Everybody Is Angry at Ted Cruz's Speech for the Wrong Reasons

In his speech Wednesday at the RNC Convention, Cruz refused to endorse Donald Trump for President sending a sizable portion of Republicans into an uncontrollable and ongoing hissy fit, and though I personally like Ted Cruz and supported him in the primary, I have to admit that I too am a bit perturbed though not for the same reason as everyone else.

I have no objections with Cruz’s message to the RNC. Anyone who actually listened to his speech would know that Cruz spent the entire time articulating small government, Constitutional, conservative values and encouraging the audience to vote for candidates who upheld those values. If that’s taken as anything less than an endorsement for the GOP nominee, then it’s the Trump supporters who should be doing some soul searching about now. 

I’m also not particularly upset that Cruz broke his promise to support the winner of the GOP primary. Yes, he broke his word, but Cruz erred not when he violated his word but when he gave his word in such a foolish pledge in the first place. You’d have to be a partisan hack who blindly supports any Republican or a shortsighted nincompoop incapable of foreseeing the possibility that someone bad could win the nomination to make such a thoughtless promise, but having placed himself in an ethical bind, I think Cruz did the most honorable thing possible by refusing to endorse a man he believed would be bad for the country while struggling to articulate the most unifying message he could under the circumstances.

My frustration with Cruz isn’t that he refused to support Trump but why he refused to support Trump.

When asked Thursday about his violated pledge, Cruz responded, “The day that was abrogated (rescinded) was the day this became personal…I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father. And that pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you go and slander and attack Heidi that I'm going to nonetheless come like a servile puppy dog…”

Really, Cruz? That’s the reason you won't endorse Trump?

You didn’t refuse to endorse because of Trump’s long progressive record, his constant flip-flopping, his complete lack of Constitutional moorings, his narcissistic tendencies, his omnipresent stream of lies, his vast ignorance on political matters, his corrupt business practices or his awful polices? You withheld your endorsement not because any of the things that affect the country but just because your own personal vendetta? Really?

I agree that Trump’s low class and deceitful smears against the Cruz family should disqualify him for office, but these disgusting tendencies have been observed in countless instances long before Trump ever tweeted nonsense about Ted’s nuclear family, and yet I can’t read Cruz’s comments without getting the distinct impression that Ted would have forgiven everything if Trump hadn’t hit him personally, and that’s a shame.

I still think Cruz is one of the few good people in Washington DC, but perhaps it’s time he reevaluate his priorities and make sure he’s still in it for the good of the nation rather than the good his own ego. 

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Now That the GOP Has Anointed Trump, The Mainstream Media Will Spring Their Trap!

By this time next week, Trump will probably be surging in the polls. Almost all candidates benefit from the convention bounce, an uptick in favorable polling due to the constant media coverage all centered around the greatness of the nominee, and Trump might get an especially large bump in the polling considering his flair for the dramatic. If he has a good week, Trump might finally take a solid lead over Hillary in national polling, but once Trump’s bounce begins to fade, it will be time for the mainstream media to drop the hammer on the Donald. 

Trump fans love bragging about how Teflon Don can withstand any attack without anything sticking, but I’d argue Trump has only faired so well because he’s been treated so favorably. As a new Harvard study proves, Trump benefitted greatly from positive coverage during the GOP primary though that coverage has steadily become more negative as Trump locked down victory over Ted Cruz, yet though the media has strengthened their criticism of Trump, they still haven’t truly raked him over the coals. 

When something bad happens in the Trump campaign, the mainstream media and assorted leftist personalities will condemned his actions briefly before moving to a new story, but this is incredibly tame compared to the coordinated and persistent hatchet jobs done on other GOP candidates in past election cycles. In 2008, the left constantly branded John McCain a warmonger to the point where it stuck in everyone’s mind and Sarah Palin was lampooned as an utter fool by every news outlet and comedy program in the country over a handful of bumbling remarks, yet while attacks about McCain’s militarism and Palin’s ineptitude at least have some basis in reality, let’s not forget how Mitt Romney was put through the ringer on the most trivial of issues. An anti-Romney PAC released an ad accusing Romney of killing an innocent woman because he shut down a steel plant that provided her family with healthcare and countless pundits discussed the fact that Mitt Romney once strapped a dog carrier to his car as if it were somehow relevant to his ability to be President. 

