re: #161 palomino

That’s not the job Cruz wants anyway. He wants to be prez. He’s not interested in the nuts and bolts of tedious parliamentary procedure. Cruz is a reckless shameless self-promoter. He’s not known as Tail Gunner Ted for no reason.

Which is why I don’t believe he’ll make a serious effort to be majority leader. He’s stated no intent to challenge McConnell for it, only said he won’t support him for the job. Way I figure it, he’ll let media speculation and base support for him to buck the leadership to do the work for him.

Then, between now and January, he’ll offer McConnell the same Faustian deal the Tea Party offered Boehner: Support for his ascension or at least a pledge not to openly oppose it, in exchange for allowing him and the other TP nutters an effective veto power over any bills the Senate may consider.

After all, why go through the trouble of being majority leader, and thus being the target for flak from both sides, when he can sit back and let McConnell be the obvious target while he pulls the strings behind the scenes?