Ted Cruz Running for President as Defender of Wealth

[Jefferson23]

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson says Cruz has the chance of a snowball in hell of winning the presidency
March 24, 2015

Bio

Lawrence Wilkerson is a retired United States Army soldier and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Wilkerson is an adjunct professor at the College of William & Mary where he teaches courses on US national security. He also instructs a senior seminar in the Honors Department at the George Washington University entitled "National Security Decision Making."

Transcript

Ted Cruz Running for President as Defender of WealthSHARMINI PERIES, EXEC. PRODUCER, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore.

Republican Senator Ted Cruz is the first off the block announcing his candidacy for presidential elections in 2016. He's relatively a newcomer in Washington. He's a junior United States Senator from Texas. He's the first Cuban-American to serve as U.S. Senator from Texas. To discuss the significance of this announcement, we are joined by Larry Wilkerson. Larry is the former chief of staff for U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, currently an adjunct professor of government at the college of William & Mary. He's also a regular contributor to The Real News Network. Larry, thank you so much for joining us.

COL. LAWRENCE WILKERSON, FMR. CHIEF OF STAFF TO COLIN POWELL: Thanks for having me, Sharmini.

PERIES: So Larry, tell us the significance of this announcement, and who is Mr.--Senator Cruz, I should say, and who's the real Cruz here?

WILKERSON: My tendency, Sharmini, is to say we always have kooks in our elections system, especially for the White House. And Texas produces its own share--perhaps many would say inordinate share--of kooks. But I'll refrain from such flippant remarks and say that Ted Cruz is a product of what Eric Cantor described as today's methodologies for entering the Congress.

One, you use the traditional approach, and that is you come in and you rise slowly through the ranks. You watch yourself carefully, you don't do anything untoward, you don't rock the boat, you don't disturb the water. And maybe in sixteen or seventeen years if you continue to be elected, you have a substantial chairmanship, or you're even in the leadership elsewhere. That's the traditional approach.

The new approach is that you come in and you grab a couple of hot-button issues and you pursue them come hell or high water, regardless of your party's wishes or its predilections, regardless of what money it will or will not give you. You make a name for yourself with at least a certain part of your base, and you go for the golden ring.

in full: http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=13500

[NaturalHigh]

1. As in defender of the 1%?

I'm hardly a revolutionary, but I am reminded of a line Catwoman used in the latest Batman: "Someday you are going to wonder how you thought you could live so high and leave so little for the rest of us."

[Jefferson23]

2. That's a good one..incorporates how no matter what, your approach is unsustainable.

Republicans are so desperate, they exploit the worst elements in their party and
have elevated them as a result. We should not be needing to have conversations in 2015
that begin with, your policies are rooted in bigotry, your policies will be responsible
for people dying because they have no health care and it goes on and on, as you know.

[Trillo]

3. I've seen a number of recent stories about how this guy cannot possibly win.

Yes, just go to sleep, everything will be okay, the U.S. will not become a theocracy and plutocracy.

[Jefferson23]

4. I don't think anyone is suggesting people go to sleep on it. n/t