# Lyin' Ted has endorsed Don the Con **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 23, 2016, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675 "2016-09-23T22:16:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/21 "2016-09-24T04:01:16Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I wonder if Lyin’ Ted’s daddy, the one who Trump said helped Lee Harvey Oswald assassinate JFK, also endorses him. > [@wolfpup](#): > > I wonder if Lyin’ Ted’s wife, the one who Trump said was ugly, also endorses him. The Daily Beast addresses this - [Ted Cruz Chooses Donald Trump Over Wife, Dad](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/09/23/ted-cruz-chooses-donald-trump-over-wife-dad.html). ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/22 "2016-09-24T04:18:17Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Those are the left and right hemispheres of Ted’s brain. The left side controls most of what he does in politics and represents the cunning cynic. The right hemisphere controls Ted’s emotional relationships with his family and friends and represents the sniveling poltroon. Cruz has…friends? Reminds me of the old Nixon joke, where he went on an extensive tour, visiting all the friends he’d made over his politcal career. Since the weather was nice, he walked. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/23 "2016-09-24T10:29:52Z")
While some actual discussion has kept this out of The BBQ Pit, for now, this thread will have to develop legs to stay out of that forum. Just sayin’. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/24 "2016-09-24T10:48:04Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Ted Cruz, you idiot, you could have washed your hands of him and run yourself in four years, as someone who didn’t sign on to the Trump disaster! Now you’ve flopped over cravenly, to endorse the man who libelled your father. Never mind the judges! > > Oh, and if Reince Priebus is going to say that Ted Cruz has to endorse that blowhard Donald Trump, Cruz should drive Reince out of the GOP. I disagree. If Trump loses, a tepid endorsement is not going to hurt Cruz. Breaking his word and failing to endorse the party candidate kills any chances he may have had. Slim though they are. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/25 "2016-09-24T15:03:49Z")
Trying to get back to the OP. The entire front few of rows of the R ranks are all trying very hard to salami-slice between “I unreservedly endorse any and all R candidates for any and all offices, so help me Priebus.” and “I adore Donald Trump and wish to have his babies.” IMO Cruz just took his shot at slicing the salami. It’s not obvious to me he did much better or worse than the other recent slicers. And each remaining R shall have his turn at slicing. ---
**Author:** ![hulka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@hulka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hulka)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/26 "2016-09-24T16:29:11Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > I think you’re reading too much into this. Ted caved for one reason and one reason alone. Reince Priebus threatened any GOP candidate that did not endorse TRump would not find themselves on the ballot in 2020. nopah! if trump wins, it’s going to be either he or pence in 2020, depending on impeachment if he loses, Priebus will be out faster than a tachyon, rendering said supposed threat totally meaningless maybe functional president Pence/Cheney offered him SCOTUS seat? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/27 "2016-09-24T16:41:52Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > I disagree. If Trump loses, a tepid endorsement is not going to hurt Cruz. Breaking his word and failing to endorse the party candidate kills any chances he may have had. Slim though they are. Frankly, I doubt that. That may have been Cruz’s thinking or maybe he just did it to smooth his Senate relations for the next few years. Does anyone have some cite for this rule supposedly being discussed to make endorsing the candidate as a requirement to run in the next presidential primary? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/28 "2016-09-24T16:50:59Z")
**Cruz says he and his family have forgiven Donald Trump, says decision to endorse took months of prayer** [http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/09/24/cruz-says-he-and-his-family-have-forgiven-donald-trump-says-decision-to-endorse-took-months-of-prayer/](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/09/24/cruz-says-he-and-his-family-have-forgiven-donald-trump-says-decision-to-endorse-took-months-of-prayer/) Something called _The Blaze_. Never heard of them. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/29 "2016-09-24T16:59:15Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > **Cruz says he and his family have forgiven Donald Trump, says decision to endorse took months of prayer** > [http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/09/24/cruz-says-he-and-his-family-have-forgiven-donald-trump-says-decision-to-endorse-took-months-of-prayer/](http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/09/24/cruz-says-he-and-his-family-have-forgiven-donald-trump-says-decision-to-endorse-took-months-of-prayer/) > > Something called _The Blaze_. Never heard of them. [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheBlaze) > [@](#): > > TheBlaze is a multiplatform news and entertainment network available on television, radio and the Internet founded by conservative talk radio personality and entrepreneur Glenn Beck. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/30 "2016-09-24T17:22:10Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Frankly, I doubt that. That may have been Cruz’s thinking or maybe he just did it to smooth his Senate relations for the next few years. Does anyone have some cite for this rule supposedly being discussed to make endorsing the candidate as a requirement to run in the next presidential primary? I don’t know what you mean by a rule. It seems like most here commenting wouldn’t vote for Cruz even with a gun to their head. Since they won’t be voting in a Republican primary their opinion really doesn’t matter. Some people must not know too many republicans. The backlash after his convention appearance was gigantic. The overwhelming reaction I heard and saw disgust with Cruz. Not so much because of support for Trump. It was because of reneging on the pledge all the candidates took to support the eventual candidate. There is no need for a rule. He committed political suicide. 4 years is a long time and it’s possible that he can bring the base back around but that’s not how I see it happening. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/31 "2016-09-24T17:34:14Z")
Could it be that Cruz has endorsed Trump for the simple reason that he believes the Great Yam-Head may just win, and he wants to be in his good graces if that happens? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/32 "2016-09-24T17:43:09Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Could it be that Cruz has endorsed Trump for the simple reason that he believes the Great Yam-Head may just win, and he wants to be in his good graces if that happens? I understand the FEMA camps are rather…unpleasant. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/33 "2016-09-24T17:48:26Z")
