Are Texans Having Buyer's Remorse Over Ted Cruz?

And no one likes a loser

Yesterday I heard Peter King (R-NY) and Charlie Dent (R-PA) each go on CNN to rail against Ted Cruz's extremism. They were speaking for dozens of non-Confederate Republicans in seats where successful candidates need independent voters-- and for more than a few Republican senators who wish his nut job father had never moved to America. But what about Texans who supported their junior senator and sent him to Washington on his mission of mayhem?

This week, the editors of the Houston Chronicle began an editorial by asking, "Does anyone else miss Kay Bailey Hutchison?" Hutchison, unlike Cruz, was a mainstream conservative. Cruz isn't a conservative at all. He's a wrecking ball and a dedicated-- and dangerous-- reactionary.

We're not sure how much difference one person could make in the toxic, chaotic, hyperpartisan atmosphere in Washington, but if we could choose just one it would be Hutchison, whose years of service in the Senate were marked by two things sorely lacking in her successor, Ted Cruz.

For one thing, Hutchison had an unswerving commitment to the highest and best interests of Texas at all times. This revealed itself in a thousand different ways. Hereabouts, we miss her advocacy for NASA, the Port of Houston and the energy industry. And we know she worked just as hard for Dallas, San Antonio and a hundred smaller Texas cities and towns.

And dare we say it? We miss her extraordinary understanding of the importance of reaching across the aisle when necessary. Neither sitting Texas senator has displayed that useful skill, and both the state and the Congress are the poorer for it.

One reason we particularly believe that Hutchison would make a difference in these hectic days is that if she had kept her seat, Cruz would not be in the Senate.

When we endorsed Ted Cruz in last November's general election, we did so with many reservations and at least one specific recommendation-- that he follow Hutchison's example in his conduct as a senator.

Obviously, he has not done so. Cruz has been part of the problem in specific situations where Hutchison would have been part of the solution.

We feel certain she would have worked shoulder to shoulder with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in crafting a workable solution that likely would have avoided the government shutdown altogether. But we'll never know.

That sounds like the endorsement was withdrawn.

UPDATE: Even Jennifer Rubin…

The GOP's in-house mouthpiece at the Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin, is laughing at her stumbling, flailing amigos. She's got a funny list up this morning of the 20 signs that you've drunk the Kool-Aid (like she did years ago).

1. You think Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) has it nailed when he tells the Value Voters Summit that the Dems are “feeling the heat” in the shutdown fight.

2. You think the problem is Ken Cuccinelli isn’t conservative enough.

3. You think if only the shutdown went on longer the GOP would win this fight.

4.  You think poll numbers showing the plummeting favorability of Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Cruz’s 2-to-1 negatives are “skewed.”

5.  You think that if the GOP doesn’t win the shutdown fight it will be because of the mainstream media.

6.  You think Americans want to shut down the government to get rid of Obamacare.

7.  You think the problem is that Cruz didn’t talk long enough or that the media didn’t cover his 21-hour speech fairly.

8.  You think the right-wingers who lost Senate races in 2010 and 2012 should run for the Senate in 2014 because the GOP “let them down.”

9.  You think it is better to have 30 “true conservatives” than 51 Republicans in the U.S. Senate.

10. You think Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) had it wrong when he backed immigration reform and right when he went to bat for the shutdown strategy.

11. You think the biggest threat to the GOP is politicians like Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). You think it’s about time someone primaried Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) or John Cornyn (R-Tex.) from the right.

12. You think the GOP should have stood pat on the shutdown.

13. You think Hispanics will never vote for Republicans so there is no use in pursuing immigration reform. You think it is fine for the GOP to win elections relying almost entirely on white voters.

14.  You think Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) is a sell out because he thinks repealing Obamacare can only happen by electing a GOP Senate majority and capturing the White House.

15. You think Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) have betrayed the conservative movement.

16.  You think the GOP needs candidates like Ted Cruz to run in for Senate places like Michigan, Virginia and Colorado.

17.  You think the GOP would have done better with Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Rick Santorum or Ron Paul as its 2012 presidential nominee. You think Santorum blew it when he stopped talking about contraception.

18. You think Republicans should run hard at the national level on a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

19.  You think President Ronald Reagan would decry compromise and support primarying the Senate minority leader.

20.   You think right-wing talk radio hosts are a good barometer of American public opinion.