Posted on 12/20/2015 8:39:10 AM PST by Kaslin
I've never formally endorsed a candidate in any presidential primary. This time the stakes are too high not to. Look around. The world is on fire and the party of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, not to mention the GOP's Obama-enabling RINO establishment, are playing with gasoline.
And so, while he's been among my top picks all along, I am now proud to publicly endorse for president of the United States Sen. Ted Cruz, the man who best personifies the anti-establishment, principle over perceived pragmatism, survival over political correctness mood of the American electorate. I believe, God willing, that Sen. Cruz, a constitutional stalwart and steadfast statesman, is here "for a time such as this." He alone, in the spirit of Reagan v. Carter, can, in my estimation, mop the floor in the general election with Hillary Clinton (aka, Obama in a pantsuit).
Jesus warned: "If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand" (Mark 3:25). Nothing has borne out this reality in recent decades like that exasperating spectacle called the Republican presidential primary. These last few GOP horse races have been jam-packed with would-be conservative and faithfully Christian presidents who, after infighting with largely simpatico opponents, have canceled each other out, limped off to lick their wounds and left the perpetually underwhelmed GOP base to stay home and not vote for "imminently electable" establishment paragons like Presidents Dole, McCain and Romney. Divide and conquer. That's how the "moderate" GOP establishment plays the primary.
And then they lose the general.
Albert Einstein famously quipped that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." In that sense, we conservatives are insane.
How about trying something new?
This 2016 GOP presidential primary is shaping up to be a three-way race between Ted Cruz, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio. With Jeb Bush languishing in the low single digits, the Republican establishment is clearly poised to throw its weight behind Rubio, leaving Cruz as the lone principled conservative with a shot.
And Donald Trump? Well, Steve Deace, my friend and fellow Cruz supporter, recently summed up Trump's conservative bona fides on CNN: "I know the establishment hates Trump, but Cruz was right to welcome him to the GOP. We're trying to grow the party. And in Trump, here's a lifelong Democrat and progressive who has given more money to the likes of Al Sharpton and Rahm Emanuel than anyone watching this will see in a lifetime. Yet now, with the country at its tipping point moment, he's chosen to come over to our side and adopt conservatism. So we welcome him into the fold."
As Ted Cruz quipped in Tuesday's debate on CNN, "If I'm elected president, we will secure the border, we will triple the border patrol, we will get a wall that works, and I'll get Donald Trump to pay for it."
Trump laughed and replied, "I'll build it!" I suspect there's a place in a Cruz administration for Donald Trump.
Indeed, while there remains a handful of other honorable, eminently qualified and actually conservative men in the GOP primary, any of whom I'd be honored to support under different circumstances, it has now become clear, in my humble opinion; an opinion supported by the polls that the window of opportunity has closed for them. Now is the time for them to bow out and throw their support behind Cruz. Moreover, conservative and Christian leaders around the country, as well as voters of every stripe, should put aside personal friendships and loyalties to other candidates and, likewise, rally behind the Texas senator.
Let's beat the establishment at its own game.
Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume, a Washington insider who's made no secret of his disdain for Ted Cruz,recently gave him a backhanded compliment: "Cruz has so alienated his Senate colleagues, Republicans perhaps more than Democrats, that he's well positioned as an outsider. But his rise in the polls will put him in the spotlight. Iowa voters will have the holidays and all of January to ponder why Cruz is so disliked by his Senate colleagues. The question then will be this: Will they still feel the same way about him when they find out."
Mr. Hume, you're playing dumb. You know full well that Iowa voters, indeed most voters, understand completely why Ted Cruz is hated by many of his Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle. Unlike his establishment contemporaries, he often stands alone, resolute and unwavering, in keeping the promises he's made to those who elected him as their Senate representative. The political establishment, whether it's got a "D" or an "R" behind its name, hates Ted Cruz with a white-hot hatred because he threatens the status quo. They're politicians hell-bent, first and foremost, on maintaining political power. Sen. Cruz, on the other hand, is a servant leader, a true statesman, determined to do what's best for America no matter the cost to his personal and political standing. No, Mr. Hume, the fact that Ted Cruz is hated by Washington insiders such as yourself is not a mark against him. It's a big part of the reason he's gaining steam.
Indeed, candidate Cruz is the right man for right now. Of course, while our ultimate hope can rest in Christ Jesus alone, He does appoint men and women on earth to act as his hands and feet. Ted Cruz is immovable, fearless and dogged in his determination to do the right thing. His integrity, character, remarkable communication skills and extraordinary persuasive powers, as evidenced by his five landmark victories before the U.S. Supreme Court as Texas solicitor general, have, among other things, uniquely qualified this fine man to become the leader of the free world.
