We needed someone who would represent the values and the concerns of Texans and Ted Cruz was that man. Now, as he makes his bid for President of the United States, we need a president that will represent the best interests, values and concerns of United States citizens and I still think that Ted Cruz is that man.
I hear you starting to shake your head in disagreement, and that's fine. You're entitled to your own opinion, but let me finish. Ted Cruz kept the promises he made to the people when he went to Washington, D.C. He was and still is, the grass roots candidate. He has defended the constitution time and time again and referred to said document at his 'touchstone'. "My touchstone for every question is the constitution." Probably hadn't heard that from many if ANY of our current or former legislators.
He was and still is (to me) the rallying cry for the American people to be listened to and heard by their representatives. He recognized the frustration of the people when he and his staff fashioned the hashtag #makedclisten. Some folks claim that it was a 'fake' filibuster, but when Senator Rand Paul was there for his filibuster to delay the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Ellen Kagan, Senators Cruz and Lee were right there with him, standing shoulder to shoulder to keep the confirmation of a legislate-from-the-bench, liberal justice from taking place.
I understand now, that folks want to call him 'establishment' and so on. I'm curious what that word means to those who are calling him that. To me, the establishment Republicans were the guys who didn't want to change anything about how politics were done in Washington, D.C. They didn't want push back or questions from 'we the people', much less wanting us to be involved at all.
That has not been the case with Senator Cruz. He has reached out to the grass roots to ask for help when the Senate wanted to usher in a bill to take away our second amendment rights. He teamed up again with Senator Mike Lee to send a letter to his Senate colleagues regarding the second amendment rights and asked the grass roots to help support his efforts. Here he is in a video, explaining how thankful he is for the help he received and what it was like to be yelled at by senior Senators for not being a 'squish'. Hmmm...
I've heard complaints about Cruz saying that he can't build coalitions or bring teams together. My friend Erin Anderson had this to say in response to the naysayers when the news broke that some of the Bush family was going to join the Cruz finance team, "Y'all, what did you think coalescing behind a candidate would look like? Of course people from other campaigns are now joining Team Cruz. You better believe he'll need and want support from all across the GOP spectrum in the general election. It doesn't means he's "selling out" - they are coming to him, and together they are broadening the coalition.
If you were for a more "moderate" candidate, doesn't this show "extremist" Cruz can work with others? If you're Team Trump, isn't this exactly the kind of deal-making your guy promises?"
Which brings me to my next point. Now that he's made a run for President, he's been called all kinds of names; from liar to the establishment. As a Ted Cruz supporter, now I'M establishment or a RINO, if you will. What makes it wrong to support the candidate or the would-be incumbent when he or she actually does what he or she says they're going to do? Are we still just a bunch of Outragers Anonymous, or are we actually looking for good and decent legislators? Are we sending the wrong message to our legislators by never being satisfied with what they've done, saying that good isn't good enough? I wonder.
I won't be deterred. I haven't given up on the possibility that Ted Cruz will be the GOP nominee for President. I'm still working at the grassroots levels of government and will continue to do so, because our future and our children's future is too important to quit. As Ted Cruz signs in his photo pictured above, "The fight for Liberty never ends."
