The Cruz Family.

When I met Cruz in person for the first time nearly a decade ago, I was quite taken with him.  At the time, he was running for the position of Attorney General of Texas.  I found him personable, sharp as one could possibly imagine, and a man of incredible integrity.  Immediately following our meeting, I wrote a piece about him for the History News Network believing that within a decade or so, he would be ready for the presidency.

I had the chance to meet Ted Cruz, Republican candidate for the Attorney General of Texas, this past Wednesday morning. Cruz was M.C.ing the annual breakfast of Winston Elliott’s FREE ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE. I’m not one to be impressed by many politicians, but I was thoroughly impressed with Cruz. Articulate, smart, principled, and a believer in liberty. Happy to know there are guys like him out there. Gives me great hope for the future. And, I assume that he’ll move into national politics as well at some point.

As this point, March 2016, I won’t in any way pretend to 1) know or care much about modern politics; 2) know or think much about politics as a form of study; and 3) offer anything more than the opinion of one relatively well-read citizen of the American republic.

But, I also know that if I say nothing now, I’ll be angry with myself later.  Not that I expect to persuade any of you of anything.  Indeed, if you read this blog (and, thank you!), and if I only had one chance to convince you of anything in this world, it would be to pick up and read something like Willa Cather!

These caveats stated, I will be supporting Ted Cruz until the bitter end of this election.  I don’t agree with everything he says, but I do believe in his belief in them, and I believe in his integrity.  Where he would be conservative, I would be libertarian.  Where Cruz would be evangelical, I would be Catholic or humanist.  Where Cruz would be restrictive on the movement of peoples, I would be incredibly open.  In an ideal world, I’d be much more in the Rand Paul camp, but Paul is currently without a camp.  So, while Cruz has always been my second choice, he’s also always been, at least to me, a very strong second choice, if for no other reason than his honesty and frankness.

A few other things have persuaded me to speak up as well at this point.

• First, I think of the Republican candidates left in the field, Cruz has the best chance of defeating the Democratic candidate (here’s hoping it’s Sanders—another man of ideas and, from what I know, integrity).
• Second, he’s really the only viable pro-life candidate left in the running.
• Third, my all-time favorite Congressman, Justin Amash, has endorsed him.
• Fourth, my all-time favorite lover of wisdom and the great books, Winston Elliott, supports him.
• Fifth, my all-time favorite wife (well, only wife!) supports him.
• Sixth, Cruz is incredibly funny.  Watch his bedtime stories with Hillary or his Hillary/Office Space ad.  Holy schnikees, does this guy make me laugh!
• Seventh, as a lawyer in Texas, he went after the sex abusers and other freaks of nature.

These are good enough reasons for me.