The Other Reason The Washington Elite Hate Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz could become the model for future freshman Senators.

 

January 22, 2016 By Ben Domenech

 

For the candidate
in second in this presidential race, Ted Cruz, there has been some
smart writing of late about why – despite his obviously more robust
conservative credentials and a resume that looks far more presidential –
Washington Republicans give the appearance of being so much more open
to the prospect of a Trump nomination than they are to Cruz. Jonathan Martin writes on the issue here.

“[T]he cadre of Republican lobbyists, operatives and
elected officials based in Washington are much more unnerved by Mr.
Cruz, a go-it-alone, hard-right crusader who campaigns against the
political establishment and could curtail their influence and access,
building his own Republican machine to essentially replace them… “Trump
won’t do long-lasting damage to the G.O.P. coalition,” said John
Feehery, a Capitol Hill aide turned lobbyist. “Cruz will.”

Charles Krauthammer says that should Trump win Iowa, he will receive
the endorsement of at least one establishment governor or senator, and
at that point become the inevitable nominee. Why the rejection of Cruz?

“I think the short answer is because everybody who knows
him in the Senate, hates him. And I think hate is not, is not an
exaggeration. The enmity which he wears on his sleeve as, with pride, is
something that he’s now, you could almost say cultivated. To make him a
freshman senator with no particular record into a national figure
rallying everybody against the Washington cartel, you know Republicans
in the Senate, in the House have been out there half of their lives,
don’t appreciate being called essentially traitors to the cause of
conservatism. And then you get antipathy and they will put that
antipathy perhaps even over what’s best for the party.”

The Other Reason The Washington Elite Hate Ted Cruz