The Democrats face a near-impossible Senate map in the upcoming election. John Tester’s Montana seat is all but gone, and a handful of Democratic senators face 50-50 matches. There are almost no opportunities to toss out a sitting Republican, but it now looks possible to almost steal a rare red Texas seat in a race pitting former NFL linebacker Collin Allred against Sen. Ted Cruz. The contest now looks like a toss-up, and has never been more realistic than today following up on what was almost an unanimous decision for Allred in last night’s lone Texas senatorial debate. Few shed tears for Cruz.

Ted Cruz is, and will remain, one of the most hated pols running around Washington. In a city full of jackasses, Cruz somehow manages to stand out. But even among Republicans who need to keep Ted’s seat in spite of his uniquely distasteful personality, there was a consensus that Cruz got dropped.

“Not a principled conservative” is a lament that we increasingly hear in and among those on the Right. A principled conservative like Dowd above or George Will (Often seen as the ultimate conservative measure and forever “never-Trumper”) is a person who believes in smaller government to create more freedom. They are for lower taxes across the board (Not just the rich). They do not ascribe to trickle-down economics and want less executive power, fewer regulations – especially environmental. A conservative generally supports free trade while keeping the government out of people’s bedrooms and boardrooms.

One can easily see how Donald Trump’s free-spending, high tariff, and exceedingly powerful executive branch does not fit as principled conservatism. They can label it “conservatism” but it is anything but when measured against the traditional definition. It is thus easy to see how someone like Cruz can get called out by a well-prepared Allred who pinned some of Donald Trump’s least popular programs and characteristics directly on Cruz and walked away with a decisive victory.

In a memorable exchange, Allred went after Cruz’s lack of athletic prowess. As Rawstory reports of the NFL star’s one liner:

“When Cruz starts talking about teen sports, you gotta watch out because the only position he ever played was left out. I’m not trying to be mean but sit this one out.”

Yes, ouch – for sure. But if anyone can get away with being “mean” in a debate it is a candidate matched-up against Ted Cruz, never mind the affable former Dallas Cowboy. Allred was right to highlight his NFL past to directly rebut the important Republican “Alpha male” mandate. No one will ever call Allred a “soy-boy.”

It never hurts to be young and good-looking. Allred is obviously both but he also brings a highly intellectual approach which is an entry-level requirement when up against Ted Cruz’s admittedly genius legal mind. Even Ted’s most-hated critics will acknowledge that he is no fool when it comes to debate and detail. And yet he managed to lose the all-important single debate.

Allred hit Cruz where Trump-supporters live. In the critical immigration debate, an issue that is decidedly pro-MAGA, He called out Trump-supporters who voted down the most recent immigration bill that didn’t survive Donald Trump’s demands (Almost surely to save the issue to run against).

That’s how one does it. Take Team Red’s strongest issue and twist it right back around against them. Allred also took one of Texas’s most brutal cliches and hurled it directly into Cruz’s lap:

The performance lit up “X” with responses overwhelmingly for Allred. This will happen when someone goes up against a Senator who is so deeply unpopular even within his own party.

I do not condone the violent connotations below but it is indicative of the performance Allred delivered:

There is more, so much more, if you simply hit the link here, it will shift you onto a page that searches “Ted Cruz” throughout X and you will get a sense of Alllred’s domination.

Again, Democrats are defending a senate map in which they are almost certain to lose two to three critical seats – thereby handing the Republicans a Senate majority for the all-important January 6th vote to certify the election. If Democrats can pick up a shocking upset in Texas, it is still possible to hold on to the barest of majorities. It is possible that Kamala Harris will cast the tie-breaking vote for herself to certify the election in her favor.

God Bless: I can be reached at [email protected] and on X @Jason Miciak

 

Help keep the site running, consider supporting.

Support the site with a subscription today and see no more ads!

Go Ad-free Now!

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

6 COMMENTS

  2. If montanans ditch Jon and put sheehy into the senate it will be one of the worst mistakes they could make. Possibly the worst they ever made. Since Jon became a U.S. Sentor he has worked tirelessly for veterans, for MT farmers, for Montanans wanting to but not being able to afford to buy homes, and for the elderly particularly those on Medicare. Jon has always been about gun ownership. Always. If you ever needed a reason to doubt the NRA’s actual support for the second amendment look at how they rated Jon. Had they actually cared about the second-A he’d have an A rating. Worst of all is this: montanans will have put someone into the senate who wants to take public lands away from the public so they can be sold to private interests. He’s already shown what he’ll do when he gets his hands on more Montana land: raise our property taxes and lock hunters, fishers, hikers, etc. out. Oh, and MT women: say bye-bye to reproductive healthcare up to and including birth control.

    sheehy has said what he will do and montanans apparently just don’t want to listen. He will beggar MT since we do depend on tourism you know and locking people out of much of MT will mean basically no tourists. He will kill women by forcing them to breed. And he will welcome project 1825 with open arms.

    I for one am looking at a home/land outside of mt. There is no reason whatsoever for living in this place if you can’t access hunting, fishing, etc. lands. NONE.

    I hear Maine is nice.

    12
    1

  3. I watched the whole debate and I don’t think Cruz did as well as he thought he would. When discussing immigration, twice he announced quite loudly that “he worked hand in hand with President Trump” and as a result, border crossings were the lowest in 40 years. I don’t know if the statistic is accurate. Mainly I thought crowing about working closely with Trump may not help him as much as he thought. The moderator also tried repeatedly to get him to say his personal feelings on abortion, which of course he never did. I think most people understand that a comprehensive fix is needed for immigration and not just a wall.

    9

  4. I for one have never witnessed a single hint of a brilliant legal mind inside Raphael Cruz’s greasy skull. But I’ll take you word for it. As for him being a good debater, nope I don’t think so: he looks, sounds and acts slimy when speaking, not a great way to win any kind of debate. He looks less like the world’s picture of a Texan and more like the world’s picture of a sleazy backroom politician on the make.

    10

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

The maximum upload file size: 128 MB. You can upload: image, audio, video, document, spreadsheet, interactive, text, archive, other. Links to YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other services inserted in the comment text will be automatically embedded. Drop files here