Ted Cruz, left, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, at an Austin rally in 2012, in more conciliatory times. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman)
Even before the Republican wave washed over the U.S. on Tuesday night, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, was signalling his priorities should the GOP gain control of the Senate. In a Washington Post profile last weekend, he was clear: No more Mr. Nice Guy. Republicans should use the new power to be as conservative and confrontational as the GOP-dominated House has been.
Cruz said the first order of business should be a series of hearings on President Obama, “looking at the abuse of power, the executive abuse, the regulatory abuse, the lawlessness that sadly has pervaded this administration.”
And in a USA Today op-ed last month, where he laid out what the priorities of a GOP-led Congress should be, he wrote that lawmakers should “pursue all means possible to repeal Obamacare. … We should pass repeal legislation (forcing an Obama veto), and then pass bill after bill to mitigate the harms of Obamacare.”
Contrast Cruz’s tone and message with that of our state’s senior senator, John Cornyn, who is set to be the majority whip come January. In a sitdown with the Austin American-Statesman’s editorial board last month, he gave a message of compromise:
“If we don’t meet the challenge, that’s the kiss of death for a Republican president in 2016,” he said. “… Some people have told me that the 2016 election is right around the corner and you are going to have a tough time dealing with people who are aspiring to run for president to cooperate with the majority. The truth is if they don’t, then we’re not going to be able to do anything and we’ll be mired down in the same dysfunction we’re currently in.”
And on Tuesday night, Cornyn was still preaching the same tune: “Campaigns are one thing, and governing’s another. And I hope we can separate the two,” Cornyn said. “We can only go halfway. The president’s going to have to meet us halfway, but I think we need to try. What we’re doing isn’t working. For anybody.”
Which side will win out? I, for one, will be rooting for governance over gridlock. It seems to me that Cruz is focused on winning a battle; Cornyn is focused on the war.