Ted Cruz, Führer Of The Value Voters Summit Neo-Fascist Fringe

All my friends think I'm crazy for asserting-- all year-- that the Republicans will pick Ted Cruz as their sacrificial lamb to face Hillary in 2016. Some of them are deluding themselves that Hillary will even be the nominee-- pure wishful thinking-- but most point to polls that show Cruz is way down at the bottom of the pack. CNN's Sept 11 poll of New Hampshire Republicans shows Cruz at 6%, ahead of Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum, but way behind Rand Paul (15%), Jeb Bush (10%), Paul Ryan (10%), Chris Christie (9%), Huckabee (9%) and even trailing non-starters like Rick Perry, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker. In a poll of Iowa GOP caucus goers, a pretty extremist cohort where you might expect Cruz to do well. He didn't. Huckabee leads with 21%, followed by Ryan at 12%, Rand Paul at 7% and then Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker slightly ahead of Cruz who is tied at 4% with Jindal and still managing to stay ahead of Santorum (3%).

Other state polls show that when you test various Republican contenders against Hillary she kicks all their asses but usually kicks Cruz's ass worse than the rest of 'em. Late in August PPP did such a test in North Carolina. Hillary beat Cruz by 6 points. Huckabee nearly tied her and Rand Paul, Jeb Bush both did better than Cruz. Only Christie-- who Hillary beats by 7-- did worse than Cruz, mostly because Republicans worry he's headed for a long-drawn out scandal over Bridgegate and related (and unrelated) criminal activities.

Those polls don't matter-- and Cruz knows it. Most Republican voters are idiots-- its a requirement of the position-- and don't even know who he is yet. But they will-- and the tip of the spear that leads the rest of the shaft around knows exactly who he is and what he stands for. And they know he's their candidate. The hard right hated McCain, hated Romney… they hate McConnell and Boehner and… they hate everyone. They think they like Reagan but that's only because he's as dead as their brain cells. They'd hate him today too. In fact, in his brilliant new book, The Invisible Bridge, Rick Perlstein reminds us that in 1968, when Reagan was the very conservative governor of California, rightwing extremists tried launching a recall effort against him for not being extreme enough! But Cruz they like. He's a no-compromise, neo-fascist fanatic… the most right-wing federal elected official in America-- and very aggressively so. And it's their turn.

Republican Party Elders know Hillary is going to be the next president anyway-- so why not let the kooks and nuts have their moment in the sun… and take the fall? Well, there are some very good reasons why not, as a matter of fact. Here are 10 of them:

• Mark Kirk (R-IL)
• Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)
• Marco Rubio (R-FL)
• Ron Johnson (R-WI)
• Richard Burr (R-NC)
• Rob Portman (R-OH)
• Rand Paul (R-KY)
• Chuck Grassley (R-IA)
• Pat Toomey (R-PA)
• Roy Blunt (R-MO)

Those are 10 Republican senators in mostly purple states who all have to run for reelection in 2016-- in states Hillary is likely to win. Ten-- that's a lot. And then there's the House. The DCCC will have a new chairman, who, even if not a brain surgeon, has to be better and more competent than Steve Israel-- and willing and able to win back at least couple dozen House seats, including from powerful Republican chairmen Israel refuses to engage-- from Fred Upton (R-MI), Darrell Issa (R-CA) and John Kline (R-MN) to Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Ed Royce (R-CA). A couple dozen is a lot too-- especially when you put party leaders in the mix. A Hillary landslide would leave the GOP House caucus a shrunken Confederate rump run by ranting and raving anti-American extremists. Nice!

On the other hand, if they don't placate the far right now, they're going to make a fuss in the future when a Republican could actually win. Besides, the far right is strong now and is prepared to make a case for Cruz. Yesterday, the GOP's lunatic fringe had their annual Value Voters Summit. Cruz was-- far and away-- the star. He was given the position that would have been called the keynote speaker and he made the best of it, pandering to the religionist hate mongers like no Republican has been able to do as effectively since the Joseph McCarthy days, a fascist who sounded, looked and thought jvery much like Cruz does today.

The crowd was dismissive of Rand Paul and his intellectual libertarianism, which went way over the heads of this Ted Cruz red meat crowd. Remember, last year, Cruz won the straw poll that this gathering of extremists held.

With a clarion call to preserve religious liberty, Sen. Ted Cruz solidified his support from evangelical Republicans at the annual Value Voters Summit Friday in Washington, a connection that could pay off if he decides to join the hunt for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

“There are people in Washington who say that in order to win we have to abandon our values,” Cruz, of Texas, said during his 30-minute address. “Our values are who we are. Our values are why we are here.”

While shifting demographics, including a projected boom in Latino voters, have led some Republican strategists to urge the party to take moderate positions on social issues like birth control and gay marriage, the Value Voters Summit is a notable exception. Sponsored by the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian organization, exhibit-hall booths feature graphic anti-abortion posters, T-shirts with traditional-marriage slogans and photos of Ronald Reagan.

In short, it's remains a place where red-hot conservative rhetoric still sells. And featured GOP speakers like Cruz gave them plenty of it.

During his speech, the freshman senator and Tea Party favorite touched on everything from repealing “every word of Obamacare” to protecting religious organizations from having to provide birth control to workers. He accused Democrats of being the “extreme radical party” and vowed to do everything in his power to ensure that Republicans win the Senate in the midterm election so Majority Leader Harry Reid, the top Democrat, loses his job.

"We will turn this country around,” Cruz said. “We don’t paint in pale pastels, we paint in bold colors.”

UPDATE: Cruz Wins Lunatic Fringe Vote Again

Two years in a row for Ted Cruz-- although by a smaller percentage this time. Last year he won 42% of the Value Voters Summit votes and this year it was just 25%. Ben Carson came in second with 20%-- followed by Huckabee (12%), Santorum (10%), Rand Paul (7%) and Bobby Jindal (7%). So now we know who the most extreme elements in American politics want to have as the GOP 2016 nominee. Let's hope they get their way!