Getting Down to the Gist

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, questions Chuck Hagel, a former two-term senator and President Obama's choice to be defense secretary, during his confirmation hearing at the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol ... Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, right, questions Chuck Hagel, a former two-term senator and President Obama's choice to be defense secretary, during his confirmation hearing at the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, sits at left. Hagel faced strong GOP resistance and was forced to explain past remarks and votes even as he appeared on a path to confirmation as Obama second-term defense secretary and the nation's 24th Pentagon chief. MORE LESS
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To Democrats and those with a sense of history, Sen. Ted Cruz is a Latter-Day Joe McCarthy; to Senate traditionalists, he’s a jerk; to Tea Partiers and base Republicans, he’s a breath of fresh air.

But each verdict is consistent with and utterly secondary to a greater fact: Cruz is exactly the guy to keep the GOP tied to its losing 2012 ways basically forever. In political terms, he’s a Democrat’s dream Republican.

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