Proverbs 4:18 says, "The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day."
These are dark times. Ted Cruz is a righteous man. As president, he'll shine bright. He'll light the path. He'll help make America that "shining city on a hill" once more.
Another one.
The GOPe in Congress hates both Cruz and Trump.
I enjoyed our discussion.
Have a great day! Go Seahawks!
“Getting by in business” shows your lack of comprehension of Trump’s abilities. End of story. Most intelligent people would admit that he’s got a lot of brains to build a fortune in the billions. He didn’t do it playing with numbers on wall street. He did it with steel and stone.
You do the same! And, with the help of God, we’ll be celebrating the next presidential election, whomever ends up being our nominee.
The Donald knows how to make a deal to get things done...been doing it successfully for years.
I have been in his seedy casino in Atlantic City, the carpets smell. Does that count? Does that make him a great man, his wealth?
PS He should spend some of that wealth replacing the carpets, and fixing the bathrooms. You know, walk the talk stuff...
Really?
Because I think the ROOT of this country’s problems stem from distancing ourselves and even turning aside from God and His commandments. It’s a sickness in the collective soul that plagues America, and while no candidate, including Cruz, will fix that or probably even adequately tackle it, I’m not personally putting my confidence behind someone who I suspect has the most vaguest of notions that it is the case and has even at times been sympathetic to those pulling us into sin.
Calling Wall Street “playing with numbers” shows your utter incomprehension of what goes into trading. And I say getting by in business because Trump would be a nothing without his daddy’s money and backing and his ability to schmooze the very same politicians you so dislike.
I agree with your post 72. He is what we all used to call a liberal. I’ll go with moderate in that a couple of positions are conservative. Certainly he is not the kind of candidate FR used to fight for. It’s shocking really.
I like how you explained his opportunistic business approach to success. If that’s what conservatism has become, that the end justifies the means and good character is now an obstacle to winning, count me out. I need a new title or we have to take back that one.
“We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount... The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.” — Omar Bradley
“Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.” — President George Washington, 1753
“[A] good moral character is the first essential in a man... and your conduct here may stamp your character through life. It is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned but virtuous.” —George Washington
“Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” —Joseph Story
“Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites—in proportion as their love of justice is above their rapacity;—in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption;—in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon the will and appetite is placed somewhere: and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds can not be free. Their passions forge their fetters.” — Edmund Burke
“In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate, look to his character. The scriptures teach that rulers should be men who rule in the fear of God, able men, men of truth, hating covetousness. It is to the neglect of this rule that we must ascribe the multified frauds, breaches of trust, and embezzlement of public property which tarnish the character of our country and disgrace government. When a citizen gives his vote to a man of known immorality, he abuses his civic responsibility, he sacrifices not only his interest, but that of his neighbor; he betrays the interest of his country.” Noah Webster, 1823
..inasmuch as we know that by His Divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?... - Abraham Lincoln -
Name Cruz's positions that are "too conservative for the average GOP voter".
Townhall is, to my understanding, a place of loose “contributors” that probably have no solid connection to the site itself. But, I guess I can understand. As someone who doesn’t want Trump, even I got annoyed with S.E. Cupp calling him anti-immigrant and anti-muslim.
Its why America won two world wars. Principals matter.
...........................................................
Sharp, knowledgeable Generals matter too. We need a Patton today and Cruz “sure ain’t it.”
Well, most conservatives anyway who stick to those principles.
ping!
I’m not making a personal judgment here but the average GOP voter is not as socially conservative as Cruz. Evangelicals are in the vast minority. This is why you see Ted Cruz struggling in the polls.
Your arguments sound exactly like the GOPe during the McCain campaign. Were you a McCain supporter? Or do you just agree with the core argument made by the GOPe that the conservative base doesn’t matter, we need a rock star candidate?
Wait- Ted Cruz has been given divine status?
Maybe it is a mindset and selective awareness kind of thing, but I have seen more Trump was hand picked and raised up by God to save us references than I have Cruz. Sometimes I think I’m going to see a post from someone saying they found a quarter in the crack of their sidewalk on the way to the car that would not have been there if Donald Trump was not running for president. I’ve seen a level of trust and conviction that Cruz is the most principled and intelligent conservative candidate we have had in a while. I have missed assigning him divine status.
Well stated.
The fact that he is a successful builder interests me. He built tangible things.. Wasn’t just manipulating money or suing people. Wealth itself is just the barometer.
Facist attitude? Seriously? I get what you are saying a little, but his statement was directed to one person, who has an m.o. on here mostly to antagonize it seems. Although I will say, amazingly enough I did get a chuckle out of humblegunner’s post.
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