Republican Consultants: Don’t Make Ted Cruz The Nominee Because He’s Not A Team Player!

This piece makes a very compelling case, it’s just the opposite of the one the one it’s trying to make.

After laying the blame for the GOP’s leftward lurch upon gaining control of the House and Senate at the feet of conservatives and the disloyal Ted Cruz we get to the part where this is disqualifying for Cruz to be President.

Ted Cruz made his choice, as he always has. He selfishly inspires others to do the same.

He's not against compromise. He just pushes it down the road.

Ted Cruz is the poster boy of the Republican who won't compromise within his party, and so hands funding power to Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer, to let them do his work for him. And, unfortunately for the nation, they do.

Why? As Anderson notes, Cruz would rather be the martyred leader of a failed cause than a contributor to a successful team. He’s been an outsider in everything he’s done.
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Politics is a team sport. Skins v. shirts. Redskins v. Cowboys. Democrats v. Republicans. That's how we govern our nation. There is an “R” behind Cruz’s name. That is the party he chose.

There were lots of these pieces last month blaming conservatives for the GOP’s complete cave on spending. Here’s the thing…they are CYA blame shifting by Team GOP types to tar their opponents with their mess.

Let’s go back a little over a year. Remember the CROmnibus that passed at the end of the session prior to the GOP taking control of the Senate? The idea was they would pass the full year spending but only a short term extension for DHS. The idea, they claimed, was to avoid a shutdown and then take on funding for Obama’s amnesty when the GOP had the Senate. Enough Republicans and conservatives went along with this and then…Mitch McConnell promptly caved and funded Obama’s amnesty (which the GOP funded again last month).

Republicans made it clear that they would not take on Harry Reid and Barack Obama or risk a shutdown. That gave the Senate Democratic MINORITY total control over the process. Nothing House Republicans could have done would have changed that calculation.

I've written before about why conservatives who care about small government aren’t and shouldn't be interested in the DC notion of compromise. Short version…by definition it leads to bigger government.

So how does this render Cruz unfit to be President? It doesn’t. As I said it makes him the ideal, one might say necessary, choice.

Presidents aren’t part of a legislative team. They have a separate and independent power base, that as we’ve been told by excuse making Republicans for the last 6 years, is almost impossible to overcome.

If Cruz is the rigid ideologue he is being portrayed as (and I have my doubts about that), then he is exactly the man conservatives should want in the White House.
Imagine a President who would veto bills because they spend too much, or because they include grants of power to bureaucrats at the expense of citizens or the market place.

Shouldn’t we want an uncompromising conservative wielding the power that Republicans in Congress haven’t been able to overcome when Obama uses it to move the country to the right?

Republicans have made it clear that conservatives are welcome on the team when it comes to volunteering, donating and voting. But when it comes to reaping the rewards of the team's victories, only certain parts of the "team" will share in them. It's clear that conservatives aren't included in that part of the "team".

So Ted Cruz isn’t a “team player”. Given the results of the current GOP roster, that’s music to my ears.

Speaking of "team", the current head of Team GOP, Reince Preibus doesn't want to say if one of the leaders for his party's nomination is eligible or not to hold the office. Because...team!

Oh and as an aside, was Marco Rubio a “team player” when he worked with Schumer and Obama to advance what he himself defined as “amnesty”? Funny which deviations from “the team” are ok with DC Republicans and which are career ending events.

posted by DrewM. at 10:34 AM

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