@Loach I was referring to the first couple of responses: > [@Grrr](#): > > Ted caved for one reason and one reason alone. Reince Priebus threatened any GOP candidate that did not endorse TRump would not find themselves on the ballot in 2020. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Cruz just ensured that he’ll have a place at the 2020 republican debates, if the RNC creates the rule they’re talking about: “No endorsement of the candidate? No soup for you!” Yes, Cruz caught some heat for his RNC non-endorsement but it galvanized his loyalists and I doubt it would have been held against him four years from now. Cruz had some pretty compelling excuses for reneging on his pledge with Trump lobbing accusations about Cruz’s father, digs at his wife’s looks and threatening to “spill the beans” about her. Also, Trump himself only promised to keep his pledge if, in his opinion, he was treated fairly. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/34 "2016-09-24T17:50:21Z")
It’s just more evidence (as if we needed any) that politicians are soulless beings without morals, scruples or ethics. The man was called a liar, his ethnicity insulted multiple times, his birthright challenged and his wife and family insulted. And yet here he is, cringing and squinty-eyed, sucking up to someone he loathes. Well done. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/35 "2016-09-24T17:59:15Z")
[Donald Trump drops pledge to back Republican presidential nominee other than himself](http://www.businessinsider.com/r-trump-drops-pledge-to-back-republican-presidential-nominee-other-than-himself-2016-3) > [@](#): > > Republican frontrunner Donald Trump on Tuesday abandoned a pledge to support a party presidential nominee other than himself, a sign of increasing friction with his chief rival, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. > > “No, I don’t anymore,” Trump replied when asked at a CNN town-hall event whether he still supported a pledge he made last year to support whoever is the Republican nominee for the November 8 election. So the outrage at Cruz was largely bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/36 "2016-09-24T18:04:40Z")
That was dated March. In Trump position years, that’s Jurassic. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/37 "2016-09-24T18:06:44Z")
The “no run if you don’t endorse” “rule” was a move by the Party designed to prevent an independent or 3rd party run… _by some radical insurrectionist_, against the expected mainstream candidate. Things went sort of differently. That they are now making a big deal of holding to it, is just a strategy to make sure nobody’s “clean” afterwards if Trump fails to make it. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/38 "2016-09-24T18:17:02Z")
But that’s just it. All three of the final candidates rejected the pledge in the Jurassic age but people still acted like Cruz stabbed the RNC in the back by unsurprisingly failing to follow it. JRDelirious, everybody knows the pledge was aimed squarely at Trump. [Politifact article:](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/jul/21/did-ted-cruz-pledge-back-republican-nominee/) > [@](#): > > “Of course, Trump has a telling point here,” Ornstein said. “The only reason the pledge was raised was to jawbone and bludgeon Trump into staying as a Republican. So there is plenty of hypocrisy on the part of other candidates. But this whole exercise, including Trump’s outlandish notion that this is a question of honor, given his own past statements, makes them all look foolish.” But Northern Piper didn’t put “rule” in quotes. He said they were actually discussing a rule. I’m curious to see if that is true. I haven’t seen it yet. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/39 "2016-09-24T22:02:40Z")
Politicians don’t have souls; they have self-interest and only that. Cruz made the big bet that Trump would be unable to sustain republican support, probably assuming that at someone point, he would have to walk back his more outrageous (but popular) positions and that he would pay a steep political price for it. Cruz figured either he’ll stick to his guns and get his ass handed to him in November, or he’ll flip flop, anger true conservatives who will feel betrayed, and ultimately still get his ass handed to him in November this way, too. In the time since, Trump has managed to speak out of both sides of his mouth…and conservative voters, beyond all reasonable doubt, do not give a shit what Trump says. The republican party has been hijacked by kooks and the wing nuttery is full on. Consider this: a newly released Harvard poll indicates that 85 percent – eighty five fucking percent – of republicans now oppose free trade. Jesus H Mary Mother of Christ, conservative icon Ronald Reagan himself would not be able to get elected by this morons. It is terrifying what is happening to this country right now, and even a Hillary Clinton victory can’t save us from what will almost surely be a two-year parade of bitterness from the right. But if they win… Ted Cruz did not want to be on the wrong side of conservative history. He was hoping to sit back and LULZ his way to saying “I told you so” and increasing his position as the one true crusader left standing after Donald’s seemingly inevitable demise in November. Except that Donald might actually win. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675/40 "2016-09-24T22:06:41Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Reince Priebus threatened any GOP candidate that did not endorse TRump would not find themselves on the ballot in 2020. Priebus thinks he’s still going to run the RNC after Taco Tuesday? That’s so cute! Cruz wants to pick up Trump’s voters in 2020. _That’s_ all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lyin-ted-has-endorsed-don-the-con/766675.md?page=3)