On the surface, at least, Sen. Ted Cruz appears to agree with Markos Moulitsas that the best way to win midterm elections is to fire up the base.
Moderation isn’t going to win more seats for the GOP in Congress in 2014, Ted Cruz told Iowa Republicans on Friday. Instead, the junior senator from Texas told them, the answer is firing up the conservative base.
“For everyone who talks about wanting to win elections in 2014, particularly in an off year, a non-presidential year — nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing matters more than an energized and active vocal grassroots America,” Cruz told the crowd of about 600 people at the state GOP’s annual Reagan fundraising dinner. “That’s how you get elected.”
The problem for Sen. Cruz is that his brand of partisanship is only firing up part of the Republican Party. It’s infuriating and alienating the other part. In particular, it’s pissing off the faction that has all the money. A lot of people on the left wish that Democrats would alienate their wealthy supporters, but even the Sandanista-loving New York City mayoral candidate, Bill de Blasio, seems to be doing just fine (pdf) with a 45-point advantage in the polls.
Divisions may open up on the left, but right now the Democratic Party is much more united than is usual during a Democratic presidency. The main reason is that the radicalism of the right is holding people together and forcing them to mute their criticisms of the administration.
So, the Ted Cruz brand of conservatism may fire up a segment of the Republican base, but that advantage appears to be overwhelmed both by the division it is creating on the right and the unity it is creating on the left. And, if you prefer moderation in politics, there really isn’t any question about which party is more moderate right now. So, Cruz is costing the GOP votes in the middle, too.
All in all, his is a losing strategy.
