Ted Cruz is a dangerous man
by David Atkins
Meet America’s most dangerous demagogue:
“I think Mitt Romney’s a good and decent man, and he ran a very hard campaign. But what I mean is the narrative of the last election. The narrative of the last election was, ‘The 47 percent of Americans who are not paying income taxes, who in some way are dependent upon government. We don’t have to worry about them.’ That’s what was communicated in the last election.
“I have to tell you, as a conservative, I cannot think of an idea more opposite to what we believe. I think Republicans are and should be the party of the 47 percent.”
Cruz also pushed back against another Romney and party narrative: The line “you didn’t build that,” a reference to an off–the-cuff remark from President Barack Obama during a campaign speech.
Cruz said he thought Romney’s twist on the line, “You did build that,” was the campaign’s “best” slogan.
“And yet, as good as it was, it could have been a lot better,” Cruz said. “Because it was addressed to people who had already built their businesses. How much better would it have been if the Romney campaigned had said, ‘You can build that’?”
Cruz clearly understands the core problem with the Republican message. He’s got a good gut sense for politics and messaging.
It would be one thing if Cruz’ understanding were related to a kinder, softer Republicanism that could bring the party back from its crazy extreme and create space for even halfway decent policy. But it’s not. Cruz is one of the most ideologically outrageous hyperconservatives in the entire U.S. Congress. He opposes job creation, he favors cuts to Medicare and Social Security, he opposes immigration reform, etc.
Yet because of Republican incompetence in understanding the pain Americans are feeling, and because of Democratic incompetence in actually creating policies that serve the middle class and impoverished rather than market stockholders, Cruz has the space to talk a good game while doing his best to destroy the fabric of society.
That makes him very dangerous indeed.
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