# Ted Cruz is pretty crafty **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 25, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609 "2013-09-25T00:56:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/41 "2013-09-25T23:52:27Z")
Cruz was on Limbaugh today (I don’t usually listen, but I suspected he’d be on given the timing of his non-filibuster). It was basically his stump speech–someone needs to fight for the people, Washington is out of touch, Obamacare is a disaster, the usual Tea Party talking points. He’s basically a bomb-thrower who likes the spotlight because it inspires the base to contribute campaign cash. He’s certainly a lot sharper than the usual Tea Party champions, but he’s still running the same conservative grift. I suspect he’ll flame out in the next year or so, resign before his term is up, and take a six-figure job as a Fox News pundit railing from the sidelines. And the rubes can move on to line the pockets of the next GOP carnival barker. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2013, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/42 "2013-09-25T23:59:29Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Of course Ted Cruz cares about pissing off the establishment. How is he going to win the primary if Fox News and Rush Limbaugh campaign against him? > > Without the money and professionals behind him, Cruz cannot hope to succeed. Look at how the grassroots searched desperately for a candidate other than Mitt Romney, the anointed candidate of the establishment. Each one lasted for five minutes before being dismissed. I think “the establishment” itself might be internally divided, however; some parts of it have given the Tea Party a shitload of funding. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/43 "2013-09-27T09:42:09Z")
Based on what others in this thread have said about his being smart and articulate, at least the 2016 GOP primary season won’t be quite the “spastic goat rodeo” the 2012 one was. (I love that phrase – band name! – from a New York Magazine article on the procession of non-Romneys.) ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/44 "2013-09-27T10:26:44Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Based on what others in this thread have said about his being smart and articulate, at least the 2016 GOP primary season won’t be quite the “spastic goat rodeo” the 2012 one was. > > (I love that phrase – band name! – from a New York Magazine article on the procession of non-Romneys.) I prefer the spastic goats. I’d call Cruz a narcissist but he even makes Trump look humble. At least you don’t really imagine The Donald stopping halfway through an interview to see, for the 8 millionth time, if he can suck himself off. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/45 "2013-09-27T13:44:48Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > I prefer the spastic goats. I’d call Cruz a narcissist but he even makes Trump look humble. At least you don’t really imagine The Donald stopping halfway through an interview to see, for the 8 millionth time, if he can suck himself off. True dat. ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/46 "2013-09-27T23:13:12Z")
Not crafty enough. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/47 "2013-09-28T12:47:50Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I wonder when “Tea Partiers” are going to be brave enough to let go of the Republican’s coattails, stand on their own, and form a party. (OK, that was hypothetical.) Tea Partiers, Ted Cruz, etc.. are fooling themselves only, no matter how educated they are. They believe that most Americans will not hold them accountable for a possible government shutdown, and will somehow blame Democrats. Delusional. In need of medication delusional. I’m not even sure they are thinking that far ahead. I love my Tea Party, but strategy isn’t their strong suit. There’s only one way to defeat Obamacare: win in 2014 and 2016. Forcing the Democrats to vote on defunding or a delay in the mandate was good strategy, but shutting down the government or defaulting on the debt doesn’t do anyone any good. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/48 "2013-09-28T13:40:20Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I’m not even sure they are thinking that far ahead. I love my Tea Party, but strategy isn’t their strong suit… And thus, the nominations for the SDMB Understatement of the Year Award are closed. Naturally, I regret that my “The Universe is pretty darn big!” is eclipsed so handily, but fair is fair! ---
**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 28, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/49 "2013-09-28T14:57:34Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Yep. It makes me sick to say this, but Cruz does have a sharp wit. > > I was listening to him speak at about the 14 or 15 hour mark last night (Or this morning rather) and he still sounded very sharply and concise. It kind of left me with the feeling that Hillary would not stand a chance debating with this guy. > > Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Cruz stutter or stumble through any hardball question ever given to him by reporters. That sort of talent gets votes. Anybody who compares anyone else to Hitler to score points with his base is a fucking asshole of the first order. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/50 "2013-09-28T15:10:15Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Anybody who compares anyone else to Hitler to score points with his base is a fucking asshole of the first order. Don’t focus on the trees, look at the forest. People learn to manipulate other people because they don’t have the intelligence or ability to get what they want any other way. On the other hand, people who do are able to infect others with their vision, passion and drive. They don’t need to resort to cheap carnival barker tricks. