He did what?
Senator Ted Cruz was by no means on anyone’s shortlist for the Most Empathetic Politician award. However his newest show startled even probably the most jaded political arms.
With Cruz’s dwelling state, Texas, buffeted by a snowstorm that has prompted widespread energy failures and claimed dozens of lives nationwide, Cruz bought on a airplane final night time and flew to Cancún, Mexico, for a household trip. Photographs started circulating on social media this morning, accompanied by a refrain of dismay and mock.
Early this afternoon he launched an announcement saying that his youngsters had wished to take a trip and arguing that he was nonetheless in a position to work from overseas. “Desirous to be a superb dad, I flew down with them final night time and am flying again this afternoon,” he mentioned, including that he deliberate to come back dwelling immediately.
Later, after he arrived again in the USA, Cruz mentioned the journey was “clearly a mistake” and mentioned he had begun “second-guessing” it as quickly as he bought on the airplane to Mexico.
I known as up just a few crisis-communications execs who’ve labored with different embattled politicians to get their tackle the Cruz fiasco. All of them sang some variation on the identical theme: simply wow.
“You may just about do injury management for something, and I feel he may do injury management for this,” mentioned Lis Smith, a Democratic strategist who labored on Pete Buttigieg’s presidential marketing campaign final 12 months. Nonetheless, she added: “It’s important to marvel what the hell was he considering doing this. The optics of this might not be a lot worse.”
Stu Loeser, the longtime press secretary for former Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York — who usually took discreet trips to Bermuda whereas in workplace — was additionally amazed by Cruz’s determination to fly the coop at one in every of his state’s most susceptible moments in current reminiscence.
“The toughest half in politics and the toughest half in disaster communications is identical factor: having the ability to predict the longer term,” Loeser mentioned. “However on this case, folks have been with out energy for days. You knew what would occur.”
Risa Heller, a disaster marketing consultant who suggested the disgraced former Representative Anthony Weiner, mentioned that even in a fast-moving, 24-hour information cycle, Cruz’s determination to undergo together with his trip could possibly be arduous to reside down. “It should stick with him for a very long time,” she mentioned. “Of us in Texas should not going to neglect {that a} man who they elected to look out for his or her pursuits went on a trip at their darkest time.”
She added: “Typically somebody goes out of city and one thing loopy occurs and so they have to come back again. You may say, ‘I perceive that.’ However this isn’t that. This storm occurred after which he left. It sends an actual message to his constituents. I suppose time will inform in the event that they’ll forgive him, however it’s fairly unforgivable.”
The Republican strategist Joel Sawyer helped former Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina climate the 2009 scandal over his secret holidays with a paramour, which almost ended his political profession. (He finally accomplished his time period as governor and later regained his previous seat within the Home.) Sawyer mentioned that after Sanford left the governor’s mansion, he labored to restore his reputation by providing contrition.
Sawyer wasn’t so positive Cruz had it in him to do the identical. “Sure, he can do injury management, however it’s going require nice humility on his half,” he mentioned. “I’m unsure how a lot of that Ted Cruz can muster.”
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