In a strange way Ted helped Trump tonight, because the crowd defended Trump. Ted did not help himself. While I understand assuming Trump is a one time phenomenon, opening a path in 2020, Ted did not position himself to take advantage of that.
From Lyin' Ted, to making fun of his wife's looks, to attacks against his father, Cruz has reasons to be personally upset. But Ted Cruz did not come off as a unifier or magnanimous tonight. Ted had a certain tone deafness. Even if Trump fails in November, or wins and does poorly as President, Ted is not the guy a majority will rally around. The only ones who will love Ted Cruz's speech are #NeverTrump people.
If you go to the convention to speak, you endorse (even if you qualify your endorsement). If you can't endorse, stay home.
Legal Insurrection: Awkward
Lem's Place: Laura Ingraham Speech
NPR: Pence makes the case for Trump after Cruz is booed
RedState: Scott Walker Pleads for Conservatives to Vote for Trump and Balancing on a Pin
Instapundit: Finished Nationally?, Both Losers?, Two Teds, Servile Puppy Dog, Roger Simon, Austin Bay, Exposing media bias at the GOP convention, Newt's Explanation, The Federalist: Ted Cruz Knew What He Was Doing (you can be smart and wrong)
American Power Blog: Ted Cruz is Dead To Me (don't hold back Donald on how you feel about Ted Cruz)
Ben Shapiro/Daily Wire: Cruz Camp: Trump Campaign Approved Speech, Orchestrated RNC Blowback Against Cruz
Powerline: Ted Cruz plays the spoiler, Miscalculation?, and is Ted Finished Nationally?
Hot Air: Irony: Cruz delivers the unity that Trump and GOP seek
Twitchy: Trump faces during Ted's speech and This aint over
Vodka Pundit: A Tale of Two Teds
Roger Simon: Pence 1, Cruz 0
Commentary: Cruz's Chutzpah
NRO: Ted Burns It Down
Jim Treacher: All righty!
The Last Refuge: Toxic
Hogewash
RRG: Ted
DaTechGuy: Family and How Donald Trump played Ted Cruz at RNC Convention, and won
Rush Limbaugh: Was it Trump or Peter King and the New York Delegates who started booing Ted?
TOM: #RNCinCLE Facts are Raaaaacist
The Republican Party is concerned about keeping the Senate and dissing Trump does not help that. Cruz playing Great White Hope of '20 was a lot more than tone deaf. In a year like this, even Paul Ryan helped smooth over some of the rules fights Monday.
ReplyDeleteYou're expected to be a team player, at least at the convention, as you say. Cruz is done, he can expect no help in '18.
Love the Shapiro headline, "Cruz Camp: Trump Campaign Approved Speech, Orchestrated RNC Blowback Against Cruz". They walked into Trump's trap and they're saying it's all Trump's fault?
And, yes, Laura's speech was the best of the night (but Pence pleasantly surprised me with how good a speaker he is, he'll be good on the campaign trail).
Evi, I completely agree. I expected better from Cruz. His speech was tone death and stupid. I like Cruz as a maverick, but he went too far. I expected to give a speech about his difficult it was to campaign against Trump, but in the end, recognize that Trump was the winner and support him. Instead he gave a speech of a poor loser. The same type of speech Trump gave after Colorado, but Trump did it through surrogates and went on to beat Cruz elsewhere. The best that can be said of Cruz is that he lacked tact. Now he lacks any authority.
ReplyDeleteTake your ball, Ted. Go home. We have more and are happy to play without you.