A rant from DJ.
***
When Ted Cruz announced his decision to endorse Trump, I was very disappointed in him. I had hoped Cruz would stay silent the rest of the election and opt to just vote in November and not say who he voted for. But he didn’t. And since stating that, he’s gone full blown Trump, saying his mediocre debate was a great performance (the best of the cycle), and giving interviews that are- simply put- horrible for him.
And this has come at a cost. He’s lost a large amount of support he got in the election. On social media, he is being thrashed by everyone. Pro-Trump, Never Trump, just about every group is angry at him. And many are now calling this a calculating move by Cruz, to get more support in a move that is obviously backfiring.
Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of such an event like this. An event where one man’s endorsement (albeit a poor one) costs him a large amount of support and begins destroying his reputation. And one that likely has thrown his future political success into the gutter.
But this, sadly, raises a very good point on the Conservative movement. Are we too big on making politicians perfect?
We expect perfection from politicians. We have some great people in congress- Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Sasse, Mike Lee, Rand Paul, Justina Amash, Dave Brat, Jim Jordan, and Ron DeSantis. In the Governor’s mansions, we have Scott Walker, Greg Abbott, Nikki Haley, and Pat McCrory.
And yet… With all of those people we still aren’t happy. Because each one does something that we feel is wrong. And we expect perfection.
Look… I have my problems with Marco Rubio. I don’t like Rubio. Things have occurred with Rubio that make me not like him that’re unrelated to political beliefs. But I’d vote for him in a heartbeat over Trump, Hillary, Johnson, Stein, Castle, McMullin, de La Fuente, La Riva, and Hedges.
But the Gang of 8 Bill was what ruined Rubio in many people’s minds. And that’s, honestly, sad. Yes, it was a bad bill. But if I were to throw everyone under the bus who supported a bill or an issue that I didn’t like, even a major one, I’d have nobody to vote for. I’d write myself in on every single line.
We expect pure perfection from politicians. They will never deliver this to us.
And of course, you have some people who believe that their candidate never does wrong, or that a certain candidate is never right. They’re just as bad, if not worse than the people who expect perfection. No candidate is right on every issue. I supported Cruz in the primaries. I didn’t even agree with him on all of the issues. I can’t stand Kasich. But I was open to admitting he had some great moments during the primaries.
The Conservative movement needs to stop throwing everyone under the bus for one issue. We’re never going to get the perfect politician. We never agree on everything. We never will. We’re each individuals and don’t have a hive mentality. If we do, we’re nothing better than Social Justice Warrior Liberals.
-Ted Cruz supports Donald Trump
“BURN HIM AT THE STAKE! HOW DARE HE DO THIS AND TEAR ALL OF US DOWN!”
-Marco Rubio supports the Gang of 8 bill
“BURN HIM AT THE STAKE! HOW DARE HE DO THIS AND TEAR ALL OF US DOWN!”
These are just two of the many instances where people saying a politician must be destroyed over one choice.
And of course, we expect politicians not to be calculating or focused on their next campaign. You guys- I’m going to let you in on a major secret. This is, like, the most SHOCKING secret of all time that nobody has ever figured out…
All politicians are always focused on their next campaign, and ones who say they aren’t are lying…
Seriously, they have to be. All politicians are calculating, all are focusing on their reelections, all do this. Some politicians are better at hiding it than others. See the difference between Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, both of whom are major calculators- but both of whom show it very differently. Some politicians are focused by being a force for change. Some get on the good side of their party, hoping for donations. Some try and split the middle (see Cruz, Rubio, Walker, Haley, and Paul). And we will throw them under the bus for trying to split the middle. They’ve shown us they’re major Conservatives for years, but that one moment- poof. Dead to us.
The Conservative movement has to stop and say whether it wants to have the best possible politicians, or perfect politicians. One is very easy. I don’t like some of the people in Washington. But I’d gladly vote for Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, or Trey Gowdy over Donald Trump.
Should we always vote for the binary choice? No, that’s stupid. But throwing someone under the bus for a decision they made years ago isn’t going to help. That’s how you get 17 candidates in a presidential race where the guy who comes out on top has no qualifications to be President outside of traveling the world.
By throwing every good person under the bus for one or two decisions, we throw the Presidency to Moderates while we sit here waiting for Ronald Reagan’s reborn soul to appear. And since we never accept that politicians aren’t perfect (Reagan, himself, wasn’t even perfect), we throw all of our great chances away.
I’m not happy with Ted Cruz’s decision, and I’m definitely not happy with some of his statements following it. But I’m still going to support him. Not because of his endorsement, I don’t care about that. I’m going to support him because after 4 years he’s been one of the few Senators I’ve grown to trust on almost all issues, and he’s given me the start of the political career that I’ve always wanted. But if he doesn’t run, I’m not going to hold my breath and wait for another Cruz or Reagan to appear. And if he does, I’ll also look to the other choices- Rubio, Sasse, Ruaner. All of them.
