The weirdness and wonder of having a friend run for president
Editor’s Note: In the new issue of National Review, we have a piece by Jay Nordlinger, on what it’s like to have a friend running for president. The friend in question is Ted Cruz. Mr. Nordlinger has expanded that piece this week in Impromptus. For the first two parts of the series, go here and here. It concludes today.
Ted announced for president last March. He was the first to announce. I think his attitude was, “Yes, I’m running, so why be coy?” Also, there might have been some advantage in going first — some extra media attention.
I saw him that very night, in New York. I said, “Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were talking at Earl Campbell’s Barbecue? Are you really in the U.S. Senate? Are you really running for president?”
I was not surprised at Ted’s rise, certainly. I was surprised at the sheer speed of it.
‐In due course, I made a disclosure. I said, in essence, that I was Ted’s friend and supported him — and would help him, when asked. I also said, “The fact that I am pro-Ted does not mean that I am anti-others.”
I admire Jeb, Marco, Carly … I think the Republican party has serious talent. Which is part of what makes Donald Trump as frontrunner so tragic.
Anyway, I made my disclosure. Transparency City, as Bush 41 might say. Everything nice and out in the open.
‐Let me flash-forward to Iowa — the first contest of the race. I was not there on the night of the caucuses. I saw Ted a few days before, in Des Moines. But not on the night of the caucuses itself.
I was back in New York, working. I was at the Metropolitan Opera, covering a performance of Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda (for The New Criterion). At intermission, I checked my phone.
A friend had texted, saying that Ted was looking pretty good in Iowa. I did not get my hopes up. It was my impression that Ted had taken on water in the days leading up to the caucuses — with Trump’s birtherism and all that.
After the opera, I repaired to a restaurant across the street. My friend had texted again. Perhaps not believing that I would believe her words, she texted me a photo of her television screen: Cruz Wins.
Honestly, I gulped. I was numb for a second or two.
Just the other day, or so it seemed, Ted was crashing on my couch, with his cowboy boots to the side. Now he had won the Iowa caucuses? Are you kidding me?
It was surreal, sobering, thrilling, and believable, all at once, if you will excuse that jumble.
‐At times in this race, I have been Joe Detached Journalist. At other times, I have been Joe Subjective. I have lived and died with Ted.
During the first several debates, I “live-tweeted.” I did not say much — did not tweet much — about Ted. But I commented on the other candidates, in a neutral, often amused way.
There came a time when I could not do that anymore — I was in too deep. I wanted Ted to win, period. I felt it keenly. No more live-tweeting for me.
Even during those first debates, I was like a nervous stage mother. Luckily, my candidate was very good at it — very good at debating, and the rest of campaigning.
‐When Ted is maligned, I feel it, personally. I don’t claim that he walks on water. And I don’t claim that the other candidates are villains. I can be Ted’s worst critic. But make no mistake, he has been maligned.
This “Liar, liar” charge? “Lyin’ Ted,” as Trump says? It is a nasty charge, and a false one. I’m sure that, on occasion, Ted stretches, as all politicians stretch, and all people do. But “Liar, liar”? That is a lie in itself.
Take this Ben Carson business — the notion that Ted played a dirty trick in Iowa, robbing votes from Carson. Ted is not-guilty in this affair. Indeed, innocent. I could take you almost through a tick-tock (that is, a moment-by-moment description of what happened).
Then there was the Marco Rubio story — the false story that one of Ted’s staffers, Rick Tyler, saw and then circulated. Rick immediately regretted it. And apologized for it. Ted fired him, and it was damn hard to do. Rick is a wonderful guy, who made a mistake.
MSNBC viewers lucked out. What I mean is, Rick is now an analyst for that network.
Anyway, when you see things from the inside, or have a glimpse at the inside, you have a better understanding. And the false caricatures are irksome. Sometimes infuriating.
‐Above, I wrote, “I don’t claim that the other candidates are villains.” Let me qualify that: When Donald Trump went after Heidi Cruz, in his loathsome way? Villain territory.
‐“You’re in the arena,” I remarked to Ted at one point. I suspect he knows every word of that Teddy Roosevelt passage. Cruz is absorbing the blows, and striking them. He is the target of jeers, and the object of cheers.
‐Some of my friends and colleagues can’t stand Ted. And they are not shy about telling me. Some days, I am serene. I try to explain, defend, and persuade. Other days, I bristle, and want to growl, “Don’t vote for him then. Leave me alone.”
Whatever the day, I need to remind myself that, to the world, Ted Cruz is a presidential candidate. Not my friend, but a presidential candidate, and thus the fairest of game.
Still …
‐Obviously, the Cruz style is not for everyone. But I can say this, to conservatives (and to anyone else, for that matter): If he is president, he will do everything humanly possible to repeal Obamacare. And to prevent Iran from going nuclear. And to do other hard, vital things. I don’t know if these things can be done. But I feel sure that, if they can, Ted will do them. He will go the last mile, and beyond.
Like everyone else, he likes popularity more than unpopularity. But if popularity clashes with the right course of action, popularity will have to go. Ted is used to opposition and scorn. And he would do anything — walk through fire, chew on glass — to keep this country free.
Pardon the campaign rhetoric, but it’s true.
‐At the moment, it looks like Ted has a steep road to beat Trump for the Republican nomination. I would not bet the ranch on Ted. But I would not bet a cent against him. He has defied odds before. And no one works harder, and few work as cannily.
Say he wins the nomination and goes on to beat Hillary Clinton, taking the presidential oath of office on January 20, 2017. I will be amazed. But you’ll know what I mean, having read this series, when I say, I won’t be surprised.