There are probably two schools of thought regarding Sen. Ted Cruz’s surprising speech Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention, in which he refused to endorse Donald Trump.
One school’s response, from the group that supports Trump or at least is no longer opposing him, probably goes like this: It’s so typical of Cruz, who loves hogging the spotlight while railing against the political class, to be invited to a cocktail party and then misbehave.
Though he surely is bitter about losing the primary to Trump, the voters made their choice and they went with someone who’s even more of an outsider than Cruz.
At some point, candidates must respect the will of the voters, and Cruz’ “vote your conscience” admonition to the convention audience shows he’s still working through the five stages of grief. He should not have spoken to the convention unless he was going to be a team player.
The other response, from those who just can’t wrap their arms around Trump because of his obnoxious behavior and because so many of his positions are so different from what the GOP traditionally stands for, recognizes Cruz as one of the few Republicans who refuses to genuflect before the self-absorbed Trump.
During the primary, Trump mocked the appearance of Cruz’s wife and late in the game even suggested that Cruz’s father was linked to the assassination of President Kennedy. Speaking to a group of Republicans this morning from his home state of Texas, Cruz said that any pledge he made to support whoever got the party nomination went out the door once Trump got too personal.
“I’m not going to get into criticizing or attacking Donald Trump, but I’ll give you this response: I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father,” Cruz told the Texas Republicans.
Right now, things look pretty grim for Cruz. He certainly has fewer friends in the Republican Party this morning than he did the day before. Republicans are right to be angry with him for giving TV networks, editorial writers and Internet commentators one more reason to marvel at the GOP’s inability to create even a semblance of unity.
Without saying so Wednesday night, it seems like Cruz is betting that Trump will lose the election to Hillary Clinton. If that does happen, and Republicans are in hysterics at the prospect of President Obama’s third term, Cruz will be able to say, “Told ya so. Now follow me.”
If his instincts are correct, Cruz has positioned himself nicely for a second run at the presidency in 2020. After all, the next election is never too far away.
But if Cruz has guessed wrong, and Trump beats Clinton in November, the Texas senator will have, as Trump’s campaign manager put it, committed political suicide.
Give Cruz this: He knows how to settle a score, and he stayed true to his principles. However, he should not have spoken to the convention if he was going to be so inflammatory.
There’s so much drama at this convention! And Trump hasn’t even spoken yet. It will be a shock if he is restrained tonight, but we have learned to expect the unexpected this week.
