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Cruz For Texas (even National Review dumps Dewhurst)
National Review ^ | May 1, 2012 | National Review editorial

Posted on 05/01/2012 11:10:47 AM PDT by pogo101

Texas’s Ted Cruz has come a long way in his quest to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison in the United States Senate. He has spent the better part of the last year slowly closing the polling gap with his principal rival, the better-known lieutenant governor David Dewhurst, to the point that a runoff between the two now seems the likeliest of outcomes in the May 29 primary. But finishing a strong second isn’t an outcome worthy of an articulate, principled conservative such as Cruz. He can and should win a runoff with Dewhurst, become the Republican nominee, and be elected the next senator from the state of Texas.

Regular readers of National Review Online will have no doubt heard the basics about the 41-year-old Cruz from one of his many fans here. But to review: Cruz is a Houston native and the son of a Cuban immigrant; he went on to be a Princeton debate champion, a standout at Harvard Law, and a clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist. He advised George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign on domestic policy and served in the administration in both the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission. Back in Texas, he was an able and busy solicitor general from 2003 to 2008, playing pivotal roles in Supreme Court decisions that kept God in the Pledge of Allegiance, affirmed the individual right to bear arms, and held off an attempt by the International Criminal Court (and the Bush administration) to meddle with Texas’s legal system.

To borrow a phrase from baseball, Cruz is what one might call a “five-tool” candidate: He is good on the Constitution, on the economy, on social issues, and on foreign policy, and he possesses the intellect and rhetorical gifts to combine these views into a clear, cogent, and compelling conservative vision for America. That eloquence — and the obvious biographical connection — have drawn favorable comparisons between Cruz and Marco Rubio. There is also something of Utah’s Senator Mike Lee, whom Cruz would join as a scholar, and protector, of the Constitution in the Senate. But at a certain point the comparisons don’t do justice to Cruz. It is, after all, the rare student who could draw the unalloyed admiration of professors as starkly opposed as Robert P. George and Alan Dershowitz.

Cruz has earned praise as well from a diverse group of conservatives and conservative groups. Senator Lee, along with Senators Pat Toomey, Jim DeMint, and Rand Paul, have expressed their support. FreedomWorks and the Club for Growth have endorsed his campaign. George Will called him “as good as it gets” even as various tea-party groups have effused on his behalf. In a primary season marked by fiercely contested races on the right, Ted Cruz has achieved something close to consensus.

Early on, with Cruz facing a 40–11 polling deficit against Dewhurst, supporters hoped the race would follow the form of the Crist–Rubio battle in Florida — with the compelling young conservative surging past the establishment favorite. But in many ways Cruz faces a bigger challenge. Not only is Dewhurst not nearly as multifariously bad as Crist — who is? — but he is a popular lieutenant governor and a hectomillionaire who has banked on that name recognition and that war chest to hold off Cruz. As Cruz’s numbers have improved, Dewhurst has gone archly negative, flooding the airwaves with lame ads that, e.g., hit Cruz for the Democratic political donations of partners at his large law firm. (Quoth Cruz: “I haven’t met half my partners.”)

In this environment, Cruz’s only path to victory is to do on the ground what Dewhurst is doing on the air — a tack he has undertaken with relish, stumping through a never-ending series of straw polls, senior centers, and barbecues to get his message out. If he cannot beat Dewhurst outright, he stands at least to improve his chances by forcing a runoff, which would raise Cruz’s profile and his platform. This could prove decisive. Because with Ted Cruz, seeing is believing.

We thus urge Texans to vote for Ted Cruz now, to vote for him in a runoff, should there be one, and to send him to the United States Senate.


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: cruz; dewhurst; senate; texas
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Go Cruz! Didn't see this posted yet in a search for keyword "Cruz." If a duplicate, please delete.
1 posted on 05/01/2012 11:10:55 AM PDT by pogo101
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To: pogo101

He is the only reason I am voting in the Texas Primary since Texan’s opinions don’t matter on who we nominate to face off with the one come November.


2 posted on 05/01/2012 11:19:53 AM PDT by BubbaBobTX ("The problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other peoples money." Margaret Thatcher)
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To: pogo101

Dewhurst is really just a reflagged Tory Democrat. Of course, so is Rick Perry, but he doesn’t have a private fortune to use to buy him an office.
Kay Bailey is a liberal Republican, like GHW Bush. which means that Dewhurst is to the right of Hutchison and to the left of Perry and Judge Cornyn. Cruz is a Conservative. Leppert is a Romney-type flip-flopper. Then there is whazisname, the Jock who ruined the Texas Tech football program. No thanks.


3 posted on 05/01/2012 11:20:37 AM PDT by RobbyS (Christus rex.)
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To: pogo101

I appreciate the post from NR. Thanks.

Thanfully, DeMint and Rand Paul got this one right and are saying so.

Dewhurst is not a cup of TEA by such a long shot. Cruz may be if he is all his record says he is. It’s stellar.

I hear the negative ads are rampant in Houston against him and causing some confusion, so it’s good that National Review cuts to the chase of those false ads, so simply, and puts them to bed nicely.

Dewhurst is framing Cruz. It was Cruz’s colleagues who were known to give to democrats running. Cruz did not.

Typical shell game. “Look over here.” “No, look over here.”
“Now, look over there.”

We’re with you Cruz


4 posted on 05/01/2012 11:24:15 AM PDT by RitaOK (Nevermind, Newt. Forget the convention. I'm trusting God for the rest.)
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To: pogo101

Thank you! I just had a friend asking me yesterday about it and I couldn’t give her a good answer! Will pass this along.


