Instead of exciting Republicans by announcing his 2016 presidential candidacy, Sen. Ted Cruz has fired up liberals and Democrats who are giddy that Cruz has entered the race.
The launch of Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential bid Monday has prompted an outpouring of excitement and delight — from Democrats.
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To liberal activists, the firebrand Texan is much too far to the right for the nation at large and too extreme to even win the Republican nomination.
But they want nothing more than for him to run strongly throughout the primary season. The more momentum he develops, they argue, the more likely he is to push the eventual GOP nominee further to the right than that person will want to go.
Ted Cruz is a perfect example of the Sarah Palin Effect. Cruz has always been much more effective fundraising weapon for Democrats than Republicans. Sen. Cruz, like Palin before him, is popular with a tiny segment of extremist Republicans. They both experts at using tactics that are destructive to the Republican Party as vehicles for self-promotion. Sen. Cruz (R-TX) will drag the Republican field to the right.
Cruz is the poster boy for everything that is wrong about and with the Republican Party. Conservative media has gone into overdrive trying to spin the Democratic joy over Cruz’s entry into the race as fear. Liberals and Democrats have seen this argument before. There is still a collection of Republicans who have watched Democrats fall out of their chairs in laughter at Sarah Palin, but they still maintain that the left fears Palin.
It speaks volumes that the biggest Republican reaction to Cruz’s announcement was Donald Trump questioning his eligibility to be president. Ted Cruz is the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats, and if the left had their way Jeb Bush would be running against 19 Republicans like Cruz.
Fear not so much. Joy would more accurately describe how liberals feel about the Republican freak show rolling back into town for 2016.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
