Ted Cruz bruised, but not out, after roller-coaster election

AUSTIN — Ted Cruz has ricocheted from top-tier Republican presidential candidate to reluctant surrogate for political nemesis Donald Trump. A low point came last month when a video surfaced of the Texas senator calling voters and encouraging them to go to the polls while sitting in front of a wall plastered with posters of Trump, whom he once called a “pathological liar” and “amoral.”

Though some have criticized his oscillating stances on the Republican presidential nominee, Cruz’s conservative, anti-establishment chops remain intact in the eyes of most supporters, particularly those in Texas, said Mark Jones, a Rice University political scientist.

Next up for Cruz: A senatorial re-election bid in 2018 that he should win easily, Jones said. After that, he’ll have another year or so to burnish his contrarian credentials, especially if Democrats win the presidency and the Senate majority, before making an expected second run at the White House.

“He may be damaged at the national level, but, in terms of his short-term goals, he’s well poised to win the 2018 primary,” Jones said.

Late last month, Cruz campaigned for Republican senators in Colorado and Nevada, espousing many of the points he hit in his primary speeches — jobs, the Supreme Court, security — with scarcely a mention of Trump's name.

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On Thursday, Cruz campaigned in Iowa with Trump's running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence.

The pathway here has been a complicated one for Cruz. He and Trump clashed bitterly and often during the GOP primary campaign, with Trump insulting Cruz’s wife and insinuating his father had a hand in the Kennedy assassination, and Cruz questioning Trump’s integrity and morality.

During his speech at the Republican National Convention in July, Cruz declined to directly endorse Trump, instead urging voters to “vote your conscience,” an omission that earned him jeers from the crowd and angered many Republicans.

After bitter battles, Ted Cruz says he will vote for Donald Trump

Cruz finally endorsed Trump in late September — just two weeks before a leaked recording showed the real estate mogul talking lewdly about groping women, which had many Republican backers scurrying away. A video released last month by the Dallas Morning News showing Cruz phone-banking at a Fort Worth GOP office in front of a wall plastered with “Trump-Pence” posters was widely mocked on social media and cable television shows.

Rick Tyler, Cruz’s former spokesman, said he opposed Cruz endorsing Trump but doesn’t think it will hurt him much in the long run. Throughout this election season, Cruz has proved he could execute a national strategy and raise money – qualities that could easily earn him a 2020 run, he said.

“It hurt his brand, but it’s not fatal,” said Tyler, now a Republican strategist and political analyst with MSNBC. “Ted proved his mettle in this election.”

All the drama doesn’t seem to be impacting Texas voters, said Robert Stovall, chairman of the Bexar County GOP. Stovall has been overseeing get-out-the-vote efforts in his area, which includes San Antonio, and hasn’t heard much negative talk aimed at Cruz, he said.

A lot of Cruz supporters were waiting for the nod from Cruz to support Trump, Stovall said. Once it was given, voters were galvanized, he said.

“After running for president of the United States at a national level people know him inside and out,” Stovall said. “They believe he's presidential material.”

Dale Huls, a Houston-area Tea Party activist and longtime Cruz supporter, said he struggled for months over whether to support Trump. Huls’ religious and conservative views clashed with the real estate mogul’s bombastic and controversial style. It wasn’t until Cruz endorsed Trump that Huls and many of his fellow activists came around to support the GOP nominee.

Their support of Cruz remains unfazed.

“We still feel good about Senator Cruz,” he said. “He still remains a fighter, fighting our causes.”

But re-election in 2018 may not be a cakewalk. Many Texans still view his Trump endorsement with dismay and fellow Texas Republican, Rep. Michael McCaul, has been mentioned as a possible primary contender and could pose a challenge.

Whatever the next few years hold, another White House run seems likely for Cruz, who will be 49 in 2020.

At a campaign stop last week in Loveland, Colo., on behalf of Republican Senate candidate Darryl Glenn, Cruz spoke to supporters, shook hands and snapped photos with those gathered.

“It’s too bad what happened in the primary,” said one fan, clutching a copy of the senator’s memoir, according to The Washington Post.

“Life is long,” Cruz answered.