Since the time that Donald Trump declared himself a candidate to be president of the United States, there has been a lot of talk about how bold and unyielding he is. While there has also been a lot of talk about Senator Ted Cruz since the time that he became a senator, his speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday July 20, 2016 proved that he is just as bold and unyielding as Donald Trump. His speech was unprecedented and will likely command a prominent place in American history books. Ted Cruz has gone rogue!
In the event that you did not watch his speech or haven’t heard about it, he spoke during prime time at the convention and told delegates there and all of those who were watching the event on television to vote their conscience. He refused to endorse soon-to-be Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. He was booed as he left the stage and his wife, Heidi, was escorted from the convention floor amidst those boos for ‘her own safety.’
As I reflected upon what happened I was not completely surprised by what took place because Senator Cruz has conducted himself this way in Washington since he was elected despite the fact that all of his colleagues have grown to despise him. But still, this move was somewhat unexpected because what he did at the convention versus how he conducts himself in the senate and during interviews increases his risk of damaging his political career exponentially. As a matter of fact, refusing to endorse the presumptive nominee while on air at the Republican National Convention could actually cost him his political career.
Only he knows for sure whether what he did was a mistake or a calculated risk; and whether he will be rewarded for it or punished remains to be seen. It is no surprise that those in the Trump campaign opted for the latter but the important response will come from Republicans in general. His immediate concern will be with how those in his congressional district respond. Then, if he survives that and still has aspirations to someday become president, he will need to mend fences where required and shore up his relationship with Republicans overall.
To paraphrase Speaker Paul Ryan when he was asked for his thoughts about presumptive nominee Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz is not my kind of human being. But regardless of that, I still have to give him credit. He is the only Republican among the 16 candidates that ran against Mr. Trump who accused him of being unqualified and unfit to hold the office of President of the United States that did not bow down and kiss his ring after dropping out of the race. He said that he refused to do so because Mr. Trump made things personal by verbally attacking his father and his wife. While that might be true – from the start, he did not want to endorse him – and perhaps would not have anyway – but Mr. Trump’s attack on his father and wife provided the perfect cover for him to avoid that endorsement.
Whether Senator Cruz made a mistake by doing what he did at the Republican National Convention or whether he decided to just roll the dice on the chance that he would receive great gains in his political career that he could later use to catapult him into the White House as POTUS at this point, from my perspective, is irrelevant. What is relevant – again, from my perspective – is that what he did might convince Republicans to reassess whether or not they believe Mr. Trump is fit and qualified to be president before they cast their ballots: and if they reconsider, that there will be enough of them who decide that he is unfit and unqualified to prevent him from winning the general election.
We have had Republican presidents in the past who are good men that have run the country effectively (from Republicans’ point of view) and, to the best of their ability, based on principle and fairness. They have put aside their personal thoughts and agenda, shunned divisive language and actions and worked to maintain our country’s commitment to unity. That is not what Mr. Trump is doing. He built his campaign on divisiveness and has openly spouted hatred and separatism in all forms throughout his primary campaign. There were enough dog whistles in the language of his 1-hour-plus acceptance speech to satisfy the appetite of all of those who in anyway espouse some form or fashion of divisiveness.
To most Republicans, there were many candidates, in that group of 17 that began the race to become the 2016 Republican nominee who would make an excellent president. There were two or perhaps even three among them that I would have been comfortable with and I felt could be a good president but Mr. Trump definitely was not in that number. That is because I got the distinct feeling that he was more interested in pushing people of color back down and having the country stand on their backs in order to reach what he perceives to be its highest heights and achieve what he perceives to be its full potential. Yes, “make America great again”! You know, kind of like those ‘good ole days’ that he has lamented having passed America by.
I want a president who truly cares about America and who will represent all of the people. I want a president who truly cares about America and who will be a voice for all of the people. I want a president who truly cares about America and who will be the champion for all of the people. I want a president who truly cares about America, who cares about me and who will represent me. I want a president with compassion and a heart, one who not just knows the definition of empathy but who is capable of feeling and truly expressing it. I want a president who is cerebral and has the good judgment to speak in measured words because he is intimately aware of the impact that the words of a person in their position can have. I want a president that is worthy of holding the office of the President of the United States of America and who is worthy and capable of leading this great country. I want a president who will make America proud! That president is not Donald J. Trump.
Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line