Why Donald Trump getting convicted is good news for Ted Cruz: In Texas, we love outlaws | Opinion
Texas loves Donald Trump.
New York won’t change that.
Trump leads President Joe Biden in Texas by either 48%-40% or 45%-36%, depending whether the “anybody else” candidates are included.
Now, that gap may grow.
Some Republicans had grown weary of the sideshow. Now, they’re driven to defeat Democrats.
I have no idea whether Trump faking records to hide a 2006 tryst with a Dallas-area porn star will help or hurt him.
His voters are devoted, but not like in 2016 or 2020. The little campaign money he has is going to pay lawyers.
But if I were U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, I’d be smiling.
If I were any Texas Republican with a close race this fall — maybe Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn — I’d be smiling.
New York has done what nobody in Texas thought was possible:
It brought Texas Republicans together.
Three days ago, they were viciously attacking each other, leveling bitter threats between the business traditionalists and the church-MAGA clique.
But as soon as the last of 34 dominoes fell in New York, Texas Republicans were united.
See, this is Texas.
We love outlaws.
“Today is among the darkest in the history of the American judicial system... President Donald J. Trump is now the political prisoner of a kangaroo court,” Frisco Republican state Rep. Jared L. Patterson wrote on X.com, formerly Twitter.
Today is among the darkest in the history of the American judicial system. Using the courts to target political opponents should be unimaginable to Americans of every political viewpoint. Though activist far-left judicial actions are not new, we have now crossed the rubicon.…
— Rep. Jared Patterson (@JaredLPatterson) May 30, 2024
Patterson had been the target of derision all week for rallying with House Speaker Dade Phelan, re-elected despite vituperative opposition from Trump and his Texas mouthpiece, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
On the opposite side — in a party with at least a half-dozen sides — former Trump advisor Brooke Rollins of Fort Worth wrote in ominous Jan. 6-like language that voters should “show up” and “become ungovernable.”
“ The cavalry is coming;” she wrote, “and it’s you and me.”
Let this light a fire. In you, in your heart, in your mind, in your spirit.
We have a Republic to save — it will not save itself. And we have 159 days left to save it. So: show up. Tell your friends and family to show up. Work. Speak. Become ungovernable in the best possible…— Brooke Rollins (@BrookeLRollins) May 30, 2024
Locally, Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Bo French wrote, “Trump just picked up another 10 points among blacks. .. Game over libtards.”
If County Judge Tim O’Hare had an angel on his shoulder reminding him to show judicial restraint, he must have told it to sit there and shut up.
O’Hare, endorsed by Trump in 2022, described the proceedings — under a judge first appointed by then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — as a “circus trial” by “radical leftists.”
He seemed to say voters here had some say-so in New York, warning of “more of this to come ... if Republicans and all freedom-loving Americans don’t come out in droves in November.”
But I don’t understand.
If convicting Trump means “game over” and Republicans voting “in droves,” what’s the complaint?
“Scandals don’t hit like they used to,” University of Houston political science Professor Brandon Rottinghaus wrote by email.
Tribalism protects politicians from scandal, he wrote.
“Because Texas politics is just like national politics, Cruz and [Democrat Colin] Allred will just take opposite sides,” he wrote.
Republicans don’t even have to speak out. Everybody knows they’re with Trump.
Rice University professor Mark P. Jones, considered a fair arbiter of state politics, said the outcome won’t change elections much but might help Republicans down-ballot.
“It may be slightly more beneficial than detrimental for down-ballot candidates like Cruz,” he wrote, “if it motivates a few more Republican-leaning voters to turn out.”
Professor Darrell Castillo at Weatherford College worked in President Ronald Reagan’s White House.
The more Trump is attacked, he wrote, his support increases “because Americans traditionally root for the perceived underdog.”
“Trump’s sustainable popularity will have a very positive effect in Cruz’s reelection,” Castillo wrote.
Veteran TCU professor Jim Riddlesperger is seeing his 11th presidential campaign.
“In the double handful of swing states where votes matter, this is an important story,” he wrote.
“Texas isn’t one of those.”
In 2016, when the name of Stormy Daniels this scandal began swirling, Trump won the state by 9 percentage points, 52%-43%.
In 2020, Trump’s lead was down to 5 points.
It feels closer to 2016 again in Texas.
Do you have an opinion on this topic? Tell us!
We love to hear from Texans with opinions on the news — and to publish those views in the Opinion section.
• Letters should be no more than 150 words.
• Writers should submit letters only once every 30 days.
• Include your name, address (including city of residence), phone number and email address, so we can contact you if we have questions.
You can submit a letter to the editor two ways:
• Email letters@star-telegram.com (preferred).
• Fill out this online form.
Please note: Letters will be edited for style and clarity. Publication is not guaranteed. The best letters are focused on one topic.
