Ted Cruz has endorsed Trump for President. Unfortunately, this comes long after considerable damage has been done to his political prospects. His re-elect numbers in Texas took a big hit with his explicit failure to endorse Trump at the Republican Convention. Rather than a considered endorsement, this looks more like political calculus. If it was principled to not endorse Trump then, what has changed to make it principled now? The NeverTrumpers are beside themselves about Ted's defection. Trump's rising poll numbers make the endorsement look more like a political calculation. For a man who has made a name for himself in Washington by standing on principle, such political strategizing is anathema. He shot himself in the foot at the convention and has been hobbling around since. However, jumping on the Trump bandwagon before some of the other Republican candidates may improve his standing in comparison to those who have not yet endorsed Trump should Trump win.
I like Ted Cruz because he fights. He doesn't try to get along with the Democrats which has only succeeded in the century long slide toward socialism. A recent article accused the Republicans of being the Washington Generals, the team that always loses to the Harlem Globetrotters. For my entire adult life, Republicans sing the praises of limited government but never seem to enact it. Even when the White House, the Senate, and the House were all Republican, the government just got bigger and less limited. Cruz called out his fellow Republicans for sticking with a losing playbook.
That he has botched the politics of this is, in a sense, a good sign. It took him some reflection to realize that, whatever his principled opposition might be, the next president is going to be either Trump or Clinton. For better or worse, he chose Trump.
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