Cruz Control
by digby
To me this guy sounds like a McCarthyite used car salesman, but I can see why the right likes him. He's got an answer for everything and it's always exactly what they want to hear:
Wallace: Senator, I think it’s fair to say that you have ticked off a whole bunch of your fellow Republicans who feel that you have gotten them in this fight without an endgame, without a strategy. I want to put some of their criticisms, they’ve gone on the record on the screen. Congressman Tim Griffin wrote, ‘So far, Senate Republicans are good at getting Facebook likes and town halls, not much else. Do something.’ Republican congressman Pete King of New York calls you a fraud. ‘If he can deliver on this, fine. If he can’t, he should keep quiet from now on and we should listen to them,’ and Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said this, ‘I didn’t go to Harvard or Princeton,’ which you did, ‘but I can count.’ Republicans, especially in the House say that you are pushing them into a fight that you don’t know how to finish.
Cruz: ...
Wallace: Senator?
Cruz: Well, look. There are lots of folks in Washington who choose to throw rocks, and I’m not going to reciprocate. I’m not going to do likewise. Listen, let me tell you about a broader problem. A broader problem is that we have got career politicians in both parties in Washington who aren’t listening to the American people. I spent the entire month of August traveling the country speaking to people, and the American people are hurting because Obamacare isn’t working.
He's nuts. But he's good. (The simple fact that he can say with a straight face that people are hurting because Obamacare isn't working is an astonishing political feat.) I doubt he could get a majority of this country to vote for him, but I think he could easily get a majority of Republicans to do it.
Here's how it's playing out in the Senate according to Robert Costa:
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