The uneasy tension between the Tea Party wing and the establishment wing of the Republican Party blew up on Friday, when Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz accused Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) of lying to him about a deal to vote on re-authorizing the Export-Import Bank.
Cruz delivered scathing comments on the senate floor directed against McConnell, after discovering that the majority leader had agreed to allow a vote on the Export-Import Bank, in exchange for Senator Maria Cantwell’s (D-WA) support for a trade package bill earlier this year.
Although Cruz has a reputation for political grandstanding, the jilted senator’s attacks on McConnell, for double-crossing him still stood out as exceptional. In a body that is usually noted for maintaining some level of decorum, Cruz’s tirade against a leader in his own party made his speech especially significant.
Yet, in the current political climate, Cruz’s crusade against McConnell is simply further evidence that the establishment wing of the Republican Party has lost control of the Tea Party insurgency, and they have lost the support of their base. During Cruz’s remarks he took aim at Senator McConnell, and to a lesser extent, House Speaker John Boehner for not doing anything constructive with their Republican congressional majority.
Cruz railed that Republicans keep winning elections, but to no avail, because they “keep getting leaders who don’t do anything they promise”. He went on to add that the GOP has held a congressional majority for 6 months, and nothing has changed. In Cruz’s mind, the Republican controlled senate has operated “exactly the same” as it did under Democratic leadership.
Cruz has been struggling in the polls in the GOP presidential race, but if he is hoping to gain traction, attacking Mitch McConnell is a strategy that could pay political dividends. A June Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey found that only 16 percent of American voters had a favorable opinion of Mitch McConnell compared to 61 percent who viewed him negatively. More significantly for Ted Cruz’s hopes of competing for the GOP nomination, 50 percent of Republican voters nationally dislike McConnell, compared to just 24 percent who have a favorable opinion of him.
While the strategy may seem ironic at first blush, Ted Cruz’s chances of becoming president improve if he runs as an opponent of GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Cruz appears intent on doing exactly that.
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