Ted Cruz’s Political Gamble Could Be A Losing One

In Texas, the race for Ted Cruz’s Senate seat should have been a breeze for the former presidential candidate. Earlier this year he was riding high with an 11-point lead over Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke. The latest NBC News/Marist Poll, however, shows O’Rourke closing the gap to just 4 percentage points. NBC reports:

“O’Rourke, a congressman from El Paso who has ignited Democratic hopes with his impressive fundraising, has 45 percent support among registered voters compared with Cruz’s 49 percent. Six percent of voters remain undecided.”

With the undecided and the margin of error, O’Rourke’s chances are looking pretty good.

O’Rourke’s profile rose even more this week as Now This released a video of O’Rourke talking about the right NFL players have to kneel. “I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully stand up, or take a knee, for your rights, any time, anywhere, in any place,” he said. The Grio echoed what a lot of people are saying about the now-viral video saying:

“President Donald Trump has yet to come out to speak as powerfully and as eloquently as O’Rourke about the players’ rights to protest injustices.”

The video also garnered O’Rourke support on a national stage.

At the same time, Cruz is getting some bad press for refusing to support a Facebook ban of conspiracy theorist and all-around nutjob Alex Jones.

In a must-read opinion piece in Austin’s American-Statesman, two attorneys representing Sandy Hook parents in a defamation lawsuit against Alex Jones had a message for Cruz:

“When it comes to Jones, we can only presume that you are speaking from ignorance and that you do not know the nature of the conduct you are now zealously defending, nor the harm that has befallen my clients and many others. This is not a question of free speech. This is not a question of disagreeing with a person’s political views. This is a question of just how much damage we’re prepared to let a madman inflict on the lives of innocent victims through malicious lies and willful harassment.”

Cruz has a pattern of looking the other way when it comes to hate speech and fictitious stories. Take his relationship with the President. Donald Trump coined the nickname “Lyin’ Ted”, criticized his wife’s looks and in the last day, we are reminded of Trump’s support of a National Enquirer story accusing Cruz’s dad of taking part in the assassination of JFK.

Apparently, none of that bothered Cruz because he has heaped a whole lot of praise on Trump over the last year. The question is will Trump stump for Cruz and if so would that help or hurt his chances. The Dallas News reports that Cruz would “welcome Trump’s help as he scrambles to fend off Rep. Beto O’Rourke in the nation’s costliest Senate contest.” But standing side by side with Trump could be a political gamble for the Republican. The Dallas News says:

“But Trump could drive away many voters even as he drums up enthusiasm among his supporters.

Overwhelmingly, Texas Republicans view the president as competent, knowledgeable and trustworthy, and overwhelmingly, Texas Democrats view him as just the opposite. That divisiveness helps explain why strategists in both parties see turnout — which hinges on enthusiasm — as the key to the midterm elections. Will anti-Trump enmity overcome a desire to rally around an embattled president?”

We reached out to both campaigns for reaction.

Cruz’s campaign didn’t want to respond to our questions, instead, they told us, “Send a reporter to the multiple press events he has today and tomorrow and ask him directly!”

As of this writing, we didn’t hear back from O’Rourke’s campaign.