5 posted on 05/01/2012 11:36:43 AM PDT by boxlunch
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To: pogo101

David Dewhurst is a genuinely nice guy, and Texas could do worse in electing a Senator. But.. He is more like the fellow on the school board looking for consensus and trims around the edges of a project, so that he can later boast that he reduced the cost of the new football stadium from $60 to $40 million. A true conservative would attack the premise that the school district really needed another football stadium with only 4 high schools even if all of the drill teams could not perform on those Friday nights.

Cruz has the is a “high-motor” constitutional scholar with the gift to articulate an unapologetic vision of constitutional individual liberty and the responsibility that such freedom brings.

That said, Dewhurst would be ok.


6 posted on 05/01/2012 12:10:59 PM PDT by calico_thompson
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To: calico_thompson

We have a Cruz sign in our front yard, and are certainly supporting him!


7 posted on 05/01/2012 12:29:11 PM PDT by basil (It's time to rid the country of "gun free zones" aka "Killing Fields")
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To: calico_thompson

I mean no disrespect to David Dewhurst. I sense he is what you say, a careful, “around the edges” conservative. With someone as (more-) conservative, well-spoken and smart as Cruz running, though, there is no reason to seemingly “play it safe” with Dewhurst in the primary.


8 posted on 05/01/2012 12:38:43 PM PDT by pogo101
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To: pogo101

National Review has been giving Cruz positive coverage for a while now; not really shocking to see them endorse him. However, that endorsement, like just about every endorsement made in this campaign regardless of whom endorsed whom, means little to the outcome on May 29th.


9 posted on 05/01/2012 1:17:35 PM PDT by Sic Parvis Magna
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To: RobbyS
Don't forget the SMU football program, which received the death penalty as a result of his role in pay for play. It's always irked me that he's denied that crap.
10 posted on 05/01/2012 1:20:41 PM PDT by Sic Parvis Magna (Remember the 5!!)
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To: calico_thompson

That said, Dewhurst would be ok.”

I strongly disagree with you. Texas has not had a Conservative Senator for a good long while. We finally have a chance to get rid of Kay Bailey and one of the RINO’s by electing Cruz. He does have a long uphill battle though because Dewhurst has all the Austin money and power behind him. Most of the negative criticism on Cruz can be traced directly to the Dewhurst camp. Dewhurst is also responsible for Strauss being head of the Senate and we know how well that worked out. Dewhurst and his machine needs to be out of Texas politics. We need to elect Cruz this time and then get rid of Cornyn in 2014.


11 posted on 05/01/2012 1:23:26 PM PDT by Grams A (The Sun will rise in the East in the morning and God is still on his throne.)
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To: pogo101
Dewhurst is desperately trying to distract voters from his attempt to push a “wage tax” on Texans.
12 posted on 05/01/2012 1:26:11 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch (Follow the money on both sides of the border.)
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To: RitaOK

I’d LOVE to ask the editors of NR..Hey you got this one right..but how come you screwed up in endorsing Romney early on? What’s the difference between Mitt and Dewhurst?


13 posted on 05/01/2012 1:43:13 PM PDT by ken5050 (FRACK Obama!!!)
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To: BubbaBobTX
He is the only reason I am voting in the Texas Primary since Texan’s opinions don’t matter on who we nominate to face off with the one come November.


Don't forget there are other offices on the Texas GOP primary ballot this election. Of course not all will be in your area but many will.

Candidates By Office

Select an office:

Visit our “Downloads” page to view a statewide list of all candidates, including judicial and local candidates.

14 posted on 05/01/2012 1:45:46 PM PDT by deport (.............God Bless Texas............)
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To: calico_thompson
David Dewhurst is a genuinely nice guy

The RINO virus infection is nearly complete. It will be terminal for the Republican Party if they keep attacking Real Americans/Conservatives like this.

Bury the rotten corpse next to the Whigs and may the Tea Party piss on its grave.

15 posted on 05/01/2012 1:55:40 PM PDT by Sirius Lee (Sofa King Mitt Odd Did Obamneycare)
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To: Grams A

I’m 100% for Cruz. I’ve given his campaign money and also to the DeMint PAC. Just saying that if he fails to get the Republican nomination, I would not feel like taking a long bath after voting for Dewhurst in the fall. He would be a lot better than KBH.


16 posted on 05/01/2012 2:11:51 PM PDT by calico_thompson
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To: Sic Parvis Magna

Absolutely. The guy is a self-centered blow-hard, and the less qualified man on the ballot.


17 posted on 05/01/2012 2:29:51 PM PDT by RobbyS (Christus rex.)
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To: Sirius Lee
Dewhurst will fit nicely into the club. The next time we hear from him will be when he is eighty and stilling running for re-election.
18 posted on 05/01/2012 2:35:31 PM PDT by RobbyS (Christus rex.)
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To: ken5050

THAT is a very good question! They have fallen to bending our minds on their endorsements. Seems they dream about the real thing, and then turn around and select expediency, like everyone else, when it affects their DC pals, the beltway media rankings and their own bottom line. They just all do it for a living.


19 posted on 05/01/2012 3:21:09 PM PDT by RitaOK (Nevermind, Newt. Forget the convention. I'm trusting God for the rest.)
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To: deport

Lots off runoffs this year.


20 posted on 05/02/2012 8:21:04 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch (Follow the money on both sides of the border.)
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