One of the things that has always comforted me about [crscore]Ted Cruz[/crscore], even when he was shutting down the government, was the notion that he was playing a game. (You know I love the players. And you love the game.) On one hand, this suggests Cruz is cunning and calculating. On the other hand, this means he’s not crazy. And maybe we need someone who is crafty to defeat Hillary Clinton.
For this reason, I always thought that, at some point, Cruz would pivot. His first strategic step was to shore up the base — to make sure he owned the Right. The second step would be to soften his rhetoric to appeal to a broader audience — first, center-right Republicans and then, a general election audience.
This week, we began to see the first hints of this. As Michael Warren noted, during his victory speech in Wisconsin, Cruz:
offered a rallying cry, “jobs, freedom, security,” designed for a national campaign. He touted the women in his life, like his wife Heidi and his mother Eleanor, whom Cruz said “smashed glass ceilings by becoming a pioneering computer programmer.” Perhaps in a bid to transcend partisanship, Cruz even quoted at length an icon of the rival party, John F. Kennedy.
I was also struck by something Cruz said in New York. He returned to stressing his Hispanic roots, to using inclusive language, when answering a question about his message for Latinos.
“In the Hispanic community, we have shared values in our community,” Cruz said. “The values that resonate in our community are faith, family, patriotism. A lot of people don’t know the rate of military enlistment among Hispanics is higher than any demographic in this country. And I think the most powerful value in the Hispanic community is the American Dream.” [Emphasis mine]
Actually, though, it turns out that this rhetoric was almost exactly the same language he used when he was running for the U.S. Senate. Here’s what Cruz told Fox News’ Chris Wallace in 2012:
The Hispanic community, the values that resonate in our community, are fundamentally conservative. They are faith, family, patriotism. Do you know the rate of military enlistment among Hispanics is higher than any demographic in this country? And they are also hard work and responsibility. [Emphasis mine]
It’s certainly possible Cruz has used similar language in the intervening four years, but I haven’t noticed it.
Still, isn’t it interesting that the quotes — four years later — are almost verbatim? This, I think, speaks to the message discipline of Cruz, who memorized and recited the Constitution as a teenager.
The larger point, of course, is that Cruz appears to be pivoting back to general election mode. So what should we make of this uncanny ability to adapt to a changing environment? You can either admire or disdain this level of flexibility.
Either way, it could come in handy if Cruz becomes the GOP’s presidential nominee.
Note: The author’s wife advised Ted Cruz’s campaign for U.S. Senate.