Liberal Rant: Ted Cruz

Texas is a reliable red anchor, which makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes. In my head, most Texan politicians should be laughed out of the building, yet they are received with open arms and thunderous approval. This is especially the case with Ted Cruz; I thought he would be crushed in his senatorial race, but was elected by an enormous margin. He’s made several statements that should be mocked, but he’s now considered a major figure among hardcore conservatives.

And now he’s running for president. Wonderful.

But this isn’t a post about how Ted Cruz says stupid things. That is honestly a dead horse (or in this case a dead elephant). This isn’t about how Cruz is not a good candidate or that he has no chance of winning the nomination, let alone the presidency. Those dead horses are about to be beaten. This post is about how scary Ted Cruz is as a Republican force. He may just be a one term senator, but his goals make me cringe.

Cruz has openly said several times that he’s not only waging war against Democrats, but also against moderate Republicans. Those in the “mushy middle” (which is probably the dumbest term since “lamestream media”), according to him, are simply not conservative enough to make America the best it could be. He wants to win without the help of the moderates, as he sees them as destructive to the conservative cause. In other words, he wants to see the Republican party move further to the right.

The Republican party moving further right is a scary thought. For one thing, moderate Republicans are the ones getting things done in Congress. The grandstanding, political point scorers like Cruz are the ones blocking legislation and killing bills. Their moderate counterpoints, who are actually willing to work with Democrats on some things, are needed now more than ever. Moving further to the right means that the moderates will be wiped out, and that Congress will be more inactive and polarized than ever.

The Republican party veering further to the right also means a more destructive party mentality. Cruz and his allies are not interested in governing; they are interested in tearing things down. Cruz has already pledged himself to repealing Obamacare, and I doubt that’s not the only thing on his chopping block. The thing is we don’t need destroyers right now; rolling things back is the last thing we need. We need bipartisanship, and if Cruz succeeds in his bid to wipe out moderates, then that word is as good as gone.

Cruz is very unlikely to win, but him winning is not what I’m concerned with. I’m much more concerned with his bid to wipe the Republican middle, and the repercussions we’ll face if he succeeds.