For the last few days, we've been told that Ted Cruz exposed himself as a charlatan by appearing to go wobbly on Obamacare defunding, that the GOP leadership is now going to show him who's boss, that no one in the GOP likes him. The Cruz moment we're told, is over.
Well, Cruz may have alienated every Beltway insider -- but remember that nobody in the real world likes Beltway insiders. He's being criticized by the likes of Karl Rove and David Brooks and fellow members of Congress, but nobody likes those people. Certainly nobody in the GOP crazy base likes those people, or will side with them against someone who seems more extremely right-wing.
Now, Cruz may have seemed to falter for a moment, but notice who's defending him now: the crazy woman the crazy base still loves, Sarah Palin. She's with him 100%, as we learn from this post carrying her byline at Breitbart:
... Following the will of the people is apparently a novel idea in D.C. these days. Just ask Senator Ted Cruz and his liberty-loving posse on Capitol Hill who have led the charge to defund Obama's train wreck.The insiders don't know, but the crazy base understands. To the crazy baseheads, Cruz is still a hero.
Those of us who hang in there supporting a major political party with our energy, time, and contributions would like to believe that that party would praise principled conservatives like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee for following through on campaign promises. We'd like to believe that the GOP establishment would applaud the way these bold leaders have rallied the grassroots to their cause. But, no, such praise would require a commensurate level of guts and leadership, and the permanent political class in D.C. is nothing if not gutless and rudderless.
We're now, once again, subjected to the "anonymous sources" backstabbing game. The Capitol Hill cowards are rushing to anonymously denounce Senator Cruz to any reporter with a pad and pen.
Welcome to our world, Ted. The same people have been denouncing conservatives like me for years (right after they ask for help fundraising for themselves or endorsing the latest candidate they've suckered into paying their exorbitant consulting fees). We can compare shiv marks next time we meet, my friend....
Oh, and the Palin post is gleefully quoted at Twitchy. In the GOP civil war, if you've got Palin, the Breitbarniks, and Michelle Malkin on your side, that's a pretty solid rebel stronghold.
Even if -- perhaps especially if -- Cruz fails to round up 41 votes to prevent the continuing resolution from going forward in the Senate, he'll be seen as a hero to the base, while those who failed to join him will be regarded as traitors. I know that Fox is throwing in its lot with the Rovians and is not giving Cruz's efforts prominent play -- here's a Fox story titled "Capitol Hill Report Warns Shutdown Could Pose Risks to National Security" -- but I think Fox is going to have to get on board with Cruz or risk alienating its audience.
Cruz's poor standing with party bigwigs probably means he'll never be the GOP presidential nominee, but I think he's still doing a bang-up job of being a hero to the base. He'll be just fine.
Hopefully, that Canadian-born Kochsucker, will form a 3rd Party, and he and Sarah "The Whore of Babblin'-on" Palin, can run together in 2016.
ReplyDeleteOur Reichies sure do LOOOOOOOVES them some Authoritarian MFers!
If by "just fine" you mean that he'll retain his senate seat and continue to draw crowds at Tea Party events, well, ok. But having Sarah Palin on his side is hardly a good thing for him, if he really does have the presidential fire in his belly. Tea Party favorites are lunatics who got laughed off the stage in 2012. And if Fox is abandoning him, he's in trouble. Also, members of both the House and Senate now hate his guts. I wouldn't be surprised if his Senate office got closed down for extensive repairs, and committee meeting times became mysteriously unavailable to him. I'm just saying.
ReplyDeleteNo, he's not going to be just fine. Republican presidential candidates don't get through the primaries when they've pissed off everyone all around them. They can't get the cooperation they need at the local level. The streets are littered with people who thought they could go around machine/local politics by appealing to the voters as a rebel. He's going to flame out long before he even gets to the primaries unless he finds a huge backer, and I think the billionaires are going to be fed up with the crash the world economy assholes by the time 2016 rolls around.
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ReplyDeleteAimai, Leslie, regarding Cruz's presidential hopes, it all depends on the degree to which the lunatics have taken over the asylum. I agree that thoroughly pissing off the party establishment would in all likelihood prevent Cruz from getting the nomination -- but it doesn't mean he won't be the other last person standing at the end of the nomination fight, the champion of people who hate the Republicans for not being wingnutty enough.
ReplyDeleteThat was really my point. I was responding to pundits who think Cruz's run as a wingnut phenom ended when he expressed doubt about blocking Obamacare in the Senate. The message seems to be, "The base can now see he's a paper tiger, and his fellow GOP officeholders hate him, so he's toast." I don't believe that. The base will still admire him after this is over. And the official and semi-official GOP (i.e., Fox News) will treat him with contempt at their peril, because he'll still be the people's choice. They don't have to like him, but they'll have to treat him with respect.
(It's somewhat comparable to the way Roger Ailes had to hire Palin back. Sorry, the crazies still love her, Roger, even if you don't anymore.)
aimai
ReplyDeleteOh dear! ;-) IMHO I think you're on the money. The machine will throw him to mob to garner votes of the rabble. There will be more such candidates.
Meanwhile 'the party anointed ' will be more reasonable not soiling his/her (Chuckle) hands with the outrageous demands (brain farts) of the 'rump'. In this way the machine doesn't have to really deal with the excesses of the assorted rabble by letting the 'niche' candidates do their internecine bit while seeming to give the rabid rump the appearance of a say. Then at the 11th hour the machine will come in and push the anointed over the line and the Cruz or the runner up will encourage the mob to support the 'anointed one'... for the sake of the party ... the keep the evil Dems out. After all he's the majority choice
I've successfully picked the last 3 Repugnant primary winners this way.
PS no superior smarts here ...its just simple, using statistics, human nature and marketing manipulation.
In any statistical distribution 60% will be clustered around the mathematical mean. 1/3 is divided between the two extremes. In order to give the extremes their say allow them to have 'their' candidate (s). Eventually they will weaken each other leaving the anointed to get the most numbers and these 'splinter candidates will drop out moving their constituency towards the remaining other splinter candidates until in the end the vote for the anointed is clearly the best chance for the party et al. Romney's challenge was a clear example.
Why the machine candidate ….the most committed to maintain the party (internal party systems.) Every one *appears * to have a say... and yes Aimai, my greater conclusion ( shtick) is that party politics isn't really democracy, merely a more sophisticated version of power tribalism..
Taking a step back and perhaps looking at it from a bit of a distance, throwing shit at the walls to see what sticks is a pretty good indication of a party fully aware of its eminent demise.
ReplyDeleteI'm with aimai and the ex, but moreso of the the dilutionary effect. How many of these bozos (respects, homie) will we see ore the three years? Enough, I would venture to blur into irrelevance.
No fear.