Story highlights
Ted Cruz made a deal with John Kasich, lost five states, picked a running mate and talked about a basketball "ring"
He was also called "Lucifer in the flesh" and was endorsed by Indiana's governor
Even by the standards of the 2016 presidential campaign, Ted Cruz has had a dramatic week.
Unusual tactical campaign moves, unforced errors on the trail and sweeping losses in the most recent round of GOP presidential primaries were the low points. Then, he won the endorsement of Indiana’s governor, just days before the critical Hoosier State primary.
Here are some moments from Cruz’s week that was:
Tag team with Kasich?
A pair of emails jolted the political world late Sunday night – coordinated announcements between Team Cruz and Republican primary rival John Kasich over strategies for upcoming primaries. Cruz’s campaign manager said his candidate would stand down in Oregon, on May 17, and New Mexico, on June 7. In exchange the Ohio governor wouldn’t compete in Indiana.
Their objective was clear – standing in the way of GOP front-runner Donald Trump. But the pact proved about as durable as Trump’s statesmanlike efforts to call the Texan “Senator Cruz” rather than “Lyin’ Ted.” Kasich seemed to quickly backtrack and Cruz later downplayed the whole coordination idea.
“There never was a grand alliance,” Cruz said Friday.
Pre-buttal to losing
Cruz clearly saw his crushing defeats coming on Tuesday night. He didn’t wait until results were in from five northeastern states voting that day – all of which Trump swept easily. Cruz finished third – behind Trump and Kasich – in most of the contests.
Cruz slammed the media for what he said was a premature judgment that the general election nominees would be Trump for Republicans and Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side. Cruz branded the pair “New York liberals.”
“Forty percent of (the) GOP doubt they’d vote for Trump,” Cruz said, citing a USA Today poll. “Now, I want you to think for a second the network executives, are they Democrats or are they Republicans? Every one of them are ready for Hillary. And Donald Trump is the one man on Earth Hillary Clinton can beat in a general election. And so the media has told us the candidates in this race, the Republican and Democrat.”
‘Basketball ring’ air ball
Basketball is practically a religion in Indiana, a point not lost on Cruz’s campaign, which staged a rally in the gym where the movie “Hoosiers” was filmed. But the candidate committed a technical foul at game time.
Trying to imitate an iconic moment from the film Cruz went wildly off-script. Pointing to a man with a measuring tape at the basket atop a ladder, Cruz said, attempting to channel a key scene. “You know, the amazing thing about that basketball ring here in Indiana, it’s the same height as it is in New York City and every other place in this country.”
Even casual basketball fans would call it a hoop. There are no casual basketball fans in Indiana.
The VP ploy
Cruz’s biggest problem throughout the week was the perception that his campaign was slipping away after Trump’s romp. His Wednesday announcement of Carly Fiorina as his running mate sought to change that narrative.
It did, but more in making it seem like a desperate rather than a bold move. Fiorina – a former HP chair and one-time GOP candidate – was treated in news coverage less as a serious vice presidential choice than a tool of a losing Cruz effort.
Cruz’s ploy is largely unchartered territory. In 1976 Ronald Reagan, challenging President Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination, chose a running mate at the party convention, Sen. Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania. But Reagan was still a competitive candidate, in a considerably stronger position than Cruz is now – and he still lost his nomination bid.
“Lucifer in the Flesh”
Cruz main pitch to GOP primary voters is that he’s not a go-along-get-along “establishment” deal-cutter type like former House Speaker John Boehner.
Boehner, who retired last fall, clearly doesn’t miss Cruz, who spearheaded the 2013 government shutdown.
Boehner called Cruz “Lucifer in the flesh,” in a withering interview at Stanford University Wednesday night. “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.”
Undaunted, Cruz used the episode in a fundraising pitch Thursday night denouncing “Washington cartel ringleader” Boehner.
“Apparently John Boehner is now leading an effort to maintain the status quo and just announced his opposition to me and Carly stating: ‘Over my dead body will he be President.’”
Mike Pence endorsement
After this week, it’s TGIF for Cruz.
Friday, he won the endorsement of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a standard-bearer for social conservatives in the state. Those are exactly the kind of voters Cruz needs to turn out in order to register a campaign-saving win in the Hoosier state.
“I’m not against anybody, but I will be voting for Ted Cruz in the Republican primary,” Pence said in an interview with WIBC’s Greg Garrison, adding later, “I’m very impressed with Ted Cruz’s devotion and knowledge of the Constitution of the United States.”
Pence, however, was glowing in his praise of Trump as well.
“I particularly want to commend Donald Trump, who I think has given voice to the frustration of millions of working Americans with the lack of progress in Washington, D.C.”
So, what will next week bring for Ted Cruz?