Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) may be considering running for presidents in 2016. He has done some things generally seen as positive. But we think he’s burned too many bridges to realistically have a chance to get the nomination.
For one thing, he is occasionally uncivil. We’ve cited him. (search Cruz on our home page)
There are factors that give him high marks from govtrack.us, including his leadership score. But on examples we consider to be more important, his record is poor. We’ll offer a few examples below but if you want to read the full report as of December 1 of this year, it’s here:
https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/ted_cruz/412573/report-card/2013
For perspective, there are 14 new senators including three Republicans. For more on govtrac.us, click https://www.govtrack.us/about
Writing Bipartisan Bills
lowest 10% among All Senators
Cruz tends to gather cosponsors only on one side of the aisle. 9% of Cruz’s 11 bills and resolutions had both a Democratic cosponsor and a Republican cosponsor in 2013.
compared to…
Senate Republicans 4th lowest out of 31 4
[Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]]
58% of bills View All
All Senators 7th lowest out of 76 4
[Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]]
61% of bills View All
Only Members of Congress who sponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
Joining Bipartisan Bills
lowest 25% among Senate Republicans
Of the 66 bills that Cruz cosponsored, 29% were introduced by someone other than a Republican. View Cosponsored Bills »
compared to…
Senate Freshmen 3rd highest out of 13 11
[Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]]
39% of bills View All
Senate Republicans 10th lowest out of 45 20
[Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]]
73% of bills View All
All Senators 42nd highest out of 97 10
[Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]]
73% of bills View All
Only Democratic and Republican Members of Congress who cosponsored more than 10 bills and resolutions are included in this statistic.
Missed Votes
highest 15% among All Senators; tied with 2 others
Cruz missed 5.5% of votes (16 of 291 votes) in the 2013 legislative session. View Cruz’s Profile »
compared to…
Senate Freshmen 2nd highest out of 15 0
[Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]]
7% of votes View All
All Senators 10th highest (tied w/ 2) out of 100 0
[Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]]
14% of votes View All
Working with the House
lowest 50% among All Senators; tied with 6 others
The House and Senate often work on the same issue simultaneously by introducing companion bills in each chamber. 3 of Cruz’s bills and resolutions had a companion bill in the House. Working with a sponsor in the other chamber makes a bill more likely to be passed by both the House and Senate.
Those bills were: S. 505: A bill to prohibit the …; S. 1292: Defund Obamacare Act of 2013; S. 1594: A bill to designate the …
compared to…
Senate Freshmen 3rd highest (tied w/ 3) out of 15 0
[Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]]
5 bills View All
Senate Republicans 18th lowest (tied w/ 2) out of 45 0
[Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]]
16 bills View All
All Senators 31st lowest (tied w/ 6) out of 100 0
[Sen. Ted Cruz [R-TX]]
Cruz has bucked leaders of the party too many times, including contributing to the government shutdown a year ago. Perhaps you’re thinking he has a solid base in Tea Party Republicans if the rest of the field divides the more mainstream Republicans.
We believe that this scenario wouldn’t happen even if polls suddenly turn around and show Cruz’s popularity surging. Leaders would block such a dramatic turn to the right.
At this point, we certainly don’t see a viable route to the GOP nomination.
Respect in Politics 
Posted on December 16, 2014 by mikes888
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