Ted Cruz bruised, but not out, after roller-coaster election

[libertybele]

Ted Cruz bruised, but not out, after roller-coaster election

AUSTIN — Ted Cruz has ricocheted from top-tier Republican presidential candidate to reluctant surrogate for political nemesis Donald Trump. A low point came last month when a video surfaced of the Texas senator calling voters and encouraging them to go to the polls while sitting in front of a wall plastered with posters of Trump, whom he once called a “pathological liar” and “amoral.”

Though some have criticized his oscillating stances on the Republican presidential nominee, Cruz’s conservative, anti-establishment chops remain intact in the eyes of most supporters, particularly those in Texas, said Mark Jones, a Rice University political scientist.

Next up for Cruz: A senatorial re-election bid in 2018 that he should win easily, Jones said. After that, he’ll have another year or so to burnish his contrarian credentials, especially if Democrats win the presidency and the Senate majority, before making an expected second run at the White House.

“He may be damaged at the national level, but, in terms of his short-term goals, he’s well poised to win the 2018 primary,” Jones said.

Late last month, Cruz campaigned for Republican senators in Colorado and Nevada, espousing many of the points he hit in his primary speeches — jobs, the Supreme Court, security — with scarcely a mention of Trump's name.

The pathway here has been a complicated one for Cruz. He and Trump clashed bitterly and often during the GOP primary campaign, with Trump insulting Cruz’s wife and insinuating his father had a hand in the Kennedy assassination, and Cruz questioning Trump’s integrity and morality.

During his speech at the Republican National Convention in July, Cruz declined to directly endorse Trump, instead urging voters to “vote your conscience,” an omission that earned him jeers from the crowd and angered many Republicans....

ll the drama doesn’t seem to be impacting Texas voters, said Robert Stovall, chairman of the Bexar County GOP. Stovall has been overseeing get-out-the-vote efforts in his area, which includes San Antonio, and hasn’t heard much negative talk aimed at Cruz, he said.

A lot of Cruz supporters were waiting for the nod from Cruz to support Trump, Stovall said. Once it was given, voters were galvanized, he said.

“After running for president of the United States at a national level people know him inside and out,” Stovall said. “They believe he's presidential material.”...

...Whatever the next few years hold, another White House run seems likely for Cruz, who will be 49 in 2020...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/11/02/ted-cruz-donald-trump-future/93075048/

[Applewood]

I don't know that Cruz's endorsement galvanized voters.  I suspect many are voting for Trump because they think they have no other choice. 

Cruz essentially betrayed his supporters, his family and the nation because he needed GOP support for his re-election campaign.  He put party over country, and I don't believe many of his supporters will forget that.  I won't.   

[GrouchoTex]

If his aspirations were only to remain a Senator, I don't think he would have endorsed Trump.
However, it seems clear that he will seek higher office, hence the endorsement.
He would have difficulty within the party who nominated Trump, to get the same votes (and financial support of party backers, etc) if he ran for President in the future, but refused to support the current nominee.

[beandog]

I don't know that Cruz's endorsement galvanized voters.  I suspect many are voting for Trump because they think they have no other choice. 

Cruz essentially betrayed his supporters, his family and the nation because he needed GOP support for his re-election campaign.  He put party over country, and I don't believe many of his supporters will forget that.  I won't.

I think you're wrong.  I sure will.

[libertybele]

I don't know that Cruz's endorsement galvanized voters.  I suspect many are voting for Trump because they think they have no other choice. 

Cruz essentially betrayed his supporters, his family and the nation because he needed GOP support for his re-election campaign.  He put party over country, and I don't believe many of his supporters will forget that.  I won't.

Woah hold on a minute!  You are forgetting some very crucial information here.  #1  Cruz did not endorse Trump at the Convention, he was shunned, booed, and not allowed to enter back into the room that he and his wife were in and his wife was whisked away to safety.  I hardly call that as putting himself over country.  #2  He continued to be heavily criticized by the GOP, threatened by Trump and Priebus on any chance of a future career. Trump stated that he would raise money to make sure his career was over and Priebus said he would be punished!  #3 He insisted that he be given a list of justices in line with the principles of Scalia that Trump would appoint to the SCOTUS and even had Mike Lee's name added to it.  That list was referenced publicly by Cruz AND Trump.  #4 This election IS about the justices; and it's not just something Cruz came up with at the last minute.  In making several hundreds of phone calls for him, the 2nd amendment and justices were mentioned in the 'get out the vote scripts' as crucial in this election.  He never wavered from those points and I have no reason to doubt that those same points entered into his decision to state that he was going to vote for Trump.  I hardly consider any of these issues as putting party before country; quite the opposite.  I will continue to support him and I don't foresee him changing or altering his conservative path and I will do everything I will to help support him to retain his Senate seat in '18 and certainly (God willing we see another election) will do everything I can to help him become president in 2020.

Ted Cruz.  Reigniting the Promise of America!!!