This has been a big week for politics, although it seems like most weeks are lately. And as the saying goes, everything’s bigger in Texas, so why wouldn’t the news out of the Lone Star State be just as big?
You’ve already seen the billboard by now on the sides of trucks and over the highways depicting a tweet from Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican primary in which he famously feuded with the man he called “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz, the junior Senator from Texas. The organizers of that effort, which coalesced around the news that Cruz had hypocritically begged Trump to come campaign on his behalf in what has turned out to be a surprisingly contentious election battle with his Democratic opponent, have said that the hardest thing about completing the project was deciding which hateful tweet from the President to Senator Cruz they wanted to highlight.
After a wildly successful appearance on Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show Wednesday night by his opponent Beto O’Rourke — a young, handsome, very future-president-looking Congressman from El Paso — we’re pretty sure that Ted is taking stock of his outlook.
That’s why it must have hit him doubly hard when he realized that perhaps the most famous Texas politician of all time, former President George W. Bush, was traveling Texas to raise money for Republican candidates — but not for him.
In fact, the retired politician is raising money for a whole host of candidates even out of state that he sees as vulnerable, much like Barack Obama or Bill Clinton have done in the past, to some great success. The list is actually not short:Â Florida Gov. Rick Scott, now running for US Senate there; ND Senate candidate Kevin Cramer; MO Senate candidate Josh Hawley; and IN Senate candidate Mike Braun.
Not for Ted, though.
In fact, maybe you remember when George’s brother Jeb! was running against Ted in the GOP primary for the 2016 presidential election, and W was quoted by a roomful of fundraiser attendees as having said of Cruz, “I just don’t like the guy.”
Regardless of whether he remembers Bush’s slight against him that night, Ted no doubt still expects that the lockstep Republican machinery should all come together to give him a crucial assist in a race it increasingly looks like he’s going to lose to a smarter, more charismatic, and more compassionate candidate.
You can see it in his tweets this morning, doubling down on his thus-far-failed tactic of attacking Beto as “elite” or too California-like to truly represent Texas:
With Hollywood celebrities leading the way with Beto, NY liberals don’t wanna be left behind…. https://t.co/0LKVQeg0sF
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 13, 2018
We’ve been told that Hollywood is afraid of being outdone by New York after last night’s fundraiser, so now they’re pulling out all the stops… #TXSen #DontCaliforniaOurTexas pic.twitter.com/Bak8D9sfGW
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 13, 2018
Nevermind that Ted’s wife works for Goldman Sachs, the literal embodiment of elitism. This is easily the most vulnerable seat in the Senate for Republicans. It could be that Bush, who once owned the Texas Rangers baseball franchise, just knows a loser when he sees one.
Featured image via USAF photo
