Abrasive Ted Cruz tries to use personality to his advantage
Ted Cruz‘s reputation as an arrogant, grating, in-your-face ideologue has dogged him throughout the Republican presidential race. But it hasn’t stopped the Texas senator’s rise. Cruz is increasingly embracing his irascible persona, trying to turn what could be a liability into an asset. “If you want someone to grab a beer with, I may not be that guy,” Cruz said at a Republican debate this fall when asked to describe his biggest weakness. “But if you want someone to drive you home, I will get the job done and I will get you home.” Cruz and his supporters relish his outsider status, highlighting his conflicts with fellow Republican senators. Not one has endorsed him for president. A group backing Cruz’s candidacy sent out a fundraising email plea in December with the subject line “Washington hates Ted Cruz.” Cruz frequently rails against the “Washington cartel,” which he argues is scared that conservatives are uniting behind him, and says he’s glad that “Washington elites” despise him. Cruz supporters, including some who turned up for a large rally at an evangelical church near Richmond, Virginia, in December, are embracing the abrasiveness that’s caused Cruz to clash with other Republicans. “They view him as a renegade in the GOP,” said Carter Cobb, 56 and retired from the Navy, from Mechanicsville, Virginia. “He doesn’t toe the party line. That’s what we’re trying to get away from.” To Cobb and others, Cruz is the only candidate willing to make anyone angry and stand up for what he believes in. “It makes me like him all the more. I’ve always liked people who were on the outside,” said Daniel Daehlin, 51, from Richfield, Minnesota. “Ronald Reagan never got along with the establishment. They hated him in 1976 and ’80. I like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington — someone who goes there, speaks his mind and doesn’t try to cater to the inside-the-Beltway crowd.” Myra Simons, a Cruz backer from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, agrees. “Are we going to elect someone just because you can’t sit across the table and have dinner with them?” Simons said. “Or are you going to stand with someone who stands with the Constitution and is serious about the trouble our country is in?” Cruz made his reputation in the Senate by refusing to compromise. He filibustered for 21 hours against President Barack Obama‘s health care law. The confrontational strategy he championed resulted in a 16-day partial government shutdown and alienated GOP leaders. But his reading of “Green Eggs and Ham” during that filibuster became a seminal moment for Cruz. He frequently refers to it, including in a recent television ad he ran in Iowa where he reads to his two daughters from reimagined holiday stories with a conservative bent such as “The Grinch Who Lost Her Emails.” While the ad was designed to be funny, Cruz is not known for his sense of humor. Foreign Policy magazine once described him as “the human equivalent of one of those flower-squirters that clowns wear on their lapels.” The national collegiate debating champion has shown his brusque side in the presidential debates, including the most recent one in Las Vegas when he refused to stop talking even as moderator Wolf Blitzer of CNN tried to shut him down. Craig Mazin, who was Cruz’s freshman roommate at Princeton, went so far as to tell the Daily Beast in a 2013 interview that he would be happier with anyone other than Cruz as president. “I would rather pick somebody from the phone book,” Mazin said. But Cruz has shown a lighter side that his campaign says demonstrates he’s not as unlikable as his reputation suggests. Cruz acted out scenes from “The Princess Bride” during a November interview at WMUR in New Hampshire, and that clip has been watched more than 250,000 times on YouTube. After rival Donald Trump referred to Cruz as “a little bit of a maniac,” the Cruz campaign tried to laugh it off by posting a video on Twitter of the song “Maniac” from the film “Flashdance.” Research shows that the importance of a candidates’ likability may be overrated anyway, said David Redlawsk, a Rutgers University expert in Iowa electoral politics who is spending the fall at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. “Voters are looking for a whole range of things,” Redlawsk said, “and likability is just one small part of that.” Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
7 things to watch in monthlong sprint to Iowa’s caucuses
