If they cannot win another Presidential election ever because there are no longer enough White Republicans to do that, they have lost their power base that they had since Abraham Lincoln in the 1860s. So, what happens now to both the Republican party and our 200 year old or more 2 party electoral system? I guess everything is going to get pretty shaken up continuing on until this settles down into a new normal for our nation. (If there ever is a new normal ever again).
Ted Cruz Breaks Reagan's Rule in Iowa
The Tea Party darling whipped up supporters in the all-important election state of Iowa. David Catanese on why Ted Cruz breaking Reagan's Rule.
Ted Cruz loves rekindling the story of Ronald Reagan as a political roadmap for Republican revitalization.
Except, that is, for the Gipper’s oft-cited 11th commandment.
Just
ask Terry Branstad. Iowa’s longest-serving governor issued a pointed
reminder to attendees of the party’s annual Ronald Reagan dinner Friday
night to get back to heeding the 40th president’s much revered
commandment designed to foster unity and comity: Speak no ill of other
Republicans.
Minutes
later, Ted Cruz -- the gala’s guest of honor who is capping his ninth
month as a senator -- shamelessly did just that. And with vigor.
The
Texas freshman claimed that the only reason he ultimately fell short in
his quixotic quest to defund Obamacare, which spurred a 16-day
government shutdown, was because his fellow Republicans couldn’t stomach
the fight.
“Unfortunately
a significant number of Senate Republicans chose not to unite and stand
side by side with House Republicans,” Cruz told the gathering of 600
party regulars in a downtown convention hall. “Had we stood together,
I’m convinced the outcome of this fight would be very, very different.”
Then,
he went even further, slinging a not-so-veiled club at a bevy of
nameless but well-known Republican strategists who have publicly urged
the party to take a more centrist, less ideologically driven posture to
win elections.
“It’s
driven by an old Nixonian adage that in the primary you run to the
right and in the general you run to the left. What complete poppycock,”
Cruz hissed. “If you took every strategist and dumped them in the ocean,
you know what you’d call it? A good start.”
The crowd ate it up faster than their rubber-chicken dinner.
It’s
little surprise that Cruz waltzed back into Iowa -- his third visit to
the first-in-the-nation presidential caucus state in as many months --
and served up a brash, anti-establishment message even at the risk of
clashing mightily with the mindset of the home-state governor sitting in
the front row.
As Urbandale, Iowa Republican Isabel Perez-Conde put it, “He’s a ballsy dude.”
Yet
more revealing were the reinforcements Cruz received from party
officials here, who one after another took to the podium to laud his
unwavering principle and flinty steel.
David
Fischer, co-chair of the state GOP noted that some Republicans have
called the pack of new rabble-rousing senators like Cruz names. “I have a
name for these principled new leaders too,” he fired back. “I call them
the future.”
Chairman
A.J. Spiker slighted the “permanent political establishment” -- which
likely accounted for the majority of people in the room -- and praised
Cruz for bucking the leadership of his own party.
Even
the invocation included a prayer for conservative leaders who “are
willing to let the arrows come to the back of their head and basically
be crucified for their belief system.”
If Cruz wasn’t emboldened about his chances to make inroads in the Iowa caucuses heading into the evening, he must be now.
“He’s
going to be proven right after all. The old RINOS, yeah, they don’t
like him. But we’re not an old RINO,” said Lee Guthrie, a Cruz supporter
who tossed around the vernacular to describe a so-called ‘Republican In
Name Only.’
What’s more convincing of Cruz’s likelihood to make a White House run is his naked, unabashed self-regard.
Despite
polls showing the Republican brand in tatters, Cruz rattled off what he
dubbed a list of policy wins this year: Redefining drone policy,
quashing new gun control laws, smothering a bipartisan immigration bill
and halting a unilateral strike on Syria.
Left
unsaid was how most of these “complete victories” centered around
stopping something from happening rather than achieving a personal
legislative goal.
No matter to Cruz. He claims to be batting .800.
“In baseball terms . . . that’s double Ty Cobb,” he said to cheers.
With this particular audience, Cruz arguably hit a home run.
But
the tension with longtime establishment fixtures here is palpable and
could come become a stumbling block if he ultimately pursues a
presidential bid.
During
the elected-official speaking portion of the evening, one could’ve been
forgiven if they forgot Cruz was the guest of honor.
Aside
from an opening joke about yielding a portion of his time, Sen. Chuck
Grassley didn’t mention Cruz in his speech, instead choosing to unload
on President Obama. Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds focused her time on progress
with local economic issues. And after calling Cruz an “up-and-coming
senator," Branstad spent the bulk of his address enthusiastically
propping up the accomplishments of his fellow governors, some who could
end up being Cruz’s 2016 rivals, like Rick Perry and Scott Walker.
“We
Republican governors don’t spend our time calling press conferences to
make political demands and issue ultimatums. We provide leadership,”
Branstad said, in a barb that could certainly apply to Cruz.
While
Branstad previously said he would refrain from applauding or
criticizing Cruz, he’s certainly not taking that approach with another
potential 2016er visiting the state next month for a fundraiser.
He’s
called Rep. Paul Ryan “a leader in Washington advocating for balancing
our budget” and holding a “conservative, common-sense approach to
budgeting.”
Cruz, on the other hand, received only a pat on the head for showing up.
“The
party is very divided over the shutdown and his involvement both helped
him and hurt him,” explained Steve Grubbs, a former Iowa GOP chairman.
“He is very popular among much of the party base. Establishment
Republicans are concerned he is too divisive.”
After
speaking for 45 minutes and posing for pictures, I asked Cruz if he had
broken his hero’s commandment in his very own speech by fingering
Republicans for the failure to vaporize Obamacare.
He
reverted to the dogma that won him so many plaudits throughout the
night: The willingness to fight when so many others seemingly won’t.
“I
am a big believer that Republicans need to stand for principle,” he
said. “I have been careful not to speak ill of any senator, Republican
or Democrat. That’s very different from not being willing to speak the
truth. And it’s my responsibility to 26 million Texans to speak the
truth.”
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