Richard Manning over at The Hill makes a great case for why Ted Cruz is 2013’s person of the year:
No politician had a greater impact on the past year than freshman U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Cruz came from the Lone Star State not owing the D.C. political establishment anything, after he beat the chosen replacement for Kay Bailey Hutchison in an underfunded, grassroots driven Republican primary election.
It’s not a long article but Manning hits the nail on the head when he talks about Cruz’s greatest impact on the country:
Of course, Cruz made his biggest mark when he and fellow freshman Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) led a last-ditch national grassroots effort to defund ObamaCare before the law went into effect fully. Imagine how many Senate Democrats wish right now that they had heeded Cruz’s entreaties and agreed to delaying or defunding it for one year. Now, they are stuck with the law and all its consequences.
Since the short federal government shutdown, Americans are coming to the conclusion that ObamaCare was sold through a series of lies, and they are not happy. Fear of losing coverage, fear of significantly increased healthcare costs and fear of losing the doctor/patient relationship have become the table topic in households.
These households know that Republicans, because of Cruz and Lee, did everything possible to protect America from the impact of ObamaCare.
I couldn’t agree with this more. With Obamacare imploding before our very eyes, it is no doubt that Cruz and Lee made it clear to America who opposes Obamacare and who doesn’t, and this will have a huge impact in the 2014 elections as many Americans continue to feel the pain of Obamacare.
Manning continues:
Incredibly, the handwringers in the Republican Party will be the beneficiaries of Cruz’s determination, intelligence and guts. Yet those same elected and unelected D.C. operatives will never forgive the Texas senator for showing their half-hearted opposition to the law for what it was and forcing the issue.
It is this willingness to use whatever power he is entrusted with to protect Americans from the ravages of big government that has made Cruz a hero among thinking outside the Beltway Republicans.
It is this exact same quality that has made him an anathema to inside the Beltway Republicans, who are intimidated by his unique combination of intelligence, education and fierce determination to do what is right, regardless of which power broker’s cage gets rattled.
Beautifully put. It’s the same Republicans (especially those in the Senate) who refuse to forgive him for exposing them that will benefit from his formidable attempt and determination to stop Obamacare. Cruz took many arrows from Republicans and still refused to sit down.
And oh yes, he is a hero to many across the American landscape (including here at TRS) which is why I think when 2016 gets here, should he run for president, the attacks against him from within the Republican Party and the Democrat Party will hit overdrive. But he’ll have our support if he runs because he has shown us that he will stand for liberty when everyone else, including his own party, is yelling at him to sit down. And that’s something I just can’t ignore.
Go read Manning’s full article here. It’s fantastic.