TEA Party Darling, political extremist, religious extremist, and ‘jackass;’ these are all names which have been used to describe the junior senator from Texas, Ted Cruz. He led the crusade to shut down the government in 2013, and opposes every issue favored by voters in the polls. He seeks to violate the first amendment and establish Christianity as our national religion. When former Speaker of the House John Boehner was asked about Cruz’ words and actions, he called him a ‘jackass.’

It is highly likely that Cruz will win the Iowa caucus. The polls reveal that he is closing the gap between himself and Donald Trump. Cruz has the support of evangelicals in Iowa; that may be the advantage he needs to secure a victory.

It remains unlikely that he will succeed in obtaining the GOP presidential nomination. Cruz is too far to the right, and the consensus is that Marco Rubio will be the party’s nominee.

However, if he did receive the nomination, he would lose badly to Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders in the general election. His position on the issues most important to the majority of Americans is in direct opposition to both Democratic candidates. It is also likely that some GOP voters may not show up at the polls if he is their party’s choice for the presidency.

The presidential debates would be a fiasco for him. He will have nothing to say in support of his extremist views. In addition, he will become known as the leader of the party that said ‘no.’ His inexperience and lack of knowledge regarding international relations will become transparent.

Whoever the GOP nominee is, he or she may have a huge obstacle to overcome. Trump has once again hinted that he may consider running as a third party candidate. He would be the ‘Ross Perot’ of 1992 and 1996 and split the GOP vote.

If the 2016 election is all about the issues most important to the American people, none of the GOP hopefuls has much of a chance. Bernie Sanders’ popularity on the campaign trail is proof that the working class will be voting in huge numbers next November. A large voter turnout is usually unpleasant news for the GOP.

Op-Ed

By James Turnage

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