Thursday, April 7, 2016

Ted Cruz is the White Knight

The Republican Establishment is facing the type of defeat that they haven’t tasted since 1980. None of their guys has a chance at the nomination, so they’re seeking an alternative, a “white knight” who can swoop in through convention chicanery and save them from “too conservative” Ted Cruz and unhinged Donald Trump.

They are partially right. The party needs a white knight. The country needs a white knight. Where they get it completely wrong is in not realizing that Cruz is the white knight we all need. He’s not the Establishment’s white knight; a true conservative who consistently fights against the false decorum and artificial progress made by the big government Republicans in Washington DC simply doesn’t fit their paradigm. That’s why they’re having trouble coming to grips with the idea that the only way they can hope for Trump to be stopped is by embracing the ideals that Cruz represents.

It’s hard for them, but I believe they will come around. In many ways they must, but I actually hope they don’t until after the convention. If they have their way, the party will fracture and either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders will be the next President of the United States. It’s up to the people to nominate Cruz without their help. To understand why, we first have to look at the path that the Establishment has embraced.

Finding their chosen one has been a long process that has bounced around for nearly a year. First, it was Jeb Bush. The donor class of the party quickly rallied to him in an effort to anoint him before too many opposed him. That didn’t work out; the largest batch of qualified and popular candidates that the party has ever seen emerged. Then, Trump entered the picture and set his sights instantly on Bush.

Scott Walker wasn’t the stereotypical Establishment favorite, but when they started realizing that this might end up being an anti-Establishment year, Walker had the goods in that department. Trump got rid of him quickly with the help of some poor financial decisions by Walker’s campaign. Marco Rubio was next on the agenda and was probably the most promising prospect in a Trump-dominated election, but he was lazy. He picked and chose where he wanted to campaign and who he wanted to court. It cost him in the early states. He never built up enough momentum despite all of the help possible from Establishment-influenced mainstream media and pressure for Bush to drop out quickly.

When the dust settled after the second Super Tuesday, all they had left was John Kasich. That wasn’t going to work. Plan B, which had been in the works for weeks, was already being deployed. If they couldn’t get the delegates on the first ticket, they could manipulate the situation to work one of their people in later. To make it work, they needed two things to happen.

First, they needed a candidate that the people would rally behind. This was the real reason that Mitt Romney had his awkward attack session on Trump. They wanted to see if enough people would rally behind him and start a “Draft Romney” campaign. Crickets. Nothing. The notion was balked at by most Establishment politicians and panned by pundits. They’re testing the waters now with Paul Ryan and it’s not dead yet. Don’t listen to his protestations. They’re not real.

If Paul doesn’t work out, they’ll go with a wildcard. This is where crazy names enter the mix such as Jim DeMint, a Tea Party favorite who isn’t quite as extreme as Cruz. He’s too conservative for the Establishment but he’s still better than Cruz in their opinion. We could also see some truly crazy picks enter the mix like Ben Sasse or Trey Gowdy. Before you condemn these ideas as ludicrous, keep in mind how desperate they are right now.

The second thing they need to happen is to halt a revolt. That’s all but impossible. Even if they brought in a conservative, they won’t be able to mitigate the damage enough to justify it. This is their white knight killer. Many already know this, but they’re holding on to hope until the bitter end.

What they should be doing is realizing that Cruz is the only man alive who can defeat the Democrats given the current situation. Trump cannot. A forced convention nominee cannot. Cruz can.

At this point, one might expect a rallying call to the Establishment to get over their delusions and embrace Cruz, but I really don’t want that to happen. In fact, it’s important that they continue with their delusions to their bitter end. It’s 2016. The big endorsements that actually mean anything have already been given out. While it would be nice to see Sasse join Cruz on the campaign trail or for DeMint to break from his commitment to Heritage and endorse someone, the rest of them can keep scheming and playing in the background. Cruz doesn’t need the Establishment’s support until the general election. He would be better off not having it.

The Establishment wants someone to save them. The people have someone in play who’s already trying to empower them. Ted Cruz will not get any love from the power brokers and that’s fine by him. He wants the support of the voters. Its’ time for We the People to rally in spite of Trump’s and the Establishment’s machinations.



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