Ted Cruz’s win in the Texas Republican senate primary over Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst last night is being hailed as the latest Tea Party coup, a sign the movement is still powerful and influential enough to move elections. Cruz has a lot going for him: he’s young, charismatic, energetic, and a conservative favorite; he’s even been compared to Marco Rubio.
But as Rubio’s own victory showed, just because the Tea Party helps get a candidate elected doesn’t mean it will have an automatic line to Washington. Rubio has stuck to his conservative principles in the Senate, but for the most part he’s played ball with the Republican leadership. He’s not a Michele Bachmann or a Jim DeMint. Ideologically, he’s on par with the average Senate Republican. The same may go for Cruz.
After Cruz’s victory, Sarah Palin (who endorsed him) wrote on Facebook: “Our goal is not just about changing the majority in the Senate. It is about the kind of leadership we want. Ted Cruz represents the kind of strong conservative leadership we want in D.C. Go-along to get-along career politicians who hew the path of least resistance are no longer acceptable at a time when our country is drowning in debt and our children’s futures are at stake.”
If electing a strong conservative candidate was the goal, then the Tea Party had a successful night. But if the goal was as Sarah Palin described it — to elect someone who will clash with the GOP establishment and pick uphill ideological battles — then the jury is still out. After all, Cruz is no stranger to Washington and understands how politics works — he served in the Bush administration, at the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. The Tea Party has proven beyond any doubt that it has the strength and influence to help catapult good candidates into office — but how does it define success after Election Day?
Seriously, complaining about Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz seems hardly apropos. Michelle Bachman and Jim DeMint server their purposes but I'll take Jon Kyl, who is the GOP leadership, any day. If Ted Cruz can play that role with a tad more charisma (though Kyl is perfectly fine and seems the natural choice for POTUS if deep knowledge, firm principle and skill at getting the most CONSERVATIVE POSSIBLE THINGS ACTUALLY DONE were the principal criteria) then one can hardly complain. Plus he's a ready made SCOTUS prospect for 2 decades.
How does the Tea Party movement define success after Election Day? n nHow about fiscal responsibility (= smaller and far less intrusive and controlling government)? That certainly differentiates the Tea Party movement from the go-along to get-along GOP establishment.
I live in Houston, Texas. Republicans hold most of the political power in the state. They have to make less compromises all the time. I do not fault Marco Rubio for cooperating with the Washington insiders for the time being. Florida is a purple state—and not a red one. That's just cold reality. It behooves us to elect even more conservative Republicans. It is the only long term answer.
I generally agree that having too many far left or far right politicians beholding to the machine is bad for America. We do need more Tea Party politicians that will stand up to the Republican establishment and represent America. But in the long run we need to gut both parties and remake them as center right parties that will both be fiscally responsible with our money and follow the Constitution.
Great answer – and you should thank the Lord every day you have republican leaders in Texas, and not the mess we have here in New Jersey, even with Chris Christie. I can't understand how people cannot see how evil Democrats are but then again, I'm in the belly of the beast. If Texas had mountains or even large hills I'd be there in a New York minute.
Jim DeMint seemed to disagree with this assessment, and I am inclined to believe him. Remember too that this is the THIRD victory of a conservative Republican over a RINO — so far — and there are a lot of things happening below the surface right now. Remember too that the Gay Republicans aren't quite as popular as they were two years ago, they aren't in CPAC anymore, and ChickFillA has mile-long backups of people trying to get into the restaurants. n nThe tide finally is starting to turn….
You would think the rest of the establishment would get it, but these are hard headed people who are used to running things their own way.
What is it about necons, rino's and assorted "moderates" that irritates them so much about the Tea Party movement and/or Sarah Palin? n nCould it be because most Neocons, RINO's and "moderates" are really liberals who like and often worship "the state"?
Palin has helped make “Crony Capitalism” a much used term, and that says a lot about the career of Dewhurst–and Gov. Rick–and Senator John. But unlike Palin, Cruz has the paper credentials and knows how the system works also. Since he has no immediate aspirations, he is likely to be less agreeable to the machination of MaConnell. Like Paul and DeMint he has nothing to lose by twisting a few noses.
I'm happy Cruz won and would have voted for him, but Dewhurst was NO RINO, whatever his other sins. He would have been a reliable conservative voice and vote in the Senate. Cruz however is more dynamic and for this reason, in these times, should be given the nomination and election. A reinvigorated Republican majority should take it to the Democ-rats EVERY day and make the life of every remaining Democ-rat senator so miserable that each one will want to take his pension and leave! No Democ-rat (and I include Lieberperson here) has an opinion that any decent American need respect!
I think Cruz is more libertarian than people are giving him credit for. He is a strong 10th amendment advocate and believer in limited government. If he is not, we will show him the door. Many of us align ourselves with the GOP over the left precisely because of it's closer adherence to constitutional principles (despite many deviations), NOT because of conservative social values. I am socially libertarian and I think we need to embrace the libertarian faction within the GOP and recognize their value to the party. And we need to recognize that not all libertarians are of the Ron Paul faction. Many hold much more subtle views.
Libertarians seem not to realize that the social issues are the front line of the fight with the welfare state. The Statists are seeking to dismantle every instiutution intermediate to the individual. They aim to create a corporate state, where only those bodies that serve the will of the state will be allowed to exist.
If Cruz is another Roberts he can be thrown out too. Success after Election Day is if you can keep doing it until it works. Nobody said it was going to be quick or easy.
Freedom will not be restored until we first get rid of the GOP. The GOP acts as the gatekeeper for the Democrats, making sure that real conservatives never make it . Once the GOP is done away with, then the real battle can begin, against the totalitarian socialist Democrat party. But Job #1 is getting rid of the GOP so we can quit fighting with one hand tied behind us.
I essentially asked DiMint that, and he had a very different response — we install true conservatives in the GOP and then we have it as a dependable conservative party. Which we seem to be working our way toward – look at who we have and now we will have a few more…
It's self evident that electing Latino US Senators helps the GOP. Bit it's also worth mentioning how electing Cruz helps the Tea Party defeat the media myth that Tea Party backers are racist and angry middle age men. n nMany Nativists and other bigots like Colorado's Tom Tancredo and Iowa's Steve King have claimed the mantle of the Tea Party, after the 2010 elections, for their anti-immigrant jihads. But the Tea Party demands that government respond prudently address the concerns of its taxpayers resonates across all American ethic groups. Latinos who are similarly concerned with our nation's leaders inept managing of our finances. n nThe elections of Cruz, Rubio and Martinez under the Tea Party flag bodes well for its lasting as a political force in XXI Century America. Unlike the 1854 "Know Nothing" Party which rose rapidly in opposition to the pro-Slavery Kansas-Nebraska Act and Fugitive Slave Law, as well as the Supreme Court's Dred Scott decision. By 1856 it was fading politically because of its strident anti-Catholic immigrants demagogery. n nThe Tea Party in Texas just proved that it represents much more than angry middle aged white men. It won't fade as a small tent fringe of the GOP. Rubio and Cruz represent large states and Martinez joins governors Bobby Jindal and Nikki Halley as proof that the new breed of successful Tea Party GOP stars are both minorities and from immigrant families. It's the Big Tent again. Reagan must be smiling in heaven.