Houston Chronicle Rescinds Its Endorsement of Ted Cruz!

No really…in an editorial piece titled “Why we miss Kay Bailey Hutchison” (Senator Cruz’s predecessor) the Houston Chronicle takes back their endorsement of Senator Cruz and re-iterates their original endorsement of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who lost to Senator Cruz in the primary. Well let’s look at some highlights of their backpedalling:

We’re not sure how much difference one person could make in the toxic, chaotic, hyperpartisan atmosphere in Washington, but if we could choose just one it would be Hutchison, whose years of service in the Senate were marked by two things sorely lacking in her successor, Ted Cruz.

For one thing, Hutchison had an unswerving commitment to the highest and best interests of Texas at all times. This revealed itself in a thousand different ways. Hereabouts, we miss her advocacy for NASA, the Port of Houston and the energy industry. And we know she worked just as hard for Dallas, San Antonio and a hundred smaller Texas cities and towns.

And dare we say it? We miss her extraordinary understanding of the importance of reaching across the aisle when necessary. Neither sitting Texas senator has displayed that useful skill, and both the state and the Congress are the poorer for it.

One reason we particularly believe that Hutchison would make a difference in these hectic days is that if she had kept her seat, Cruz would not be in the Senate.

When we endorsed Ted Cruz in last November’s general election, we did so with many reservations and at least one specific recommendation – that he follow Hutchison’s example in his conduct as a senator.

Obviously, he has not done so. Cruz has been part of the problem in specific situations where Hutchison would have been part of the solution.

We feel certain she would have worked shoulder to shoulder with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in crafting a workable solution that likely would have avoided the government shutdown altogether.

But we’ll never know.

So there is some sense in the Red States that this whole manufactured crisis should have been and could have been avoided! In other words, HOUSTON, We have a problem!

(I just had to say that!)

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1 thought on “Houston Chronicle Rescinds Its Endorsement of Ted Cruz!

  1. Curious. Insensible. Texas. Uh, I dunno if this is evidence of some sense in the Red States. I suppose the first item that screams for attention is the underlying umbrage that would make Benjamin Franklin’s skin crawl: the notion that an official elected to federal office represents first and primarily state interest rather than national interest.

    Second, the quirky assertion that Hutchison could have worked with “moderate” Susan Collins… Collins devised an absurd plan rejected by Democrats and which House Republicans refused to even vote on. It got nowhere fast and got nowhere near ending the shutdown. And it wasn’t as if Collins wasn’t in for chipping away/delaying at the ACA (those provisions were in her proposal) and it wasn’t as if Collins refrained from chiding Obama for not “negotiating” on the law. She did both.

    Granted she was an early advocate for pivoting to debt and deficit, but her “bi-partisan” solution is Simpson-Bowles and among her chief “allies” “across the aisle” in said budget matters is Sham Democrat Mark Udall.

    Yes, Hutchison aligns with Collins in this respect, but her position is no less insanely divisive or dissembling. She told the North Texas CBS affiliate:

    “I think the issue should have always been and still is the debt and deficits. I think the approach to Obamacare should not close the government if we don’t defund it, if we know the President would veto that.”

    To the Dallas Morning Times:
    “I think that most Republicans wanted to negotiate on the issue of spending and the debt and deficit.”

    http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2013/10/17/former-texas-senator-kay-bailey-hutchison-opens-up-about-partial-government-shutdow/

    http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2013/10/kay-bailey-hutchison-blasts-gop-outliers-who-hijacked-debt-deficit-debate.html/

    The Chronicle’s quasi-retraction is still entirely insensible. They’re just backtracking in the wake of failure and trying to pivot to an equally untenable position that had the potential for protracting the Shutdown. Obamacare was an intro. with a pivot – Ryan knows it (he was attempting it), Collins knows it, Hutchison knows it, and I’m sure the Chronicle knows it too. It’s a disingenuous walk-back and pretty slimy altogether.

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