In Cleveland, Trump may need Cruz more than Cruz needs him
By Jonathan Tilove - American-Statesman Staff
When Donald Trump collected a few unbound delegates last week, surpassing the 1,237 needed to clinch the Republican nomination for president, expectations that the national convention could be the most dramatic in modern times evaporated.
“Now, it will be the most entertaining,” said Randy Evans, a party-wise man from Georgia, with a nod to the reality TV star’s promise to “put some show biz” into the July convention in Cleveland.
But there remains an important, unscripted drama yet to unfold in the tempestuous relationship between Trump and his chief rival, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
Although Trump will arrive in Cleveland as the victor and Cruz the vanquished, the politics of the moment suggest that Trump needs Cruz — to reassure nervous conservatives — more than Cruz needs Trump, whose defeat in November would fulfill Cruz’s frequent prediction and best serve the 45-year-old Texan’s future presidential ambitions.
“If he does not endorse and Trump loses, Cruz gets to step out on Nov. 9 and say, ‘See what I said,’ ” said Evans, a member of the Republican National Committee’s Rules Committee who, as chairman of the Republican National Lawyers Association, stayed neutral in the race.
“Cruz is a brilliant strategist, a long-term player. He’s got cards to play, and I fully expect him to play a few of those cards,” Evans said. “I think Cruz’s theme will be to say, `You’re the nominee, but I’m the party. You’re the name on the ballot, but I’m the one who represents, who epitomizes what it means to be a Republican.’”
Cruz ended his campaign May 3 after a bitter defeat in Indiana, dropping out shortly after lashing out at the man who had spent months calling him “Lyin’ Ted.”
Posted: 12:00 a.m. Sunday, May 29, 2016
Highlights
The tempestuous relationship between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz will play out at the Republican convention.
A loss by Trump could advance Cruz’s ambitions.
Cruz backers are divided between those who want nothing to do with Trump and those who’d like a reconciliation.
When Donald Trump collected a few unbound delegates last week, surpassing the 1,237 needed to clinch the Republican nomination for president, expectations that the national convention could be the most dramatic in modern times evaporated.
“Now, it will be the most entertaining,” said Randy Evans, a party-wise man from Georgia, with a nod to the reality TV star’s promise to “put some show biz” into the July convention in Cleveland.
But there remains an important, unscripted drama yet to unfold in the tempestuous relationship between Trump and his chief rival, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
Although Trump will arrive in Cleveland as the victor and Cruz the vanquished, the politics of the moment suggest that Trump needs Cruz — to reassure nervous conservatives — more than Cruz needs Trump, whose defeat in November would fulfill Cruz’s frequent prediction and best serve the 45-year-old Texan’s future presidential ambitions.
“If he does not endorse and Trump loses, Cruz gets to step out on Nov. 9 and say, ‘See what I said,’ ” said Evans, a member of the Republican National Committee’s Rules Committee who, as chairman of the Republican National Lawyers Association, stayed neutral in the race.
+In Cleveland, Trump may need Cruz more than Cruz needs him photo
Drew Angerer
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, speaks to the media as he returns to his office at the U.S. Capitol on May ... read more
“Cruz is a brilliant strategist, a long-term player. He’s got cards to play, and I fully expect him to play a few of those cards,” Evans said. “I think Cruz’s theme will be to say, `You’re the nominee, but I’m the party. You’re the name on the ballot, but I’m the one who represents, who epitomizes what it means to be a Republican.’”
Cruz ended his campaign May 3 after a bitter defeat in Indiana, dropping out shortly after lashing out at the man who had spent months calling him “Lyin’ Ted.”
“This man is a pathological liar,” Cruz said of Trump. “He doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies. He lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth.”
Cruz also called Trump “utterly amoral,” adding that “morality does not exist for him.”
“I don’t see how you can take those words back, particularly if part of your appeal is that you’re not a traditional politician, that ‘I tell it like it is,’ ” University of Houston political scientist Richard Murray said. “I can’t see how that would work.”
For many admirers of Cruz, the very thought of endorsing Trump remains repugnant.
http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/national-govt-politics/in-cleveland-trump-may-need-cruz-more-than-cruz-ne/nrWng/
