The Long Knives Are Out for Ted Cruz

GOP Clown Car 2016: First in, first out?

Ted Cruz announced today that he is running for president in 2016, prompting scores of liberal bloggers to cheer "Run, Ted, Run!" with near-simultaneity. About the same time, the knives came out on the GOP side.

Example one: Ed Rogers in the WaPo:

It isn’t clear whether Cruz particularly cares about how he is viewed or whether he thinks he needs to soften his image, if not modify some of his positions, in his campaign for president. At times, it seems that Cruz wants to wear his lack of support from the Republican Party “establishment” as a badge of honor. But if he defines the “establishment” as just about anyone who has ever won an election, well, he may need to rethink his approach. One bad sign for Cruz is that he doesn’t appear to have many elected officials supporting his candidacy at this stage. That’s a red light flashing on the dashboard of any campaign. It says something when others who have “run for sheriff” are not willing to associate themselves with your campaign.

If Cruz overplays the role of a courageous, persecuted martyr, the act will grow tiresome quickly. Maybe the problem is Cruz and not the ideological backsliding of others or the wishy-washyness [sic] of the seasoned Republicans who have been around longer than him. Maybe Cruz is just too half-cocked for his own good. His vigor and volume and intensity have gotten him here, but right now he only has a narrow foothold in the party, not a firm position with a lot of growth potential.

With friends like that, who needs enemies? Rogers, BTW, is an old GOP campaign hand.

Next up, The Donald decides his voice is important, as he turns all birther on young Ted:

"He's got a hurdle that nobody else seems to have at this moment. It's a hurdle and somebody could certainly look at it very seriously. He was born in Canada," Trump said in an interview with myfoxny.com, adding that "you're supposed to be born in this country."

Trump, who claims to be considering a run for president himself, said he "didn't know how the courts would rule on it. It's an additional hurdle that he has that nobody else seems to have."

Trump led the charge on the debunked view that President Barack Obama wasn't actually born in the United States and had a fake birth certificate saying he was born in Hawaii.

Cruz has maintained that he is eligible to be president since he was born to an American mother, despite having been born in Calgary, Alberta. He was a dual citizen until 2014 when he renounced his Canadian citizenship.

Yes, Cruz is qualified to run for president, despite Trump's claim. But we all knew that.

So, thought experiment I'll ponder in a later post: What will the rest of the GOP contenders have trouble doing because of the Cruz candidacy? (Okay, a hint: figure out how to get to the right of Cruz! Good luck on that.)

Fun, and games. Did I say fun?