In Republican free-for-all, Ted Cruz stands the tallest
Amid the petty bickering, loud rhetoric and sordid attack ads in this year’s primary election campaigns, the death of a giant— Justice Antonin Scalia— suddenly overshadows all of that.
The vacancy created on the Supreme Court makes painfully clear the huge stakes involved whenwe choose a president of theUnited States, just one of whose many powers is the power to nominate justices to the Supreme Court.
Justice Scalia’s passingwould be a great loss at any time. But at this crucial juncture in the history of the nation— with 5-to-4 Supreme Court decisions determining what kind of country America will be— Scalia’s death can be catastrophic in its consequences, depending on who is chosen to be his successor.
Given the advanced ages of other justices, the next president is likely to have enough vacancies to fill to be able to shape the future of the court that helps shape the future of America.
Already many people are complaining that the America they grew up in, and loved, is being changed into something they can barely recognize. Record numbers are renouncing their American citizenship.
Meanwhile, people with high-level experience in the military and in the intelligence services arewarning us against extreme dangers in aworld where our adversaries’ military power and aggressiveness are increasing, while our military forces are being cut back.
Against this background, the frivolous rhetoric and childish antics in the televised political “debates” are painful towatch. If ever therewas a time to choose a president with depth, rather than glitter or glibness, this is it.
Whatever the achievements of anyone in some other field, we cannot afford a novice in the complexworld of politics and government at a time of grave dangers at home and internationally.
Some seem to think that DonaldTrump’s lead in the polls and in theNewHampshire primary make him the most electable candidate, even if he often acts like an overgrown spoiled brat.
But the factTrumpleads in the polls does not mean he is electable in the general election this fall. He is ahead only because the majority vote amongRepublicans has been split among so many other candidates.
Although Hillary Clinton is said to have been beaten badly in the Democrat’s primary vote inNewHampshire, she still had a higher percentage of the Democrats’ vote thanTrumphad of theRepublicans’ votes.
Unfortunately, theway theRepublican primaries are set up, Trump can win all the delegates fromsome states without having to get a majority of the votes in any state. But in the general election inNovember, a candidate usually has to win a majority in a state to win that state’s votes in the Electoral College.
TheRepublicans can end up with a candidate who cannot even get a majority ofRepublicans’ votes, much less a majority of the votes in the general population.
If, by somemiracle, Trump became president, what kind of presidentwould he be? Dowe need another self-centered know-it-all in the WhiteHouse to replace the onewe have now?
Among the otherRepublican candidates, Dr. Ben Carson is a monumental figure in his field, and he is clearly revered even by people whowould not vote for him. But votes are howelections are decided.
The governors among theRepublican candidates can at least be judged by how their track record stands up in running a governmental organization. So can Sen. Ted Cruz, whowas solicitor general inTexas. But Sen. MarcoRubio has no comparable experience— and his inexperience has shownup in his abortive attempt to join Democrats in promoting amnesty.
If theRepublicans are to avoid having DonaldTrumplead them— and the country— to disaster, they are going to have to have the majority of non-Trumpsupporters get behind some given candidate.
Cruz has been criticized in this column before, and will undoubtedly be criticized here again. Butwe can only make our choices among those actually available, and Cruz is the one who comes to mind when depth and steadfastness come to mind.
As someone who once clerked for a chief justice of the Supreme Court, he will know howimportant choosing Scalia’s replacement will be. And he has the intellect to understand much more.
Thomas Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, StanfordUniversity, Stanford, CA94305. His website is tsowell.com.