The Siren Song of Ted Cruz

In antiquity, the Siren was a much-feared mythical creature, whose alluring voice and enduring beauty entranced weary sailors to approach, only for these sailors to meet their doom upon rocky, treacherous shores. Although we need not worry about such mythical creatures in our modern and civilized times, the mantle of this mythical creature has been assumed by powerful individuals in the realm politics who choose to weave their own siren song. Enter Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

Cruz recently made headlines in an interview with CNBC by providing his opinion on the ideal 2016 Republican Presidential candidate:

If Republicans run another candidate in the mold of a Bob Dole or a John McCain or a Mitt Romney ... we will end up with the same result, which is millions of people will stay home on Election Day

The tale that Cruz is weaving is that the likes of McCain and Mitt Romney simply were not "conservative" enough and such is the reason why the Republicans lost the two previous presidential elections. This is as if many conservative voters in 2012, who hated President Obama with every inch of their bodies, decided that, because Romney was not their ideal candidate that they would just not vote at all, which is a laughable conclusion at best.

The exit poll data shows the real issue, the areas where the Republicans were truly lacking in 2012: women and minorities. Any 2016 strategy that does not plan to court more of each of these groups is a failed one, period. Furthermore, any politician advocating anything but is just weaving an elaborate siren song, hoping to charm voters of their own party by telling them what they want to hear, not what they really need to hear.

The main issue with Cruz's narrative is that historically, it also is not true. While McCain and Romney definitely have been moderates over their political careers, they surely did not run as moderates during their respective campaigns.

Have we forgotten about McCain's about-face on the torture issue so he could secure his presidential bid? Sarah Palin scaring off every moderate in sight surely did not help either, as explained in a 2011 article from The Atlantic:

But McCain and Palin didn't run as mavericks. Instead, they turned hard right. Palin’s old colleagues were stunned. “The speech at the Republican convention that made her a star, that was just shocking,” French told me. “She could have said, ‘I’ll do for the nation what I did for Alaska: I’ll work with both sides and won’t care where the ideas come from.’ Her background supported that. Instead, they handed her a red-meat script she’s been reading from ever since.”

Romney made even more overtures to the fringe elements of his party in order to obtain his 2012 bid, specifically changing his stance on birth control and abortion. A main reason for such overtures was the competition he was up against. Running against the likes of Bachmann and Santorum, both Tea Party darlings, the most viable candidate in Romney had to abandon his moderate roots in order to obtain the bid. Lest we forget, things became so absurd that even Santorum's own wife told him to tone down the social issues rhetoric (via Politico):

The day after the Michigan primary, Karen scolded her husband for answering too many questions on the stump about birth control, rather than focusing on how, at that point, he had picked up as many delegates as Mitt Romney. 

“My advice to him was stop answering the question,” she said. “Tell ‘em, ‘I’m not going to answer this question, let me tell you what I know about national security. I know a lot about national security.’”

The 2008 and 2012 presidential elections have shown that Republican candidates adopting far-right stances will result in failure. How do you make inroads with women and minorities, who have largely rejected you in two previous presidential elections, by moving further to the right? This is a time for hard questions, not ego-padding, which is all Cruz's rhetoric is doing. Candid talk, such as that offered recently by Rand Paul, is really what is needed and more constructive in the long run.

We all should know better by now, as this isn't the first time Cruz has used fiery rhetoric to whip the Republican base into a frenzy. The senator from Texas made headlines in 2013 for a 21-hour filibuster beseeching colleagues in the House to reject any bill funding the government that would also fund the Affordable Care Act. This of course drew harsh rebukes from many House GOP members (Rep. Peter King called him a"fraud"), questioning why Cruz is putting the onus on the House when he can't get the votes in the Senate to even support such a measure, if passed.

Even Grover Nordquist, champion-of-all-things-conservative, questioned Cruz's motives and tact (via Politico):

The only confusion that comes out is that Cruz stood on the side and confused people about the fact that every Republican agrees. He said if you don’t agree with my tactic and with the specific structure of my idea, you’re bad. He said if the House would simply pass the bill with defunding he would force the Senate to act. He would lead this grass-roots movement that would get Democrats to change their mind. So the House passed it, it went to the Senate, and Ted Cruz said, oh, we don’t have the votes over here. And I can’t find the e-mails or ads targeting Democrats to support it. Cruz said he would deliver the votes and he didn't deliver any Democratic votes. He pushed House Republicans into traffic and wandered away.

The 2013 government shutdown did not accomplish its desired end and resulted in failure, just as the 2008 and 2012 elections did, by candidates embracing an ideology that Cruz is now pushing for the Republican base to embrace again in 2016. This is not a logical strategy. Jobs, the economy, and tax reform should be at the forefront of the Republican platform in 2016, not a focus on social issues Cruz would bring in 2016, and Bachmann and Santorum brought in 2012. So if you must listen to the allure of Cruz's siren song, finding a way to restrain yourself might be the best course of action.

Odysseus and the Sirens - Bardo National Museum

Odysseus was so curious of the sirens, he ordered his crew to secure him to the ship's mast so he could listen to their enchanting song as his crew stoically rowed past. If you too find yourself tempted by Cruz's siren song, echo Odysseus and secure yourself to something firm, such as logic and recent history, and perhaps such temptations will be smothered as the wrecks of the 2008 and 2012 elections and the failed government shutdown pass you by and serve as an ominous reminder to beware the song of sirens.




References:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102135645#.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102146168
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/17/us/politics/17torture.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/upshot/why-2014-is-actually-shaping-up-as-a-bad-republican-year.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Odysseus-Sirens.jpg
http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2014/10/30/cruz-president-gop-moderate-clinton/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siren_(mythology)#mediaviewer/File:Mosa%C3%AFque_d%27Ulysse_et_les_sir%C3%A8nes.jpg
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/mitt-romneys-abortion-evolution/story?id=17443452
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/2012-exit-polls/
http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/02/politics/rand-paul-gop-sucks-james-baker/?cid=ob_articlesidebarall&iref=obinsite
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73605.html
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/09/20/peter-king-ted-cruz-is-a-fraud/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/02/grover-norquist-ted-cruz-pushed-house-republicans-into-traffic-and-wandered-away/