Considering the mainstream media’s knack for making mountains out of molehills and harping on minor negatives for weeks at a time, Trump has comparatively been treated with kid gloves. It’s not like Donald Trump is some angel beyond reproach. He’s cheated on his wife, admitted to buying political favors, made countless sexist remarks, lied constantly, attempted to seize private property from little old ladies to build parking spaces for his casinos, and done dozens of other sleazy things which are easily proven. The moment the mainstream media chooses to end Trump’s presidential ambitions, they can begin running coordinated media campaigns highlighting any or all of these issues not to mention “investigations” into more ambiguous allegations such as rape claims, ties to the mafia and countless shady business practices. 

Since the media is sitting on this potential ratings goldmine, why aren’t they running with it? 

It’s simple. They wanted the Republicans to be locked into Trump as their candidate. If they’d hammered this stuff earlier, it might have spooked the GOP enough to back another horse, but now the Republicans are stuck with the deeply flawed Trump.  

More importantly, the media can now rip apart the GOP and the conservative movement as they rip apart the nominee for Donald Trump is the fulfillment of every nasty thing the left has ever said about conservatives. Whereas the mainstream media could never prove their accusations of racism, sexism, corruption, hard-heartedness and fake piety with past GOP Presidential candidates, they can prove all this with Trump, and sadly, his mistakes do reflect on the Party and the conservatives who backed him.

If you thought you had seen the media treat Trump harshly so far, just wait. You haven’t seen anything yet. 

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Trump Can Bring Something to the GOP Convention That No Other Candidate Can Provide - Pizzazz

The GOP has manifold shortcomings among which are a lack of integrity, a lack of backbone and a lack of any true allegiance to the Constitutional and small government principles they claim to represent, but whereas Trump can’t help the GOP in any of these former areas, he may actually be able to fill the void in an equally important arena. If there’s one thing that the GOP has long lacked and Trump long possessed, it’s flair. 

Republicans are boring. As individuals, Republican politicians seem bland, and when they come together in large groups, their nigh uniform lack of charisma seems to merge together to form a giant black hole of apathy which pulls everything of potential interest into it’s gravity never to be seen again. The GOP Conventions highlight this showcasing a seemingly endless stream of dull white guys making predictable “low energy” speeches from behind a podium placed against an uninspired video backdrop all taking place on a big blank stage which only succeeds in making the candidate look small. It’s almost as if the GOP intentionally tries to sabotage itself. 

If you don’t believe me, compare the 2008 GOP National Convention with the 2008 DNC National Convention. Whereas the McCain Convention sadly earns every one of my former criticisms, the Convention that nominated Barack Obama stands in blatant contrast. The speakers for the DNC were diverse, the speeches were dynamic, the podium stood at the center of semi-circular staircase that simultaneously served to draw the attention of the crowd and emphasize the importance of the nominee and the backdrop featured props reminiscent of a Greek temple while creative video backdrops added depth and movement without stealing the attention of the eye. Sure, it felt a little like the Democrats had come together to recognize and worship a new demigod as he was added to their political pantheon, but creepy though that might be, nobody can accuse the 2008 DNC Convention of being boring.

The Democrats simply do a better job of making their candidates appealing to the masses. Even their music selection reflects this truth. Whereas the Democrat’s event playlist frequently includes songs that are new and fresh to appeal to the youth who are most likely to switch party affiliation, the Republican music ranges from Classic Rock to the Golden Oldies appealing to the people least likely to change politically. It’s well established that most people in media lean left, and nowhere is that more obvious than at the National Conventions where the Republicans are constantly behind the curve.

Yet perhaps the days of dull GOP conventions have come to an end for this is one area in which Trump should shine. Trump has made a good chunk of his millions not by shrewd business deals but by cleverly wooing people with his persona and selling his brand. Like Reagan the last GOP Presidential candidate with an ounce of charisma, Trump knows how to work a room and transform a simple political speech into an unforgettable and dramatic experience. The man who is most famous as a reality TV host now has the ability to put on the biggest reality TV program of his life, a four-day convention all centered around his specifications. If anybody could make a GOP event sizzle, it would be Donald J. Trump.

For the past several decades, the GOP has been promoting ideas that though imperfect still stand head and shoulders above the agenda of the left, and yet the conservative movement has failed on almost every front. The sad truth is that the vast majority of people will never listen to the GOP’s ideas if the Republicans can’t capture the masses pathetic, Twitter-conditioned attention spans with something shiny to wave in front of their faces, and no matter what your opinion of Trump may be, there’s no denying that the man has a knack for capturing people’s attention. Granted, he captures my attention in the same way the mangled metal and flesh of a roadside car wreck makes it impossible to look away, but still, the man has charisma.

Now that the GOP finally has a candidate with a little pizzazz, maybe they can use this year’s convention to lure the public into actually listening to some GOP ideas. This would be great if the GOP still stood for something worthwhile, but apparently, that’s asking too much. 

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