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Ted Cruz Tag

Last month, I wrote about Harry Reid's statement that he is "fairly certain" the Democrats will retake the Senate this year, and as I noted, it is a very real possibility given a number of factors.  The Democrats need win only five seats to retake the Senate (four if Hillary wins the WH), the Republicans are defending 24 seats to the Democrats' 10, and many of the states in play—Florida, Wisconsin, Illinois, New Hampshire—went to Obama in both 2008 and 2012. As we consider and discuss the importance of the Supreme Court and who will be nominating the next Justice who will replace Justice Scalia—and potentially two (or more) others—during his or her term, it may be a good idea to think about the Senate races across the country and to do what we can to ensure that the Senate is not lost to Democrats. No matter who wins the general and nominates the next Justice/s, the Senate is still the body that confirms a presidential nomination to the Court.  A Democrat-controlled Senate, I think we can all agree, would be a disaster on many levels, but particularly so in light of the upcoming Supreme Court nominee/s.

Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee. Presumably he will face off against Hillary Clinton. Given the intense feelings and turmoil resulting from Ted Cruz suspending his campaign, I thought it would be useful to solicit views from all of the Legal Insurrection authors. Most of the authors took me up on the offer. The opinions below, listed in alphabetical order by last name or pseudonym, are the opinions of each individual author. I think you will be surprised at the breadth of opinion, from someone who was for Trump long before it was cool to be for Trump, to diehard #NeverTrump-ers. And many variations in between. As for me. Well, you'll have to find my name in the list. Hopefully I did alphabetical order better than I do math.

Is Donald Trump the Republican nominee? Not *technically,* but it is much, much more likely than a day ago. There is an ever so slight possibility that Trump could be denied 1237 delegates going into the convention. I hope Cruz fights on. [Update - not to be, Cruz suspends campaign.] Conservatives on Twitter wasted no time in assessing the implications of The Trumpublican Party: https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/727634645404270596 https://twitter.com/philipaklein/status/727634781278711808

Indiana votes today. The finally tallies could make or break Senator Cruz's 2016 White House aspirations. Prior to Hoosiers heading to the ballot box, Trump was ahead in the polls.

The Republican delegate situation:

Immediately after winning the primary, Trump tweeted:

GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed the father of his rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) helped Lee Harvey Oswald kill President John F. Kennedy. "His father was with Lee Harvey Oswald prior to Oswald's being — you know, shot. I mean, the whole thing is ridiculous," he told Fox News. "What is this, right prior to his being shot, and nobody even brings it up. They don't even talk about that. That was reported, and nobody talks about it."

The video below is meaningful at so many levels. At one level, it's for me another Ted Cruz moment, similar to when he confronted with facts and logic Code Pink protesters. A Ted Cruz moment for me:
Cruz could have reacted many ways. He could have shouted down the people shouting him down. He could have insulted them. He could have had security push them away. But instead, he engaged. That’s what was important to me. The confidence to engage rather than avoid. Standing face to face with hostile protesters was very Andrew Breitbart-like.
The video below is of Cruz "debating" a Trump supporter. Was this person a real supporter or, as Allahpundit puts it, a parody of a Trump supporter. The Trump supporter is rude and verbally abusive -- spewing the one-liners and insults he hears from Trump. Listen to the guy. Is there anything he or the crowd says that you couldn't image Trump saying himself and in the same manner?

This awkward little gem from Ted Cruz's Vice Presidential announcement is bouncing its merry way around the internet. It's like a train wreck -- you want to look away, but you can't:

Mike Pence's radio endorsement of Ted Cruz was watered down by praise also for Donald Trump. It was a weird endorsement -- he said all the right things about Cruz, but an endorsement is not the time for balance. Pence has an op-ed in The Indianapolis Star in which he repeats the endorsement, without the watering down:
... While I like and respect each of our candidates, I am voting for Ted Cruz on Tuesday. In making my decision to support Ted, I am guided by the principles best espoused by former President Ronald Reagan. I am a Reagan Republican; drawn to his vision of less taxes, less government, traditional values and a strong military. Ted articulates that same agenda with an unwavering devotion to our Constitution, the sanctity of life, and the freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

John Boehner appeared at Stanford University last night. The appearance is making news. It's revealing not just because of Boehner's vitriolic personal attack on Ted Cruz, but more important, the revelation that Boeher is friends with Donald Trump and they golf and text regularly. So tell me again how the GOP establishment supports Cruz and how Trump will shake them up and burn them down. The Stanford Daily reports, John Boehner talks election, time in office:
Much of the discussion – and laughs – focused on Boehner’s views on the current presidential candidates. Segueing into the topic, Kennedy asked Boehner to be frank given that the event was not being broadcasted, and the former Speaker responded in kind. When specifically asked his opinions on Ted Cruz, Boehner made a face, drawing laughter from the crowd.

It's not exactly "breaking news" anymore. Ted Cruz is announcing that should he get the nomination, his running mate will be Carly Fiorina.

Ted Cruz has a major announcement at 4 p.m. today. We will turn a video feed live at that time. Reports are emerging that he will announce that Carly Fiorina will be his running mate:
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will announce on Wednesday afternoon that former presidential rival Carly Fiorina has agreed to be his running mate should he win the GOP presidential nomination. Sources confirmed to WMUR political director Josh McElveen and political reporter John DiStaso that Fiorina, who has been a supporter of Cruz for several weeks, will be the focus of the announcement that Cruz intends to make in Indiana Wednesday afternoon.... Should Cruz survive Indiana, California’s primary is key on June 7. Fiorina is viewed as a potential asset to Cruz in California, where she won a U.S. Senate primary in 2010 before losing to Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer in the general election.

Last night was the night Mr. Donald J. Trump took a big step towards a first ballot win. As abhorrent at that result may be, there's no sense deluding ourselves. Trump still isn't there, however, and isn't yet on a trajectory to be there. But he's a lot closer as a result of small Republican electorates in northeast blue states which will vote Democrat in the general election. California will decide the fate of the Republican nomination process. Who could have predicted that? Perhaps recognizing what a Trump nomination means, RNC Chair Reince Priebus appealed last night for party unity. My response was to state the obvious, the Party is over. https://twitter.com/LegInsurrection/status/725161440257183744

Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvanie, Rhode Island, and Maryland vote today. All polls close at 8:00 PM EST. UPDATES (by WAJ): Issue is not whether Trump wins the 5 states, issue is whether he picks up more delegates than expected, which he will have to do to get on trajectory for first ballot win. https://twitter.com/ABC/status/725112239469006848

The anti-Cruz hype is that nobody likes him, everybody hates him, he has no friends. The anti-Republican hype is that they're racist bigots. Here's a story that could kill (or at least slightly injure) those two birds with one stone: the tale of Ted Cruz's best friend in college, law school, and beyond, David Panton.