What’s a family man to do when his state is frozen over and the power is out at his home?
Many in Texas chose to pack up and make their way to municipal warming shelters where they could get warm with their fellow Texans and curse the power moguls who let the grid electrical grid fail.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and his family could have done just that. They could have gone to the Lakewood Church and shared a hand-warmer with Pastor Joel Osteen.
Or, they could have traipsed to the George R. Brown convention center and had bad coffee there.
Either of those choices would have been a brilliant public relations stroke for the Texas GOP senator.
Cruz could have demonstrated that Texans are truly in this together and that his family is no different from millions of other Texans; that he’s willing to share the hardship, showing senators get cold just like regular folks.
He and his family could have volunteered to help bring other families to the shelter, or pass out food or distribute blankets.
Cruz would have looked like "a man of the people" which is a great look for a presidential candidate.
Instead, what did Cruz do?
He flew his family to the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Cancun, Mexico.
It was a colossal Eric Swalwell-sized misjudgment. Cruz only compounded the initial error with his subsequent decisions to try and salvage the situation.
What he should have done was return to Texas, announce that he was going to try and persuade the federal government to declare his state a disaster area and then shut up and get to work.
Cruz booked a return flight immediately and explained that he intended all along to just drop off his two daughters and return home, since his wife (a Goldman–Sachs managing director) evidently wasn’t competent enough to do it by herself.
That was a lie. His initial airline booking had him staying through the weekend.
Then Cruz asked for the Houston Police Dept. to meet him at the airport.
This really grinds our gears.
Cruz should take his chances with Customs and TSA (aka Thousands Standing Around) just like the rest of us.
The special treatment bubble our rulers inhabit insulates them from the everyday insults and annoyances our government inflicts on us and explains why they let it continue.
Besides while officers of the Houston Police Department are babysitting Cruz it means they can’t be dispatched to help citizens who may have a real need.
Then Cruz topped it off by going on Fox's "Hannity," where he looked like a cheap used car salesman trying to con viewers.
He blamed the trip on his daughters. He made excuses. And he made himself look small.
It wasn’t a 'Profile in Courage.'
It was an indictment of bad judgment.
The winter storm in Texas left a lot of infrastructure frozen.
Cruz had best hope his performance during the storm doesn’t turn Texas voters cold on him.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker’s bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian’s Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now with addedhumor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.
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