Cruz Departs the Race; Kasich Hangs In

by Heather Robinson

Amid tonight’s surprising political news that Texas Senator Ted Cruz has dropped out of the Republican primary contest after sustaining a sizable defeat in the Indiana primary comes the news that Ohio Governor John Kasich is staying in the race.

A few thoughts.

He was never my candidate, but I feel bad for Ted Cruz. He and his accomplished, beautiful wife Heidi really fought the good fight and ran a campaign they can be proud of, as far as I’m aware. Watching Cruz talk directly to the people this week I was reminded of the scene from “It’s a Wonderful Life” in which George Bailey calls out individual members of the mob who are demanding their money. As Cruz pointed out to one of his detractors, Donald Trump would never engage with protestors that way, but would simply have them forcibly escorted away. Meanwhile, Ted and Heidi Cruz were abused and smeared in this bruising campaign, with everything from gratuitous insults to major propaganda campaigns against them. By all accounts I’ve heard, they have a solid marriage and a good family life, and I’m sure they will return to normal.

Is it perhaps worth noting that neither of the the two major candidates who remain in the race – Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump – has a normal marriage. Both seem like out of control narcissists who prioritize career ambition and power grotesquely ahead of any other values. It bears speculating: does the protracted race in our media age preclude the long-term participation of anyone with a family life that is remotely normal? And does that mean no well adjusted people can ever become President anymore? It just seems that most normal people who care about their families would not even contemplate running for high office these days because of the exposure.

Meanwhile, Ohio Governor John Kasich remains in the race. Bless him.

Is there any chance of a contested convention? Or that an independent or third party candidate could somehow jump into the race?

In the past, when times have been fractious and bleak in the United States strong leaders have emerged. Great leaders like Roosevelt, Reagan, and Lincoln. I keep thinking that maybe a third party candidate could emerge.

This entry was written by and posted on May 4, 2016 at 12:54 am and filed under Blog. permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Keywords: , , . Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL. */?>