Joeff Davis
July 20, 2016 - Cleveland, Ohio: Texas United States Senator Ted Cruz waves to the crowd after arriving at the podium to deliver his speech.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz held a “thank you” event for his delegates here in Cleveland Wednesday, hours before he was scheduled to address the Republican National Convention.
A few weeks ago, Donald Trump said that no convention speaking slots would be awarded to politicians who failed to endorse him. But the Republican National Committee apparently insisted that Cruz be on the bill (much as they insisted that Trump friend and convicted killer Don King not be let anywhere near the podium). The party bigwigs knew that if Cruz were snubbed, the anger among his many conservative fans could boil over.
So “Lyin’ Ted” really had no incentive to endorse his former rival, the one who mocked his wife Heidi’s appearance and hinted that Cruz’s father was involved in the JFK assassination. And Cruz’s dedicated supporters remember that he once called Trump a “pathological liar” and “utterly amoral.” A perceived flip-flop could badly injure Cruz, given his reputation for steadfastness.
So not only did Cruz fail to endorse Donald Trump in his rally address, he seemed to make a point of not endorsing. He acknowledged that “our party now has a nominee.”
Coincidentally, and to everyone’s delight, Donald Trump’s plane overflew the rally at that very moment. But then, once the anti-Trump boos died down, Cruz added that “every one of us has an obligation to follow our conscience.” Presumably, he meant that he was not prepared to tell his people who deserves their presidential vote. It’s worth noting that “conscience” became an anti-Trump shibboleth during the erstwhile effort to free the Trump-pledged delegates.
The hundreds of supporters who turned out for the rally seemed to regard Cruz not as the loser of a Republican primary contest but as the future president of the United States. Repeated chants of “2020!” punctuated Cruz’s remarks.
A Trump loss in November is the best-case scenario for Cruz’s ambitions. He is unabashedly positioning himself to replace a one-term Hillary Clinton.
But Cruz’s 2020 presidential efforts might not be contingent upon a Clinton win. An RNC official was quoted Wednesday saying, “If Trump wins, you better bet your ass Cruz is going to primary him.”
Michael Cummins
State Sen. Duey Stroebel, who headed Ted Cruz’s primary campaign in Wisconsin, says "No one man is bigger than the party."
I ran into state Sen. Duey Stroebel (R–Saukville), a convention delegate, after the afternoon rally. Stroebel was chair of Ted Cruz’s primary campaign in Wisconsin. I asked if he planned to endorse Donald Trump. Stroebel and Cruz seem to be on the same page.
“No one man is bigger than the party. We’re a conservative party. We have ideas and principles. As far as I’m concerned, we need to abide by those, and we need to see our candidate do that. If he does, great. We’ll see what happens.”
When Ted Cruz took to the convention podium late Wednesday night, he tried to employ the same “conscience” hint he had earlier at the rally. Moments after he very agreeably urged Republicans to not stay home in November, he told them to “stand and speak and vote your conscience.”
This time, the “conscience” line did not come off as a mere hint. This time, from this markedly different audience, the boos were for Cruz.
