Ted Cruz is losing his Latino Cred, but gaining as performance art

Victor Landa, NewsTaco

Not that it matters to him, but Senator Ted Cruz is slowly losing his credibility in the Latino community. Many, if not most, Latinos cringed at the spectacle of his faux-filibuster on the floor of the U.S. Senate. No self-respecting Latino would call so much attention to himself without expecting mom’s chancla to be hurled, point blank, at his head.

It would be different if his grand-stand had a tangible purpose: Say, blocking a vote on a bad bill or running a Senate rule tactical maneuver. But that’s not the case. Cruz took over the floor of the Senate, and he didn’t let go until he was ready – with no practical end to it. Remember what happened when you were a kid and you pitched such a fit?  My point exactly.

Not that he ever had it, but the Latinos I’ve talked to are acknowledging Cruz’s Latino-ness just long enough to revoke it. My aunt, a native Texan, long time resident of Los Angles and card-carrying member of the GOP, called me and asked “What the hell are you guys doing over there?” As if Cruz were faux-filibustering in downtown San Antonio. What she meant was – how can you guys vote for this guy? But the truth is that Texas Latino voters didn’t put Cruz in office. The Tea Party did. And from that perspective, the faux-filibuster makes sense.

Cruz played to his audience, he stroked his constituency.

Some say he’s priming the pump for a 2016 run for White House. I don’t know about all that, I just know it was a spectacle and like him or not, he had our attention.

And while he had it, what was he saying (besides reading “Green Eggs and Ham” into the Congressional Record, which can’t be a bad thing …)?

Basically, he said that he doesn’t like Obamacare. That’s it. And in so doing he delayed a vote on a bill that was approved by his political compatriots in the House of Representatives. So he delayed a vote on a bill his team liked.

What was his point? Aside from political theater, none. So here’s my try at making sense of it all:

Ted Cruz is a performance art genius.

The faux-filibuster was surreal. It reflected the polarized political echo chamber, mirrored the do-nothing congress, and mocked the entrenched atmosphere in Washington.

OK, no.

But it was surreal, and it had no palpable product.

And when he finally ceded the floor of the Senate after a 21 hour talk-a-thon Latinos across the country un-cringed, for now. But I’m sure many Latina mom’s walked across the room to gather their chanclas form there they landed after bouncing off the TV – and they’ll keep them handy, for next time.

[Screenshot courtesy cspan]

Subscribe today!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Must Read