Tag Archives: 2016 Candidates

Today in Texas History – March 23

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From the Annals of Lying Ted – In 2015, Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) announced that he would seek the GOP nomination for President.  Cruz who had held elective office for less than 2 years and was widely reported to be the most hated man in the U.S. Senate seemed a long shot at the time but stunned observers by winning the Iowa Caucuses.  That win kept him in the race for the long haul.  Cruz racked up several more primary and caucus wins including Texas.  Cruz’s campaign, however, was dogged by accusations and proof of various “dirty tricks” including a misinformation campaign about Ben Carson before the Iowa Caucus and a smear campaign against Marco Rubio.  These problems resulted in Donald Trump (amazingly now it seems) tagging his as “Lying Ted.”  In the end, Cruz was unable to match the bombastic firepower of Donald Trump and was forced to suspend his campaign after losing in Indiana.  There was talk of Cruz attempting to engineer a brokered convention but that fell apart with Trump’s closing rush.  It is hard to say how the losing run will affect Cruz’s political future.  He seems certain to draw an opponent in the Republican primary in 2018.

On a personal note, Red can state that within in 10 minutes of meeting Ted Cruz (well before he became a major public figure), he was convinced that he was about the most obnoxious person he had ever met.

Do You Hear that Sound, Donald?

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It’s the fat lady warming up.

Most prognosticators, including Red, believe that Donald Trump killed off whatever last chance he had at turning the election around when he refused to acknowledge that he would accept the results of the election should he lose.  And given Putin’s interference in the election through hacking of the Democrats, there was still a chance.  Yes, there might be legitimate grounds for asking for a recount or challenging specific aspects of the vote, but Trump’s comments were in line with his previous claim that the election is “rigged” and that the American people cannot trust their local election officials (the majority of whom are in fact Republicans) to conduct an open and fair vote.  This is a basic repudiation of electoral system and our democracy and reveals the true character of Trump as a whining, petulant bully who is the first to cry foul when he doesn’t get his way.

Hillary to Advertise on TV in Texas

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In a move not seen in almost 20 years, a Democratic candidate for President will be running TV ads in solidly Red Texas.  Texas viewers are typically limited to seeing national TV ads as neither Democrats nor Republicans viewed the state as needing their attention.  The limited one-week roll out in Texas will run a 30-second spot in the major media markets of Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The actual size of the ad buy is not known.

The Clinton ad follows in the wake of Dallas Morning News editorial board’s endorsement of Clinton last month.  The very conservative DMN had not endorsed a Democratic presidential candidate in 75 years.  The Clinton ad plays off of the historical significance of the DMN endorsement and directly quotes the paper in criticizing Trump’s judgment and praising of Clinton’s bipartisan credentials.  “At this moment in time, for Texas and for America, Hillary for president,” a narrator concludes.

Red has to think this is money wasted by the Clinton campaign.  Trump is still going to win Texas no matter what he says or does.  Red could see spending the money if there were any competitive races in Texas that could help swing Congress to the Democratic side.  But neither Cornyn or “Lyin’ Ted” are up this cycle and other than the Will Hurd-Pete Gallego race in the 23rd District in West Texas, the Democrats have no chance to flip a Texas district thanks to extreme gerrymandering by the GOP controlled legislature.  So is this all for show, or is there something else going on?  Red for one would like to know.

Red Decides to Help the Grand Old Party

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In the interest of continuing to have at least a viable two way contest for the highest office in the land, Red had decided that the GOP needs some help to remain competitive in presidential politics.  Red firmly believes that voter in the USA need to hear voices from all sides and make an informed choice. So listen up conservative America because Red has lived with you all dang near all his life and even once saw Dick Nixon play the piano. The best advice Red can give the Republicans is pretty simple.

             Stop nominating Assholes!

Best of luck with that strategy in the future.

Trump Tackles Texas for Love and Most Importantly Money

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GOP nominee Donald Trump will be in Texas today at fund raisers in Fort Worth and Austin. After fund raising in Cowtown and the Capital, Trump will hold a prime-time rally at the facility east of Austin where the Travis County Rodeo is held every Winter.  It’s an odd choice for the event, but the timing is even odder.   Raising money is normal, what is unusual is the GOP candidate holding a rally in reliably red Texas this late in the campaign.  The Dallas Morning News points out that the last presidential candidate to stage an event this late in the fall campaign in Texas was Bob Dole in 1996.

Trump’s quick Texas swing is motivated by cash needs. The campaign hopes to haul in more than $3 million from Texas donors, and the rally is an afterthought – but one that is sure to draw attention and TV coverage.

Is There Anything Ted Cruz Doesn’t Lie About (cont.)?

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At the first Republican debate, Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) emphatically agreed that he would support the GOP nominee.  His pledge was unequivocal.  The curious thing about the question is that it was largely directed at Trump – who was already hinting at a third-party run if he couldn’t get the GOP nod.

