Sen. Ted Cruz should really just give it up and
jump into the House leadership fray, because his Senate colleagues—especially the Republicans—have
had more than enough of him.
On Monday night, Cruz's colleagues ignored his attempt to disrupt Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's efforts to fund the government without attacking Planned Parenthood. In an unusual rebuke, even fellow Republicans denied him a "sufficient second" that would have allowed him a roll call vote.
Then, his Republican colleagues loudly bellowed "no" when Cruz sought a voice vote, a second repudiation that showed how little support Cruz has: Just one other GOP senator—Utah's Mike Lee—joined with Cruz as he was overruled by McConnell and his deputies.
It was the second time that Cruz had been denied a procedural courtesy that's routinely granted to senators in both parties. The first came after he called McConnell a liar this summer.
Cruz was incredulous on Monday, calling it an "unprecedented procedural trick."
Cruz was actually not incredulous, since he'd forced this outcome before. In fact, Cruz knew it was coming because it had happened before. Cruz was actually setting this up, because the
whole rationale for his mediocre presidential campaign has become attacking fellow Republicans. He set this interaction up so that he could sigh and moan and
proclaim his disappointment. "What does denying a second mean? Denying a recorded vote. Why is that important? When you are breaking the commitment you've made to the men and women who elected you, the most painful thing in the world is accountability."
And boy, did he play up the noble victim bit. "One of the ways you avoid accountability is you somehow are somewhere else doing something really, really important instead of actually showing up to the battle." He, according to him, is all alone in his battle for whatever it is he's battling for, except "in the House we still got 30, 40, 50 strong conservatives." It's just him and those few souls in the House, standing strong for completely destroying the government.
Senators need to be careful stepping out on to the chamber floor today. The snake oil has oozed all over it.