The 2016 presidential election has defied all expectations so far. An enormous field of GOP candidates, still a dozen strong with a month to go before the leadoff Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1. The billionaire outsider who has tapped into the anger and fears of a nervous nation. A son and brother of presidents who is struggling to connect with voters despite his tremendous financial advantage. In less than a month, voters will begin having their say in what could turn out to be a bitter, monthslong fight for the Republican nomination. On the Democratic side, front-runner Hillary Clinton is banking on neatly locking up the nomination as her GOP rivals tear each other down. Some things to watch for in the four-week sprint to the Iowa caucuses: DONALD TRUMP’S CHECKBOOK To date, wealthy businessman Donald Trump has run a frugal campaign, skipping expensive television advertising as his Republican rivals and their affiliated super political action committees spend tens of millions of dollars on airtime. Trump has promised that that’s about to change, announcing plans last week to spend $2 million a week on the air in three early voting states. Will Trump follow through on that promise? Television ad prices are only increasing as the voting draws closer, and Trump has yet to reserve any airtime. TED CRUZ’S CLERGY Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is building a large organization of support in Iowa, amassing county leaders across the state and tapping a member of the clergy in each of the 99 counties. The son of a preacher, Cruz aims to take a well-worn path to victory in Iowa: Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008 and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum in 2012 generated similar support among the state’s evangelical voters, and each won the caucuses. The question is whether that network of religious conservatives will coalesce behind Cruz this time or splinter. Cruz has made strides, picking up the endorsements of Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson. ESTABLISHMENT CHOICES Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who entered the race in June as the front-runner, jokes that his father, former President George H.W. Bush, has taken to throwing shoes at his television set in response to Trump. But as the caucuses near, the laugh lines have given to persistent frustration among party elders and its professional class that Trump remains a viable candidate. Several have said an effort must be mounted to take down Trump, but a coordinated campaign of negative ads has so far failed to materialize. That’s because in part to concerns that it could backfire and further motivate Trump’s supporters, but also because several candidates vying to be the establishment choice are still in the race. Will there be an attempt to undermine Trump? Will Bush — or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Gov. John Kasich or New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie — emerge as the clear alternative to Trump before Trump or Cruz collects too many delegates to matter? DEPARTURE LOUNGE Two low-polling Republicans quit in December: South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov. George Pataki. While all the remaining candidates insist they’re not going anywhere, pressure could grow on other candidates to bow out and narrow the field. Among those feeling the heat: Santorum, who has failed to produce the kind of excitement that propelled him to that Iowa victory four years ago. If he and others at the bottom dropped out and endorsed the same candidate, it could give rise to the Trump alternative who some are desperately seeking. CLINTON’S TEST A third-place finish in 2008 in Iowa completely disrupted Clinton’s strategy to win the Democratic nomination, and she never could catch then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. This time, Clinton has poured significant resources and staff into the state. Polls show her with an edge over her chief rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent. If Clinton wins Iowa, a loss in New Hampshire to Sanders would be easier to contain. Back-to-back losses in Iowa and New Hampshire would generate fresh worries among Democrats about their front-runner. JANUARY SURPRISES The attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California, shifted voters’ focus to national security issues. That was to the detriment of less-experienced and less-hawkish candidates, including retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson on the GOP side and Sanders. Another attack, especially on American soil, could further diminish candidates without experience in office or those uncomfortable with a campaign focus on foreign policy. FINAL DEBATES The Republicans have two more debates — Jan. 14 in South Carolina and Jan. 28 in Iowa — before the Feb. 1 caucuses. Democrats will debate Jan. 17, also in South Carolina. The GOP debates in 2015 broke viewership records, and the next two probably may provide make-or-break moments as undecided voters begin making up their minds. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
A round-up of Sunday editorials from Alabama’s leading newspapers
