Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer said on “Special Report” Monday that Sen. Ted Cruz’s “big problem” for his 2016 campaign stems from President Obama’s ascent to the presidency.
Krauthammer told guest host Shannon Bream that America “already tried a first term Senator,” pointing to Obama’s tenure in the White House. The conservative commentator added that Cruz’s other issue is how his argument stacks up against the likes of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, whom Krauthammer says has a record of taking on the unions and liberals as governor is a “strong argument.”
On Cruz, the columnist said that while he is a “good rhetorician” he hasn’t done a lot in the Senate.
KRAUTHAMMER: His play — his appeal is that I’m the constitutional conservative. I’m the guy with the liquid tongue. I can make the case and he does. That is what he does. All through his career he has done that. I think he’s got — the problem is that he’s going to have to fight for that constituency, although I think he does have an advantage. It’s the kind of constituency [Mike] Huckabee had in 2008. Huckabee would run again to — they would be tussling over that.
His real problem, I think, is this: Senators will have a hard time. First term senators, we already tried a first term Senator. That is why when Scott Walker says a proven track record, what Walker has — he doesn’t have the fluency that Cruz does. He’s made a lot of stumbles thus far. Cruz talks about you have to walk the walk rather than just talk the talk. You have to have done something. But that’s not his record in the Senate. He’s a good rhetorician, but when Walker says, ‘I took on the unions, I took on liberals, and I won,’ I think that’s going to be a strong argument.