I think Ted Cruz's political career ended tonight.

[MohRokTah]

Trumpheads are never forgiving or forgetting what he did tonight.

I expect there will be a Trumphead primary challenger who will defeat him in Texas come 2018.

I also consider this as being bad because imagine a Senator worse than Cruz being elected in Texas come 2018.

[elleng]

1. Sounds like you think 'trumpheads' are sufficiently organized

to find and run a primary challenger. I don't have an opinion on the subject, but I do wonder. It's not like the repug 'party,' such as it is, 'belongs' to tramp.

[MohRokTah]

3. Trmumpheads were Teabaggers 18 months ago.

They've primaried their share.

[elleng]

5. yes, they did,

and then what happened? Did we see many teabuggers during the everlasting repug primaries? Did they 'sponsor' any candidates?

[Ilsa]

2. From your fingertips to God's eyes... (LOL)

Tx Repubs are stupid enough to forget by the time he comes up for reelection.

[StraightRazor]

4. I disagree a bit...

He won Texas in the Primary and tonight he spoke to the 'other 60%' of Republicans who find Trump repulsive.

I think he's bat-shit crazy, but I give him credit for standing up to so much hatred in that hall and not bending to their will by endorsing Trump. That took a fair amount of balls that no other primary contender seems to have except maybe Kasich - except Cruz stood on that stage and essentially told the amassed crowd to go fuck themselves.

[TlalocW]

19. He's not standing up to the hatred

If Cruz were the nominee, do you think the things said would be any better than what's been said so far at the RNC?

Cruz is standing up for himself.

TlalocW

[StraightRazor]

20. He stood up to the delegates screaming for him to endorse Trump...

and did not.

That took courage, a lot more than has been on display by his fellow primary mates.

And he's not the nominee, Trump is - so whatever he would have said if he were is supposition, all we know is what he did tonight and it was glorious.

[davidn3600]

6. Texans might still vote for him. But his presidential prospects are toast.

This guy will never be president. That's a good thing.

[Doctor Jack]

7. Maybe his only goal left in life is revenge

[yeoman6987]

8. 100 percent done. It's over for him.

[bmbmd]

9. Maybe

He's an American first and a Republican second. Maybe he realizes the magnitude of catastrophe a Trump presidency would cause.

[d_r]

37. I thought he was a Canadian first nt

[GusBob]

10. I fail to see what the surprise here is

I think it was common knowledge that he was not going to endorse

I mean the radio dude Signorelli on progressive XM was talking today he wouldn't endorse like it was common knowledge

[Cha]

11. WTH did he do?.. for those of us who didn't watch

thank you!

[okasha]

21. He grew a pair and a conscience with no prior warning.

[Cha]

24. Hey, okaska.. in the mean time I googled cruz' speech.. & saw this tweet from Hillary

too..

Hillary Clinton
✔ ?@HillaryClinton
Vote your conscience. http://hillaryclinton.com/vote
5:26 PM - 20 Jul 2016
6,047 6,047 Retweets 0,242 10,242 likes

Mahalo~

[lunamagica]

27. Great find, Cha! Hillary doesn't miss a beat! AWESOME!

[Cha]

29. Hi Aloha, Luna! Exactly!

I think you meant to post a , right?

[oasis]

23. Cruz went way over his allotted speaking time and did not endorse Trump

after stringing the audience along as if he would. The NY delegation, seated in front, went ballistic.
It was truly something to behold.

[Cha]

25. Aloha, oasis.. I decided

to google it!

cruz "going over his allotted time period.. " the guy who rattled on for 20 hours about The Cat in the Hat?.. lol

Anyway, I also got this tweet from Hillary in the article..

Hillary Clinton
✔ ?@HillaryClinton
Vote your conscience. http://hillaryclinton.com/vote
5:26 PM - 20 Jul 2016
6,047 6,047 Retweets 0,242 10,242 likes

There was a trump tweet there too saying he had read the speech before and let him talk anyway and it was not big deal. lol

The reaction from the floor was also swift and harsh.

Newt Gingrich, appearing after Cruz, argued that Cruz's advocacy for constitutionalism meant that he, implicitly, endorsed Trump -- words he himself did not say.

"So to paraphrase Ted Cruz, if you want to protect the Constitution this fall, there's only one possible way and that's to vote the Trump-Pence ticket."

Richard Black, a delegate from Virginia who chaired Cruz's campaign, said after Cruz's speech that it was "doubtful" he would support him again.

"In the end, each individual has a duty to the nation that transcends the duty to themselves,' Black said. "That's where he failed... He failed the nation."

Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona, who backed Cruz, told CNN he was "disappointed" by Cruz' speech.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/20/politics/ted-cruz-republican-convention-moment/

Ted Cruz Makes a Big Gamble With Convention Speech

Then the host himself twisted the knife. As Cruz was wrapping up, Trump stepped on his peroration, walking into the arena to join family in his VIP box. The boos for the Texan rang long and loud. Two Trump sources told TIME the outburst was orchestrated by the campaign after they were tipped off that Cruz would withhold the endorsement.

http://time.com/4416260/republican-convention-ted-cruz-speech/

Mahalo!

[The Second Stone]

12. Ryan, Rubio and Cruz pointedly did not ask people to vote for Trump

Kaisch did not either. Christi and Gingrich did.

Interesting breakdown.

In the unlikely event Trump wins, those who failed to endorse will be persona non grata, and those who did will be hailed as GOP heroes.

The more likely event is that Trump will lose and Clinton will be elected. That leaves a free for all. The non-endorsing republicans will not be weighed down with the idiocy of a Trump presidency, but will get some blame for everything Clinton does.

Trump will probably face election finance charges, and Christi may finally have to face the music on Bridgegate. Gingrich is too old.

I suspect that the republicans will spend years in the wilderness as far as appointments in the federal government go and will decline as a party.

[DavidDvorkin]

13. If Trump loses in a landslide, Cruz will be in the lead for the nomination in 2020.

[grossproffit]

14. Good for Cruz. Trump accused Ted's father of helping to assassinate JFK and went after his wife.

Lyin' Ted just became Lion Ted.

[ecstatic]

15. Depends on how the election turns out.

If trump loses, rethugs will turn on Trump and forgive Cruz.

[sufrommich]

16. I think Cruz just beat Trump at his own game.

He's going to be all over the news tomorrow and as Trump would say "any news story is a good news story". Trump just got played by Cruz,he must be spitting nails right now. He won't be able to stop himself from slamming and obsessing over Cruz now.

[auntpurl]

36. Top story on Guardian and BBC this morning.

"Ted Cruz refuses to endorse Trump"

[brooklynite]

17. Cruz won Texas...

...Cruz will be racking up chits by campaign for "real" Conservatives all year long.

[MyNameGoesHere]

18. Oh no! I think the write Ted in movement has just started.

Civil War has begun and I am smiling like a fool.

[bravenak]

22. His 2020 campaign just began tonight

[Raster]

31. Yes it did.

[zappaman]

26. Couldn't disagree more.

Wait 4 years.
I guarantee he gets the nom.
This moment will be proudly used to show how heroic he was.

[UCmeNdc]

28. Disagree

Cruz has set himself up perfectly for 2020. Now Cruz really hopes Clinton wins.

[Raster]

32. ...phone banking for Hillary in Texas?

[jcgoldie]

30. I think Cruz is betting on HRC and

When republicans wake up and take their walk of shame in January, Ted Cruz will look like the only guy with the balls to stand up to loser Trump.

[Doctor Jack]

33. I think the opposite

He's betting that Trump loses and that he is someone that is able to go into the lions den and tell the republicans what they are doing wrong. Anyone that supported trump during this cycle is dead in the water. Cruz is supporting the republican party but not trump. His bet is that Trumpism is a flash in the pan phenomenon and his vision of the republicans is what will prevail long term.

I don't know if he is right but Cruz played that narcissistic asshole like a fiddle and I couldn't couldn't be more glad.

[Yukari Yakumo]

34. Buchanan 2.0?

This is why you don't put your primary rivals on the stage.

Hint, hint Hillary.

[Warren DeMontague]

40. Our convention is going to be 180 degrees from this clusterfuck in cleveland.

And Bernie Sanders's endorsement of Hillary Clinton will be solid, unequivocal, and powerful.

[LostOne4Ever]

35. I am relishing this!

[font style="font-family:'Georgia','Baskerville Old Face','Helvetica',fantasy;" size=4 color=#000076]There is no senator I hate more than Ted Cruz. Watching him earn the hatred of EVERYONE on both the left and right and making sure he never gets within a lightyear of the presidency makes me want to jump with Glee.

Couldn't have happened to a more wretched asshole.

FUCK YOU TED![/font]

[JHB]

38. Maybe, maybe not...

Once upon a time, Nixon was all washed up, but kept working out in the political fields just to maintain connections and a profile he could use to his advantage when the political winds shifted.

Cruz is doing a variant of what he did in the primaries: position himself to scoop up Trump's supporters when he goes down in flames and they have to hide the red hats in the same hole dug out behind the shed the shed they put all their Bush-Cheney swag when they put on tricorn hats and said "we're not Republicans, we're independents!"

It may not work, but that's what he's angling for

[Warren DeMontague]

39. ABC had one of his delegates on, and she was PISSED.

I love it when they eat their own!

[quaker bill]

41. it depends on how bad Trump loses

If Trump wins or gets close, Cruz is toast. If Trump loses Mondale / McGovern style, Cruz becomes a prophet. Cruz is banking on a big loss by Trump.