POLITICO Playbook: Reince reemerges as Cruz crashes
By RYAN LIZZA, TARA PALMERI, EUGENE DANIELS and RACHAEL BADE 02/19/2021 06:13 AM EST
politico.com
DRIVING THE DAY
SCOOP: REINCE PRIEBUS has been calling key GOP officials and operatives in Wisconsin the past week and signaling he’s seriously exploring a bid for governor of his home state in 2022, two sources with knowledge of the calls told Playbook. Priebus’ biggest selling point presumably would be the support of former President DONALD TRUMP — the two patched things up after Priebus was fired by the president back in 2017. Former Wisconsin GOP Lt. Gov. REBECCA KLEEFISCH is widely expected to run and is seen as a potential Republican front-runner, but Priebus would be formidable in a primary with Trump’s support. Incumbent Democratic Gov. TONY EVERS is likely to seek a second term.
THE RETURN OF THE WASHINGTON SCANDAL — There is something refreshingly normal about the TED CRUZ scandal.
The drama of Cruz returning from sunny Mexico — chastened and apologetic for fleeing Texas while 3 million of his constituents remained without power — was a kind of throwback to an era when politicians could be embarrassed.
The Trump years were dominated by one figure defined by his inability to be shamed and supporters defined by their unwillingness to be outraged by his behavior.
A lot of observers wondered if the age of political scandal was dead — if partisans on both sides were so defined by hatred of their rival political tribe that they would let their own leaders get away with just about anything.
And then a bearded man appearing to be Cruz was photographed with a roller bag at the United counter at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport ready to board a plane to Cancun.
The best and worst of the internet was activated: Twitter sleuths fired up their airline apps and learned Cruz seemed to be on an upgrade list for the flight. The bearded man appeared to be wearing the same gray “Come and get it” mask Cruz favors. (The mask celebrates the Texas revolution against Mexico.) The Houston police leaked that they escorted Cruz through the airport.
In the pictures that flooded social media, one could detect Cruz’s growing alarm. He clutched his phone with a look of worry in an airport lounge and again on board the plane in coach (he didn’t get the upgrade). He later confirmed what was suggested by the photos: He was closely following the growing storm of criticism in real time.
He was dubbed Flyin’ Cruz by many and the catchier “Fled Cruz” by Fox, which had a surprisingly keen interest in dunking on Cruz for much of Thursday.
After an overnight silence, Cruz seemed to blame the trip on his two daughters, 10 and 12, who he said in a statement just wanted a respite from the cold. He hinted, without outright saying, that his plan was only to drop them off in Cancun and return right away.
Bad idea. The spin backfired.
He was hounded by reporters and photographers from the moment he pulled up to the Cancun Airport in a white SUV and Ritz-Carlton escort until he landed back at the Houston airport where protesters held up signs dragging him (“24 dead Ted!”). At his home, more protesters had camped out with their own signs (“TWO SUITCASES FOR ONE NIGHT?” “Did your kids also make you COMMIT TREASON?”).
He dropped the phony excuse and went with mostly contrition, admitting that he was planning on staying until the weekend. “Really from the moment I sat on the plane, I began really second-guessing that decision, and saying, ‘Look, I know why we’re doing this, but I’ve also got responsibilities,’” he told one reporter. “And it had been my intention to be able to work remotely, to be on the phone, to be on the internet, to be on Zoom, to be engaged, but I needed to be here and that’s why I came back."
The tabloid outrage of the social media mobs had the intended effect: Cruz proved that the capacity for embarrassment still exists in American politics.
MORE:
— The NYT sparked a national conversation about the safety of group chats with this explosive story about Heidi Cruz, Ted’s wife, organizing the trip with neighborhood friends over text. But Shane Goldmacher and Nicholas Fandos really stick in the shiv with this graf:
“Mr. Cruz has long rankled members of both parties as a self-promoter since his arrival on Capitol Hill in 2013. Later that year, he became the leading actor in the drama that forced a government shutdown over the Affordable Care Act, and in 2016, Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, famously joked during a speech, ‘If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you.’”
— The video of two police officers escorting Cruz off the plane in Houston.
— In Cruz’s defense, the situation in Texas was much improved Thursday, though the big concern went from power outages to water safety, per the AP: “In Texas on Thursday, about 325,000 homes and businesses remained without power, down from about 3 million a day earlier, though utility officials said limited rolling blackouts were still possible.”
— Also in Cruz’s defense, The Texas Tribune notes that Cruz and his Texas colleague JOHN CORNYN had requested and received a federal disaster declaration, which is the main thing a senator is good for at this stage (though other electeds are doing a lot more).
— The Daily Mail gives the aborted Cruz vacation the full Daily Mail treatment, including a 59-photo montage, which connoisseurs of the site know is at the high end for celebrity scandals that the British tabloid covers. The Mail also notes with characteristic understatement, Ted Cruz “was on the list of standby passengers for an upgrade to business class — Heidi was not.”
— CNN’S KFILE: “Ted Cruz has repeatedly slammed politicians for vacationing during crisis”
— Finally, in D.C., cider bar Anxo unveiled a “Cruz in Cancun” drink that you can order here, though we don’t recommend it because the tequila/coconut rum/creme de banane/lime/cinnamon mashup sounds ghastly.
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