Posted on 01/14/2013 7:20:24 AM PST by cotton1706
Texas Sen. John Cornyn is quickly establishing himself as a conservative hard-liner in his new leadership role as the No. 2 Senate Republican. And one of his first moves has been to strike up a friendship with tea party star and fellow Texan, Sen. Ted Cruz.
In the new Congress, Cornyn is rapidly flexing conservative muscle over fiscal issues and President Barack Obama’s Cabinet nominees. It comes at the same time he is seeking an alliance with Cruz, the freshman senator who pulled off an upset victory over an establishment favorite in last year’s Texas GOP primary.
Cornyn’s early moves show how tough it will be for the White House to extract concessions from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s increasingly conservative conference and leadership team. And they demonstrate how GOP leaders have been quick to take the new tea party stars in the Senate under their wings, a buddy system both freshmen and senior senators find politically beneficial.
By establishing himself as an outspoken conservative leader — with ties to the new tea party star — Cornyn can help shore up vulnerabilities on the right as he worries about fending off a prospective GOP primary challenger in 2014. And for Cruz, close ties to the leadership give him a chance to rapidly develop a legislative portfolio and secure spots on key committees, which ordinarily would take junior senators years to achieve.
The Texas dynamic mirrors McConnell’s swift move to court the junior senator from his state, tea party star Sen. Rand Paul, whose help the leader would most likely need if he faces a primary opponent in 2014. Cornyn, likewise, could benefit from Cruz’s intervention in a 2014 primary challenge. But Cruz wouldn’t explicitly say in an interview that he’d endorse Cornyn in a 2014 primary fight.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Like Hatch, he's trying to shore up his re-election by hitching his wagon to the principled, conservative, newly elected Tea Party junior senator.
No repbublican senators will buck or run against the leadership. So the leadership should be removed. And in 2014 we can get rid of the leader and the whip, since they have NOT been leaders.
Cornyn has not proved to be solid conservative, but he’s a lot better than KBH ever was.
Here's RINO Cornyn at his finest as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee ...
Cornyn Takes Aim at DeMint, Tea Party
John Cornyn Declares He Will Continue The War Against Conservative Candidates
Cornyn is a GOPe snake. Cruz needs to watch his back.
Watch him on immigration-coming up next...
Cornyn is a RINO.
Cruz, so far, is conservative AND believable.
He should avoid the bastard backstabbing RINO.
Cruz is very smart. Hopefully, when it comes to endorsement time, he says something along the lines of “the senate should not be choosing its own members, let the people choose their nominee and I’ll support whomever is nominated”
And Tim Scott in SC should do the same. They owe these moderate incumbents nothing. DeMint would have been under a lot of pressure (like Santorum/Specter in ‘04) to endorse Graham. Now he’s head of the Heritage Foundation and will hopefully work to remove Graham.
If it looks like suckin’ up, walks like suckin’ up and smells like suckin’ up well all righty then it must be suckin’ up. I really don’t care though........I can’t stand either one of them.
John Cornyn is not a Conervative, he’s a BOP lover.. His oath of office means nothing to him. I have told him that before. He will do most anything to be re-elected.
Yes, I’m a Texas and will not vote for Cornyn.
Just curious, what don’t you like about Cruz?
Correct, Kaye Bailey was only marginally better than any Yeller Dog dem! Happy to see her gone.
Cornyn may be smart enough to read the TEA leaves in Texas and stay close to Cruz, but its going to require more than superficial to please us.
Count on Ted Cruz being a very bright star for both Texas and America!
Oh, what happened? Are you a DewWorst fan?
Cornyn and conservative are two words that when appearing in the same sentence should be weighed carefully.
“Yes, I’m a Texas and will not vote for Cornyn.”
That’s good to hear. I didn’t vote for Brown in the last election. I had everybody (on FR and elsewhere) tell me that he was better than the alternative. But I left his office blank on my ballot and he a lot of others did too and he went down in flames. And we’re better off without his votes making democrat bills “bipartisan.” Lugar and Snowe are gone too. Good riddance.
McConnell, Cornyn, Graham, Enzi, Collins, Cochrane, Chambliss, Alexander...all need to go or be removed.
POLITICOs spin is hilarious.
Senior same-state Senators ALWAYS help and get close to their new buddies. Even if they’re of opposite parties!
It is evidence of nothing.
I think it is more like Cruz co-opting Cornyn.
If Cruz were to endorse a challenger against Cornyn, Cornyn would lose in the primary.
IMO we were team tagged by KBH and Cornyn. When she decided not to run she moved further left so he could appear the more conservative of the two. Gave him the credentials he needed to be able to flaunt his false conservative record since he’s up for reelection. Don’t intend to vote for Cornyn for anything ever again so would like to have another choice but doubt that it will happen. Cornyn has amassed a huge financial warchest which will be hard to beat unless people get behind another candidate like they did for Cruz when he ran against establishment Dewhurst.
Let us hope that Cruz converts Cornyn and not the other way around. But yes, TX had only one seat in the Senate as long as Hutchison occupied the other one. What a waste.
LIterally the very hour Specter became a Democrat, I was being told by Cornyn staffers that Specter was a trusted, loyal and deeply conservative senator.
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