As evidenced by Ted Cruz’s recent victory in the Texas senatorial primary, the Republican party’s core voters have made the leap from right-wing… to right out of their minds!
Cruz defeated a die-hard anti-government, anti-union, anti-environment extremist by running as such an über-extremist that the die-hard guy ended up looking almost moderate. And for the mad-dog tea party faction that dominates today’s Republican Party, appearing at all “moderate” (or even slightly sane) is the mark of the devil. So, Cruz not only won the primary handily but is now celebrated nationally as “the people’s choice.” Partisan pundits have taken to declaring that his victory proves that the American electorate clearly wants candidates for high office to hold uncompromising “tea party values.”
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Hog poop. In politics, the “big story” often is not the one trumpeted at us by the myopic media and political cognoscenti, but the one they don’t report at all. In the Cruz case, we should step back from the hyped results, take a deep breath and look at two big, honking, neon-lit numbers that reveal a stunning truth not only about the Texas race, but also about the sad state of America’s democratic process. First: 631,316. That’s how small the actual vote was for Cruz and his whole kit and caboodle of far-right-wing balderdash. Many small cities across the country have more people than that. Next: 15,915,758. That’s how many eligible voters there are in Texas.
Do the math (which the media failed to do), and the real story turns out to be that Cruz is the choice of no more than four percent of the voters of Texas.
This is what America’s politics has become: so empty and asinine that a guy can win nomination to a U.S. senate seat with a pathetic four percent of the vote… and be hailed as the choice of “the people.”
“Grass roots, getting out seen as key to Cruz win,” Austin American Statesman, August 2, 2012.
“High turnout didn’t help Dewhurst,” Austin American Statesman, August 2, 2012.
“Cruz pulls off upset in U.S. Senate race,” Austin American Statesman, August 1, 2012.
“Campbell ousts Wentworth,” Austin American Statesman, August 1, 2012.
“Dewhurst defeat could be a warning to Perry for 2014,” Austin American Statesman, August 1, 2012.
“He played with fire got burned by Cruz, Austin American Statesman, August 4, 2012.
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