A round-up of Sunday editorials from Alabama’s leading newspapers: The Anniston Star – Bentley’s review of 2015 On Thursday, Gov. Robert Bentley took to Twitter to tout the year-end review of Alabama’s 2015 achievements, particularly those in economic development. By his count, Alabama added more than 52,000 jobs last year. A who’s-who list of companies — Polaris, Google, Mercedes and GE Aviation — put their money in Alabama-based projects. Result: $2.2 billion in investments, the governor said. Business Facilities Magazine, impressed by that $2 billion, named Alabama its state of the year. While he was at it, the governor also mentioned the state’s $10 million funding increase for pre-Kindergarten programs in Alabama and the prison-reform legislation passed last May. The governor is proud of his state, which should be expected. Cheerleading is one of a governor’s duties. “This was a great year for Alabama, especially in economic development,” Bentley wrote. “We will work even harder for your in 2016.” A great year? Sounds like hyperbole to us. Granted, the accomplishments the governor tweeted Thursday are indeed noteworthy. (The Google data center planned for Jackson County, for instance, is a major economic-development get for a Deep South state.) But, cheerleading aside, Alabamians must ask themselves how impressive 2015 really was for Bentley and the state Legislature, which the governor’s Republican Party controls with virtually no legitimate Democratic resistance. The Birmingham News – After a Bama Cotton Bowl victory, reflections on a year gone by It’s dark and quiet at my house right now. Alabama just won the Cotton Bowl with a shutout. My wife and I watched the ball drop in New York, and I have less than an hour to put forth any last minute thoughts for 2015. This one isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. This year has been tough. Period. Honestly, I’ve had my fill of all the fighting and anger. It’s tiring. I’m a conservative guy who loves his family, thinks free markets really do work, and believes we need to do a better job at loving each other. Yes, I know that might seem like a strange combination, but give me a minute to explain. While I don’t like the liberal solution of promising people more government stuff to improve their lives, I’m not interested in defending the capitalist who doesn’t care about his or her community. It’s more than opposing cronyism. I believe that people who profit from free markets in a nation like America ought to take care of their employees, ensure that they’re caring for the environment, and show people that a free marketplace really can produce better outcomes for the average person. The Decatur Daily – Embracing a new year New Year’s Day is a time to reflect on wisdom gained from past mistakes and on the joy of being able to start again. We collect here a few of our favorite quotes on the meaning of this day, and how best to embrace the coming year. “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” — Oprah Winfrey “Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” — Benjamin Franklin “Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” — Helen Keller “One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things.” — John Burroughs “Every new year is the direct descendant, isn’t it, of a long line of proven criminals?” — Ogden Nash “And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.” — Rainer Maria Rilke “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” — Mother Teresa “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” — Steve Jobs “The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul.” — G.K. Chesterton Dothan Eagle – Gov. Bentley’s beach folly Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley is concerned about things that make Alabama look bad. On the action list of the second-term governor, who recently lost two Gulf Shores beach houses in a divorce from his wife of 50 years, is spiffing up the state’s decaying governor’s beach mansion, which has been gutted and boarded up since 1997’s Hurricane Danny. “The governor doesn’t want this property to be an embarrassment any longer,” said spokeswoman Jennifer Ardis. Earlier in December, work began on the 7,500 square-foot mansion, a two-story beachfront cinderblock structure in Baldwin County. Estimated cost of the renovation and rehabilitation is $1.5 million to $1.8 million, and will include updated security features. “It will have to be brought up to the standard of a governor’s residence,” Ardis told the Associated Press. Surely the state has more pressing economic needs that almost $2 million could address. After all, the beach mansion has been untouched for almost 20 years because no politician had the audacity to put tax money into the luxury home when so much of the state has struggled. Then again, this bill won’t be footed by taxpayers. It’ll be paid by “left-over” funds from the BP settlement after the 2010 Gulf oil spill. That’s stunningly audacious rationale, particularly considering the devastating impact the oil spill had on many areas of Alabama’s Gulf Coast and up into Mobile Bay, where the seafood industry of Bayou LaBatre and surrounding areas still feels the crippling effects of the disaster. The settlement money has been burning a hole in the administration’s pocket; the first plan was to use it to build a hotel and conference center on the beach until lawsuits started flying. However, that could have tangentially met the purpose of the settlement by infusing the area with more tourist traffic. The Enterprise Ledger – Another year in the books; I still miss Lindsey Nelson Ricky