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/51 "2013-09-28T20:10:52Z")
There’s a typo in the thread title. By the way, what keyboard layout are you using that puts the “f” and “t” keys so close to the “z”? ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/52 "2013-09-29T02:26:00Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There’s a typo in the thread title. By the way, what keyboard layout are you using that puts the “f” and “t” keys so close to the “z”? Leave Ted Cruft out of this. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/53 "2013-09-30T14:25:57Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I love my Tea Party . . . What if there were [Tea Party Democrats](http://rall.com/searchablearchives?g2_itemId=16289)? ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/54 "2013-09-30T16:31:34Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I’m not even sure they are thinking that far ahead. I love my Tea Party, but strategy isn’t their strong suit. The “strategy” of the Tea Party basically is “whatever the Koch brothers want”. The idiots in the tri-corner hats have very little role other than barking on command from their rich overlords. Money, like duct tape, covers a multitude of sins. A careful and intricate political strategy is irrelevant when you can whitewash any setback by spreading the cash. When a guy like Sheldon Adelson can throw away millions to prop up the career of a humiliating failure like Newt Gingrich and barely diminish his vast fortune, you know the system isn’t about rewarding the best and the brightest. It may embarass the Republican leadership to resort to tactics which abuse various political loopholes that go beyond their original intent. But I have to admit it’s legal, and until someone demonstrates how these tactics have “exacted a political price” from the GOP that is at all comparable to losing the backing of rich donors, they will keep on doing it. After all, even if it all goes south, guys like the Kochs have billions to fall back on, so they can most likely afford whatever hell they inflict on the rest of us in the name of their Randian ideaology. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/55 "2013-09-30T17:06:17Z")
> [@CJJ](#): > > The “strategy” of the Tea Party basically is “whatever the Koch brothers want”. The idiots in the tri-corner hats have very little role other than barking on command from their rich overlords. > > Money, like duct tape, covers a multitude of sins. A careful and intricate political strategy is irrelevant when you can whitewash any setback by spreading the cash. When a guy like Sheldon Adelson can throw away millions to prop up the career of a humiliating failure like Newt Gingrich and barely diminish his vast fortune, you know the system isn’t about rewarding the best and the brightest. > > It may embarass the Republican leadership to resort to tactics which abuse various political loopholes that go beyond their original intent. But I have to admit it’s legal, and until someone demonstrates how these tactics have “exacted a political price” from the GOP that is at all comparable to losing the backing of rich donors, they will keep on doing it. After all, even if it all goes south, guys like the Kochs have billions to fall back on, so they can most likely afford whatever hell they inflict on the rest of us in the name of their Randian ideaology. Exactly right. In this respect the Koch Brothers are exactly like Log Cabin Republicans. Log Cabin Republicans are gays who have realized that the really important dividing line isn’t between gay and straight, it’s between rich and poor. If you’re rich and gay, you can hop on a jet and get married anywhere in the world that allows gay marriage, no problemo. The important thing is to keep all that lovely money flowing their way, on their gay paradise of designer mansions, lobster dinners, fabulous parties and rent boys. If you’re middle class and gay, well, you’re no one they want to know about or care about, at best you might be a rent boy for them. Same with the Koch Bros. They don’t have to live in idiot fundie America with no safety net, their safety net is billions of dollars. The key thing is to keep those billions flowing their way. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/56 "2013-09-30T17:15:54Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I love my Tea Party I don’t want to hijack this thread, but I think it would be interesting if you started a thread about why you love the Tea Party and what good do you think they do and what ideals do you think they stand for. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/57 "2013-09-30T17:23:55Z")
Well, OK, but “Obama suxx!” would make for a pretty short thread. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/58 "2013-09-30T17:32:16Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I don’t want to hijack this thread, but I think it would be interesting if you started a thread about why you love the Tea Party and what good do you think they do and what ideals do you think they stand for. “Tea” is one of several (now archaic) slang words for marijuana. So a “Tea Party” . . . Well, we **all** love our Tea Parties! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/59 "2013-09-30T20:00:45Z")
I dunno, I look at Cruz and think “megalomaniac.” He’s the one I’d fear most about getting ahold of the national surveillance apparatus Dubya created (and which Obama has lovingly protected) and using it to become President for Life. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609/60 "2013-09-30T20:04:10Z")
I look at Cruz and think “self-promoter”. Apparently it’s worked, if it’s true that the latest polls show him the top choice of teabaggers for the 2016 Presidential nomination. I know, I know, look what it did for Bachmann, but still. How many other first-termers have \*ever \*wrapped the entire Congress in knots like this jackwagon has? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ted-cruz-is-pretty-crafty/669609.md?page=4)