in multi-state operations. I was
holding out for Jindal, who worked the Iowa precincts, and stunned the media
and main street with bold pronouncements. Jindal never lost his jingle, but the
diminished jangle of campaign donations also forced him to quit. Let’s face it:
unless a governor gets national headlines on a constant basis, and contends
with talking heads in national media markets, he will struggle to gain
traction.
So, who occupies Schaper’s second string of Presidential
contenders? Mind you, second tier does not means second rate. It’s all about
the conservative who is the most electable, and there are a lot of electable
conservatives in the GOP field. The next three for me: Ted Cruz, Rand Paul,
then Carly Fiorina.
As of today, I choose Ted Cruz. In a way, Jindal made it
easier for me. He was lagging in money and polling, so his electability was
non-existent. I was prepared to jump ship. The next day, Jindal dropped out.
Besides, I have had a strong affinity for Cruz for a long time.
Granted,
I detailed his drawbacks compared to Walker:
Brilliant and bombastic, his political theatrics have not
proved as effective as Tea Party fellow Paul, but he can debate to silent
defeat the most ardent of liberals. However, he lacks Walker’s savvy to unity
distinct interests within the Republican Party. Presidential candidates must
transition from firing up the base to winning over quizzical independents and
intrigue disaffected Democrats. Walker worked with colleagues, increased their
numbers and influence in Madison. Cruz as political celebrity is magnetic, but
does not draw otherwise differing political forces. He remains one of the most
hated members of the US Senate.
At this point, I want a leader, not a compromiser. If he doesn’t
wheel and deal with other US Senators, all the better. Is Cruz incapable of uniting distinct GOP
factions? Cruz’ debate performances changed my perception. Democrats watching the CNBC
firing squad agreed with Cruz, that the questions were biased, arbitrary, and
unfair, and they tweeted their support on The
View! I do not agree with the jittery naysayers, who claim that Cruz is too
conservative, and cannot win a general election. They said the same thing about
Ronald Reagan, and Cruz is better than Barry Goldwater. Besides, the 1964
champion of liberty was running against a Vice President who replaced a popular
(conservative) president savagely assassinated. No one in the country was going
to switch gears after such tragedy.
Cruz is more experienced than most primary partisans
realize, too. A former clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist, a George W; Bush
consultant, and a successful Texas Solicitor General, Cruz won his Senate seat as
the outsider against an Establishment pick in a year when Obama’s ground game
snuffed out otherwise worthy Republicans across the country. He even stomped on
a Democratic challenger with similar legal credentials, all while picking up
40% of the Hispanic vote. A team player with broader vision than one race, he discussed
the growing need for Republican outreach to Hispanic communities before his
election win.
US Senator Ted Cruz |
Four years later, US Senator Cruz has shocked the Washington
Establishment , as well as the New York money markets and Los Angeles media
machines. He talked for twenty-two hours against the funding of Obamacare. I watched
it, I loved it, and I wish that it never ended. He has bested the Wall Street-DC
phalanx begging for easy bailouts, crony influence, and corporate welfare. Big
Government hits a brick wall with Cruz, a supporter of individual liberty,
limited government, and constitutional rule. No other candidate has his profile
published on free copies of the United States Constitution, a testimony to Cruz’
commitment to the rule of law in our political culture.
Further to his credit as a leader, Cruz
announced his Presidential bid first, and has stayed strong ever since.
With the endorsements of Congressman
Steve King of Iowa and my
favorite rep Dana Rohrabacher of California, the rising conservative
maverick is winning the ground game and top tier support. He can out-debate his
colleagues, but has stopped
hecklers in their tracks. He shut down a Hollywood
mouthpiece Ellen Page at an Iowa state fair. His masterful debate (hardly
an interview) with Jorge Ramos inspired so many.
In California, moderates and conservatives, former state
party chairmen and local county leaders are lining up with Cruz. He has a
well-spring of support much wider than the press would care for anyone to
believe. His
numbers are rising in Iowa, South
Carolina, and he is one of the top four in Public
Policy Polling. Cruz is developing campaign organizations in otherwise unthinkable
locales like Massachusetts, a smooth operator planning for the long haul, taking
in support along the way, spending his money wisely for the win. US
News and World Report claimed
that a Cruz candidacy would be a boon for the Democrats (not likely), and National Review’s Henry
Olsen thinks Cruz won’t win, conservatives leery of Donald Trump’s bombast
and Carson’s shaky foreign policy credentials are eying the junior US Senator
from Texas, and like what they see.
For today, I choose Ted Cruz for President.
No comments:
Post a Comment