Photo Courtesy of Tribune News Service – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) speaks at the 42nd annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday, Feb. 26, 2015, in National Harbor, Md. Cruz announced his presidential bid Monday.

By Matthew Zacher ‘18
THE ROUNDUP

Although Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz claims to be a Washington outsider, his record of acrimony, dubiousness and deception prove that he is just another politician.

Politically I lean conservative, so I endorse many of Cruz’s proposed policies. However, I cannot endorse him as a candidate because his overly flawless speeches and debate performances turned me off from the start of his campaign.

His perfection brings about the idea that all of his responses are memorized, and that he has a go-to response to deflect tougher follow-up questions. The president of the United States needs to be able to think on his feet in times of crisis.

Cruz is in the Princeton Debate Hall of Fame. He is clearly skilled in the art of rhetoric and winning people over with words. But he does not have any major tangible success as a Senator to prove that he can get things done.

Donald Trump is garnering so much support because he has proven that he is rough around the edges. We know what to expect from Trump, but what can we expect from Cruz in his not so bright moments?

Cruz is only a first term United States senator. He has, according to The Hill, only enacted one bill into law.

His persuasive speech riles up his base but does not match his record of accomplishment. He has nothing to back up his proposed policies, and has a reputation in the Senate of filibustering and obstructionism.

Cruz simply does not have the experience as a problem solver and as someone who can unite the currently polarized American people.

Cruz’s campaign claims that the fact he did not get along well with his fellow senators makes him an outsider who can shake up the political sphere. But, if he cannot get along with them as a senator, what is supposed to make us believe he is going to get along with them as president?

Marco Rubio, also a Republican presidential candidate and first-term senator, has seven endorsements from the current senate and four former senators, including withdrawn Presidential candidate Rick Santorum.

Cruz’s major lack of endorsements prove that he does not get along well with his colleagues in the senate, and will not be able to make progress as President.

Cruz also has a record of deception on the campaign trail.

In the Iowa Caucus, which Cruz won, CNN reported that Republican candidate Ben Carson would be going home to Florida for a break in his campaign. Cruz’s campaign then proceeded to spread the word to voters at the caucuses that Carson would be dropping out of the race.

Cruz and Carson have a similar evangelical message to voters. So naturally, when Carson supporters were informed that he would be dropping out of the race, Carson supporters voted for Cruz.

This unfair advantage could have given him the four point edge he needed to defeat Trump in Iowa.

Cruz admitted that he was unaware that his campaign was spreading this rumor to voters, but still it is concerning that the Cruz campaign would put forth such an effort to denigrate another candidate.

It is immoral, and it is the same type of political, deceptive tricks that America needs to eliminate from Washington.

Cruz portrays a “win at all costs attitude” with which he wins over voters with pure rhetoric, and denigrates his competitors with dishonest and nasty political maneuvers.