Ted Cruz of All People Is Trying to Get Some ‘Bipartisan Credentials’ as He Braces for Another Re-Election Battle

Photo by Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP Images

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) “built his reputation as a conservative flamethrower,” but is now attempting a more bipartisan rebranding as his next re-election looms, according to a new report by NBC News’ Scott Wong and Sahil Kapur – a report that is predictably drawing a lot of skepticism.

Cruz established a national profile in the wake of his shocking win in the 2012 GOP primary to replace the retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) over the then-Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. He polished his rep among grassroots conservative activists with his 2013 government shutdown over Obamacare and a sustained outreach effort to conservative bloggers and media.

Then came the bruising 2016 presidential primary in which his attempt to draft behind a speeding 18-wheeler tractor trailer named Donald Trump left him behind as roadkill just like the rest of the Republican contenders – second place, but second place roadkill is still a splattered mess – and his surprisingly close 2018 re-election battle against Democrat Beto O’Rourke.

That “near miss” against O’Rourke, wrote Wong and Kapur, was such a nail-biter for the Texas Republican in large part because he lost independent voters, who may have bought into O’Rourke’s attacks “belittling Cruz as ‘all talk and no action’ — a senator who’d spent six years slinging partisan arrows and delivering nothing for Texas.”

So now in 2023, Cruz is trying to establish some bipartisan bona fides that he hopes won’t repel his conservative base. The NBC News reporters list such topics touted by Cruz to include his cooperation with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee “on legislation requiring that consumers be informed if their refrigerator or other home appliances have recording capabilities,” and with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) “on a bipartisan bill to fight a potential ban on new or existing gas stoves.” He’s also partnering with two more Democrats on the Commerce committee, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM), “to help create new interstates that will boost trade and business in their states.”

On the ballot again in 2024 against a yet-to-be-determined Democratic challenger, Cruz’s “tricky balancing act” between his “right-wing firebrand persona” and attempts to appeal to swing voters seems to be doomed to stumble.

“I just haven’t seen any evidence that Ted has changed,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI), with the reporters noting that he “literally rolled his eyes” when asked about Cruz.

“There’s not a single one of us that doesn’t have one or two bipartisan bills. The question is: How do you behave on a daily basis? And I just haven’t seen a big change. Maybe I’m wrong, and I’d be happy to be proven wrong, but so far it seems like Ted is Ted.”

Cruz’s rebranding efforts also come in the midst of his attacks on Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan DA who indicted Trump earlier this month, as a “left-wing Soros prosecutor” and an ongoing series of episodes of his podcast in which the senator serves up red meat to a conservative audience.

Twitter users were, unsurprisingly, skeptical to the point of howling with laughter about Cruz’s efforts to “burnish a bipartisan image,” as Wong and Kapur’s headline phrased it.

https://twitter.com/Gaber205/status/1645395483458666502?s=20

https://twitter.com/dellcam/status/1645457155187720192?s=20

https://twitter.com/samyoungman/status/1645428929644355584?s=20

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