Ted Cruz and the discredited Republican brand

By Brent Budowsky - 02/19/13 01:59 PM ET

The funny thing about right-wing Republicans is that they can dish it out, but they can't take it.

Consider the case of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). I was one of the first to write about his cheap shots against the war hero and veterans’ champion Chuck Hagel, who is supported for Defense secretary by a virtual who's who of Republican national security experts, especially those who served President Reagan.

Now here comes one Ted Cruz, senator for only a matter of days, having never served in the military or developed military expertise, insulting and smearing Hagel. And here come various Republicans whining that some of us have called Cruz and others out.

Similarly, other Republicans are reduced to defending Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) vapid response to President Obama’s State of the Union address, which was empty of substance or serious ideas, by criticizing Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).

The problem with Rubio's speech was not that he could not sip bottled water on live television, but that he could not articulate serious ideas in a speech answering a president of the United States. His champions are reduced to defending Rubio by criticizing Menendez? They treat Rubio as a victim? Presidents are made of sterner stuff than this.

As for Cruz, he has the right to go off the deep right end, and we have the right to call him out, and voters have the right to decide who is right.

Listening to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who appears terrorized about a primary from the right; and listening to Ted Cruz, who embodies rightist radicalism and the kind of primary Graham fears; and listening to Republicans competing in the GOP contest to be the most extreme; and listening to Rubio, whose speech answering Obama was empty of ideas, it is obvious why the GOP keeps losing national elections and why Hillary Clinton is poised to sweep the 2016 election and might well carry Texas.

For Democrats seeking a national political realignment that is now within sight, Ted Cruz is the latest rightist Republican gift that keeps on giving.

Let the champions of Cruz portray him as a suffering innocent victim while he insults and demeans the war hero and vets champion Hagel, whose national security support would make Ronald Reagan proud, which is why so many Reagan officials endorse him.

Let the Republican media megaphone banner the brand of the allegedly victimized Cruz because his antics, and theirs, are the most brilliant advertisements for Democrats, centrists, liberals and Clinton in 2016.