Warren Throckmorton is a good man and as a leader in taking down liars and grifters like David Barton he has been a great man. He is a man of principle with integrity, both qualities in short supply in the Republican Party
Yet I disagree with Dr. Throckmorton on his case for never casting a vote for Ted Cruz in the general election. Like the good Professor, if I had picked the nominee, we would not be left with a Trump, Cruz, Kasich set of options. Before I became President of The Saint Constantine School, I was a Walker guy, but that certainly went no place. With my new job, I will not be endorsing anyone.
Like Governor Walker, I am willing to consider Senator Cruz.
Professor Throckmorton gives seven arguments against Senator Cruz, but I think six of the seven fail and the seventh is serious, but not disqualifying. Nobody can be precious when it comes to political leaders, because we do not know them . . . not really. Throckmorton is a tough man who has fought the good fight in many arenas. He is no precious snowflake in academics, but his repudiation of Cruz strikes me as a tad precious.
We are not waiting for Lincoln. . . since even Lincoln looked bad to as good a man as James Garfield while Lincoln was alive. The classically trained scholar missed the “baboons” good qualities as a result of his inexperience, rough edges, and errors. We forget that it was Lincoln who kept picking the inept generals in the East that seemed eager to lose the War and was married to a woman who seemed to have marked Confederate sympathies.
He looked very guilty by some of his associations and yet he turned out to be one of our great Presidents.
We cannot wait for Lincoln like precious snowflakes able only to survive greatness in the White House, because greatness is unpredictable and even unrecognizable in contemporaries.
Senator Cruz almost surely is no Lincoln, because almost nobody is. He is not, however, disqualified from a good Republican’s vote. Throckmorton gives seven reasons for not voting for Cruz:
Cruz promises to deport 12 million illegal immigrants.
Cruz surrounds himself with people who have a problem with truth.
Despite Cruz’s religious tones, I don’t trust him.
Cruz dismisses climate change as religion.
Cruz’s behavior toward Arab Christians.
Cruz’s promise to carpet bomb ISIS is reckless.
Cruz would have to learn on the job.
First, I do not agree with the policy of deporting illegal immigrants. I support a pathway to citizenship for those who committed no further crimes in the nation. However, the majority of the activists in my Party do not agree with me. I also think we need control of our borders so the flaccid policies of the Democratic candidates don’t appeal to me either. I have too many acquaintances near the border with Mexico who know what a hell-hole some of the region has become. One cannot be sanguine about the sanguinary.
Methods of implementing the policy matter. If Cruz is suggesting what Romney supported, self-deportation, then it would not be cruel. Build a wall, put in place policies to speed up the present reversal in illegal immigration from some countries, and crack down on employers.
If Professor Throckmorton could vote for Governor Romney, he should have no problem with Senator Cruz.
Second, nobody should defend David Barton or Glenn Beck as “truth tellers” anymore than they should defend Hillary Rodham Clinton as a truth teller. All three have a problem with the truth, but all three have large political constituencies. One is going to be the candidate for President herself.
If I eliminated every candidate who got significant help from the truth impaired, I would never have voted for any candidate. I do eliminate candidates like Nixon or Senator Clinton who demonstrate active hostility to any form of truth.
Does Professor Throckmorton believe that any candidate who takes the help of those who use “walking around money” in an election are disqualified?
Politics makes “strange bedfellows” and Beck and Barton would not be people I would cultivate, but then I am not running for office in Texas and the GOP primaries. Cruz has not endorsed their weirdness, just accepted their help. I suspect that the good fight (and it is a good fight) that Throckmorton has made against nutty “Christian” history like that peddled by Beck and Barton make this particular compromise more odious to Throckmorton.
Mitt Romney took money from low life billionaires like Sheldon Adelson and this strikes me as at least as problematic as sharing the trail with David Barton.
Third, Professor Throckmorton does not trust Senator Cruz. He bases this on his religious beliefs, but his chief evidence is not from Cruz. I would not vote for someone who holds the exact views of the Senator’s father, Beck, or Barton. On the other hand, I don’t think a Pentecostal (if Cruz was one) is disqualified. All the evidence we have about Senator Cruz is that he bases his decisions on a traditional conservative ideology. He sometimes expresses his views on prayer in typical Pentecostal language.
Here I have the benefit of knowing and (for a time) working with two early influences on the Cruz political philosophy: Winston and Barbara Elliott. They are sensible, mainstream conservatives. His friends who have written about him, such as Jay Nordlindger, don’t paint him personally as a religious whacko. Professor Throckmorton only points out some associates that are dominionist, but neither Barton or Beck are intimate advisors. I see no closer association with Cruz and Barton than the leader of any friendly political action committee and the candidate.
I don’t like it, but it is not disqualifying.
As for his father, the Cruz family relationships are . . . complex. Senator Cruz and his mother had a difficult relationship with his father. Jesus helped his Dad become a better man, but there is no reason to think he was a formative influence on his son as my Dad is for me. Senator Cruz is proud of his dad’s redemption and much of what he does, but Robert George has been a greater intellectual influence.
Since Secretary Clinton is sure to make an issue of “dominionism,” Senator Cruz should give a Kennedy-like speech to separate himself from his father’s (terrible) theology.
On climate change, Throckmorton seems less concerned with Senator Cruz’ politics than Mr. Barton’s. That seems unfair. Cruz is no scientist. He has said some false things about the climate, but these are false things he might believe and that many Republicans believe. If being wrong is disqualifying, then nobody can be President.
I am no expert on climate change and know of no good reason to attack the scientific consensus personally. For whatever reason, most Republicans are skeptical of climate change being caused primarily by human beings and so Cruz does not sound much different than Senator Rubio. Since most of the policy solutions to climate change are statist, there is no reason to think that Cruz is opposed to those actions due to “ideology” or his religious outlook.
Instead, the more charitable (and simple) explanation is that Cruz is a small government Constitutionalist. Professor Throckmorton would be hard pressed to find any issue where Cruz advocates a bigger government outside of national defense. There is a reason National Review could endorse Senator Cruz and it is not that he is David Barton with an Ivy League degree.
Professor Throckmorton is on strong ground in condemning Cruz for his behavior at a meeting of Arab Christians on persecution. Senator Cruz used persecuted Arab Christians, my own Church, as props to show his support for Israel. I did not (personally) support Mr. Cruz in the primaries here in Texas for that reason. This was a serious failure, but would not keep me from voting for Senator Cruz in the general election.
On the other hand, condemning Senator Cruz for his “punch line” to carpet bomb Daesh does seem precious. Senator Cruz shows strong knowledge of foreign policy in general (one reason Trump will not debate him) and military policy in particular. He is in favor of increasing bombing from the Obama levels and has backed off the “carpet bombing” rhetoric. Obviously, Cruz was using the term “carpet bomb” in a public speech in a loose way that corresponds with “knock the Hell out of them.” I doubt we should examine Mr. Trump’s theology to see if he literally believes that Hell can be knocked out of members of Daesh by sending teams of exorcists.
My first preference would have been for a governor like Walker due to the need for executive experience. However, as Cruz’ campaign organization demonstrates, he is a bright man and a quick study. He shows a good grasp on the issues of our time. I don’t think a “lack of experience” was our current President’s main problem and I am not convinced that there is any particular preparation for such a unique job as President of the United States.
History doesn’t show us much here.
Senator Cruz was not on my short list for President and I am not endorsing him. I am saying that I see nothing that justifies a #nevercruz hashtag. This cannot be said for all the Republican candidates.
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