Ted Cruz Is Playing a Different Game

Rick Klein: “So he’s not Bob Dole’s favorite guy, just like he isn’t George W. Bush’s man, or John McCain’s. (Can you be disliked by three more effective boldfaced names, in the modern iteration of the Republican Party?) Ted Cruz isn’t playing their game because he’s playing a different one entirely, in casting himself as the right blend for a frustrated GOP that’s sick of losing and sicker still of the party establishment. Cruz is quickly developing into the man to watch, for his understanding of the primary electorate and the deft ways he uses that knowledge.”

“As Jeff Greenfield notes in a Politico piece, Cruz may be the most effective debater in the Republican field because he’s playing chess while his opponents play checkers. He’s executing a game plan that’s hard to read from the sidelines; somehow, he pseudo-attacked Marco Rubio on a high-profile issue (immigration) and a low-profile one (sugar subsidies) without having to utter Rubio’s name. Cruz’s camp sees itself as the potential heir to Ben Carson’s horde of voters. He’s looking like the next man to watch in the still-fluid race — and with Cruz, it’s never dull.”