Gotta love retail politics because it separates the wanna be politicians from the ones that are willing to work hard to get elected. I mean, seriously, would you want to speak at three or four meetings a day to groups that average 20 people? That is what it takes to win a primary race in Texas and U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz appears to understand this because his schedule is full of these types of meetings. Last night’s meeting of the Republican National Hispanic Assembly-Harris County was a perfect example of retail politics.
RNHA Chairman Eduardo Lopez de Casas kicked off the meeting with a few thoughts about the low attendance and his desire to change board members to try to increase the size of the group. He mentioned that he thought that the GOP had abandoned its effort to reach out to Hispanics when the Tea Party came along. I understand somewhat what he is saying but Jared Woodfill and the Harris County Republican Party did try and reach out to the Hispanic community, committing a lot of resources and time to the East Side office. I don’t think you can put the blame for the failure of that effort, if it was a failure, at the feet of the GOP – I think that Hispanic groups need to stop attacking each other and work towards a common goal. I also think that Republicans are wary of identity politics because of the way that the Democratic Party has used various minority groups to attack Republicans. The Republican mindset is that we should work towards common political goals regardless of skin color and heritage and that we do not need hyphenated Americans. I hope that we can reconcile these different views and do it soon. Just my two cents.
Then it was time for the featured speaker of the evening, Ted Cruz. Some people think that speaking in front of large crowds is hard but the truth is that it is much, much harder to address a very small group like the one assembled last night. Counting Mr. Cruz and his assistant, there were 16 people in the room. Mr. Cruz did an excellent job of outlining his campaign, from the “why I’m running” all the way to the “what you can do to help me”.
He listed several reasons for the “why” and I don’t think that any Republican could argue with him. America is at a crossroads, a fundamental divide: will we return to the vision of our founders or will we become a nation of bigger and bigger government? We have a president that is a true believer in government as the answer and Mr. Cruz wants to lead the fight against him and his agenda. He did a good job of bringing the problem down to a level that people might understand by using an example of giving a teenager a credit card. He noted that the $1.6 TRILLION deficit this year and the promise to cut it next year is much like a teenager taking his parents credit card and charging $160,000 on it without having a job or a way to pay for it, then promising his parents that he will only charge up $156,000 next year, illustrating the futile nature of the “cuts” promised by the current administration. Pretty effective I’d say.
He thinks he can win this race because people are seeking new leadership and not just politicians that will vote the right way. Ain’t that the truth? Take a look at Washington and you will see a lot of politicians that do vote conservatively but do they accomplish anything? If they did, we wouldn’t be in the mess we are in now. I think he’s right when he says leaders should have fire in the belly and not rely on consultants feeding them talking points. To that end, he suggests that you visit his website and view his accomplishments for conservative issues (click here). He thinks that his accomplishments are unmatched by his opponents in this race and urges voters to visit each website and write down the five biggest accomplishments for each person, confident that he will win your vote if you do this.
The highlight of the evening for me was when he took questions from the audience. One of the questions was about free trade – the questioner obviously didn’t believe in free trade, claiming that we were sending all of our jobs overseas and would never get them back. It was refreshing to hear a politician not suck up to a potential voter – instead, Mr. Cruz gave a quick lesson in free market economics that really showed the depth and breadth of his knowledge of economics. When was the last time you heard a politician talk off the cuff, accurately, about public choice theory and the economics of taxation? Very, very impressive.
My takeaway? Mr. Cruz is going to be tough to beat in this primary. He has the conservative bona fides that it takes to win a Republican primary. He has the grassroots network – check out his Facebook page, he has more fans than any politician in Texas, including Gov. Rick Perry. He has fundraising ability, both in Texas and a network of groups throughout the country. He has the work ethic it takes, the willingness to visit groups large and small. And like it or not, he has the Hispanic heritage that the Republican Party so desperately needs, especially in Texas. In short, he has the entire package.
Can he deliver? Hey, that’s what elections are for!
Website: TedCruz.org
Facebook: Ted Cruz
Twitter: @tedcruz
Ted has me sold. I heard him on the radio in Dallas yesterday and visited his website. Texas couldn't ask for a better Senator.
Not a fan. Ted is weak on immigration and border security (notice how squirmy he gets if you ask him about the issue) and he wants to re-write the U.S. Constitution through a ConCon, which would result in the loss of many of our cherished freedoms. Not good. Not good. He’s also a paradox. We’re supposed to believe he will help with the Hispanic vote and that he is a rising star for the future, but he doesn’t have a shared experience with Texas Hispanics, having been born in Canada (which also means he can’t ever run for POTUS or VP). He also doesn’t even speak Spanish. Also, he takes way too much credit for stuff that Greg Abbott was responsible for, inflating his resume, and arrogantly denigrating the results of the other candidates who have been in the arena, in the trenches, through the fire.
I don’t really trust him. Having never been elected to any lower office, he has never been accountable to voters. I don’t believe in this whole Community Organizer –> President 5 year plan thing, and I don’t believe being an unelected state lawyer gives you the gravitas to immediately become a Senator. Maybe eventually, but first run for something else and prove that you’re trustworthy and that we will know what to expect for six years. Six years! That’s a long time to send some unknown guy to represent us. After KBH, we need to be a lot more careful.
Less talk, more proof. Ted can talk pretty well, I guess, although he wears thin pretty quick there. But where’s the beef?
That being said, he is better by far than Tom Leppert or David Dewhurst.