The Bellowing, Belligerent, But Completely Ineffectual History of Ted Cruz

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I suppose I could save everyone some time and just tell you to be sure to read Dave Weigel every day, but his clinical dissection of Republican firebrand Ted Cruz is really worth a minute of your time. After running down Cruz’s almost flawless lack of success during his first six months as a senator, he concludes:

That’s the story of Ted Cruz’s strategic acumen in the Senate. The paradox is that the theatrics that completely backfire in D.C. are embraced by activists in the bright world outside.

Cruz has built a quick reputation as the loudest mouth in a body famed for its loudmouths, and it’s led to nothing but disaster and defeat for the Republican Party. But the tea partiers love him all the more for it. If he ever actually made a difference, they’d probably abandon him instantly as a sellout.

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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