But on Thursday morning speaking to the Texas delegation  – which largely worships at the fount of all things Ted Cruz – the junior senator refused to back down from his failure to endorse or even tacitly support Donald Trump during his prime-time speech on Wednesday.  When asked by a member of the delegation why he was back-pedaling on his previous pledge, Cruz claimed it was because of Trump’s attacks on his family.

“I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father. And that pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you slander and attack Heidi I’m going to nonetheless go like a servile puppy dog.”

No Cruz is not a servile puppy dog – he is a vicious Rottweiler-Chihuahua mix that will chew up anything that stands in the path of his enormous ego and his overweening ambition.  Cruz obviously believes that Trump will be defeated in November and he is not going down on the USS Donald.  Trump’s attacks on his family are just a convenient excuse for Cruz to play the wounded warrior standing up for truth, justice and the Canadian way.   It is so hard for Cruz to stand to the side and see such a lesser man – as indeed all men are compared to Ted – take the helm of the GOP.

 

 

Ted Cruz Booed Off Stage at GOP Convention

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Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) refused to endorse GOP nominee Donald Trump on Wednesday and exited the stage to a chorus of boos.  Even Cruz’s wife Heidi had to be escorted from the hall as epithets and insults rained down on her.  Cruz, perhaps the greatest narcissist to ever run for the Presidency (and that would be setting quite a standard), congratulated Trump on winning and then went on to give a speech that did not again mention his name.  Instead, Cruz took the opportunity to undermine the building sense of unity at the convention and instead lay the groundwork for a 2020 run in the event that Trump loses.  Seldom has there been a more naked attempt to promote a future candidacy at the expense of party unity and victory for the current nominee

As reported by the Texas Tribune, Texas delegate Shaun Ireland said it worked against party unity: “There was so much good feeling and unity at this convention for three days, and Ted Cruz just came in and cravenly threw it against a brick wall just so he could set himself up for 2020.” 

Anyone who knows anything about the Texas junior senator could not be in the least surprised that he gave a speech that was largely about his future and not focused on his previously beloved and now hated rival Trump.  It must be hard for Cruz to stand aside and let lesser men – and that would be every person alive other than Cruz himself – take the reins of the party and possibly the country.   So Cruz has either set himself up for a 2020 run or poisoned the GOP well.  Time will tell.  The only certain thing is that we have not heard the last of Tea Party hero and that his ego will demand at least three more attempts at winning the GOP nod.

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Hillary Claims She Can Win Texas

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Politico reports that Hillary Clinton thinks that Texas is in play in the November general election.   According to  interview with Rebecca Traister of New York Magazine, Clinton has indicated that “If black and Latino voters come out and vote, we could win Texas.”

Here is a list of ten Texas things that Red thinks are more likely to happen than Hillary winning ultra-Red Texas in November:

  1. LBJ rises from the dead to reclaim control of the Democratic party.
  2. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wears make-up and dress -insists on using Ladies room.
  3. The Texas Supreme Court rules against an insurance company.
  4. Mary Lou Bruner commits herself to lunatic asylum.
  5. Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller gives up cupcakes – loses 75 lbs.
  6. Land Commissioner George P. Bush figures out that the laws apply to him too.
  7. The Rio Grande reverses course – flows backwards to Colorado.
  8. Trump builds wall – Mexico pays.
  9. Sen. Ted Cruz (TP-Texas) decides to not run for President in 2020.
  10. Brownsville freezes over.

 

Attention Independent Candidates – Time’s Up in Texas

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The deadline for independent candidates to get on the ballot in Texas passed yesterday without any action.  An independent presidential candidate would have had to present petitions with almost 80,000 signatures of registered voters who did not participate in either the Democratic or Republican primary in March.  No one stepped up to fill that tall order and the likelihood of a conservative candidate making a credible run for president without being on the ballot in the biggest, most conservative state of all is very small indeed.

Big Whoop

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Former Governor and failed presidential candidate Rick Perry endorsed Donald Trump.  And in a grand gesture of magnanimity to the presumptive GOP standard-bearer, Perry also noted that he would not be adverse to a vice-presidential nod.  No surprise there as Perry has spent most of his adult life slopping at the public trough and a vice-presidency would present him with a nifty lifetime sinecure.

Actually, Red thinks Perry might just be the perfect running mate for DT.  He secures a state that Trump couldn’t possibly lose if he named the Unabomber as his vice-president.  He can supervise building the wall and then DT can send him to the Distrito Federal to present the bill.  He can turn in another pathetic debate performance.  But who is Red kidding?  DT would never put someone on the ticket that has better hair than his ownself.

And at this point, does anybody really give a damn about what Rick Perry thinks?  Anybody, anybody, Bueller, anybody?