People are making way too much hay over the comments Rand Paul made about some of the strategy Ted Cruz uses. Paul told Brian Kilmeade on Fox News Radio he wasn’t surprised no Republicans supported Cruz’ amendment on Planned Parenthood funding because of his attitude on the Senate floor. | “Ted has chosen to make this really personal and chosen to call people dishonest in leadership and call them names which really goes against the decorum and also against the rules of the senate, and as a consequence he can’t get anything done legislatively. He is pretty much done for and stifled and it’s really because of personal relationships, or lack of personal relationships, and it is a problem. I approach things a little different, I am still just as hardcore in saying what we are doing , I just chose not to call people liars on the senate floor and it’s just a matter of different perspectives on how best to get to the end result.” |
What Paul is referring to is Cruz’ decision to say Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told him a “flat-out lie” during talks over the Ex-Im Bank in July. Cruz was right in his accusations but his decision to say it publicly on the Senate floor was probably a mistake. This isn’t the 1800’s when Congressmen challenged each other to duels. There are rules which need to be followed. There’s nothing wrong with that. There are people who will point out John Boehner called Cruz a “jackass” but that was at a fundraiser, not on the House floor. Cruz and Paul have certainly had disagreements on strategy before. Cruz wrote in his book how he thought Paul wasn’t very helpful during the September 2013 fight over Obamacare.
| “My friend Rand Paul came to the Senate floor to ask questions that seemed deliberately designed to undermine our efforts. Question such as, ‘Do you want to shut down the government? … Will you accept a compromise? Will you work with the President?’ His questions echoed the skeptical attacks of Mitch McConnell, and I marveled that Rand had decided not to be with us in this fight.” |
Was Cruz probably hurt Paul didn’t agree with him 100%? Sure, and there’s nothing wrong with being annoyed with an ally for not showing as much support you’d like. But that doesn’t mean the men hate each other and will suddenly turn into Alexander Hamilton-Aaron Burr II. Both Cruz and Paul are going to make mistakes. Paul shouldn’t have supported McConnell over Matt Bevin, while Cruz maybe shouldn’t have gotten so involved in the Kim Davis thing as he did. It happens. This isn’t stopping the media from making the Cruz-Paul differences out to be a massive, huge, “oh my goodness me, they’re fighting!” deal. POLITICO screamed “Cruz unloads on McConnell, Paul in new book,” while The Dallas Morning News said Paul and Cruz were sniping at it each other. The Hill is going with “Rand Paul: Cruz ‘Can’t Get Anything Done’” as their headline over Paul’s comments, while Roll Call proclaimed “Rand Paul: Ted Cruz ‘Pretty Much Done For’ in Senate.”
This is just stupid. What Paul and Cruz supporters need to realize is that the media and the GOP establishment WANT this strategic disagreement to turn into an outright war. It probably won’t happen between Cruz and Paul, but the media and the establishment would love to see their supporters start tearing at each others throats. It cuts at the “freedom and liberty” coalition Paul, Cruz, and Utah Senator Mike Lee have fought so hard to maintain. Paul supporters are already mocking Cruz and vice versa for some of the steps they’ve taken. One Cruz supporter accused Paul of just being an establishment hack because he’s friends with McConnell, while a Paul supporter slammed Cruz for hiring Bob Barr to do outreach. It’s ridiculously sad to see things disintegrate this quickly because both candidates probably don’t want this to happen. It really puts the “freedom and liberty” coalition at risk when infighting takes it down. A splintered movement is what the establishment and the left want. Don’t give in to it.
Both Cruz and Paul want a smaller federal government. Both Cruz and Paul have issues with Republican leadership. Their strategy is just different. Paul seems more like the kind of person who wants to use a cutless, while Cruz is more interested in using a warhammer. There’s nothing wrong with either, it just depends on when to pull out the swords and when to pull out the hammer. This would be like if Patrick Henry and George Mason got together and disagreed on strategy. They both want the same thing, they just disagree on how to get it done. This happens all the time in politics, so no one should be shocked to see this happen. Don’t give in to the madness Paul and Cruz supporters! It’s not worth getting into a fight with each other when both sides should be allies.
